Imagine that a genocidal Mexican regime attacked the United States, overwhelming US border patrol with thousands of terrorist fighters, who then raped, tortured and murdered over 1,200 innocent American men, women and children throughout southern Texas, while also taking hundreds of Americans hostage. Imagine that 83% of Mexican-Americans living in Texas proudly told US pollsters that they approved of the attack on the United States, saying “violent American oppression of Mexicans will inevitably lead to resistance.” And imagine that President Biden responded to this by calling for a “two-state solution,” in which parts of Texas would be separated from the United States and become a new, independent country, a “Mexico 2.0,” claiming that this would bring peace and stability to the region.
If what I’m saying sounds implausible or crazy to you, you haven’t been paying attention to the war in Israel. After Hamas terrorists raped, tortured and murdered over 1,200 Jews on October 7, 83% of Arabs in Judea and Samaria stated that they support the atrocities that Hamas committed on that dark day. Yet President Biden, unbelievably, has repeatedly declared that Israel must go forward with a “two-state solution,” in which the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza – whose goal is the genocide of Israel – will be given an independent state in Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of Israel. On November 26, 2023, President Biden said: “A two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people,” adding that his administration “will not give up on working towards this goal.”
President Biden’s two-state “delusion” would bring unspeakable horror and destruction upon the people of Israel. It would also directly violate God’s will that the land of Israel belong to the people of Israel – a sin that was foretold thousands of years ago by the prophet Joel.
A Prophecy for Our Time?
At first glance, the Book of Joel awkwardly combines two completely disconnected prophecies. In the first two chapters, the prophet speaks of a plague of locusts that God would bring upon Israel in the immediate future, during Joel’s lifetime. But in the last two chapters, Joel looks to the distant future, to the era of Gog and Magog, when God would bring His people back to the land of Israel after millennia of exile – in other words, about our generation. “For behold, in those days and in that time when I return the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem” (Joel 4:1).
Why is Joel’s prophecy about the locust plague recorded in the Bible for posterity if it was already fulfilled thousands of years ago? What relevance does it have for us? And how is it connected to chapters 3 and 4, which speak of the end of days?
In his brilliant commentary on the Book of Joel, Rabbi Meir Wisser (1809-1879) explains that the prophecy of the locusts carries a hidden message that is critical to understanding the events at the end of time. “The first prophecy [of the locusts] refers to the four kingdoms [that will oppress the people of Israel throughout history]. The four types of locusts described by the prophet represent the four kingdoms that will devour Israel like locusts. For this reason, the prophet uses [military] language to describe the locusts, such as ‘For a nation has ascended upon my land, mighty and innumerable’ (Joel 1:6), comparing the locusts to horses, cavalry, chariots and conquering armies, all of which hint to the deeper meaning of this prophecy” (Malbim).
With this approach, we can now understand the connection between the various chapters of the Book of Joel.
The first two chapters prophecy the history of Israel in exile, describing the four kingdoms that will oppress Israel – Babylonia, Persia / Media, Greece, and, most terrible of all, the final kingdom of Edom and Ishmael. During this painful time, the people of Israel will miraculously survive, even as other nations rise, fall and disappear into the dustbin of history. “And the Lord was zealous for His land, and He pitied His people” (Joel 2:18). God will not allow His people to be destroyed, even if they sin terribly. “And you shall praise the Name of the Lord your God, Who has performed wonders with you, and My people shall never be ashamed. And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, there is no other; and My people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2:26-27). God will always dwell among the people of Israel, even in their degradation and exile. And so Israel never has nor never will follow the normal rules of nature. They will survive against all odds, despite the best efforts of their enemies.
But then, after 2,000 years of desolation, God will miraculously bring the land and people of Israel back to life. “Have no fear, O land; rejoice and jubilate, for the Lord has performed great things. Fear not, O beasts of the field, for the dwelling places of the wilderness have become covered with grass, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig tree and the vine have given forth their strength. And the children of Zion, rejoice and jubilate with the Lord your God” (Joel 2:21-23).
In the final two chapters, Joel elaborates on the end of days, when the nations who oppress Israel – particularly Edom and Ishmael – will be judged and punished. The time will come when God will make clear to these arrogant nations that He, and only He, is running the show. “And I will perform signs in the heavens and on the earth: Blood, fire, and pillars of smoke… And the Lord shall roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He shall give forth His voice, and the heavens and earth shall quake” (Joel 3:3, 4:16).
Dividing God’s Land
The early chapters of the Book of Joel describe the nations’ oppression of Israel, and how God will not allow His people to be destroyed. But it is the fourth and final chapter that speaks to our present moment, when the people of Israel have returned to their land. Even now, when the prophecies of return have been fulfilled and Israel is once again an independent state, the nations of the world cannot stop themselves from arrogantly meddling in the affairs of the Jewish state.
“I will gather all the nations and I will take them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will contend with them there concerning My people and My heritage, Israel, which they scattered among the nations, and My land they divided.” (Joel 4:2)
Joel prophecies that during the end times, the nations of the world will gather together to malign and attack Israel – a coalition of evil we are witnessing today before our very eyes. Nations that should naturally be at odds with one another – secular European people and Muslim nations that support radical jihadists – have joined together at the United Nations to defame and slander Israel and support the terrorists of Hamas. Know that there is nothing natural about this alliance. “I will gather all the nations” – all of this is part of God’s plan, so that these nations will all be punished together at the end of days.
The verse alludes to two different sins that the nations will perpetrate against Israel and for which they will be held accountable.
“My people… they scattered among the nations.” This refers to the acts of antisemitism perpetrated against the vulnerable Jews who live in exile, scattered among the nations. Think of the thousands of Jews who are threatened each day throughout the world, afraid to walk the streets of New York, London and Paris while wearing a yarmulke (skullcap). Think of Jewish college students who have been abandoned on university campuses all across the United States, and the sickening university presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, who refused to condemn threats of genocide as hate speech. God will neither forget nor forgive this evil!
But the nations are also guilty of a second sin. “My land they divided.” With extraordinary self-righteousness, the Western nations demand that Israel abandon Judea and Samaria and agree to the creation of an Arab state in its biblical heartland.
The land of Israel – Judea, Samaria and Gaza included – is the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people, who have maintained a continuous presence in the land since ancient times. No other nation has ever governed the Land of Israel as a local sovereign entity. By contrast, the Arabs living in these areas have no historical claim to the land of Israel. There has never been a “Palestinian” national entity in the land. While Arabs who are loyal to the State of Israel may be granted full individual rights, there is no legitimate Arab national claim to any part of the holy land. Inevitably, the creation of an Arab state would lead to the expulsion of Jews from their ancient biblical homeland. Yet pompous Western leaders like Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron insist that Israel must divide its already small land and create yet another Arab terror state in its midst.
“And I will return the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild desolate cities and inhabit [them], and they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their produce. And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no longer be uprooted from upon their land, that I have given them, said the Lord your God” (Amos 9:14-15).”
In these verses and dozens of others, God has made it abundantly clear that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel alone. Joel says that those who ignore God’s will and try to divide His land will be brought “down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat” where God will “contend with them.” But where is the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and why will the offending nations be brought there?
Many commentators explain that the Valley of Jehoshaphat is not an actual place, but rather a symbolic name, representing the future judgment of the nations. “Jehoshaphat” derives from the Hebrew word “shaphat,” meaning judgment. Later in the chapter, this valley is referred to by a different name, the “Valley of Charutz,” meaning the “Valley of Decision” (Joel 4:14) – for it is there that “multitudes upon multitudes” of the nations who joined together in trying to divide the Jewish state will be judged and their fate decided.
What will be the fate of America? Will the United States continue pressuring Israel to divide its land in violation of God’s will? Or will Americans reverse the follies of its conceited leadership and stand with Israel through the tumultuous events of the end of days? The fate of America hangs in the balance.
The Bill Comes Due
The punishment coming for the nations that betray the people of Israel will not be pretty. “Stretch out a sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, press, for the winepress is full; the vats roar, for their evil is great… For the day of the Lord is near” (Joel 4:13-14). The enemies of Israel are compared to ripe crops that are ready to be harvested with a sickle. Just as the crops are ready to be cut, the time will soon arrive for Israel’s enemies to be cut off and destroyed.
“And Egypt shall become desolate, and Edom shall be a desert waste” (Joel 4:19). Egypt represents the Arab nations of Ishmael, for Ishmael took an Egyptian wife. “And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt” (Genesis 21:21). Edom represents the Western nations that supported the Arab nations in their attacks on Israel. Both of these groups of nations will be punished for their sins!
“…Because of the violence (Hamas) done to the children of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land” (Joel 4:19). Incredibly, Joel prophecies about the “Hamas,” the Hebrew word for violence, that the Arab and Western nations will commit against God’s people. Could there be a clearer reference to the evil terror group Hamas, which committed unspeakable atrocities against Israel on October 7? For this evil, Iran and its allies – the peoples of Ishmael who fund and protect Hamas – will be made desolate. But so will the nations of Edom, those morally bankrupt Western nations that make excuses for Hamas’s terror!
“Judah shall remain forever, and Jerusalem throughout all generations. Now should I cleanse? Their blood I will not cleanse, when the Lord dwells in Zion” (Joel 4:20-21). Though most sins can be forgiven, God emphasizes that He will never forgive the nations for the Jewish blood that they have spilled.
Return of Israel and Prophecy
After the nations pay for their sins, the millions of Jews who still remain in exile will finally come home. “Behold I arouse them from the place where you sold them, and I will return your recompense upon your head” (Joel 4:7). Even those secular Jews distant from their heritage – the great majority of American Jews today – will spiritually awaken and return to God and their homeland.
“And it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your elders shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 3:1). Once they are back in their land, God will pour out His spirit upon His children, and prophecy will return to the people of Israel. For it is only in God’s land that widespread prophecy is possible (Ibn Ezra).
The day is coming, sooner than later, when the peoples of the world will understand that Israel is not like other nations. God’s people are not destined to be a military superpower, nor will they ever be more populous than their neighbors. The nations soon will see that God has called this people to prophesy and dream dreams, and in the words of Isaiah, to serve as “a light unto the nations,” to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness (Isaiah 42:6-7).
