Joel 03: Welcome Back Home

Home. That sacred place of belonging where our souls can finally rest. In "Welcome Back Home," we navigate the prophetic conclusion of Joel chapter 3, uncovering God's ultimate invitation to fellowship with His people.

The journey through Joel has been one of contrasts—from devastation to restoration, judgment to mercy. As we explore the final chapter, we discover the beautiful transformation of "the day of the Lord" from a fearsome judgment to a divine homecoming celebration. God's promise rings clear: "I will make my home in Jerusalem with my people."

This episode reveals how God meticulously builds His case against nations who harmed His "special possession," promising to gather them for judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Yet amidst declarations of justice, we witness the tender heart of God breaking through—mountains dripping with sweet wine, hills flowing with milk, and waters filling the stream beds of Judah. These aren't just poetic images but profound revelations of God's desire for abundance and restoration in our lives.

What makes Joel's message timeless is the element of choice. The day of the Lord is coming—this is certain—but we decide whether it brings judgment or mercy. As Pastor Brandon explains, "God has no intention of us doing this thing called life alone." Through every mountain and valley, God's ultimate goal remains fellowship with us.

Join our growing community of seekers and students of the Word by subscribing, leaving a review, and connecting with our Bible Breakdown Discussion group on Facebook. Remember Joel's timeless encouragement: "Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome Back Home
• 2:06 God's Judgment on Unfaithful Nations
• 5:52 God's Return to Jerusalem
• 8:05 Day of the Lord: Judgment or Mercy?
• 9:26 Prayer and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, joel, chapter 3, and today's title is Welcome Back Home. Welcome back home. I don't know about you, but there is absolutely nothing better than being on a long trip, all the things, and then you turn back on the road that you live on Like. Even before you get there, you're like, okay, I'm finally back home. And that last like mile or maybe less, depending on how far you live it's just kind of like that victory lap of I made it back home and that's what this chapter is going to be about.

Speaker 1: 1:02

So, if you have your Bibles, open up with me to the Old Testament book of Joel. While you're doing that, as always, I want to remind you, if you're new around here, take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing team of people doing a wonderful job and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you've been with us for the past couple of days, the overall goal of the book of Joel is. Remember. He is living during the time of Elisha and Obadiah and Jonah and all these other prophets. And while they're doing all these great things, god is also doing something amazing in Joel's life. He's living in the city of Jerusalem, most likely, and the overall theme of the message that he gave to the nation of Judah is that there's a day of the Lord that's coming and he's saying it's both bad but it's also good. You get to decide and what God wants it to be is a welcome home party and an opportunity for us to come back to the presence of God.

Speaker 1: 2:05

And if you remember, in chapter 1, it laid out the problem that there were all these invading armies of locusts, and many scholars believe he wasn't actually talking about the creature, the thing. It was more talking about invading armies because it would have been something that the people of the time would have understood when they talked about an army of locusts. It very well might've also been an army when they would talk about it. And chapter 1 was just about how they just left nothing in their wake. And then chapter 2 was when they see all the bad things before it happens that they can turn back to the Lord, and that's what God wants. And now, today, we're going to look at how he finishes it up and he talks about how. Not only are they going to turn back to him, but then God is going to judge all of the unfaithful nations.

Speaker 1: 2:53

So if you're ready, let's look at Joel, chapter three, verse one says this at that time of those events, says the Lord when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for honoring or excuse me, for honoring my people, harming my people, my special possession, and for scattering my people among the nations, for dividing up my land. They threw dice to decide which of my people would be their slaves. They traded boys to obtain prostitutes. They sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.

Speaker 1: 3:33

What do you have against me, tyre and Sidon, you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out, for I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done. You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures and have carried them off to your pagan temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks so they could take them far off from their homeland. But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them and I will pay you back for everything you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah and they will sell them to the people of Arabia, a nation far away.

Speaker 1: 4:16

I, the Lord, have spoken. Say to the nations far and wide get ready for war. Call out your best warriors, let all your fighting men advance for the attack. Hammer your plowshares into swords, your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors. Come quickly. All you, nations everywhere, Gather together in the valley. And now, o Lord, call out to your warriors Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the Lord, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people. Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord will soon arrive. The sun and moon will grow dark and the stars will no longer shine. Pause.

Speaker 1: 5:28

So what has been happening is is he is saying that all of these people who have been speaking out against the people of God and doing all these horrible things, their time is up, that God is going to judge all of them, and then he's going to finish it off with talking about a blessing for his people. Here we go, verse 17. Then you will know that I, the Lord, your God, live in Zion. My holy mountain. Jerusalem, will be holy forever. The foreign armies will never conquer her again, and that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the stream beds of Judah and the fountain will burst forth from the Lord's temple, watering the arid valley of Achaus. But Egypt will become a wasteland. Wow. So the ending is I'm coming home. Make my home in Jerusalem with my people. Wow. So the ending is I'm coming home and I want to bring you with me.

Speaker 1: 6:46

And one of the things I love about the book of Joel is when we see the beginning of the book of Joel. It talks about the day of the Lord being this terrible thing to be afraid of. And, man, we need to proclaim a fast among the people and don't tear our clothes, but tear our hearts and just repent before the Lord because he's coming. And then, by the time you get to chapter three, it's not the judgment of God coming on us, it's the judgment of God going on the people that have been trying to destroy the people of God. And instead God is saying I'm going to take care of business, I'm coming home and I'm welcoming you back home.

Speaker 1: 7:28

What I love about this is God's ultimate goal is fellowship. God is saying I want to make my home, my dwelling place in Jerusalem, with my people. That was the goal. Can I tell you God's goal for your life? All the ups and all the downs, and the mountains and the valleys and everything in between, and all the stuff that we go through, all the different things, the ultimate goal of the Lord is fellowship. He wants to walk with us through all of the great things that we go through. He wants to walk with us through all of the great things that we go through. He wants to walk with us through all the bad things that we endure. God has no intention of us doing this thing called life alone. And you look at it. The number one thing is he says in the final verse is I will pardon my people's crimes which I have not yet pardoned, and I, the Lord, will make my home in Jerusalem with my people.

Speaker 1: 8:20

The overall takeaway in the book of Joel is the day of the Lord is coming, and maybe we can say it like this the day of the Lord is coming and you get to choose what that day looks like. You get to choose if it's a day of judgment or if it's a day of mercy. It all depends on you. God wants it to be a day of mercy, a day when he judges your enemies, but you have to choose. So my prayer for you, my prayer for me, is that I will choose for it to be a day of fellowship, be a day when his spirit can pour out on all of us, that he can make his home in us, with his people, and he can dwell with us forever.

Speaker 1: 9:02

Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for your word, thank you for your mercy, thank you for a book like Joel that reminds us that, yes, sometimes bad things do happen, but, lord, that's not all that's happening, that you are also working out good in the lives of others and, lord, I pray for all of us, lord, that we will not pass up an opportunity that, when the day of the Lord comes, let it be a day of your faithfulness and of your goodness. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen, one more time. God's Word says in Joel 2, verse 13,. It says Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Matthew, chapter 1.