The Valley of Decision

Joel is termed one of the “minor Old Testament prophets.”  But for a prophet with only 3 chapters, he carries some momentous words!

The valley of Jehoshaphat (or Kidron) is the place where God promises to gather the nations and at the same time for Judah and Jerusalem, he will bring them from the captivity of the nations (Joel 3:1).    This valley is called “the valley of decision.”

                “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14)

The Lord (God) invites all nations to assemble:

                “Proclaim ye among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all men of war draw near; let them come up:  beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears:  Let the weak say I am strong.

                Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about:  thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.  Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:  for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

                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 3:6-13 KJV)

The valley of Kidron is located between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives.  The Mount of Olives is the place where Jesus prayed before the crucifixion, before he was betrayed. 

Jerusalem is the capital of the nation of Judah, which was founded by King David and means “the city of peace.” (Hebrew = Shalom, and Arabic – Sal am).  Today Jerusalem is claimed as at least one of their religious (or holy) sites for three of the world’s religions, Jewish, Christian and Moslem.  The Jews claim this as the “city of David, praying daily on the old Jerusalem temple wall.”  Christians claim this as the place where Jesus was crucified, died and was buried before his resurrection to life.  Moslem s claim this as the place where Mohamed ascended from the area Dome of the Rock and had visions of heaven.  So truly, even today this is an international city.

It is no wonder that the nations are drawn to Jerusalem.  Three major world religious hold this place as sacred to their faith.

This passage in Joel, chapter 3, describes God summoning the nations to come to “the valley of decision,” apparently for judgement and for the separation of “the heathen” from “the Jewish people” as God’s chosen nation.  But all three faith traditions have now interpreted their role in the traditions surrounding Jerusalem in a way that each faith is “chosen by God.”  All three claim the common father, Abraham.  For the Jewish people, they trace their direct lineage through David to Abraham.  Mohamed says he is a descendant from Abraham through Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham.  Isaac, however, was the “heir of the promise from God,” so his status is elevated over Ishmael.  The Christians claim they are Abraham’s children, by faith, as the Apostle Paul elaborates in the Epistle of Romans, chapters 9-11.  Christians see themselves as the heirs of the promises of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah who being descended from Abraham and David is also the Son of God!

It is easy to see why Jerusalem, while called the “city of peace” is a source of contention for all nations.  In our day, we add the Palestinians who being mostly Islam, who also claim Jerusalem as their capital city.

The Chinese, who are neither mostly Christian, Islamic or Jewish have recently involved themselves in helping to reconcile the two parts of Palestine, Fatah (West Bank) and Hamas (Gaza).  China is positioning itself as the friend of the Palestinians so that it can be an international player to help the Palestinians obtain their long hope for Palestinian state as is gradually being recognized by the United Nations.  The secular nation of Israel has oppressed the Palestinians in the hopes they will finally leave their land and cede this to the current state of Israel.  It is unlikely this will ever occur as an estimated 4.43 million Palestinians are in the state of Palestine in 2024, with 1.7 million living in the Gaza strip and 2.8 million in the West Bank.  Some 1.5 million Palestinians live as refugees.

Approximately 9 million persons live in the State of Israel, including many Arabs.  Depending on how this population is counted about 2 million are Arabs.  Some Arabs are citizens of Israel, and some are not.  It is difficult to obtain precise numbers as some demographic counts include the Palestinians and Arabs, but some do not.  The population of the Palestinians and Arabs are growing, the population of Israel, not so much.  It is easy to see with all these competing concerns for this part of the Middle East, the area is a powder keg waiting to explode.

The former enemies of Israel in the time of David were in Phoenicia, with the cities of Tyre and Sidon.  These ancient cities are now in Lebanon.  Lebanon borders northern Israel and hosts Hezbollah (friends of Iran). Periodically, we hear of skirmishes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in Lebanon.  If Iran chose to become more involved in Lebanon, this could become the catalyst for a regional Middle Eastern war.  Without the support of the United States and Europe for the nation state of Israel (since 1947-48), it is questionable that Israel would be able to stand against international condemnation and isolation.  Currently it still enjoys a “most favored position” in the United States and Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the U.S Congress today.  But Netanyahu is putting a great strain on this relationship with Europe and the United States, with his indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza, in his attempt to eradicate Hamas.  By news reports today, there may be a chance for an historic agreement for a 6 week pause to the war in Gaza and for normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia, leading eventually to a two- state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people.  At 4:02PM on 7/24/2024, it remains to be seen what will happen.

We can all pray and hope for something better than the current conflict in Gaza.  The Palestinian people deserve better.  Israel the nation deserves better.  The whole world deserves better.  Jerusalem could be a true international city of peace for all nations.  Or it could become the center of a regional war involving many nations.  It is an important time for all.  The whole world is truly entering  this valley of Kidron (or Jehoshaphat) , “the valley of decision.”

Rev. Bill Wilson, M.D.