1 Yes, in those days, and in that time, when I bring back Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,
God is now referring back to 2:27. He gave an overview of the rest of Israel’s history but now goes back to give details. He promises that He will return Judah from Babylon.
2 I will also gather all gentile nations, and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat (judgement), and will punish them there for what they did to My people and My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and then they divided up My land.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat is the valley by Jerusalem. The army that conquered Jerusalem, though under Babylonian control, was actually made up of bands from several nations.
The word "Jehoshaphat" means "The I AM has judged."
3 And they rolled the dice to decide who gets which of My people as their slaves, and have traded boys for dates with prostitutes, and sold girls for a drink of wine.
The enemy will treat all the Jews the same, deciding who gets what slave by the toss of the dice instead of giving the upper class to be slaves to the upper class. They will have so little respect and compassion for their new possessions that they will use them for money for the basest of transactions; paying for a prostitute and buying a night’s drink.
4 Yes, and what do you have against Me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you taking revenge on Me? If that is what you are doing, I will quickly rebound your payment on your own head!
3 And they rolled the dice to decide who gets which of My people as their slaves, and have traded boys for dates with prostitutes, and sold girls for a drink of wine.
The enemy will treat all the Jews the same, deciding who gets what slave by the toss of the dice instead of giving the upper class to be slaves to the upper class. They will have so little respect and compassion for their new possessions that they will use them for money for the basest of transactions; paying for a prostitute and buying a night’s drink.
4 Yes, and what do you have against Me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you taking revenge on Me? If that is what you are doing, I will quickly rebound your payment on your own head!
These three nations helped Babylon conquer Judah. They looted the land afterward, too. God will punish them.
5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold and all My finest treasures into your temples.
6 And have sold the children of Judah and of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so you can send them far from their own land.
7 And so I will raise them out of the place where you have sold them, and will dump your payment on your own head.
God promises He will restore Israel/Judah and punish Tyre, Zydon and Philistia for their siding with Judah’s enemies.
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Arabians, to a people far off, because the I AM has said it.
Alexander the Great totally destroyed all three nations. He laid siege to Tyre for seven years and conquered them by making a causeway from the shores of Israel to the island of Tyre. Judah helped him, and is believed to have sold off the captives to the south.
God told Assyria and Babylon to conquer Israel and Judah, but He didn’t tell their neighbors to loot and abuse them. He will punish them for this.
Arabia is about as far from Jerusalem as Greece is.
9 Announce this among the Gentiles, "Prepare for war! Wake up mighty men! Let all the soldiers come near! Let them come up!
10 "Beat your plows into swords and your pruning hooks into spears! Teach even your weakest to be soldiers!
11 "Gather yourselves! Come down, all you heathens, and gather yourselves together all around!" And now, I AM, send your warriors down!
Judah’s enemies are warned to get ready for battle.
12 Let the heathen wake up, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord's Judgement), because I, the I AM, will sit there to judge all the heathens all around.
13 Swing your sickle, because the harvest is ripe. Come trample the grapes (gentiles), because the winepress is full, the wine vats are overflowing with their great wickedness.
9 Announce this among the Gentiles, "Prepare for war! Wake up mighty men! Let all the soldiers come near! Let them come up!
10 "Beat your plows into swords and your pruning hooks into spears! Teach even your weakest to be soldiers!
11 "Gather yourselves! Come down, all you heathens, and gather yourselves together all around!" And now, I AM, send your warriors down!
Judah’s enemies are warned to get ready for battle.
12 Let the heathen wake up, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord's Judgement), because I, the I AM, will sit there to judge all the heathens all around.
13 Swing your sickle, because the harvest is ripe. Come trample the grapes (gentiles), because the winepress is full, the wine vats are overflowing with their great wickedness.
Grapes are dumped into large vats when they are harvested, and then trampled on to squeeze out the juice. Without refrigeration, this quickly becomes wine.
14 Thousands upon thousands are there in the valley of decision, because the I AM's judgement day is almost here.
God will judge the wicked whether they are of Judah or of their evil neighbors.
15 The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will quit shining.
16 The I AM will roar out of Zion, and shout from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake, but the I AM will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
But God will protect His people.
17 Then you will know that I am the I AM your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then will Jerusalem be holy, and no foreign army will pass through her any more.
This is how Judah will know that God is God; He will cause them to be destroyed by Babylon and then restore them. They will never be conquered again.
This will only be fulfilled if Judah stays true to God, which she didn’t do.
14 Thousands upon thousands are there in the valley of decision, because the I AM's judgement day is almost here.
God will judge the wicked whether they are of Judah or of their evil neighbors.
15 The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will quit shining.
16 The I AM will roar out of Zion, and shout from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake, but the I AM will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
But God will protect His people.
17 Then you will know that I am the I AM your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then will Jerusalem be holy, and no foreign army will pass through her any more.
This is how Judah will know that God is God; He will cause them to be destroyed by Babylon and then restore them. They will never be conquered again.
This will only be fulfilled if Judah stays true to God, which she didn’t do.
2 Corinthians 6:16 says, "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' "
Because Israel as a nation rejected God, He made a new covenant with all (Jew and Gentile alike) who chose to love Him. Instead of dwelling in the physical city Jerusalem, He dwells in the spiritual "City" of our hearts. And this "New Jerusalem" will never be conquered by any enemy.
18 And it will happen in that day, that the mountains will drip down new wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will come out of the house of the I AM, and will water the desert valley of shrubs.
The mountains dripping wine and the hills flowing with milk is symbolism for the great blessings God offers for Judah if they worship Him. The fountain coming from the Temple is symbolism for the great blessings of salvation that will begin in Jerusalem and flow to the world through Jesus.
19 Egypt will be destroyed, and Edom will be an empty wilderness, because of their violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Egypt and Edom, who both tormented Israel repeatedly throughout her history, will be impoverished. This happened through the hands of Alexander.
20 But Judah and Jerusalem will live forever.
How do the promises that Jerusalem will be destroyed fit with the promises that Judah will last forever? Paul gives us this answer in Romans 11 where he tells us that the true Israel accepted Christ and anyone from any nation who accepts Christ is grafted into the True Olive Tree of Israel. Those Jews who rejected Him were cut out and "cast into the furnace." Judah dwells forever in the Christian church. The natural nation was destroyed never to be restored, but the True Israel, the Christian Church, will live forever.
21 Because I will cleanse their blood-guilt that I have not yet cleansed, because the I AM lives in Zion.
Our hearts become His Zion where He dwells, and He cleanses us from all of our sins.