Joel 3:10b
“Let the weak say I am strong.” This is often quoted to encourage Christians in the warfare that we face daily. Oswald Chambers said of this passage, “Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for The SPIRIT of GOD to manifest His Power.” This is true, humility is one of the primary traits of a Christian if the weakness comes from knowing that I am a sinner saved by GOD’s Grace through The blood of JESUS; I have no ability to save myself and I am totally dependent to GOD for my life.
But that is not what this passage is about, Joel is a prophet of GOD and he is speaking of future events, The Day of The LORD!
Let’s look at this verse in context (remember these prophies were not written with chapter and verse divisions, The Prophesy of Joel could be one prophetic proclamation or it could have been given over a period of time.
Verse 10 is two statements,
“Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks
(pruning knives) into spears;
Let the weak say ‘I am strong’.” This is obviously a call to prepare for war, make weapons and bolster your courage.
Now let’s look at verse 10 in context of the previous and
following verses, 9 & 11.
“Proclaim this among the nations: ‘Prepare for war! Wake up mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning knives into spears; let the weak say ‘I am strong’. Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.”
So this is obviously not a call to Israel but to the nations, this part of Joel’s prophesy is about the End Times, the return of CHRIST!
3:1-8 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem (1948 and 1967), 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 (Revelation 16:12-16), My heritage Israel, whom they scattered among the nations; they have also divided My land. (Gaza 1982, Galilee and Samaria 1995)” Is the Valley of Jehoshaphat not where The Hill of Megiddo is, where the Battle of Armageddon takes place?
Chapter 3 verses 1-8 is about the return of Israel and GOD’s judgment against the nations; verses 9-21 are about the Day Of The LORD, when the seventh trumpet sounds; verses 9-12 are about Revelation 19:11-21; verse 13 is about Revelation 14:14-20; verses 14-16 are about Revelation 11:15-19; verses 17-21 are about Revelation 20:4-6.
Every Scripture is given by GOD for a purpose for the nations, for Israel, for the Church and for each individual person. That is why GOD expects each of us to “study to show ourself approved (2 Timothy 2:14-15).”
Be careful of standalone Scriptures used to teach doctrine, they can be manipulated to teach some good sounding error. GOD holds each of us as His Children and Servants responsible for knowing and living according to His Word, The Bible. Read and study the Bible on your own under the guidance of The SPIRIT of GOD, join with other believers and study The Bible with an experienced and faithful member of your Church. Don’t be frustrated by what you do not understand, trust GOD to show you what He wants you to know when you need to know it (Matthew 10:16-20).
Now, go back and look up all the Scriptures I used and study
them in the context they were spoken in. The reason we have to know the
Scriptures in context is so that we do not lose the point of GOD’s Message!
This part of a verse has a powerful statement that applies to people whether
they are saved or not. But what is lost in quoting only those six words is the
Message of GOD’s plan for His People (those who believe in JESUS Christ as The
Son of GOD who came to save the world from sin). Some of this prophesy we have
seen come to pass as noted above and some is yet to come as revealed in The
Revelation of JESUS Christ!
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