20160109 Saturday, January 9 2016
Joel 03: Where Is The Valley Of Decision?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near ... The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake"

The true prophets of the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour), of long ago, were made aware of how the Messiah will return and restore Paradise on Earth (see The First And Last Nation). Unfortunately, for them, as we read in prophecy, most humans will not accept the LORD's claim to what has always been His world - so they will attempt to fight Him with all of their powerless-against-the-LORD toys of war. Since Jerusalem will be "ground zero" for the Messiah's return, it is there that the final showdown will occur.

The event as seen by the prophet Zechariah (see also Zechariah: He Shall Stand Upon The Mount Of Olives) and the apostle / prophet John in the Book of Revelation (see also Revelation: Thy Kingdom Come):

"17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Revelation 17:14-15 KJV)

"19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:11-16 KJV)

"14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 14:4 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 of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zechariah 14:1-4 KJV)

The prophet Daniel was also given to see and record it. Note carefully that the Messiah's return will be like a "mountain" above all nations (see also Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Of The World To Come).

"2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:31-35 KJV)

"2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." (Daniel 2:44-45 KJV)

It will be from then that the nations will look up to the LORD and will obey His Law (see also When The World Is Going To Reject The Way Of Satan). Notice again the "mountain" from which everywhere else on Earth will be a relative valley: "The mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it" (see also What And When Is The Day Of The LORD? and What Happens After The Day Of The LORD?).

"4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Micah 4:1-3 KJV)

The "valley of decision" will extend everywhere beyond the mere valleys around Jerusalem when the final battle is fought and won by the LORD. That's why and how all of humanity, everywhere, as stated in the prophecies above, will be Judged: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision."

"3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 3:2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. 3:3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

3:4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; 3:5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: 3:6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

3:7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: 3:8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

3:9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 3:19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 3:20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 3:21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion." (Joel 3:1-21 KJV)

Fact Finder: What else is recorded in the Holy Scriptures about the Mountain of the LORD?
See The Mountain Of The LORD's House Prophecies