Joel Chapter Two

Conclusion to Joel’s Locust Prophecy of the End of Days

We have followed Joel’s prophecy of the locust from chapter one and verse one through chapter two and verse eleven. The subject dwelt strictly with the destroying of God’s Word by armies of symbolical locusts, who are the immediate forerunners of apostasy to the second coming or return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse ten of Second Peter chapter three gives us some insight as to what precisely will occur at that time:

2 Peter 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Not only will the earth be destroyed, but the heavens as well! Joel 2:10 appears to encompass all of this. The Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth at that time and not, as many claim, a thousand years in the future after some type of a golden age on earth that they term as the “millennial kingdom.”

Isaiah 65:17 - ¶For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Make no mistake about it; the earth will be destroyed when Christ returns. All of the talk of a millennial kingdom here on earth is misinterpreted and assumed to be references to a future golden age here on earth after the second coming of Christ. In actuality these references speak of a spiritual golden age that we call the Church Age. Revelation 20:4 is the one and only numerical reference that these millennialists use to support their millennium theory.

Revelation 20:4 - And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

The above verse is certainly no proof that Christ will reign on this earth for a thousand years after His second coming. Far from it. Take note that God uses the word “and” between subjects which may imply these are eras or periods, rather than speaking of one specific time frame, such as the great tribulation. We must remember that God assigns various numerological values or meanings throughout His Word. Thus the number ten, hundred, and thousand would appear to designate completion in much of scripture. Having said that, we must realize that Revelation 20:4 is not singling out “tribulation saints” as many proclaim, who are then to rule and reign with Christ on this earth for a thousand years after Christ destroys the earth. No, it does not appear that way in the least. What, may we ask will these so-called “tribulation saints” do after the closing of the thousand year period? The millennialists have never addressed this question. It would appear that Revelation 20:4 includes ALL of God’s elect, not simply those who lived during the closing days of earth’s history. If the latter were true, then we may be forced to admit that Christians who were “beheaded for the witness of Jesus,” Revelation 20:4b, only existed during the great tribulation and not any time prior to that. Do we believe that the “tribulation saints” are rewarded more than those Christians who were burned at the stake centuries ago? Are we better than those Christians who were beheaded centuries ago? God forbid! We know there were Christian atrocities by the hundreds of thousands throughout the Church Age (metaphorically one thousand years; or completion of the church.) At the time of Christ’s return, all of His elect will then begin to live and reign with Christ for all of eternity. We do not truly reign with Christ in all fullness until after the last resurrection. Please read the following references carefully.

The vision is in heaven and Christ is prepared to loose the seven seals upon the earth:

Revelation 5:8-11 -

8 - And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 - And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

<God’s completed elect from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation and not merely God’s so-called “tribulation saints.”>

10 - And hast made us <God’s elect> unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

11 - And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Where Does the Millennial Theory Come From?

Old Testament scripture has much to say concerning the then future Gospel Age. That in itself has been wrongly interpreted as foretelling a future one-thousand year millennium on this earth. The many beautiful metaphorical descriptions of the precious Gospel of salvation raining upon the earth can appear to be teaching a future literal kingdom. This has been misconstrued by many in Christendom as foretelling of an earthly paradise. As we have stated many times, the Israel of the Old Testament days is not the same Israel of the New Testament, and that is essentially the key to understanding much of Scripture. Israel dominated the events of the Old Testament simply because ancient Israel was a precursor to New Testament spiritual Israel; that is to say the Church. Old Testament Israel would herald in the New Testament Israel, and New Testament Israel would be found in every believer throughout the earth. The reasons we should be against the teachings of a one-thousand-year millennium on this earth are numerous, but let us say for one, this theory takes the many beautiful metaphorical verses pertaining to the Gospel Age and replaces them with a so-called earthly utopia in national Israel. Let us now look at a few references that are wrongly interpreted as a future literal golden age on earth after Christ returns:

Isaiah 35:1- ¶The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

Isaiah 28:12 -To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Acts 3:19 - Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Yes, the times of refreshing is a term used in describing the Gospel Age. There are a great many verses throughout the Old Testament that speak of this time in extremely spiritual language; that is metaphorical and allegorical terms. Hence, this is where many become confused and interpret these references as speaking of a then future time on the earth for national Israel, rather than the Gospel Age with New Testament spiritual Israel (the church) at the center. Let us look at a few Old Testament verses and discuss their spiritual interpretations or fulfillments.

Isaiah 35:5-7 -

5 - ¶Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6 - Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

“But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby,” Isaiah 33:21.

“But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream,” Amos 5:24.

“For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees,” Isaiah 66:12.

7 - And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water,” Jeremiah 2:13.

“O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters,” Jeremiah 17:13.

“The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,” Isaiah 43:20.

“¶Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price,” Isaiah 55:1.

“And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not,” Isaiah 58:11.

“I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water,” Isaiah 41:18.

<Again, we cannot over emphasize the pure true fact that the dry land, the dessert, and the wilderness that Old Testament Scripture speaks of so often is indeed symbolical of this fallen earth and is not to be interpreted as some future golden age for national Israel or any other worldly nation for that matter.>

“There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High,” Psalm 46:4.

“¶In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” John 7:37-38.

We can continue to cite verse after verse that speaks of the then coming Gospel Age when the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be introduced into this spiritually dead wilderness we call Earth. It is verses as these that so many today misinterpret, thinking they are foretelling of a glorious age upon the earth with national Israel at the center of it all. God will certainly not revert back to animal sacrifices in a rebuilt Jewish temple as many claim. What a blasphemous idea when all Old Testament Jewish rituals, holy days, etc. ultimately pointed to their then future Messiah - the Christ! Old Testament Israel is fulfilled in the New Testament spiritual Israel, Galatians 6:16. Please see our study “God’s Spiritual Israel” at spiritualbiblestudies.com. It would appear that many of God’s verses that pertain to eternity in the new heavens and the new earth are misdirected by many into a so-called millennial age on this sin-cursed earth.

War and the True Christian

In addition, we might add that many well meaning Christians today truly believe that it is ok with God that we support any type of national or global war if it appears to be a just cause. A large portion of today’s American church would have their members believe that the war in Iraq, for example, is a just war and Christians ought to support it. Nothing could be further from the truth. How far we have come from the simplicity of Christ’s words!

2 Corinthians 11:3 - But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The simplicity that is in Christ is truly simple … “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:30. Non violence is truly the dividing point or deciding factor in the Christian’s life. It is where the rubber meets the road in the Christian faith and sadly this thought of non violence is totally foreign to the majority of those who call themselves Christians. Simply, our kingdom is not of this world, therefore we are not called to fight as those in Old Testament days did.

John 18:36 - Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Non violence is the back bone of the true Christian faith. We have transitioned from Old Testament literalism to the New Testament spiritual fulfillments of Christ’s prophesies.

1 Peter 3:9 - Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 3:12 - For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

The New Testament faith lays down most clearly what is to be our stance with regard to physical warfare:

2 Corinthians 10:4 - (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Not carnal? What then are the true Christian’s weapons of our warfare?

Ephesians 6:10-18:

10 - ¶Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 - Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 - For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 - Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 - Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 - And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 - Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 - And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 - Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The apostle Paul rightly stated under the inspiration of God that “love is the fulfilling of the law,” Romans 13:10. Romans chapter thirteen speaks of the governing laws that man is to obey. We are to be subject unto the higher powers, Romans 13:1. Verses one through ten addresses man’s civil laws, but verse nine also states “thou shalt not kill.” We must remember that our number one obedience is to God in all things. In Acts 5:29 Peter states that “we ought to obey God rather than men.” And of course when man’s orders or laws contradict the law of God, we are to obey God rather than men.

Old Testament Violence

Old Testament warfare is no excuse for today’s Christian to harbor such ideas in light of what Christ has told us. God has written the Old Testament using true historical events, much of which included bloody wars involving Israel, as a school teacher for us today.

Galatians 3:24 - Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The Old Testament Law was indeed our schoolmaster that points to Christ as Messiah and God and the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law. But why were there such wars and killings with regard to Israel and their foes when the fifth commandment states “thou shalt not kill?” That is a deep theological question and cannot be answered in this short study. The many literal and historical events that Israel endured carried teachings for us today. The fact that Israel had warfare with many of its neighbors may allegorically tell us that spiritual Israel will continue to be the center of warfare in the New Testament age, this time a spiritual warfare, but also the spiritual Jew (Christian) will face physical persecutions, as they have done throughout the Church Age. Our warfare is spiritual, but that in no way implies that we won’t suffer in the flesh. The end of days for the true Christian will be a climax of spiritual warfare and physical persecution. The world will and is presently witnessing a drastic increase in raging wars, global upheavals in weather, more famine, pestilence, and civil unrest than in the past, as the beginning of sorrows progresses.

The Importance of Isaiah 2:4

“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

(Isaiah 2:4)

As we stated earlier, many people wrongly interpret portions of the Old Testament, believing that certain verses are speaking of a future one-thousand-year golden age here on this sin-cursed earth. They are mistakenly interpreting these verses to be fulfilled during a millennial reign of Christ on the earth. The new earth will indeed be for all of eternity and will in no way resemble a physical earth as we know it to be today. These verses are not teaching a future golden age, they are indeed teaching and prophesying of a future time, from their vantage point, when the Gospel of Christ would rain down from heaven and convert men’s hearts. When God speaks of a time when man will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks, we know that this is metaphorical language describing a changed heart! Isaiah 2:4 goes on to say that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. We now ask ourselves - have nations stopped warring against other nations? The answer is of course no. Is this prophesy yet set for another time, perhaps a golden age after all? Why should we doubt at this point in our study? This verse appears to be teaching precisely what we have stated thus far, and that being that as true believers in Christ, we are not to learn war anymore. Our weapons are spiritual as we saw from Ephesians. Isaiah 2:4 is right on target with the Gospel and how it converts the hearts of those who are truly called. But what about this verse; stating that nations will no longer war against other nations? The verse does not state nations in the plural, but nation in the singular. The Hebrew word is also translated as people or heathen. It is a fact that the nations of the world are not affected by this verse, since it is more than likely prophesied of the individual rather than of whole nations. We know that there are no true Christian nations on earth other than God’s spiritual nation, which is His true elect scattered throughout the earth.

1 Peter 2:9 - But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Now then, why does God use the terms plowshares and pruninghooks in His allegories of the transition from being unsaved to becoming a child of God? Being unsaved constitutes being at war with God and even at war with our fellow man. The sky is the limit in man’s inhumanity toward man, as today’s news headlines will attest to. The true child of God knows that our true weapons of war are spiritual in nature; that is the whole word of God. Knowing this, we now should understand why God equates our old nature (a combatant heart) to spears and swords. These are fragments of our old warrior nature apart from the spiritual healings of Christ. Now that the true believer has been cleansed, his old combatant nature has been converted to plowshares and prunninghooks. He is now in the kingdom of God and has no use whatsoever for spears and swords, which were the natural instincts of his old nature. He or she is now a soldier of God and their weapons are all spiritual in nature. The plowshares and prunninghooks are not merely inconsequential; they are representative of our new nature with Christ; our working in the metaphorical parch fields of the world laboring for souls in the garden of God. They are now planting the seeds of faith by plowing and tilling and attending the chores of God’s earthly garden or vineyard.

Isaiah 51:3 - For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Isaiah 58:11 - And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Isaiah 61:11- For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Isaiah 5:1 - ¶Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

Matthew 20:1 - ¶For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

We as true believers in Christ are indeed laborers of God; Christ has converted our combatant hearts from swords and spears to plowshares and pruninghooks. Knowing this, how could a true Christian support any type of worldly conflict?

2 Timothy 2:3-4 -

3 - Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 - No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Hebrews 11:13 - These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Conclusion and Warning

What we see coming upon this earth at this hour is insignificant in comparison to what lies directly ahead. Many Christian sites are now focusing more upon the events of the earth, including weather, natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars, civil unrest, pestilence, and more. We do not deny that these birth pangs are out there and signaling the immanent return of Christ. At this point they are probably more than birth pangs. It is not wrong to persistently preach these things, since the world does need to be warned. However, the intention of this site is not to focus in upon what we as Christians clearly see in the near future. We will continue to focus upon God’s beautiful Word, but from time to time we will address world events in light of what scripture teaches regarding the end of days.

Spiritual fulfillment of end-time scripture and physical fulfillment of end-time scripture should not be at odds with one another. God appears to have two or more meanings per reference in much of scripture. With regard to some of end-time prophesies there is a middle road in which we should carefully study that encompasses both the spiritual and the literal. For example, let us take the mark of the beast. We will not do an in-depth study here; suffice it to say that scripture’s mark of the beast is one’s denial of Christ, thus being marked by God with the spiritual number of unsaved man; that is six hundred, threescore and six. On the other hand many have stated that a literal fulfillment of this prophecy would be foolishness. That certainly does not appear to be the case any longer. A computer chip embedded into the flesh of every man, woman, and child is now the plan of the global elite - that is to say those who survive the coming catastrophes.

Many in U.S. churches today have been misled by their pastors into believing that this country is not mentioned anywhere in scripture, when the truth of this matter screams out that the United States of America is fully involved as the leader of a revived Roman Empire and we are marching into the Middle East precisely as the Book of Daniel predicts. Who else is spearheading this charge, may we ask? These aren’t some wild assumptions; there is certainly scriptural evidence that support this view and we must be truthful and ask ourselves if we are at the end of days, what empire do we see invading the Middle East in accordance with the Book of Daniel?

End of Joel Studies