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"Thus saith the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the
moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the seas when the waves thereof
roar; the Lord of hosts is His name: If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the
Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever"
(Jer. 31: 35, 36).
However, in Gen. 13: 14-18 Abraham and his seed were promised a land:
"For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (15).
Thus the land and the seed are going to endure for ever. In the light of this we can see
what a tremendous challenge Jer. 31: 35, 36 is! If the God Who cannot lie (Titus 1: 2)
and the God Whose gifts and callings are without repentance (Rom. 11: 29) is made to be
a liar and a breaker of promises . . . . . then Satan has victory! Thus in attacking the Jew
in his land and in his city Satan is attempting to wipe the Jew off the face of the earth--so
making God break His promise. It seems also that he and his army may try and affect the
sun, moon and stars in an attempt to make God invoke the promise of Jer. 31: 35, 36.
This is the battle of the ages, God 5: Satan! During the Day of the Lord this battle comes
to a head and this future period of time is mainly about that great enemy and his defeat.
When dealing with Satan we must not think of horns, tails and `pitchfork' but should
realize that he was, and in some senses still is, the greatest creature of God's creation.
He was, so to speak, God's number two--His right hand man, but he wanted more. He
was not satisfied. He wanted to be number one but thankfully that will never be and he
has also been deposed from his previous position which God now occupies Himself in he
person of Christ Jesus our Lord.
We could spend much time in describing Satan but will mention just a few points. He
held such titles as the "anointed cherub that covereth" (Ezek. 28: 12-19). He is called
the "angel of light" and his workers are called "ministers of righteousness" (II Cor. 11: 14,
15) (a title indicating their false façade which sadly deceives men). His main desire
appears to be to usurp God's position and steal worship from Him! Does he succeed?
Well . . . . . we shall wait and see but although the people of Israel will be no match for
his vast army Joel tells us in 2: 11 that there is another army which is mighty and
beyond number and at the head of that army is the Lord!
Having got the gist and the flow of this passage we will now have a look at one or two
details. The first half of Joel 2: 2 described the Day of the Lord. Amos 5: 18-20
expands this:
". . . . . the Day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion,
and a bear met him: or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a
serpent bit him. Shall not the Day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very
dark, and no brightness in it?"
The second half of Joel 2: 2 emphasizes the uniqueness of this still future army with
which Satan will pursue the Jew. Rev. 12: is perhaps another description of this battle
and related events and now we are better able to appreciate the Lord's words in