"); msg.document.write("Hinnom A deep, narrow ravine separating Mount Zion from the so-called 'Hill of Evil Counsel.' It took its name from some ancient hero, the son of Hinnom. It is first mentioned in Jos 15:8 It had been the place Where the idolatrous Jews burned their children alive to Moloch and Baal."); msg.document.write("A particular part of the valley was called Tophet, or the 'fire-stove, ' where the children were burned."); msg.document.write(" After the Exile, in order to show their abhorrence of the locality, the Jews made this valley the receptacle of the offal of the city, for the destruction of which a fire was, as is supposed, kept constantly burning there. The Jews associated with this valley these two ideas, that of the sufferings of the victims that had there been sacrificed; and that of filth and corruption."); msg.document.write("It became thus to the popular mind a symbol of the abode of the wicked hereafter. It came to signify hell as the place of the wicked. It might be shown by infinite examples that the Jews expressed hell, or the place of the damned, by this word."); msg.document.write(" The word Gehenna [the Greek contraction of Hinnom] was never used in the time of Yeshua in any other sense than to denote the place of future punishment. About this fact there can be no question. In this sense the word is used eleven times in our Yeshua's discourses Mt 23:33 Lu 12:5 Mt 5:22.

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Yoel

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 is chapter 3 in the bible canon as determined by the church. In this chapter Yahuweh relates via Yoel, some of the aspects of the end times, which precede the 'Olam Shalom', the in Revelation predicted one thousand year of peace.
Verse 1. For pay attention! In the days the they and in time the she, when bringing back the captives Yehudah and Yerushalaim.

What time is here mentioned?: Just, when the captives from Judah and Yerushalaim are returned.
Is this the return from Babylon?: No because the judgement of verse two did not happen.
Is this the return from the Diaspora?: No because Israel is already occupying the land when the armies invade.
The return as foretold in Ezekiel 39:25-29 is an ongoing return, started at some time and it will be finished at the final restoration but we cannot use this to pinpoint a particular time event.: It is the return after the attack on Yerushalaim!

In Zechariah 14: 2 we read that the city is captured and half of the city is exiled. Zechariah mentions specifically Yehudah and Yerushalaim while Ezekiel mentions the house of Jacob, which is the whole undivided house of Israel. The time frame can thus be determined as being after the return of Yahuweh as the Moshiya, the deliverer and the other events, foretold in the previous chapter.
Verse 2 Then I gather together all the nations and bring them down to valley Yehoshaphat then I enter in to judgement with them there, concerning my people and my property Yisrael. Whom they did scatter at nations and my land they did divide. Looking at the behaviour of the nations at present, it appears that the governments do not read the Bible or take Yahuweh serious.
However, the time will come that they have to answer. Although we can point a wagging finger at England who was the last nation that divided Yahuweh's land and giving it to others and prevented the Jews from returning, all the present nations are equally guilty either by being active against Israel or by being passive and not supporting Yahuweh's claim on the land. Yahuweh is very clear and straightforward about it. Israel is His people and His property. First He is going to make this forcefully clear to the nation Israel and when it has penetrated their common consciousness, then the nations also shall have realised this but to late and they shall be judged.

Yehoshapat means Yahuweh shall judge. Many speculations have been made about the exact location, but there is no direct evidence in the Tanakh, which would enable us to pinpoint it. Some people have suggested that it might be the valley of hinom. However reading Ezekiel's and Zechariah's prophesies, we can conclude that the Hinom valley at that time shall have disappeared.
Verse 3.

And for my people they throw lots and they set up the boy for harlot and the girl they sell for wine then they are drinking. This could be referring to the ill treatment of the Jews over the ages, but it could also refer to the deeds of the invading armies on their way to Yerushalaim.

In the next verses Yahuweh, via Yoel, switches back to the nations in the time of Yoel and warns them, but it seems more to apply to the future dwellers of the regions mentioned.
Verse 4.

And what are you to me tzor and tziydon and all districts pelashet, the dealings with them, carrying out on me and if dealings with them (are) to me, swift in haste returning your dealings at your head. Yahuweh is speaking to the nations directly north of Israel by addressing Tyre and Sidon. Most translations render 'and regions of Palestine.' However there is another translation possible that fits better in the context.
The Hebrew word used, 'Pelashet' originally meant 'invaders.'

From Egyptian monuments we learn that in the time of Raamses III, around 1195-1164 BCE, people from Crete invaded the land and were repulsed by the Egyptians but a remnant settled along the coast destroying the people who lived there, see Deut. 2:23. There was not an ethnic race called pelashet (philistines) they were captoriym from Captor (Crete). However, they were called pelashet because they were invaders. Amos 9:7 could be translated as: 'and the invaders from Captor.'

Like many words in any language, the use of this word also changed People did not know anymore that the word meant invaders but started to associate it with the people who were actually living in the occupied area.

Now the atrocities mentioned in the next verse we can ascribe to the Romans who at a certain period were invaders in Israel. So the translation could be: 'and all the districts of the invaders.'

As an after thought, is it not justly so that the non-Jewish residents of Israel call themselves Palestine, which means invader and not rightful owner? So who is living in occupied territory? Yahuweh is talking here about what they did to Israel and that which they do to them, they do to Him and therefore He shall not hesitate to revenge those dealings on them. Again, this is a stern warning to the nations of to day. What they do to Israel they do to Yahuweh. The support they withhold from Israel they withhold from Yahuweh. Swift and in haste does not have to mean that it will happen at once after their dealings, it could mean when the retribution comes, it will be done in a flash.
Verse 5. Regarding my silver and my gold, taken them and my pleasant things, the good ones, bringing them to your palaces. Now this could be something the latter day invaders did, but it could be more justly applied to the Roman pelashet (invaders). We must hereby realise that from a biblical point of view the 'Roman empire' is synonymous with what we call 'Western civilisation.'
Verse 6. And sons of Yehudah and sons of Yerushalaim selling them to sons of the yevaniym in order to put them far away from their borders. Here we have another example of direct translation without considering the Hebrew original thought behind it. Yevaniym is usually translated as Greeks. This might be technically correct but it does not bring out the exact meaning of the text.
Javan is the area of the Ionian coast, the location of many important trading towns in the time of Yoel.
With these towns Israel had close commercial ties. Traders therefore were called 'beneey hayvaniym,' which is, 'Sons of the Javan. ' in English.
The exact Hebrew thought behind the text is therefore, 'you sold them to the traders.'
This of course can easily be applied to all the pelashet (invaders), such as the Romans, the Turks, the Crusaders, the British as well as the future invaders. Not forgetting those Europeans who collected money from the Germans by revealing Jewish hiding places. Ten guilders was the going rate in the Netherlands.
Verse 7. Watch me stirring them from the place where they are sold to and I return your dealings on your heads How is revealed in the next verse.
Verse 8. Then I sell your sons and your daughters by the hand of the sons of Yehudah also to sell them to the shabayim to nation outside, because Yahuweh speaks (or promises). Sheba was a mighty south Arabian country in the days of Yoel. Think of the queen of Sheba who visited Solomon. The whole of this word of Yahuweh via Yoel to Israel is mostly in the perfect mood. This is a Hebrew way to vividly illustrate a future happening as if it is happening in the present. In the following verses we have to take special notice of the context. It sounds like Yahuweh is addressing all the nations, the attackers as well as the defenders, but the context seems to indicate the defenders.
Verse 9. Proclaim this at nations, set apart battle, stir up the strong men, approach, come up all men of the battle. Here Yahuweh calls for a special battle. He uses the word kadesh, which usually is translated as 'holy' or sanctified.
However, the Hebrew meaning of the word is, to set apart for a purpose, but the Biblical usage usually indicates, 'to set apart for Yahuweh,' which often is translated as 'sanctified.' This again might indicate that this battle belongs to Yahuweh.
Verse 10. Hammer your ploughshare in to swords, and your pruning knives into spears, the weak say, 'strong I' Yahuweh says make weapons from farming implements and get up courage. This indicates a situation whereby people were not prepared for war. Compare Ezekiel 38:11.
Verse 11. To help, come all nations from around and be gathered there, bring down Yahuweh your strong ones. The context of this verse seems to be a call, from someone involved, to the surrounding nations. It is an invitation to come to the aid of Israel and a suggestion to Yahuweh to bring down His strong men to help the nation. This is a typical Hebrew practice, whereby the one spoken to, Yoel, interjects the speaker, Yahuweh, to accentuate a need for action. Verse 12. Rouse them and them come up, the nations to valley Yehoshaphat because there to sit in order to judge all the nations from around. After this injection, Yahuweh continues to tell all the nations to come up to the valley, the attackers as well as the helpers, because there it will be judged who was for Yahuweh and Israel and who was against them.
Verse 13. Let loose sickle because grown ripe harvest come down because to be full winepress to overflow the wine fats because great their wickedness. The gath is the wine press where the grapes are trodden and the yegeb is the wine vat where the wine pours in from a through in the wine press.
This is a biblical metaphor for the wrath poured out on those that defy Yahuweh. Read Isa.63:1-6; Lam.1:15 and Rev.14:19-20.
This time it is used for the wickedness of the nations that attack Israel and by attacking Israel they are attacking Yahuweh.
Verse 14. Tumults confusions in valley the threshing because near day Yahuweh in valley the threshing. Hamon has several meanings among which are tumult and confusion. The context points to these as most likely translations.
Since it is repeated twice this English rendering comes the closest to what is being expressed in the Hebrew.
Charutz is often translated as decision. However the word is associated with sharp implements and with cutting up. The context therefore warrants the translation threshing.
The day that Yahuweh will do the threshing or cutting up of his adversaries is at hand.
Verse 15. Sun and moon to be dark and stars remove their brightness This is a repetition of a previous occurrence of prophecy in order to connect those prophecies together.
Verse 16. Then Yahuweh from out Tziyon be roaring and from out of Yerushalaim send his voice then shake heaven and earth then Yahuweh refuge to His people and place of safety to sons of Israel. Roaring does not really do much for us, because most of us never heard a lion roar in the night. However the people of Yoel's country and in his time could hear time and again the roaring of lions in the silence of the night and it brought shivers down their spines.
This awful roaring is used as a metaphor for announcing Yahuweh's retribution actions. Read Jeremiah 25:30-31; Hosea 11:10; Amos 1:2; 3:8. When shall this be? When Yahuweh has returned to Yerushalaim on mount Tziyon.
Although Yahuweh utters a dreadful sound that makes people cringe, His people will not be afraid because they find refuge and safety in Yahuweh. Therefore at that time Yerushalaim will be a save place.
Verse 17. Then you know that I Yahuweh your Elohiem reside in Tziyon Mountain set apart for me then shall be Yerushalaim set apart and enemies not cross in her again. Although kodesh usually is translated as holy, this does not really express the Hebrew thought.
Holy in our language is something set on a pedestal above the common people. In Hebrew it depicts something set apart for a purpose and in the tanakh it usually indicates 'set apart by Yahuweh for Yahuweh.'
The Hebrew word zuwr is usually translated stranger. However in this context it is in the participle mood and should be translated as enemy.
Verse 18. Then it shall be in days the him be dripping the mountains sweet wine and the hills carrying abundance and all channels of Yehudah carrying water and spring from out beyth Yahuweh go out and irrigate wadi the shittiym. This points to the days after the foregoing events when Yerushalaim and Israel shall be restored.

Apparently there was a dried up wadi (river bed) called the Shittiym, meaning the acacias, in the days of Yoel and the irrigation channels in Yehudah were probably dry to. Therefore, to the people of the day this was a real sign of coming prosperity.

To see where the water from the temple went to, we must turn to Ezekiel 47:1-12.
That this is not some allegory for the Holy Spirit as some Christian theologians teach, but a real river, can be clearly deducted from these scriptures.
Verse 19.

Egypt to desolation shall be and Edom to wilderness desolation shall be because of injustice sons of Yehudah because they shed blood innocent in their land. Looking at the anti-Israel attitude of Egypt, this does not come as a surprise to us.
Edom is now, the by Great Britton established kingdom of Jordan and their occupation at one stage of most of Yerushalaim must already have invoked Yahuweh's wrath.
Verse 20. Then Yehudah forever remain (inhabited) and Yerushalaim from generation to generation. In verse 16 it mentions all the sons Israel but here it mentions only Yehudah and Yerushalaim. This is not because only the tribes of Yehudah and Benjamin are involved, because according to the Tanakh at that time all the tribes shall be gathered there.
However, during the end time battle, all Israel will be invaded but the resistance of Israel shall begin when they are coming into Yehudah and when they start the attack on Yerushalaim. When they almost have captured Yerushalaim then Yahuweh shall come and take up the battle, compare Zech.14.

That not only Yehudah and Yerushalaim are the promised land for Israel, but a much greater part, we can learn from Ezekiel 47:13-23 and the next chapter in Ezekiel shows the division among the tribes.
Verse 21.

Then I hold innocent their blood I not held innocent then Yahuweh resides in Tziyon. This short closing verse of Yoel holds a whole gospel, a marvelous message.

First of all, blood is associated with life or the soul and the blood carries the guilt of a living being.
This is brought forward in Leviticus 17:11; Psalm 51:14 and in Ezek.9:9 Israel is condemned and the blood in this verse is not literal blood but the blood is the iniquity, compare Levit. 20:9-16
Pay attention to verse 13, because most Churches have deleted this verse from Yahuweh's Torah.
Yahuweh did not hold the blood of Israel innocent. But Yahuweh shall be graceful to Israel see Ezekiel 16:9; Isaiah 4:4.
Psalm 72:14 tells us that they shall be precious in His sight. Their blood shall then be held to be innocent.

Have a look at the often misquoted and misused text of Jeremiah 31, which is about the New Covenant, which shall come in to force at the time when this last verse of Yoel shall be reality.
Read the last lines of Jer.31:34

Because to forgive their iniquity and about their sins not remember again so says Yahuweh. Now before Yahuweh's coming to Yerushalaim as predicted via Yoel, Zechariah and others, Yahuweh did not forgive Israel's iniquity and He did remember their sins.
How could the Church claim that this new covenant was theirs and that it had already come?
Our text is clear, it shall come when Yahuweh resides in Tziyon.

Via Yoel, Yahuweh has given the nations a warning and Israel a promise.

Unfortunately all of the nation's leaders and most of Israel do not bother to read this warning or are blind and deaf to it. If they were not, this prophecy would not come to pass. To us who are not deaf and blind to it, it is a comfort. From it we know that Yahuweh is in control and that the ultimate goal of Yahuweh, to have people willingly follow Him, shall be reached and that peace and blessings shall abound.

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