SCRIPTURE: Joel 3
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. [Joel 3:12]
Joel’s prophecy shows how God will punish His people, if they do not repent.
He will use the neighbouring nations to punish His people, but He will also hold them accountable for their actions.
God does not force them to do what they do, He uses their sinful, violent nature which they freely exercise to accomplish His purpose.
His basic message throughout the bible is that people will pay for their behaviour, and that only by humbling themselves before God and repenting can they be forgiven.
One day every person from every nation will stand before God and give an account for their lives and actions.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. [Matthew 25:31-33]
Jesus also affirms this final judgment; every person, from every nation, will be gathered one day to stand before the Judge.
The separation of sheep and goats is just a symbolic way of saying that God will discern the hearts and lives of all people, and separate them by kind.
The two ‘kinds’ are the repentant and the unrepentant, the one’s that admit their sin and need for mercy, and the one’s that don’t.
That spirit of repentance is evident by the way they treat others.
Those who recognize their need for mercy will show it to others.
Those who do not recognize their need for mercy will not show it to others.
The violent nations that God uses to judge Israel rape and ravage young and old because they have no respect for God or people.
Jesus describes the ‘sheep’ as those that respect God and people, but helping them in their misery and need [Matthew 25:34-40].
God can tell the state of our heart by how we treat others.
Those who have been forgiven much will be quick to forgive others.
Those who appreciate God’s amazing generosity will also be generous to others.
This is how God will judge us at the end of time – He will look at our lives to see whether we demonstrated to others the mercy that God showed to us.
Or as Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us as we have forgiven others…”
Translation – treat us as we have treated others… YIKES!
PRAYER:
Lord, today’s reflection leads me to pray two things – do not treat me as I have treated others, and help me to treat others as You have treated me!