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Joel 3

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1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations: and they have parted my land,

3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

4 Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head.

5 Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly precious things,

6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye may remove them far from their border;

7 behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head;

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 men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.

9 Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

11 Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah.

12 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.

13 Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

16 And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.

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

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 And I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion.

   

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True Christian Religion # 689

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689. The reason why John's baptising prepared the way was that by this means, as shown above, people were introduced into the coming church of the Lord, and brought into the company of those in heaven who were awaiting and longing for the Messiah. They were thus protected by angels to prevent devils breaking out of hell and destroying them. This is why it says in Malachi, 'Who will endure the day of his coming' and 'so that Jehovah may not come and strike the land with a curse' (Malachi 4:6). Likewise in Isaiah:

Look, the cruel day of Jehovah is coming, a day of wrath and an explosion of anger. I shall make the heaven tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place on the day of the explosion of His anger, Isaiah 13:6, 9, 13, 22; 22:5, 12.

Also in Jeremiah that day is called a day of laying waste, of revenge and ruin (Jeremiah 4:9; 7:32; 46:10, 21; 47:4; 49:8, 26). In Ezekiel it is called a day of wrath, of cloud and thick darkness (Ezekiel 13:5; 30:2-3, 9; 34:11-12; 38:14, 16, 18-19). Equally in Amos (Amos 5:13, 18, 20; 8:3, 9, 13); in Joel, the great and terrible day of Jehovah, and who will endure it? (Joel 2:1-2, 11; 3:2, 4). In Zephaniah:

On that day there will be a shout. The great day of Jehovah is at hand, the day of the explosion of His anger is that day, the day of anguish and affliction, the day of laying waste and devastation. On the day of the explosion of Jehovah's anger the whole earth will be consumed, and He will bring about an ending with all the inhabitants of the earth, Zephaniah 1:7-18.

There are other passages too.

[2] From these it is plain that if the way had not been prepared by baptism for Jehovah to come down into the world, the effect of which in the heavens was to shut off the hells and to protect the Jews from total extinction, [all there would have been struck with a curse and would have perished] 1 . Jehovah also says to Moses:

In a single moment, if I were to go up in your midst, I should consume the people, Exodus 33:5.

The truth of this is clearly to be seen from John's words to the crowds who came out to be baptised by him:

You brood of vipers, who has warned you to run away from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7.

For John also teaching about Christ and His coming when he baptised, see Luke 3:16; John 1:25-26, 31-33; 3:26. These passages make it plain how John prepared the way.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The sentence is incomplete; the words in brackets are restored from 688.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.