Joel
3:12-14 states, “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations... for their
wickedness is great...Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision!”
Is this a real valley, or, is this just
a figure of speech? Let's look at the beginning of Joel chapter 3.
Joel 3:1-2:
(1) "For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
(2) I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land."
(1) "For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
(2) I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land."
The valley
of decision is a real valley located in the land of Israel. Easton's
Illustrated Dictionary gives us the following information.
Valley of
Jehoshaphat
'Mentioned in Scripture only in Joel 3:2, 12. This is the name given in modern times to the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and the Kidron flows through it. Here Jehoshaphat overthrew the confederated enemies of Israel (Psalms 83:6-8); and in this valley also God was to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, etc. (Joel 3:4, 19), with an utter overthrow. This has been fulfilled; but Joel speaks of the final conflict, when God would destroy all Jerusalem's enemies, of whom Tyre and Zidon, etc., were types. The "valley of Jehoshaphat" may therefore be simply regarded as a general term for the theatre of God's final judgments on the enemies of Israel.'
'Mentioned in Scripture only in Joel 3:2, 12. This is the name given in modern times to the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and the Kidron flows through it. Here Jehoshaphat overthrew the confederated enemies of Israel (Psalms 83:6-8); and in this valley also God was to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, etc. (Joel 3:4, 19), with an utter overthrow. This has been fulfilled; but Joel speaks of the final conflict, when God would destroy all Jerusalem's enemies, of whom Tyre and Zidon, etc., were types. The "valley of Jehoshaphat" may therefore be simply regarded as a general term for the theatre of God's final judgments on the enemies of Israel.'
Revelation 16:13-16:
"(13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
(14) For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
(15) "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame."
(16).And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon."
"(13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
(14) For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
(15) "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame."
(16).And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon."
Easton's
Illustrated Dictionary tells us this:
Armageddon
'Occurs only in Revelation 16:16 (R.V., "Har-Magedon"), as symbolically designating the place where the "battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 14) shall be fought. The word properly means the "mount of Megiddo." It is the scene of the final conflict between Christ and Antichrist. The idea of such a scene was suggested by the Old Testament great battle-field, the Plain of Esdraelon (q.v.).'
Armageddon
'Occurs only in Revelation 16:16 (R.V., "Har-Magedon"), as symbolically designating the place where the "battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 14) shall be fought. The word properly means the "mount of Megiddo." It is the scene of the final conflict between Christ and Antichrist. The idea of such a scene was suggested by the Old Testament great battle-field, the Plain of Esdraelon (q.v.).'
Megiddo is
situated on the Plain of Esdraelon. It is where the great battle of Armageddon
will be fought on the Plain of Esdraelon (otherwise known as the Valley of
Jezreel).
Easton's
Illustrated Dictionary tells us this about the Plain of Esdraelon.
Plain of Esdraelon
The Greek form of the Hebrew "Jezreel," the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., "the meadow of the son of Amer") which stretches across Central Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee, extending about 14 miles from north to south, and 9 miles from east to west. It is drained by "that ancient river" the Kishon, which flows westward to the Mediterranean. From the foot of Mount Tabor it branches out into three valleys, that on the north passing between Tabor and Little Hermon (Judges 4:14); that on the south between Mount Gilboa and En-gannim (2 Kings 9:27); while the central portion, the "valley of Jezreel" proper, runs into the Jordan valley (which is about 1,000 feet lower than Esdraelon) by Bethshean.
Plain of Esdraelon
The Greek form of the Hebrew "Jezreel," the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., "the meadow of the son of Amer") which stretches across Central Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee, extending about 14 miles from north to south, and 9 miles from east to west. It is drained by "that ancient river" the Kishon, which flows westward to the Mediterranean. From the foot of Mount Tabor it branches out into three valleys, that on the north passing between Tabor and Little Hermon (Judges 4:14); that on the south between Mount Gilboa and En-gannim (2 Kings 9:27); while the central portion, the "valley of Jezreel" proper, runs into the Jordan valley (which is about 1,000 feet lower than Esdraelon) by Bethshean.
Here Gideon
gained his great victory over the Midianites (Judges 7:1-25). Here also Barak defeated Sisera, and Saul's army
was defeated by the Philistines, and king Josiah, while fighting in disguise
against Necho, king of Egypt, was slain (2 Chronicles 35:20-27). This plain has been
well called the "battle-field of Palestine." "It has been a
chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from
the days of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, in the history of whose wars
with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the Great Plain of Esdraelon, until the
disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles,
Saracens, Crusaders, Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs,
warriors out of every nation which is under heaven, have pitched their tents in
the plain, and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the
dews of Tabor and Hermon" (Dr. Clark).
Easton's
Illustrated Dictionary also gives us this information.
Valley of Jezreel
'Lying on the northern side of the city, [Jezreel] between the ridges of Gilboa and Moreh, an offshoot of Esdraelon, running east to the [River] Jordan (Joshua 17:16; Judges 6:33; Hosea 1:5). It was the scene of the signal victory gained by the Israelites under Gideon over the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the "children of the east" (Judges 6:3). Two centuries after this the Israelites were here defeated by the Philistines, and Saul and Jonathan, with the flower of the army of Israel, fell (1Samuel 31:1-6).
This name was in after ages extended to the whole of the Plain of Esdraelon (q.v.). It was only this plain of Jezreel and that north of Lake Huleh that were then accessible to the chariots of the Canaanites (Compare 2 Kings 9:21; 2 Kings 10:15).'
Valley of Jezreel
'Lying on the northern side of the city, [Jezreel] between the ridges of Gilboa and Moreh, an offshoot of Esdraelon, running east to the [River] Jordan (Joshua 17:16; Judges 6:33; Hosea 1:5). It was the scene of the signal victory gained by the Israelites under Gideon over the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the "children of the east" (Judges 6:3). Two centuries after this the Israelites were here defeated by the Philistines, and Saul and Jonathan, with the flower of the army of Israel, fell (1Samuel 31:1-6).
This name was in after ages extended to the whole of the Plain of Esdraelon (q.v.). It was only this plain of Jezreel and that north of Lake Huleh that were then accessible to the chariots of the Canaanites (Compare 2 Kings 9:21; 2 Kings 10:15).'
Now that we
have the battle ground defined let's go back to Revelation chapter 16. Three beings are represented in figurative
language (a) The dragon (b) the beast and (c) the false prophet.
The dragon
is Satan the Devil. The beast is the head of the 'revived Roman Empire'. The
False prophet is the Anti-Christ. They form the ultimate tri-umvirate of evil.
Satan is an evil fallen angel. The beast will be the ruler of the nations
making up the 'revived Roman Empire' of which the European Economic Community
is a forerunner. The false prophet will be Jewish and claim to be their Messiah
(Christ); but will actually be the Anti-Christ. The beast and the false prophet
will be energised by Satan to carry out their evil works.
Three
unclean spirits come out of their mouths. Verse
14,
"For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of
God Almighty." The nations will gather into the land of Israel; their
aim is to wipe out the nation of Israel!
Here is the
end result of all the scheming and plotting.
Zechariah
14:12 gives
us their end. “And this shall be the
plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against
Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their
eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their
mouths...”
Verse 12 is almost a repetition of what happened to the victims of the atomic bomb blasts at Nagasaki and Hiroshima; at the end of World War 2. Men want to play with nuclear weapons of mass destruction. God will pay them back in kind.
Verse 12 is almost a repetition of what happened to the victims of the atomic bomb blasts at Nagasaki and Hiroshima; at the end of World War 2. Men want to play with nuclear weapons of mass destruction. God will pay them back in kind.
Revelation 19:20,
“Then the beast was captured, and with
him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived
those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.
These two were cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
Revelation
20:1, 2, “Then
I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit
and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old,
who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and cast him
into the bottomless pit...”
The
multitudes in the Valley of Jezreel will have made their decisions to be there
and fight against the Israelis. Their decisions will cost them their lives on
Earth and ultimately cast them into the Lake of Fire.
What
about you? Have you made your decision to follow Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
He is the only One who can save you from the Lake of Fire! Your decision has to
be now - in real time. Once you die it is too late!
Jon Peasey
Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com
Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com
Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey
Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com
Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com
Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey
[All
Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted.
Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted
for clarity. Words in bold type
emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or
elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate
directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]
[If
you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the
comments section below.]
