These words were spoken in a time of deep depression. Joel says the sadness and gloom were mainly due to the indecision of the people, who did not know whether to trust foreign alliances or Jehovah. So they would have to be led into a valley of judgment, from which they would not emerge until they had come to a decision. In our day much of the prevailing darkness is due to indecision. We feel that things are wrong, but we are not exactly sure what is required to set them right.
I. In regard to what we believe. There is peculiar difficulty in this generation, owing to the methods of modern inquiry and discussion. This is an age of specialism. Each branch of theology has its own special students. Each presses his own conclusions to the furthest limit. It is our duty to look for ourselves at the general lines of revealed truth, and to measure our relation to them. We must come to a decision with regard to Jesus Christ. Certainly--
1. Christ was the revealer of God.
2. He was the remover of barriers.
3. The guidance He gave us for our actual conduct was authentic.
These three simple truths can be isolated from all disputed doctrines, and used as a test. The man who sincerely accepts these truths has found his way out of the valley of decision.
II. In regard to what we do. We can test ourselves by our conduct in business, in the family, in general society. There are various plain questions which we ask ourselves too rarely, although we all in the long run shall require to answer them. Do we always do our duty, or only when it suits our plans? Has our life any principle, any plan? We know the road in which we ought to wall are we walking in it? Do we always follow conscience? God often thrusts us into the darkest caves of the valley in order that we may learn our need for giving a plain answer to these questions. In the valley of decision you are bound to fix your faith in God and Christ, and to take the path of goodness. (A. R. MacEwen, M. A. , B. D.)
The valley of decision
There is something very wonderful, and very awe-inspiring in the thought of the multitudinous, the immeasurable multitudinousness, of created things. Infinite space is thronged with multitudes of worlds, and every world with multitudes of things. When we think Of the race of mankind, how vast and inconceivable are the multitudes of men. Each individual that has ever lived exists somewhere. Once born, they can never die. Yet these vast hosts lie easily enough within the reckoning of God. Known unto Him are the history and the character, the temptations and the opportunities, of every single individual of the vast whole of the human race, both quick arid dead. One by one each will personally appear before the personal God in the valley of decision. Where is this valley? Tradition identifies as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But the wady of the Kedron cannot properly be called a valley. Joel invented the name for “Jehovah’s judgment.” Christ never localised the seat of judgment, any more than He announced, the time of judgment. But what is judgment? It is not Christ our judge who decides the bliss of the blessed or the curse of the accursed.’ The blessed are deciding their own blessedness when they cultivate holiness of character, and the cursed are deciding their own doom when they are forgetting God and living in sin. The valley of decision is the valley which each man treads in the road of life. It is here and now. Divine decision, or final judgment, is no swift, sudden, arbitrary act of God’s; but a long, slow process performed by ourselves. In the valley of decision there is no standing still. (Canon Diggle.)
The valley of decision
A sense of ultimate personal responsibility is inseparable from the mind of man. There is a consciousness within him, which announces the existence of a God who judgeth in the earth, and warns him that the great object of his life must be to prepare to meet Him in a final account. In the text is a striking exhibition of this final judgment of man, the great day of his account with God. The “valley of Jehoshaphat” means the “valley of the judgment of the Lord.” The time and manner are His own appointment. In its practical application to man the day of final judgment makes no change in his real character. It simply proclaims that which was before the fact. It declares the sentence which has long been determined. Man’s real time of probation is in the present life. Here is the valley of decision.
I. What may be understood as the valley of decision for man. It is the whole life of man upon the earth. There is actually but a single question pro posed from God to man. As a wandering, rebellious creature, he is invited and commanded, to come back in the spirit and act of reconciliation unto God. Will he lay hold of the hope set before him? This is the great question of human life, and it is generally determined by man long before the last hours of his life have come. Many have settled this question for themselves, and so have passed out of the valley of decision. Others have decided, but have chosen death rather than life. These, too, have passed out of the valley of decision. We cannot therefore justly say that all men, now alive, are in the valley of decision. We must narrow down our view to those for whom the great question remains undecided.
II. The greater portion of those to whom the offers of eternal life are made are undecided. The great majority who listen to the Gospel are still in the valley of decision. A blessing and a curse are yet before them.
III. The great decision must speedily be made. “The day of the Lord is near.” By that day we understand the time of final determination of the destiny of the children of men. Soon for every man, this day must certainly come at the period of death. Then this is the accepted time, and this is the day of your salvation. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Turning-points in life
It has been well said that in every life there is a turning-point, as in a fever, a turning point that brings either life or death. Napoleon said, “In every battle there are ten minutes on which hangs the fate of nations.” Hundreds of soul battles are fought and won in a few minutes. Unspeakably solemn axe the silence and the quickness with which these spiritual battles are fought. (Old Testament Anecdotes.)
Decision
There is a fascination, even a terror, in the appearance of a great multitude. Where is the valley of decision? First of all, here in this world. The world all unconsciously to its teeming myriads is a valley of decision in which they gather together to certain ends and work out certain definite issues. What is being decided in this valley?
1. Character. That strange stamp which gives to each one of us his own individuality, that personality which spreads itself over our likes and dislikes, that stamp whereby men can label us and catalogue us, and yet feel at the end that we elude classification. Circumstances are the material of life, good or bad. It is we who take up our circumstances, and out of them make habits, and habits decide or form our character in this valley of decision which we call human life.
2. Our own happiness or misery. Life was meant to be happy. But this is placed in our own hands for decision.
3. Eternity. The great decision is not, after all, the sudden thing we suppose it to be, except in very rare cases. Here in this world a decision may be altered, it may not be final. The prophet looks on to a day when the decision will be final; it is the great day of judgment at the end of the world. Is this a belief which is still a living and a practical one to you? Then judge yourselves that you may not be, in that day, judged of the Lord. (Canon Newbolt.)
Armageddon
Thematters between two armies are going to be finally decided: therefore the valley is called, “the valley of decision.” This place is to-night a valley of decision. See some of the things you have to decide.
1. Whether you will adhere to sin or renounce it. Not your pleasures, but your positive sins. You cannot become a child of God and adhere to any one of your transgressions. Will it pay you to keep your sin? Sin never pays.
2. Whether you will have Christ or refuse Him. There is no pardon or heaven without the friendship of Christ. And He is such a precious Jesus.
3. Whether you will have Christian associations or unchristian. Need not apologise for everything that is in the Church. There is some bad and much good in the Church. The fact that there are inconsistent Christians is nothing against Christianity, and nothing against the Church. Come, then, into the ranks of Church members.
4. Whether you will have a Christian deathbed or an unbeliever’s departure. There is a triumphant and there is an ignominious way of getting out of this life, and we come here to choose which it shall be.
5. Whether yours shall be a future world of sorrow or a future world of joy. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Reason for decision
What is here called “the valley of decision” (i.e., of sharp judgment)
, is called in verse 12 “the valley of Jehoshaphat” (God judgeth). This was locally the valley of Kedron; the later associations of this valley (Gethsemane was there) figuratively present a great spiritual crisis. The prophets show themselves to be taught of God in the breadth and extent of their visions. While speaking to their own nation only, they announce God’s dealings with all the world. They look forward into the distant future--to the end of time. From time to time God specially interferes, either to enlighten and encourage His own when the adversary is too strong for them; or to overthrow those who are opposing His “will.” The final interference is what is called “the day of the Lord.” In this chapter is a vision, of the final judgment of mankind, and of that which is to precede it.
1. The wickedness of the earth is full.
2. Drawn by a mighty influence, the enemies of God, to a place whither He has summoned them.
3. The powers of nature sink and fade before the presence of the glory of God.
4. But the Lord is the strength and hope of His own people. Note--
(1) The great issues of good and evil which are working out in the world.
(2) Contemplate the predicted end, the final victory of Christ and His people.
(3) Decide on which side we take part in the conflict. (S. J. Hulme, M. A.)
The valley of decision
There is a day coming when all the uncertainties of life will be at an end, when every mask will drop off, when every hidden thing will be exposed to view, and the secrets of every life will be told. The prophet is here looking forward to an occasion of judgment, and every occasion of judgment must of necessity be an occasion of decision. But the work of judgment is by no means confined to the future. Wherever the Gospel message goes, wherever the truth of God is revealed to the understanding of man, there the work of judgment necessarily commences. Our Lord taught that it was in virtue of the relation in which men stood to the Son of Man that their position before God was to be decided. So it is still. The presence of Christ in His Spirit among us still must needs cause judgment. The first work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The word “convict” is a judicial term. It may be said of redemption itself, that the Divine mercy is ordained to flow into the human heart through judgment. Unconditioned mercy--mercy that does not come to me through the forms of judgment, and with the sanction of justice--might have a demoralising effect upon me. Ours is a Gospel of merely flowing through judgment. So then, not only does the Holy Ghost judge us when He first brings our sins to remembrance and pronounces us guilty, but in the very act of justifying us He still exhibits, in the most impressive manner, God’s righteous judgment against sin; for it is through the Cross that grace flows forth to us, and the Cross is, above everything else, the place of judgment--the most amazing and impressive vindication that God could give of the majesty of law. We may say that every day of visitation from God to the soul of man is in some sense a lesser judgment day. On the last august occasion, the decision will lie simply and solely with the Judge. There will be no appealing from His judgment. Now, the decision lies with ourselves. It is the work of God the Holy Spirit to bring all with whom He strives, into the valley of decision, the place of judgment. There are two ways out of this valley. Through the gate of life and through the gate of death. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
The valley of judgment
Note the vast appearance that shall be in that great and solemn day.
1. The judgment day, that day of the Lord, has all along been looked upon, and spoken of, as “nigh at hand.” We ought to be always ready for it.
2. The day of judgment will be a day of decision, when every man’s eternal state will be determined, and the controversy that has been long depending between the kingdom of Christ and that of Satan shall he finally decided, and an end put to the struggle. The Chaldee calls it, “the valley of the distribution of judgment.” Marg. has “valley of threshing,” carrying on the figure of the harvest.
3. Innumerable multitudes will be gathered together to receive their final doom in that day. O what vast multitudes of sinners will Divine justice be glorified in the ruin of at that day! (Matthew Henry.)
The valley of decision
(Sermon to Children):--The text struck me when I was a lad. Children have a strange way of mixing up things, and I came to think of these words as in some way connected with a place near my native town. Away out on those wild cliffs, with the fierce Atlantic rolling in upon them, there is a valley which came to be in my mind a sort of “valley of decision.”
I. The valley of decision is a place for sober thought. There is the little stream hurrying on between the banks, always hastening away to the great sea. Is not that just like our life? It is hurrying away to the great sea of eternity.
II. A place of solemn warning. Just under this little valley a merry party had come one day for a picnic. One young man slipped away to bathe. Suddenly, as the others sat singing on the rocks, one sprang up and pointed to their friend as he was being borne away by the current. He was drowning before their eyes. What is death but the sweeping in of the waves of eternity, bearing away one and another T Think of these things deeply and seriously.
III. The place suggested our danger and our deliverance. There was a huge, black, rounded cavern, called Ralph’s Cupboard, in a steep, precipitous cliff, never accessible from the land, and scarcely ever to be entered from the sea. A smuggler, hard pressed by the coastguards, turned his boat towards this cave, caught the swelling wave, and was swept into what seemed the jaws of destruction, but to him was harbour of safety. We, too, have broken the law. We want a refuge. And the Bible says, “A man shall be as an hiding-place.” Our only Safety is in Him, our only hope of escape is there. Yet all this will not make a place the valley of decision. When we have made up our mind, the day of the Lord is near. (Mark Guy Pearse.)
Multitudes
Joel was a prophet in the older sense. He was a seer; he had visions. He had, indeed, a work to do for his own generation; but this was all to be impressed by the solemnity of the visions given to him. One of these visions we follow. In Eastern houses there is often a little upper chamber, available for prayer and meditation, and we may imagine Joel, in such a place, poring over the records of Divine law and Divine leadings, and bending in earnest supplication before his God. As he thinks and prays the daylight fades; gradually he becomes absorbed; other scenes open up before him; he sees more than the bodily eye can see; age after age passes in hurried march; dimly, indistinctly, he traces the progress of events as these ages roll on; and gradually he becomes aware of an extraordinary excitement. As the vision clears it is as though heaven were preparing for some grand event; the angelic warriors are girding on their armour, though evidently rather for a day of glory than a day of battle. The angelic attendants are preparing thrones of judgment, palms of victory, robes of beauty, crowns of glory, songs of triumph; and, strangely enough, also chains of darkness and of woe. Hell is moved. Out of its depths spirit after spirit is appearing to join the procession that is ever forming and passing on. The sea is moved, and casts out the dead that are in her. And even as the prophet watches, he sees the last midnight darkness pass away; gradually the grey of dawn streaks the skies, and at the moment when the sun first looks upon the hills, a mighty angel stands forth and cries--“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” The “day of the Lord” is yet to come. The day of the Lord’s glory, when the multitude of the redeemed shall crown Him with many crowns. The day of the Lord’s vindication, when He shall break down the rebellion of lost souls with the proofs of His forbearance, and the memory of His repeated calls. The day when the “wrath of the Lamb” must be revealed, and He shall come” in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of His Sort.” There must be an end of this dispensation of redemption. There must be a completion of Christ’s special administration. There must be the “day of the Lord.” As Joel’s vision gains distinctness, his attention is arrested by the people assembled on that day. Language fails him in attempting a description. All around, wherever the eye can reach, he sees people, people everywhere; and overwhelmed, he can only cry,--“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!” Few things make stronger impressions on us than the sight of a multitude of people. Many of the greatest wrongs the world has known have been committed under the passionate, unreasoning impulses of multitudes. Many of the most impressive Bible narratives concern multitudes. But if a multitude on earth can exert such power on us, what shall be the effect of multitudes to which our present earth-crowds form no comparison; multitudes in the day of the Lord; multitudes in the valley of decision? Numbers altogether fail for recording that multitude. Language altogether fails for describing it. Even imagination, in its highest flights, utterly fails worthily to conceive it. We may venture to contrast in one or two particulars the ordinary crowds of earth, and the multitudes in the valley of decision.
1. In an earthly crowd the individual is lost in the multitude. In that multitude the number is lost in the individual. Each person will stand out distinct to view, as though he alone were placed before the Judge. And each individual will feel as though he were alone. It will be a time of awful self-consciousness.
2. In an earthly crowd there are almost infinite disguises. The people are not in reality what they seem. The dress of the gentleman too often covers the profligate; the lowly look, and humble clothes, often cover the self-righteous hypocrite. The garb of poverty often hides the noble and generous-hearted. In the valley of decision there are no disguises. All disguise drops off at death. Men’s shrouds are pretty much alike; and even they soon rot and perish in the dampness of the grave. Men rise to judgment with no disguises upon them. Stern, unflinching truth shall dispel all mists, all doubts, and set our characters forth clear as in the sunlight. And what are the great distinctions which shall mark these “multitudes”? We notice the utter absence of all merely human distinctions. Riches--nothing. Poverty--nothing. Position--nothing. Fame--nothing. Knowledge--nothing. Character--everything. One test for everybody--righteous or wicked. The Scriptures do not satisfy our questionings concerning the precise terms of the decision at that assize, but they intimate that there will be a more general term, and a more particular one. The general term is thus expressed,--“Condemned already, because they,, believed not on the Son of God.” The particular term is thus expressed,--We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” How these are to fit into each other, it is beyond any human power to explain. But we can see the two separate facts very clearly. Our life, in its minutest acts, has eternal issues. Everything we do, beyond its bearing on our present character, has its bearing on our eternal destiny, because on our eternal character. Our every-day conduct is, in sober reality, raising our mansion of eternal bliss, or preparing the dungeons of the eternal death. And the general test that is to decide in that great day is very simple. It is this--in Christ or out of Christ? The answer to that question settlesall else. And that test may be put now. We shall come out upon that “day of the Lord” as though from a room where we had rested awhile upon a landing-place, from which steps wind upward into a place of beauty and delights; and from which other steps wind downwards into ever-deepening darkness. If out of Christ when you yield up the ghost, then you must be borne downwards, until it can be said of you, “The darkness took them.” If in Christ now, and when the spirit parts with its earthly tabernacle, then, loving angel arms shall entwine you; loving angel songs shall cheer you; loving friends, long lost, shall beckon you; the loving Saviour shall Himself be with you, as you journey up the steps of glory everlasting; the gates of the golden palace shall be flung back for you, and with shouts of triumphant welcome, “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Robert Tuck, B. A.)
A time of judgment
Multitudes in the valley of judgment; multitudes come together that they may be examined, criticised in the light of heaven, judged by the standard eternal and unchangeable. Why not acceptthat as the basis of an appeal to human intelligence and human conscience? There is to be a time of judgment, when the right and the left shall be specifically distinguished; when the bad and the good shall be known one from the other, and separated for ever. Who undertakes this marvellous classification? Blessed be God, not man; thanks be unto heaven, we are to be judged by the Creator, not by the creature. What man could judge his brother? What does man know about his dearest friend? He knows nothing. We live upon appearances. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
