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"Because he has done monstrous things"

Text: Joel 2:20

A TWO-FOLD RESPONSE FROM GOD

The Lord’s response to Israel was broadly speaking, twofold. The first word to Israel was that He would restore the nation. The second word was that He would destroy the enemy!

“But I will remove far from you the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odour will rise,
Because he has done monstrous things.”
Joel 2:20

1. “But I will remove far from you the northern army”

a) All of the major incursions into Israel came from the north.

i) Assyrian

ii) Babylonians

b) God’s promise:

i) The threat of an invading army would be removed.

ii) God Himself will see to the removal of this threat personally.

2. “And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land”

a) All attempts to attack Israel will fail.

b) The enemy will be driven back and away.

c) The power of the enemy would be severely broken.

d) They would be driven into a barren and desolate land.

3. The eastern and western seas

a) The eastern sea is a reference to the Dead Sea.

b) The western sea is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea.

c) The enemy would be driven by God every which way to show that their efforts are puny and futile.

4. “His stench will come up, and his foul odour will rise”

a) This is a description of the death that would come upon the invading armies.

b) They would perish because the LORD Himself would fight against them and destroy them.

5. “Because he has done monstrous things”

a) The invading army was infamous for their cruelty and brutality.

b) They showed no mercy towards the vanquished countries they conquered.

c) Man, women and even children were massacred without mercy.