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[13] In with the sickle--
[13] Swing the sickle,
the harvest is ripe!
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread the winepress,
Come, trample the grapes,
tread it, it is full:
for the winepress is full
the troughs are overflowing
and the vats overflow--
with their wickedness" (Moffatt).
so great is their wickedness" (N.I.V.)
In Gen. 15: 12-21 Abraham and his seed were promised a land which they could not
immediately occupy because the iniquity of those who then possessed it, the Amorites,
was "not yet full" (Gen. 15: 16). The Amorites had not become bad enough for God to
step in and judge them, but when that Amorite cup was full . . . . . then judgment! The
same is true of this future time Joel is describing. When the cup of iniquity of the nations
is full and overflowing then God will step in and act. How large that cup is one cannot
say but it becomes full during that great and terrible Day of the Lord and Joel 3: 13
implies that it is full and overflowing.
The parable of the tares in the field (Matt. 13: 24-30) and its interpretation (36-43)
may be of some help here. The "reapers are the angels" (39) and the time is "the end of
the age" (verse 40, "age" is better than "world"). Thus the `mighty ones' of Joel 3: 11
are the angels who are told to put in the sickle (Joel 3: 13).
Joel 3: 14-16. In Joel 3: 14-16 there is repetition of much which has gone before.
There are multitudes in the valley of decision (judgment) encamped around Jerusalem.
Tension is high. The climax of their battle is nigh! The sun, moon and stars are darkened
and . . . . .
"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem: and the
heavens and the earth shall shake" (Joel 3: 16, A.V.).
"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward
the east and toward the west and there shall be a very great valley; and half the mountain
shall remove toward the north and half toward the south" (Zech. 14: 4, A.V.).
No wonder Joel says "the earth shall shake". No wonder Joel says:
"The Lord will be the hope (refuge) of His people, and the strength (stronghold) of the
children of Israel" (Joel 3: 16, A.V.).
Just try and picture the situation! What will those armies think? There they are . . . . .
encamped about Jerusalem . . . . . waiting for the final order to attack and annihilate the
inhabitants . . . . . that order comes . . . . . they attack . . . . . they advance . . . . . they gain
entry into the city . . . . . into the Temple . . . . . victory is-- then:
"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the
heavens and the earth shall quake" (Joel 3: 16, A.V.).
Can we paint an adequate picture of this incredible scene in our poor writings? Alas,
no!