Book of Joel Chapter 3 Vs. 13

The Lord Judges the Nations 

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Joel 3:13

Put ye in... In Joel 3:13-16 we have a reference to the battle of Armageddon and the destruction of the many armies of the nations of the Antichrist, by the Lord, in fulfillment of Isa. 63:1-5; Eze. 38-39; Zec. 14:1-21; Rev. 19:11-21. These verses (Joel 3:12-13) plainly indicate that the judgment mentioned in this chapter will actually take the form of divine warfare against Israel’s enemies. So the event described here is to be equated with Armageddon (cf. Rev. 14:14-20; 16:16; 19:11-21), rather than the judgment of the nations prophesied in Mat. 25:31-46.

Put...

שָׁלַח

šālaḥ

A verb meaning to send forth, to send away; to let go; to put. The word is used to describe God's sending forth or away in a providential manner or purpose (Gen. 45:5; 1Sam. 15:18); even an angel or divine messenger can be sent by God (Gen. 24:7); or of commissioning someone by sending him or her, e.g., Moses (Exo. 3:12; Jdg. 6:14); or Gideon to do a task (cf. Num. 21:6; Deut. 7:20; 2Kgs. 17:13, 17:26). The Lord sends forth His prophets (Jer. 7:25); and His plagues on Egypt (Exo. 9:14). It is used figuratively of the Lord's sending forth arrows (2Sam. 22:15; Psm. 18:14, 15); or is used literally of a person shooting arrows (1Sam. 20:20, in an intensive stem). God sends forth His Word (Isa. 9:8, 7; Isa. 55:11; Zec. 7:12). It can have a strong sense of casting out someone (Lev. 18:24; 20:23; Jer. 28:16). In its intensive stem, it means to set free (Exo. 4:23; 5:2). Referring to an animal, it can mean let loose (Exo. 22:5, 4).

It can have the sense of putting forth or reaching out one's hand (Gen. 37:22; 1Sam. 24:10. 11). It is used in a figurative sense of God's stretching out His hand, His power, against the leaders of Israel (Exo. 24:11). It may take on the idea of sending away, of letting loose (Gen. 28:5; Jdg. 11:38; Psm. 50:19). In its passive sense, it refers to something being sent out (Gen. 44:3; Est. 3:13).

It is found in contexts in which it means to put forth (branches) (Psm. 80:11,12; Jer. 17:8; Eze. 31:5). To put down, to let down, e.g., Jeremiah into a cistern (Jer. 38:6). The phrase to set the city on fire is literally to cast against the city with fire (Jdg. 1:8; 20:48).

In its intensive passive stem, the word is used to describe a woman sent forth or divorced (Isa. 50:1), but it is used in a figurative sense. It has the sense of unrestrained, let loose, in reference to a spoiled child (Prov. 29:15). In its causative stem use, it means to send forth, to cause to go out: famine (Eze. 14:13; Amos 8:11); wild beasts (Lev. 26:22); flies of a plague (Exo. 8:21, 17); an enemy (2Kgs. 15:37).

the sickle, for... The sickle in His hand suggests judgment. And this is supported by the messages of the three angels (Rev. 14:15-20). The sickle in His hand suggests judgment. And this is supported by the messages of the three angels (Rev. 14:15-20).

ye in the sickel...

מַגָּל

maggāl

A feminine noun referring to a sickle. It refers to an instrument for harvesting grain or clearing land (Jer. 50:16; Joel 3:13, 4:13). It is used metaphorically of God's reaping with a sickle among the nations.

An angel called out to Christ to reap, because the harvest of the earth is ripe. The ripeness is in the sense of withered or overripe exēranthē. What follows is judgment as the sickle is swung… over the earth.; Rev. 19:15.

the harvest...

קָצִיר

qāṣiyr

I. A masculine noun indicating a harvest, a reaping. It refers to the time of the year set by God when crops have ripened and are harvested (Gen. 8:22; 30:14, April-June); and to the activity of harvesting itself (2Sam. 21:9). The failure of a harvest was devastating (Gen. 45:6). Certain feasts were centered around times of harvesting (Exo. 23:16).

II. A masculine noun meaning a bough, a branch. It refers to a fresh bough or sprig springing forth from a stump, an indication of life (Job 14:9). It is used figuratively of the wicked whose branch is dead, cut off (Job 18:16); and to the prosperity of Job in his earlier years (Job 29:19). It is used of Israel's prospering (Psm. 80:11 [12), but also to her state of ruin as dry limbs (Isa. 27:11).

for the press... Christ is also described as the One who treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty (cf. Rev. 14:19-20; and cf. Almighty in Rev. 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 16:14; 19:6; 21:22). This scene is a dramatic indication of the awfulness of the impending judgment. Mat. 24:30 indicates that those on earth will be witnesses of this impressive scene.

The first command (Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe) probably compares judgment to harvesting grain (cf. Isa. 17:5; Rev. 14:15). The second (Come, trample the grapes) compares the annihilation of the enemies to treading grapes in a winepress (cf. Isa. 63:1-6; Rev. 14:18-20). The underlying reason for the nations’ demise is that their wickedness is great.

the press...

גַּת

gaṯ

A feminine noun denoting a winepress. It refers to the upper trough or basin where grapes are pressed out, usually by treading on them (Neh. 13:15). God's harsh judgments against Jerusalem were like the city's being trodden in a winepress (Lam. 1:15) because Israel had filled the winepress with her evil deeds (Joel 3:13, 4:13). The Lord is pictured as the treader of grapes pressing out His people in judgment (Isa. 63:2). Wheat and other grains were also beaten out in this press (Jdg. 6:11).

their wickedness...

רַע

ra‛, רָעָה

rā‛āh

An adjective meaning bad, evil. The basic meaning of this word displays ten or more various shades of the meaning of evil according to its contextual usage. It means bad in a moral and ethical sense and is used to describe, along with good, the entire spectrum of good and evil; hence, it depicts evil in an absolute, negative sense, as when it describes the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9; 3:5, 3:22). It was necessary for a wise king to be able to discern the evil or the good in the actions of his people (Ecc. 12:14); men and women are characterized as evil (1Sam. 30:22; Est. 7:6; Jer. 2:33). The human heart is evil all day long (Gen. 6:5) from childhood (Gen. 8:21); yet the people of God are to purge evil from among them (Deut. 17:7). The Lord is the final arbiter of whether something was good or evil; if something was evil in the eyes of the Lord, there is no further court of appeals (Deut. 9:18; 1Kgs. 14:22). The day of the Lord's judgment is called an evil day, a day of reckoning and condemnation (Amos 6:3). Jacob would have undergone grave evil (i.e., pain, misery, and ultimate disaster) if he had lost Benjamin (Gen. 44:34). The word can refer to circumstances as evil, as when the Israelite foremen were placed in a grave situation (Exo. 5:19; 2Kgs. 14:10).

The word takes on the aspect of something disagreeable, unwholesome, or harmful. Jacob evaluated his life as evil and destructive (Gen. 47:9; Num. 20:5); and the Israelites considered the wilderness as a threatening, terrifying place. The Canaanite women were evil in the eyes of Isaac (i.e., displeasing [Gen. 28:8]). The rabble's cry within Israel for meat was displeasing in the eyes of Moses (Num. 11:10). This word describes the vicious animal that killed Joseph, so Jacob thought (Gen. 37:33). The despondent countenances of persons can be described by this word; the baker's and the butler's faces were downcast because of their dreams (Gen. 40:7). It can also describe one who is heavy in heart (Prov. 25:20).

In a literal sense, the word depicts something that is of poor quality or even ugly in appearance. The weak, lean cows of Pharaoh's dream were decrepit, ugly-looking (Gen. 41:3, 41:20, 41:27); poisonous drinking water was described as bad (2Kgs. 2:19; 4:41). From these observations, it is clear that the word can be used to attribute a negative aspect to nearly anything.

Used as a noun, the word indicates realities that are inherently evil, wicked, or bad; the psalmist feared no evil (Psm. 23:4). The noun also depicts people of wickedness, that is, wicked people. Aaron characterized the people of Israel as inherently wicked in order to clear himself (Exo. 32:22). Calamities, failures, and miseries are all connotations of this word when it is used as a noun.

is great...

רַב

raḇ

I. An adjective meaning many, much, great, long, mighty. The word indicates much, many, abundance, numerous; it indicates much in amount, e.g., gold (1Kgs. 10:2); silver (2Kgs. 12:10, 11); wine (Est. 1:7); etc. It indicates a large number people (Gen. 50:20; Exo. 5:5; Jdg. 8:30); a long time, many days (Gen. 21:34; 37:34). It indicates an abundance of some things: blessings (Prov. 28:20); straw (Gen. 24:25). It is used with min (H4480), from, than, following to indicate more . . . than (Exo. 1:9; Num. 22:15). Used as an adverb, it indicates much, exceedingly (Psm. 123:3); greatly, seriously (Psm. 62:2, 3). It modifies and defines space at times, a long distance (1Sam. 26:13); the depth of the sea or the deep itself (Gen. 7:11; Amos 7:4). It indicates something greater than something else (Deut. 7:1, 7:17; 9:14). The phrase wayyēleḵ hālôḵ wārāḇ, indicates in context, the sound became louder and louder, greater and greater (1Sam. 14:19). Followed by min (H4480), it may mean enough of . . . (Exo. 9:28). The phrase raḇ lāḵem min- means, too much for one to . . . (in context, to go up to Jerusalem; 1Kgs. 12:28).

II. An adjective meaning chief, captain, high official. It indicates that someone or something is of great importance. It indicates the leader, the chief of a group (2Kgs. 18:17; 25:8); the chief officer, head of the royal guard respectively (cf. Dan. 1:3). It indicates the captain of a ship (Jon. 1:6, raḇ haḥoḇēl). In the plural, it indicates the leading officers or officials (Jer. 39:13; 41:1).