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Joel 3:4-8

Lesson # Joel 3:4-8 Study Material - Joel 3:4-8 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Joel 3:4-8 4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre [Tsor] , and Zidon [Tsiydown] , and all the coasts [galiylah] of Palestine [Palesheth] ? will ye render [shalam] me a recompence [gamuwl] ? and if ye recompense [gamal] me, swiftly [qal] and speedily [maherah] will I return [shuwb] your recompence [gamuwl] upon your own head [ro'sh] ; 5 Because ye have taken [laqach] my silver [keceph] and my gold [zahab] , and have carried [bow] into your temples [heykal] my goodly [towb] pleasant things [machmad] : 6 The children [ben] also of Judah [Yahuwdah] and the children [ben] of Jerusalem [Yaruwshalaim] have ye sold [makar] unto the Grecians [Yavaniy] [ben] , that ye might remove them far [rachaq] from their border [gabuwl] . 7 Behold, I will raise [uwr] them out of the place [maqowm] whither ye have sold [makar] them, and will return [shuwb] your recompence [gamuwl] upon your own head [ro'sh] : 8 And I will sell [makar] your sons [ben] and your daughters [bath] into the hand [yad] of the children [ben] of Judah [Yahuwdah] , and they shall sell [makar] them to the Sabeans [Shaba'iy] , to a people [gowy] far off [rachowq] : for the LORD [Yahovah] hath spoken [dabar] it. KJV-Interlinear 4 'Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head. 5 'Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to arouse them from the place where you have sold them, and return your recompense on your head. 8 'Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,' for the LORD has spoken. NASB Again we review some basic concepts. First there are two opinions in this universe - Gods, and everything else. Mans opinion falls in the second category. But mans opinion did not originate with man, but with Satan. Satan was the original sinner when he desired to be 'like the most high.' From this attitude we have the foundation of the anti-God opinion. ' In the Garden, Satan fooled Eve because she didn't pay attention to the teaching which Jesus Christ offered on a daily basis in the Garden as the Lord walked with them daily. This deception against Eve came from Satan and that again set the pattern for the deception of the nations of human history. Satan leads the world in the path in which he wants, in order to defeat God. Mankind, when he is negative toward God and does not learn the Word of God, will come up with his inevitable false beliefs, norms, and standards of life. All of these are compromised life styles which are followed to meet the conveniences of the generation, either politically, socially, economically and so forth. Some generations identify witches and burn them. Others identify heretics. Yet others identify certain segments and ostracize them for one reason or another. Sometimes these attitudes are superficial (small social circles) and other times these attitudes escalate into violence. All actions taken against the people of God are in effect directed against God himself. And God takes this personal. Who are we (believers)? The apple of Gods eye. Psa. 17:8 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings, NASB We are the gold, the silver, the precious stones of the spiritual realm. These are things of intrinsic value. They never lose their value, no matter what condition you find them in. Some believers are bright and sparkling (mature believers), other believers are rough and covered with dirt (negative believers). But all believers, regardless of their condition have Gods promise, have eternal life, have that which is of the greatest value in existence, and that is, they have a relationship with God through the Cross and Jesus Christ. The nations (evil and anti-God, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia - foreign nations) have unjustly seized Gods silver and gold, (v. 5). By taking advantage of believers, and by taking advantage of the Jewish people (the genetic illustration of Gods people), then evil has robbed God of something that belongs to God. God posses a question then. Can they pretend that either God or his people have done them any injury, for which they might justify themselves by retaliation in doing their dastardly deeds? The answer is clearly - 'No.' Neither God nor any believer on this earth has done anything which justifies the nations (concept of the evil driving forces of this world as compared with Gods chosen nation) in taking the actions that have been taken throughout history. What is anyone's obligation in life? To recognize that God is the creator, the sovereign, the ultimate authority in existence. When peoples get together and form a nation, then their collective opinions drive the nation. If anti-God, then they drive the nation toward evil. If positive toward God, then the nation is prospered. We are directed to make Gods wisdom the apple of our own eye, just as God has made us (believers) the apple of His eye. Prov. 7:2 2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye. NASB When the world tries to squeeze us out, then they will receive the wrath of God. Zech 2:8 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. NASB For Israel specifically, they were invaded many times in their history and sent into exile several times because of their negative attitude toward God. They were sent away by the nations such that they could never return (sold to the Greeks a far away foreign place). This is Satan attitude. If Satan had his way, then all believers would be sent far, far away never to return to God, ever (v. 6). But here God promises that He will arouse those who belong to Him, from where Satan has sent the many believers throughout history (into sin and death), and recover them and return them to the place where they belong (back into Gods presence), and then God will take the foreign nations (those evil and false attitudes which are anti-God) and send them to a place far, far away (the Lake of Fire). A place from which they will never return. For there is no one who can retrieve them. So we are painting a picture from which we should learn the truth of life. People who have believed in God, have turned away from God. God alone has the right of judgment and discipline against those who belong to Him. But along comes a horde of locusts and presumes to take vengeance against His people. The locusts take all that they have, all their wealth, all their prosperity, all their economy, all their resources. Things which God has freely given to His people. The locusts had no right in doing what they did. The people call out to God and ask for relief. Gods returns to His rightful place of ownership, and drives the locusts to their doom. Furthermore, God restores the prosperity which was unjustly taken from His people. And so we have the history if mankind. We have those who believe in Christ, and sooner or later they slip away from God. We have nations, which represent a collective attitude which seeks to replace the wisdom of God with its own national wisdom. These nations seek their own destiny. Often times it is a violent and aggressive path. But the history for mankind is filled with mans attempt to define his own destiny, and that attempt fails time and time again. Man spreads across the face of the earth and as long as there is an unchartered frontier to run to, then mankind can escape the persecutions which are inflicted on them by nations. But again, sooner or later man runs out of places to go. The population grows and grows, and the troubles begin to multiply. This will all culminate in the biggest trouble of planet earth in the history of mankind. God will remove believers from the face of the earth (the Rapture) and will leave that last generation of humanity to deal with its own inventions of wisdom. The Tribulation will be full of mans failures and violence beyond description. Jesus Christ, who controls history will one day declare, 'Enough!' You recall our prior study in Revelation, And He will return to put an end to all of the nonsense of mans violent imagination - The Day of the Lord. End of lesson. Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.

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