The Hungry Hearts Bible Commentary
This Commentary is based on 40+ years of daily Bible reading by the editor, comparing English translations with biblical languages, along with the work of respected scholars. Scripture passages often appear in the top portion of each post (most translator supplements are in [brackets]) Scroll down to see commentary in the numbered footnotes. Use the "search this blog" feature located in the side bar (top right) to find commentary on scripture passages or books of the Bible.
Joel 3:11-17 commentary
Joel 3:4
4: Yes and what have you to do with ME O Tyre and Zidon and all the coasts of פְּ לָ שֶׁ ת Philistia?
Comments: Joel 3:4 The original Palestinians were Jews. The Romans are the ones who renamed Judea as Palestine, which was never a name for any of the Canaanite tribes who inhabited The Promised Land ... including the Philistines who inhabit Philistia to this day.
The name Palestine was originally a Roman name for the Jewish territory of Judea. They did this in an attempt to deprive the Jews of their
Jewish identities. In Joel 3:4, Yahweh did not call Philistia
Palestine; antisemitic or ignorant Bible translators did that. The word translated as
Palestine in Joel 3:4, is the Hebrew word פְּ לָ שֶׁ ת Philistia.
A Bible issued to American Jewish military personnel...
correctly translates the Hebrew word פְּ לָ שֶׁ ת as Philistia. The Bible, copyrighted in 1918 and 1945, was translated by the Jewish Publication Society of America.
In that Bible, the book of Joel has four chapters and not three, as in Christian Bibles. Joel 3:4 in Christian Bibles, is Joel 4:4 in the 1917-1945 translation of The Holy Scriptures for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the United States. In both the Jewish Bible for Military personnel and the Hebrew text of the Westminster Leningrad Codex with vowels, the word translated as Palestine in Joel 3:4, is the Hebrew word פְּ לָ שֶׁ ת, Philistia.
Philistia is the home of the Philistines, who
are Canaanites who were never completely conquered by Joshua when the Children
of Israel entered The Promised Land.
Revelation 18:20
Rejoice over her [destruction] thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets for God hath avenged you Revelation 18:24 on her
Comments: Revelation 18:20 It is time to rejoice! On the day Christ returns the serpent’s spiritual and geographical capitol on earth is crushed. The violent overthrow of the Man of Sin’s capitol city, Babylon, is only the beginning. Before the day is over, not only will the Battle of Armageddon will be won Isaiah 17:14, Joel 3:2, Zechariah 12:2-9, but a nation will be converted to Yeshua, the true Messiah Isaiah 66:8-11, Zechariah 12:10.
Since soon after the great flood, the source—the head—of Satan’s influence
on earth, has been physical and spiritual Babylon. Noah’s great-grandson,
Nimrod (son of Ham) Genesis 10:8-11, was the architect of the Tower of
Babel, the first attempt after the flood at building a portal to the second
heaven Genesis 11:1-4. The Tower was located in the place
that would be called Babel, becoming the ancient name for Babylon, which was
located in the land of Shinar Genesis 11.
Babylon has never been utterly destroyed as prophesied in Jeremiah Jeremiah 50:39-40, Revelation 18:18-21.
The Man of Sin will locate his capitol at the exact location of the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar Zechariah 5:5-11.
Though God, in his mercy, interrupted
that evil project Genesis 11:5-9, Babel has been the serpent’s physical
and spiritual capitol of evil ever since, the source wherewith he has been
poisoning and wreaking havoc on the earth since after the flood.
During the final seven years before Christ’s visible and physical return Daniel’s 70th Week, the earth will witness the horrific culmination of Babel’s power and destructive influence when up to 85% of earth’s population will die Matthew 24:22.
Joel 2:32
32: And it shall come to pass that whosoever Acts 2:16-21
shall call on the name of YHWH shall
be delivered (-) For in
mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance as YHWH has said and in the **remnant Zechariah 10:12 whom YHWH shall call
**There are Christian groups today, that refer to
themselves as the “remnant.” But biblically, the word remnant only refers to
Jews. There is only one Body of Christ, those who belong to Jesus and
have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. And the Body of Christ is not
fragmented into “remnants” of those who are faithful and those not so much. The
Body of Christ is one. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling
within them, do not have eternal life and are not of the Body.
100% of those who are saved, belong to the Body of Christ. John assures those
of us who have Jesus that we have life, that we possess it now. We are
the Body of Christ, and it is impossible for THE BODY to be fragmented into
remnants.
Joel 2:31
31: The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood Matthew 24:29 before the great the terrible Day yowm YHWH come
Comments: Joel 2:31 Between the end of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble and the dazzling appearance of Jesus and his armies, with the exception of a blood moon (Jesus said the moon would not give her light), the entire world will momentarily go completely dark. The angelic powers of the heavens 2nd Heaven shall fall Matthew 24:29.
How long will the total darkness last? No one knows but long enough to grind everything to a halt.
The purpose of the darkness? Jesus said, “after that,” after the world goes dark, after the angelic powers fall, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens Matthew 24:30. This will bring about the fulfillment of the prophecies of Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:24-29.
What will the sign of the Son of Man be? Some say the darkened sky will be lit with the great light of the cross. That will be the sign that will bring the tribes of Israel to their knees and a nation will be born again in one day Isaiah 66:8-11, John 3:7.
Then, after the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10 is fulfilled, they shall see the Son of Man coming with power and great glory. He will come with great clouds [of witnesses 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, Hebrews 11] with the armies of Heaven (The resurrected and raptured Righteous and his angel armies).
Ephesians 5:28-33 commentary
Comments: Ephesians 5:28-33 does not establish gender-based hierarchy, as Christians are so commonly taught. What it establishes is that, because of The Fall, husbands will have a sinful tendency to love themselves more than they love their wives. This passage establishes the fact that the prophecy in Genesis 3:16 is being fulfilled and that husbands need to be encouraged to love their wives at least as much as they love their own selves.
But wait, isn’t Jesus’ command that we one another as HE loves us given to the entire Body of Christ? Is it a gender-based command? Is Paul’s reminder to selflessly love one another by preferring one another before ourselves a gender-based admonition? Was Peter’s reminder to love one another deeply a gender-based admonition? So how is it that husbands needing to be told to love their wives is somehow a good thing?
Only gender-biased-theology can transform a fulfillment of a cursed prophecy into a compliment. Ephesians 5:28-33 does not confirm a gender-based hierarchy. Rather, in fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 3:16, it confirms that husbands will not only have a sinful tendency not to love their wives as Christ loves us but that husbands will be tempted to not love their wives even as much as they love their own selves.
There is no separate set of biblical rules for wives and husbands than for any other Christian. Christ’s commandment for all of his followers to love each other as HE loves us is not a gender-based command, and it is to be taken seriously by every Believer.
So why is it that husbands need to be commanded to love their wives … at least as much as they love their own selves?
Wives are never commanded to love their husbands. Does that mean they don’t have to? Of course not.
Why is it that husbands are warned that if they do not treat their wives right, their prayers will be hindered? Why is it that Paul warned women (Ephesians 5:33) that they should be afraid of their husbands (The Greek word in that verse is more accurately translated as a phobia-based “fear,” and not “reverence”)?
Gender-biased-theology has transformed and twisted the prophecies in Genesis 3:16, into both blessing (for men) and slander (of women). The prophecy was that men would have a sinful tendency to dominate their women and that women would have a sinful tendency to love their men more than their Creator.
Complementarianism teaches women to ignore the voice of God and follow the voice of their husbands, should the two voices contradict.
Complementarianism teaches that women do not have to answer to God if they obey their husbands, even if their husbands lead them into sin. God does not bless sin, whether it is committed by women or men. And he certainly did not bless the first male for disobeying the only “Thou shalt not,” that he was given in The Garden.
Each of the first pair suffered the consequence of their action. The only blessings given in the Genesis three passage, were given to the woman, when she was told that her conception would be multiplied (children are blessings and not curses) and that one of her offspring would defeat the serpent.
As for Ephesians 5:28-33, It is not a hierarchical passage confirming gender-based-authority of men over women, but rather a reproach on husbands that they even need to be commanded to love their wives in the first place.
Husbands who are living their lives according to the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, do not need to be commanded to love their wives.
Ephesians 5:28-33 is meant for men and women who have drunk **the complementarian Kool-Aid, and, because of that some husbands have become physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual threats to some wives.
**Many couples who give lip-service to complementarianism either have or appear to have happy marriages. Complementarian leaders point to this as proof that their doctrine is scriptural and that their unbiblical model of male governance “works.” Looking below the surface, it is often found that in practice, happy couples who give lip service to complementarianism actually live egalitarian lives. Others, such as in the case of [the late] Elisabeth Elliot, hide the authoritarianism and unhappiness in their marriages. Elliot was a life-long champion of male governance. Her marriages were all based on the complementarian model of females submitting to males. In her 1966 book, Let Me be a Woman, Elliot admitted to unhappiness in her marriage but refused to admit the reason for it. She advised her daughter that she should expect to cry for no reason, that women simply cry for “no reason.” I submit to you, that no one cries for no reason.
Thankfully, there are men do not fall for the complementarian siren song of male governance. Ephesians 5:28-33 is not meant for such men. Likewise, it is not meant for women who are married to such men. These wives need not fear their husbands.
Joel 2:17-b
17: Let the priests the ministers of YHWH weep between the porch and the altar and let them say Spare your people YHWH And give not your heritage to reproach that the nations should rule over them
Comments: Joel 2:17-b For centuries, the Jewish
people were scattered among the nations, a people without a country. And now
that they are back in their own land, the Nations continue to attempt rulership
of Israel through the United Nations, which was established
October 24, 1945, three years before Israel, in fulfillment of Bible prophecy, was restored back to their land and became a nation again. It is no secret that many member nations are bitter enemies
of Israel. The United Nations has long been publishing maps that eliminate Israel from the Middle East.
A 2008 CNS News article reported that Israel was missing from a U.N. sponsored map.
A 2014 article in the Jerusalem Post reports that HarperCollins publishing house has omitted Israel from maps in atlases they sell to English-speaking schools in the Middle East,”
A 2017 article reports that textbooks used in UN-run
schools feature maps without Israel http://www.thetower.org/4385-textbooks-used-in-un-west-bank-schools-erased-jewish-history-featured-maps-without-israel.
U.N. (world-wide) attempts to interfere with the sovereignty of
Israel are signs that we are indeed living in the Last Days, and the news articles listed in this post are just the tip of the iceberg, only a few examples of the world-wide antisemitism that will continue to grow and
infect every nation Zechariah 12:2-3. This will
not stop, and the nation of Israel will remain a prophetic hot spot until the
physical, visible, return of Yeshua ha Mashiach, the Messiah, to this earth.