The Glorious Kingdom
All of us look forward to certain events or milestones in our lives. As children, most of us had a strong desire to get older faster. We knew that our older siblings got to do more things than we did, they had more privileges. What we didn’t realizes was that with those privileges came greater responsibility. It’s a lesson many young people aren’t being taught today.
As a young teenager I remember anticipating getting my driver’s license. After that it was graduation from high school. Then it was a job, dating, and marriage. At every step there was a sense of anticipation. Someone once said, “anticipation is half the fun.” There’s some truth to that. Even the Scriptures use anticipation to encourage us to be faithful.
In Luke 21, Jesus was talking about the events leading up to the Day of the Lord. After telling His followers about the destruction of the Temple, about the terrible suffering they would endure, and about the violence and wars that were coming in the future, here’s what He said.
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Did you see the idea of anticipation in those words? One is negative and, one is positive. The negative is men’s hearts failing them for fear; they anticipate the terrors that are coming upon the earth. The positive is for Believers to look up and lift up your heads because your redemption is coming closer. That sounds like anticipation to me.
In our study of the book of Joel, we’ve come to the final verses. Our study today will be taken from Joel 3:18-21. The title of my teaching is, “The Glorious Kingdom.” As I’ve said before in my teaching, I believe in a literal Millennial reign of Christ. The prophets seem quite clear that this will be a 1,000-year time of unprecedented peace and prosperity when Jesus will rule over the earth from His throne in Jerusalem. Truly that will be a glorious kingdom and a glorious time for all who follow Christ.
So, as we begin our study on these final verses, I will read our text, Joel 3:18 to 21. I invite you to follow along as I read these words from the Lord through the prophet, Joel.
From these words of the Lord through the prophet, Joel, we learn several important DETAILS about this coming glorious kingdom.
The First DETAIL is,
The Renewed Land
Verse 18 begins, “And it will come to pass in that day…” In that final Day of the Lord, when God delivers Israel once and for all, the land of Israel will overflow with blessing. The description of these blessings is very picturesque, very poetic.
“The mountains will [drop] drip new wine and the hills will flow with milk…” This expression is similar to what God told Moses about the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. In Exodus 3:17, God said, “And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites—a land flowing with milk and honey.”
It seems like the Lord will supernaturally intervene to remove the Adamic curse from the earth so that it will regenerate rapidly after this time of great destruction. Remember, during the Great Tribulation, much of the earth’s vegetation and water will be destroyed. But here, Joel says the hills will be covered with vineyards and the flocks and herds that produce milk will be in great abundance. These are word pictures of peace and prosperity that are used often by the prophets to signify God’s favor and blessing on His obedient people.
Even the arid desert, the “Valley of Shittim,” the valley of acacia trees, would become a well-watered and productive plain. Instead of the wadis that only held water a few times of the year, the streams would now overflow their banks. And where was that water coming from? God said it will come from Judah and from “the house of the Lord.”
In Genesis 2:10 we read about the river that flowed out of Eden. It watered the garden and then separated into four different major rivers. Zechariah and Ezekiel both wrote about a river of water flowing out of Jerusalem, out of the millennial Temple. And Revelation 22 records, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
We know from other portions of Scripture that those waters flowing from Jerusalem will cause trees to grow in what once was desert and even heal the waters of the Dead Sea so that it will teem with fish. I’ve seen the date palm groves in that region and every one of them must be irrigated. I’ve waded into the Dead Sea and there is nothing living there. But that will all change with the renewal of the land.
While I believe that this prophecy will be fulfilled literally for Israel and the people of God, it is also a wonderful picture of what Jesus does in our lives when we accept Him as our Lord and Master. He takes a life wasted by sin and gives it a new purpose and meaning. He brings fruitfulness to a life that was barren and empty. What a blessing to experience His power of renewal and restoration, even today.
Another DETAIL (about this coming, glorious kingdom) is,
The Revenge of the Lord
Egypt and Edom are singled out by the Lord for His revenge. Both of these people groups had a visceral hatred for the Jews. When the people of Israel were in Egypt, the Egyptians practiced infanticide in an attempt to reduce their numbers so they wouldn’t join Egypt’s enemies and overpower their masters. Edom, the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother, killed their blood brothers or else stood by while Israel was ravaged by her enemies. Josephus records that Edomites helped to destroy the Temple in 70 AD.
Where are those nations today? Edom was completely erased by the Romans in 70 AD in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem. Egypt has been a struggling, poverty-stricken nation for centuries. Over and over again, the prophets pronounce judgment on these two peoples. The book of Obadiah is exclusively devoted to the pronouncement of God’s judgment on Edom. It would seem to me that God is using these two peoples as representative of what will happen to any and all who fight against God and against Israel.
God will, once again, take vengeance on these two people groups to “fill up” the debt He owes them for their mistreatment of His people. During this climax of human history, the peoples of the world will learn, the hard way, that it is foolish and futile to fight against God. There is a lesson here we must not miss. For us to reject God or fight against Him today is just as futile and will result in our eternal punishment. You don’t want to experience the revenge God will take on those who are His enemies!
Amid these extraordinary manifestations of wrath in the destruction of the wicked, Israel will be saved and learn in a new way that Jehovah is their God and King.
Another DETAIL (about this coming, glorious kingdom) is,
The Residents of the Land
In contrast to the destruction of the wicked, Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever, or for all generations. The prophets Amos and Zechariah also write on this theme, but I want you to hear what the prophet Ezekiel has to say on this prophecy.
“‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’” That’s Ezekiel 37:24 to 28.
Remember, God gave this land to Israel as an everlasting possession in an unconditional, eternal covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17. The land promised to Israel in this future time will be much larger than the tiny nation of today. It will stretch from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates to the Mediterranean. And according to Ezekiel 48, God will redistribute the land among the redeemed of Israel.
The Final DETAIL (about this coming, glorious kingdom) is,
The Reign of the Lord
The prophecy of Joel ends with these words, “For the Lord dwells in Zion.” The Psalmist foresaw this day when he wrote, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.’”
Messiah’s reign will be global, the nations will be His inheritance. His reign will be absolute in power and authority; He will rule over the nations with a rod of iron, Revelation 12:5. His reign will be completely righteous and just; Isaiah 11:3 and 4. His reign will be characterized by peace; Isaiah 2:3 and 4.
The prophet, Daniel, also predicted this time as follows: “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”
Though these prophecies were given many, many years ago, we’re still waiting for their fulfilment. The apostle Peter warns us about “…scoffers [who] will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” What they fail to realize is that it is God’s mercy that lengthens (from our perspective) the age of grace.
Make no mistake about it, God is a faithful, covenant keeping God! What He has promised He will fulfill. I know, we don’t understand everything about this future time and how it will all play out. But if God doesn’t keep His promises to His ancient, chosen, earthly people, the Jews, then where does that leave us as Gentile Believers?
I trust that this study of the book of Joel has blessed you, and perhaps it has given you a desire to dig deeper into the book. I hope our study has encouraged you as we have seen again and again God’s proclamation of faithfulness to His ancient covenant people.
I close our study with these words from the apostle Paul in Romans 11:25 to 33. “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so, all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” The Day of the Lord is coming! The glorious kingdom will arrive in God’s perfect timing! Are you ready?