Chapter Three
“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” For behold, says Joel, in those days and in that time…. What days? What time? We have seen in the first two chapters that those days are the days of the apostles, and that time is the time of Christ. Joel is calling our attention to the Lord in his little book. He has shown us the unseen side of the Cross of Christ, how Satan and all the powers of darkness are overcome by the victory of those days when Jesus was Crucified and rose again from the dead. Joel has enlightened us by his superb prophecy so that we see as it were into the realm of the spirit world, in order that we might the better appreciate the greatness of the Lord of Glory. Christ has triumphed – the One alone against Satan and all his powers. The Lord has proved that He is greater than death, hell and the devil combined. The Resurrection of Jesus has shown that no force in earth or hell can come against the Overcomer and hope to win. And the doctrine of the apostles is that we too shall overcome because of Christ in us, and that neither might nor power is anything, but the Spirit of Christ is all we need. We are to be like Him. The apostles were filled with the Spirit, and so began to turn the world upside down. The Jews opposed them. The Gentiles thought them mad. And the powers of darkness were bent on destroying them, while the early church in its infancy was as vulnerable as a little flock of sheep in a land full of wolves, yet through Christ they survived and multiplied. When we have seen through the eyes of Joel into the realm of the powers of darkness we will see our own need of the self-same Spirit of Christ, and we will learn to appreciate our great Overcomer.
