God Judges Nations

God Loves Us
God's Eternal, Preserving, Renewing Love

God's Love Restores

Joel 3:1-3, 18-20 The Message

God Is a Safe Hiding Place

3 1-3 “In those days, yes, at that very time
    when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem,
I’ll assemble all the godless nations.
    I’ll lead them down into Judgment Valley
And put them all on trial, and judge them one and all
    because of their treatment of my own people Israel.
They scattered my people all over the pagan world
    and grabbed my land for themselves.
They threw dice for my people
    and used them for barter.
They would trade a boy for a whore,
    sell a girl for a bottle of wine when they wanted a drink.

Milk Rivering Out of the Hills

18-21 “What a day!
    Wine streaming off the mountains,
Milk rivering out of the hills,
    water flowing everywhere in Judah,
A fountain pouring out of God’s Sanctuary,
    watering all the parks and gardens!
But Egypt will be reduced to weeds in a vacant lot,
    Edom turned into barren badlands,
All because of brutalities to the Judean people,
    the atrocities and murders of helpless innocents.
Meanwhile, Judah will be filled with people,
    Jerusalem inhabited forever.
The sins I haven’t already forgiven, I’ll forgive.”
    God has moved into Zion for good.

For Reflection

We are all subject to God's judgment. Those of us who reject God and become actors in the theater of ungodliness will, by their folly live in the weeds of a vacant lot, doomed to endure the brutalities of life.
But in spite of their rejection of the Way, they are still offered the redemptive grace of God.  No matter what we do in spite of God, God will always love us and welcome us and restore us to a right relationship in God's household.  God makes all things good.  All God asks is that we confess our self-interest and repent.

Pray

Pray that you will not be tempted to reject God.  Pray that you, like God, will love all people unconditionally.  Pray for those who reject God and act out their lives in selfish abandon.  Pray for those who would seduce you into transgressions.  Pray for those who confuse hate with love. Pray for those who have been lured into a fearful existence and given into a false hope of salvation.