Amos 7-9

 Amos 7

Amos 7:1-6 Twice YHWH shows Amos a judgment on Israel. Amos prays for mercy, and the Lord relents.

• Amos 7:1-3 A devastating plague of locusts will destroy crops at harvest time, like the eighth plague on Egypt. (Exodus 10:1-20) Except that these locusts would be after the king’s share of the crop was harvested. So it is the people who would suffer, since it was earlier revealed that the rich showed no consideration for the poor. The Lord had compassion on the descendants of Jacob.
• Amos 7:4-6 Judgment by fire would dry up deep waters and destroy the land, like Sodom and Gomorrah. ((Genesis 19:24-25) Again the Lord showed compassion for Jacob. When Abraham interceded for the righteous people of the cities, God could not find even ten such on inspection, so they were destroyed. (Genesis 18:23-32; 19:4-5, 29) Although Amos did not frame his plea for mercy based on finding righteous people in Israel, there must have still been hope for repentance.

Amos 7:7-9 The Lord showed Amos a wall built true to plumb, and a plumb line to show that. He is now going to use the plumb line (His standards of righteousness) to show that the people are not morally upright, and that the kingdom they have built will therefore collapse, under its own crookedness. This judgment is final. He later cited this in His judgment of Manasseh, using the same standard that He had earlier applied to Israel, on Judah. (2 Kings 21:13) Shortly after Amos, Isaiah used the same language to describe God’s judgment of Israel, Judah, and Edom. (Isaiah 28:17, 34:11) In this case, the places of false worship will be destroyed, and Jeroboam II’s house would be wiped out.

Amos 7:10-13 Amaziah the priest of Bethel told Jeroboam II, the king, about Amos’ prophecy. Presumably this was because Jeroboam had appointed him, and he was doing his political duty. He called it a conspiracy against Jeroboam, and said that the land could not bear this prophecy. No indication if Jeroboam responded or directed him to, but Amaziah then told Amos to shut up. Moses had warned the people to pay attention when God sent a prophet, which Amaziah will learn the hard way. (Deuteronomy 18:19-20)

Amos 7:14-17 Amos replied to Amaziah. The judgment on him and his family would be specific and personal, dishonor and death on those he loved. He personally would die far from home. (Deuteronomy 18:19-20) Moses had given emphasis to discerning whether a prophet was genuine or a false prophet. However, God simply said to ignore false prophets. Discernment is  challenging in this type of circumstance. But that is probably why Moses said to ignore them, not to tell them to be shut up. Different people have different levels of discernment.

Amos 8

Amos 8:1-2 A basket of figs or summer fruit symbolize the harvest of sin that Israel has sowed. Fruit must be reaped at harvest time.

Amos 8:3-7 A summary of what has gone wrong in Israel. The needy and poor are oppressed. Peoples’ hearts are so focused on business that they can hardly wait for the Sabbath to be over so they can work. Then they cheat their customers. The Lord who identifies Himself with Jacob remembers.

Amos 8:8-10 Remember what happened to Egypt when they oppressed the Israelites. The day will be turned into darkness, like the ninth plague. (Exodus 10:21-29) It will be a time of mourning, like the tenth plague, death of the firstborn son. (Exodus 12:29-30) The ultimate price for rescue would, of course, be paid in Jesus’ death, God’s uniquely begotten Son, about 600 years in the future. It got dark then as well. (Matthew 27:45)

Amos 8:11-14 Will people no longer hear the word of the Lord because He stops speaking, as in the 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist, or because they stopped listening to His prophets and no longer recognized His voice? The last two verses seem to suggest the latter - they turned to false gods and no longer were able to hear or recognize the one true God when He spoke.

Amos 9

Amos 9:1-4 A continuation of the judgment pronounced at the end of chapter 8. There will be no escapees from His punishment, the sentence was passed and will be executed. Neither land, sea, or oceans can hide those God has judged.

Amos 9:5-6 In this description of YHWH, His overarching power is described in terms of things we can relate to  - rivers, palaces, oceans, continents. What we cannot grasp is His transcendence. In the spiritual realm which is His true abode are wonders we cannot comprehend.  (2 Corinthians 12:4) He tells us His name.

Amos 9:7-10 The Lord relocates tribes and destroys them according to His sovereign standards. Although He chose Israel to be His people, He will still deal with them to judge sin, even though He has scattered them in the diaspora. The nation of Israel was to be politically ended, but the people of Israel will continue to exist, the survivors of His judgment, as a recognizable group. 

Amos 9:11-15 One day, Israel will return to their land and be blessed by God again. This passage was quoted by the apostle James at the council of Jerusalem.  The context was the debate about imposing circumcision and all of the detailed rules of the Mosaic Law on gentiles who believed in Christ. (Acts 15:16-17) The messianic promise of Amos would be fulfilled in Jesus, souls would be harvested for Him, the new wine of Holy Spirit will flow, and peoples’ spiritual lives will flourish. While physical Israel was once again uprooted from Palestine in 70 AD, not to return until 1948, the church of Jesus Christ will endure forever. As James understood (although Amos probably did not), this church will consist mostly of gentiles.

It is beyond our limited understanding why God chose to have the Jews struggle with the Law without the Holy Spirit, when He knew they would fail, and thereby suffer. Probably mankind’s free will and God’s transcendent grace play into this mystery. It is sad that beginning with Adam, humans have chosen sin over obedience, and God clearly grieves over this. But it is clear that we need the indwelling Holy Spirit to live otherwise, to enjoy the incredible blessings God has prepared for His people. (Numbers 11:29)

Amos 4-6

Amos 4

Amos 4:1-3 Cows worship a golden bull. They constantly consume luxury, the richest goods. The superficial religion of offerings, tithes, and sacrifices doesn’t address the deep self-centered sin manifested in oppressing the poor, because they continue to do it. 

Amos 4:4-5 They go to religious sites and brag about their offerings. Jesus remarked on public displays of offerings in contrasting the large offerings of the wealthy to the widow’s two cents. (Luke 21:1-4) Are our offerings done for show before man, or before God to try to manipulate Him, or an attitude of meek obedience? 

 

Amos 4:6-11 Amos lists the ways God rebuked the Israelites, that they did not respond by turning back to Him.

• Amos 4:6 Famine
• Amos 4:7-8 Drought
• Amos 4:9 Blight, mildew, and locusts
• Amos 4:10 Plague
• Amos 4:11 Fire from Heaven

Amos 4:12-13 To get them to return to Him, God will reveal Himself to them. The almighty, uncreated creator who simply is, will meet them. In 4:2 He sovereignly swore by His holiness that a day was coming. What day? The day of the Lord. The response to seeing Him is recorded by His servants as overwhelming. (Isaiah 6:5; Daniel 10:8-9; Revelation 1:17, 22:8) What will be the response of those who have rebelled against Him? (Daniel 10:7; Hosea 10:8; Revelation 6:16)

Amos 5

Amos 5:1-3 The Lord laments what will happen to Israel as she reaps what she has sowed. He does not take any pleasure in this, but grieves, not that He has deserted them, but that they have deserted Him.

Amos 5:4-6 God pleads with them to seek Him for their own benefit. Only He offers life. Religious rites at religious sites offer nothing if their hearts aren’t right.

Amos 5:7-15 God enumerates their sins, from His eternal perspective, that are calling forth inevitable disasters: injustice, unrighteousness, lying, exploiting the poor, oppressing the innocent. He pleads with them to turn from these. What does He want? To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. (Micah 6:8) This is a life and death issue, both individually and nationally. 

Amos 5:16-20 When it is too late, then they will cry. But it will be because He is present among them. There will be darkness. Whether this will be physical or spiritual darkness isn’t clear, but the language suggests physical as fell on Egypt during the ninth plague. (Exodus 10:21-23) They already were in spiritual darkness.

Amos 5:21-27 Hypocritical worship is worse than useless; it is offensive to God. He is looking for lives that embody justice and righteousness, like the rainy season in Israel that brings water to the crops, so that there will be a harvest. The harvest of their idolatry will be exile beyond Damascus. This crop was reaped about 722 BC, when Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, invaded and captured Samaria, and deported the Israelites. (2 Kings 17:3-23)

Amos 6

Amos 6:1-3 The ruling class of Samaria felt secure based on geography, not on God. They did not take into account things that were out of view, beyond the mountains. If they had gone to look at other locations of previous battles, they would have reckoned with risks. There is a coming reign of terror, because of their actions. 

Amos 6:4-7 Amos lists their luxuries, which they believe they are entitled and will continue.

• Ivory beds and couches 
• Choice meats
• Pleasant musical instruments for entertainment
• Lots of wine
• Lotion

God grieves over Manasseh and Ephraim’s ruin, but the people in charge do not. Their luxuries will end, and they are oblivious to the spiritual reality.

Amos 6:8-14 Many will die, and survivors will hide from the Assyrians and deny YHWH to avoid death or exile. But the Lord is in charge; people can’t hide in demolished houses, large or small. Some things simply don’t work, like trying to plow the sea. Turning virtues into evil may try to boast of strength, but the Lord will bring a conqueror against them that will oppress the entire nation. The sins of the rulers will ruin the people as a whole. The Assyrians will come to exile everyone. They will bring non-Jews to settle in Samaria, who will be despised by the Jews. (2 Kings 17:23-24) The Samaritans were despised in the time of Christ because they weren’t descended from Jacob, or were mixed-breed. But Jesus ministered to the Samaritans (John 4:4-42) and told a parable comparing Jews unfavorably with them. (Luke 10:30-37)

Amos 1-3

Amos 1

Amos 1 uses a construction of three/four that seems to try to convey something. Perhaps it is a signal that Amos is not the first to warn the hearers of the consequences of their actions. They were warned, they repeated their offenses a fourth time, and judgment would be executed. Perhaps if they had repented after three offenses and were warned less severely, they might have been saved. But now they will experience God’s justice, which will be fair but severe. We don’t know what the earlier warnings were, but since that is how God dealt with people through other prophets, that is how He works.

We will each individually face a final judgment from God. Nations are judged in this world, but the great white throne of judgment is reserved for determining our personal judgment for eternity - redeemed or receive justice.

Amos 1:1-2 Perhaps the earthquake was one of the warnings that God gave Israel and Jeroboam, to confirm Amos’ warnings. Or perhaps it was just a notable event in Israel’s history. Zion and Jerusalem were Jeroboam’s enemies. When the Lord roars, do we hear His voice and respond? Or is it perceived as the sound of an animal? It is believed to have happened in the 760-750 BC timeframe, and been approximately 8.0 magnitude. It was so notable that Zechariah mentioned it 250 years later.  (Zechariah 14:5)  

Amos 1:3-5 Damascus represents modern Syria geographically. With great power comes responsibility for how it is used. Only one  type of sin is identified, so it is a bit unclear whether this was the fourth sin, or if this sin was repeated four times. God judges the threshing of nations by destruction of both the political leaders and the people.  Hazael had an interesting but ambiguous history. The Lord told Elijah that Hazael would kill many of the followers of Baal, (1 Kings 19:15-17). When Hazael later brought an offering to Elisha, the Lord had Elisha prophesy that he would kill many, including women and children, as king of Aram (2 Kings 8:9-13), which was then recorded in the following chapters of 2 Kings. Hazael was God’s instrument, but his descendants and followers were judged for their barbaric cruelty. It is clear that even when God calls us to act as His instruments of judgment, we are responsible to Him for how our actions match what He commands, and not our own agendas.

Amos 1:6-8 Gaza represents the Philistines, and it is interesting that 3,000 years later we are in the same tension. Slavery is rare in the modern world, but mass kidnapping and murder continue. Chattel slavery was widespread until the 19th century, when it took William Wilberforce twenty years to persuade the British Empire to abolish it, and the American Civil War fifty-plus years later, to end it in the English-speaking world.  But Palestinian/Philistine hatred towards Israel persists, as does God’s judgment. It is not just bombing campaigns that destroy cities, but lifestyles that perpetuate grinding poverty. It does not appear that the last of the Philistines’ spiritual descendants have yet died.

Amos 1:9-10 In Solomon’s day, Hiram king of Tyre and Solomon had been on good terms, doing business and giving gifts to each other, and Tyre was involved in building Solomon’s temple. (1 Kings 5 & 9) Things went downhill after that. Their sale of Israelites to Edom as slaves parallels that of Aram’s. God’s judgment on Tyre was initially carried out by Nebuchadnezzar in 586-573 BC, when they surrendered but the city remained intact.  It was ultimately consummated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Everything on the island was completely destroyed and the people were killed and imprisoned.  

Amos 1:11-12 Amos lists four specific sins of Edom. Esau was Jacob’s brother, and his anger and jealousy over God’s choice and blessing of Jacob was carried by Esau’s descendants, the Edomites (Genesis 36), until Israel was destroyed. This lasted from approximately 1930 BC to 586 BC (Northern and Southern Kingdoms’ destruction). Edom’s  major cities (in the wilderness), Teman and Bozrah,  would be destroyed. This is believed to have happened in the 580-550 BC time frame, at the hands of the Babylonians. It is perhaps ironic that the same forces that destroyed Judah, doubtless seen as justice by the Edomites, also destroyed them.

Amos 1:13-15 The descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:38), Abraham’s nephew, also expanded their land holdings by violence. David and his army had fought against the Ammonites, but Rabbah remained a significant stronghold throughout Biblical history. Modern day Amman is Jordan’s capital, about fifty miles north of Rabbah. The exact battle that Amos prophesies is hard to pin down, since there have been multiple conquests, although it is believed that the Babylonians conquered it about 582-581 BC.

Amos 2

Amos 2:1-3 Moabites were descended from Lot, like the Ammonites. (Genesis 19:16) in fact the name Moab means ‘from my father’, since Lot’s daughter conceived him through incest with him. The Moabites were the tribe who hired Balaam to curse Israel. (Numbers 22) Subsequently, when God did not allow Balaam to curse Israel, but instead bless them, they conspired to get God’s  blessing removed by seducing them to sexual immorality. (Numbers 25) Despite this, God would not allow Israel to take Moab’s territory because of ancestry traced back to Lot. (Deuteronomy 2:9) But now, enough! 650 years later (more or less), God has Amos pronounce His judgment on them. The final straw was burning the bones of Edom’s king. Esau and Lot weren’t exactly close relatives (Abraham’s nephew and grandson), but God had blessed both of them with land; Moab did not respect Edom. 

Amos 2:4-5 Judah had certainly gone astray - rejecting the Mosaic law, worshipping false gods -  and they will be punished, although it would be later. Curiously, the enumerated sins of Judah do not call out mistreating the poor or people of other nations. Jeremiah would be much more specific 120 years later.

Amos 2:6-8 Amos now turns to Israel, the Northern kingdom. More than four sins are enumerated. Perhaps it started with selling Joseph for silver (Genesis 37:28), although Ephraim and Manasseh, the two tribes descended from Joseph, were part of Israel. But that was only a start. Selling the needy for a pair of shoes indicates total lack of respect - not only were the poor enslaved, they were despised.  Having sex with your father’s wife was prohibited, so when father and son “use” the same woman, not only is at least one of them committing adultery, the son is violating this principle. (Leviticus 18:8) Keeping a garment taken in pledge shows total disregard for the poor. (Exodus 22:26-27) Drinking wine in the house of other gods was essentially full participation in pagan worship, making pagan gods their god, in place of the one true God. (Exodus 20:4-6)

Amos 2:9-12 Israel should remember the Exodus, when God protected them and fed them for forty years in the wilderness. He destroyed the Amorites when they refused to let Israel have safe passage through their land, and He gave Israel their land. (Numbers 21:21-26) He raised up prophets and Nazirites, but the Israelites told the prophets to shut up (Deuteronomy 18:15-19), and made the Nazirites violate their vow of abstinence. (Numbers 6:1-6) 

Amos 2:13-16 Israel’s punishment will be to be crushed in a way that the athletic, the strong, and the soldier will not be able to escape or resist. 

Amos 3

Amos 3:1-3 The Lord sees Israel as His family, that He chose and rescued from Egypt. He wants them to walk with Him. He uniquely called Israel by revelation, beyond His call to other nations by conscience and intuition. They had the Truth in writing, and knew better. What about us? We have the full Bible, Old and New Testaments - do we take them seriously?

Amos 3:4-8 The warning of a lion’s roar should be heeded by potential prey. Other warning mechanisms are natural - a trumpet sounds an announcement or alert. So the Israelites should heed the prophet’s warning as the roar of the Lion of Judah, and pay heed. Jesus is a meek and gentle shepherd, so when He roars, it is cause for alarm.

Amos 3:9-11 Forts are physical strongholds in which people trust, but their actions of oppression and looting others have acquired ill-gotten wealth, stored therein. The sovereign Lord speaks through the prophet - spiritual wrongs will lead to worldly judgment and disaster in the end. Physical forts cannot save in the end.

Amos 3:12 Think of the disappointment of a shepherd who goes to rescue a lamb from a lion, and only manages to get a few body parts, not a living animal. This is how sad the Lord feels when we go astray and put ourselves in harms way. He grieves when we make ourselves the devil’s pray. 

Amos 3:13-15 Total destruction of the worship of false gods and false religion is coming, and along with it the lifestyle, economy, and wealth of the Northern Kingdom. This will get Israel’s attention and end their rebellious lifestyle. The golden bull at Bethel (house of God!), erected about 930 BC by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-30), will be destroyed. This happened about 722 BC. 

At first it seems odd that both Aaron and Jeroboam made golden bulls for worship. Most likely this was because that was common in the pagan religions of the time. Gold represented wealth, and bulls symbolize strength and virility. We have bull markets on Wall Street. Let us pray that we will not be seduced into worshipping them, but sadly it is an uphill battle. True spiritual prosperity comes from God. Even tithing can become a false god if we do so solely in order to receive the promise of Malachi 3:10.  God honors His word, but He knows our heart.

Joel

Joel 1

There is no fixed date for this book, no references to kings or events that place Joel in the context of Biblical history. There are at least three possible interpretations of the plague of locusts. All of them are for punishment of sin.

• A real plague of locusts like the eighth plague on  Egypt. (Exodus 10:1-20)
• Symbolically, a human army or armies. (2 Kings 25:8-10)
• A supernatural army of angels or demons, perhaps in the Last Days. (Revelation 9:3-11) 

When Peter cited Joel on Pentecost, he did not refer to locusts, so we have nothing to tie this prophesied plague in chapter 1 to Israel’s history, or the church, or the end times. (Acts 2:16)

Joel 1:1-4 This is a once in a generation event, or perhaps a once-ever event, not just a routine plague. Four kinds of locusts are called out. There have been different names assigned to the four categories, which have had various translations suggested, but the important point is this: there won’t be anything left when they are done.

Joel 1:5 Wine is a symbol of joy and celebration (John 2:1-11), but it must be taken in context. It is not the only thing in life. (Matthew 26:27-29) On Pentecost, the disciples were accused of drinking too much wine. (Acts 2:13) The judgment Joel prophesies will fall because the drunkards consumed too much wine and fallen asleep. Could this pertain to a church so enamored of sacramental wine that it fails to warn the world of the consequences of rejecting Jesus?

Joel 1:6-7 The locusts are compared to lions, who have destroyed both vine and tree. Branches without bark will die.

Joel 1:8-12 Deep mourning will replace joy, to all walks of life - young brides-to-be, priests, farmers. Perhaps overuse of the wine has led to a judgment that prevents it from being abused. Farmers, whether they grow grains, vines, or trees, will see their crops ruined.

Joel 1:13-15 Priests who have failed in their ministry need to repent, fast, and call for a holy assembly of elders. Since they are without food, they should turn their fasting towards the Lord. The day of destruction that Moses warned about has come. (Deuteronomy 28:42) Joel calls it the day of the Lord in multiple places, a term Isaiah also used. 

Joel 1:16-20 The destruction is broad and enumerated to include foods of all types - both grown and from animals. Even in the wilderness pastures and trees and water are gone, and wild animals starve.

Joel 2

Joel 2:1-11 It is unclear if this passage describing the invasion by a terrible army is a metaphor for the locust plague or a description of it, or if this army will invade following the locust plague. The subsequent promise to repay for the tears the locust has eaten does not clarify the issue. Others have suggested that this is a description of nuclear-tipped missiles (ICBM’s) in a nuclear war that destroys civilization.

• A fire devours before and behind. Perhaps a nuclear detonation that follows, after the missile is propelled by rocket fuel.
• The land becomes a desert waste, essentially everything is consumed by a nuclear explosion, leaving only dirt.
• Crackling fire that consumes stubble could describe the outward flow of superheated gases outside the fireball that burns everything combustible far outside the initial explosion.
• They march in line, not swerving, according to their pre-programmed trajectories.
• They pass through conventional defenses because of their immense speed descending from very high altitudes or outer space.
• Before them the earth shakes and the heavens tremble describe what could be the shock wave from the detonation.
• The sun and moon are darkened because the mushroom cloud of the explosions rises into the atmosphere and obscure all light from the sky. Perhaps like the natural effects of the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883, estimated to be as strong as a 200 Megaton nuclear bomb.
• World War III is dreadful, and it is certainly a cause to wonder who, if anyone, will survive it.

Joel 2:12-17 A call to repentance. Despite the sin that led to the calamity, God is still merciful if we repent, individually and/or nationally, even though we ignored earlier warnings. His increasing the volume on the warnings is an act of mercy. As mentioned previously,  since food sources are destroyed, abstaining from food should become a holy fast that turns to the Lord. 

It is important to remember that fasting is not a means of manipulating God or earning favors from Him. The purpose of the fast is to turn our hearts to Him, and purify our hearts from the debris of the world. This enables us to more clearly communicate with and understand Him, and to prepare our hearts to obey what He tells us.

Joel 2:18-20 The Lord was jealous for His peoples’ love, so He spoke in the first person through Joel, promising food and victory over enemies. “I am ….  I will ….”

Joel 2:20-24 The prophet now speaks of great things the Lord has done (in future response to genuine repentance). He will have restored their agriculture.

Joel 2:25-27 The Lord speaks in the first person again. He will repay the years the locusts have eaten, repeating the four categories described earlier as destroying all types of food. (1:4) This will include both physical and spiritual food. “I will…. You will know that I am….” Those who receive this promise will praise the Name of the Lord.

Joel 2:28-32 Continuing in the first person, the Lord says that after this, He will pour out His Spirit on all people. This passage was famously quoted verbatim by Peter on Pentecost. (Acts 2:17-21) It is a direct answer to Moses’ prayer (Numbers 11:29), but goes far beyond to describe what this will look like. Dreams & visions, wonders in nature, visible signs like blood, fire, and smoke (as in the days of Moses), all are part of the lead-in to the day of the Lord. The promise that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved clearly points to the New Testament (Romans 10:13). All people in verse 28 suggests inclusion of gentiles, but the passage wraps up with the survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. This sounds very apocalyptic, because it is. Peter knew that this set of events was a last-days precursor to the return of the Lord in power to establish His kingdom. 

Joel 3

Joel 3:1-8 God promises that He will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, and retribution in kind to nations who mistreated the Jews. Specifically to those who created the diaspora sending them away from the land of Israel, selling them as slaves. While this might seem to be a judgment on the practice of slavery, in 3:8 He says He will sell the sons and daughters of the nations that did this to His people to the Sabeans. Since modern day Sabeans are nearly extinct, this must refer to some distant nation symbolically, or else to a past event. The Jews have been restored to the land. They do not practice slavery, although they have driven many Palestinians away, to live in refugee camps. It is hard to draw a connection between the people who enslaved Israelites millennia ago and modern day ethnic groups.

Joel 3:9-16 Beating plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears is the opposite of the call to peace found elsewhere. (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3) This is a declaration of war. The valley of Jehoshaphat (YHWH judges) will be the seat of judgment for the nations, because evil is ripe and ready for harvest; hence the agricultural implements for harvest are now weapons. Jehoshaphat the king of Israel did not even have to have his army fight because the Lord turned the armies of the invading nations on each other. The army of Judah only found bodies. (2 Chronicles 20:22-26) But the implication of this passage is apocalyptic. The sun and moon darkened (as in 2:10) and the Lord roaring with thunder, heaven and earth trembling, sounds much more like the final judgment. 

God’s voice can be gentle, as is recorded in much of Jesus’ ministry, or it can be terrifying. It depends on whether we receive Him or rebel against Him.  (1 Kings 19;12, Matthew 21:5; Daniel 10:7-9, Revelation 1:17)

Joel 3:17-21 This is the final blessing that will confirm who God is and who His people are. Judah and Jerusalem will be permanently inhabited by Jews and Christians, and innocent blood will be avenged: Egypt and Edom will be permanent deserts. This implies that even the Nile valley and Petra, perhaps even the southern Jordan valley near the Red Sea will be uninhabitable. This blessing will come in the form of the new wine, the Holy Spirit will be everywhere in God’s kingdom. Those who reject Him and do not have the Holy Spirit will live miserable lives in the power of their own human will. As God speaks to unbelievers, it is clear that He turns up the volume on them as He does in speaking to His people, as most of the earlier passages in Joel have described. But the final vindication will be the New Jerusalem.  (Revelation 21:2-4, 11-26)