Joel Wrap Up: Bible Study by Atheists

[00:00:00] Welcome to Sacrilegious Discourse.

[00:00:01] For this is what the Sovereign Lord says!

[00:00:04] Why do you need prophets to tell people who you are and what you want?

[00:00:07] If you can justify everything that the God of the Bible has done, then you can justify any of your behavior.

[00:00:14] A lot of this mentality is trickling into what is now mainstream right-wing Christianity.

[00:00:20] I am capable of empathy greater than this God of the Bible.

[00:00:26] This is a Bible that they tell kids.

[00:00:29] This is the good Lord. This is the good book.

[00:00:32] He is fantasizing about murder. Mass murder.

[00:00:37] Head over to SacrilegiousDiscourse.com right now to find out how to leave us a review or support us on Patreon.

[00:00:48] Wife!

[00:00:49] Do you know what the hell we're doing today?

[00:00:52] Well, we are a little late getting this out first of all.

[00:00:56] I just want to recognize that fact because we suck.

[00:01:00] Well, in life.

[00:01:02] Yeah, in life.

[00:01:02] Things happen.

[00:01:03] Right, right.

[00:01:05] But we had a really short book of the Bible and so today I believe we're finishing up the book of Joel.

[00:01:12] Oh, I would have called it the book of Jeff or the book of Billy Joel.

[00:01:17] But you would have been wrong.

[00:01:18] Or Joel Osment.

[00:01:21] Haley Joel Osment.

[00:01:22] I have no idea what you're talking about there.

[00:01:23] He's the kid from The Sixth Sense.

[00:01:26] Oh, okay.

[00:01:26] Yeah, you should say wife is going to say pop reference and husband is going to go, what the fuck are you talking about?

[00:01:33] That's pretty much the general MO for any pop culture reference.

[00:01:37] Right, right.

[00:01:38] That's true.

[00:01:39] That is true.

[00:01:40] So we're doing our wrap up today then?

[00:01:42] Yeah, and it's got a little bit of Q&A because there were only three chapters.

[00:01:46] We didn't have a Q&A.

[00:01:48] So that's why you don't get the full jingle.

[00:01:50] Got it.

[00:01:51] It was just a half jingle.

[00:01:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:01:52] Got it.

[00:01:52] Okay, all right.

[00:01:53] And plus, we're not doing this on a Saturday.

[00:01:55] See?

[00:01:55] So there's that too.

[00:01:56] Right.

[00:01:57] Yeah.

[00:01:57] All right.

[00:01:58] Are you ready to get into the wrap up then?

[00:01:59] Sure as fuck am.

[00:02:00] Let's do this.

[00:02:01] Okie dokie.

[00:02:08] Okay, so we are doing a wrap up over the book of Billy Joel.

[00:02:15] What?

[00:02:16] Well, we didn't start the fire.

[00:02:18] No.

[00:02:20] Joel.

[00:02:20] The book of Joel.

[00:02:21] The book of Joel.

[00:02:22] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:02:22] Not Billy.

[00:02:23] Right.

[00:02:23] Yeah.

[00:02:24] Okay.

[00:02:24] So do you remember when we were like, when was it written?

[00:02:28] Uh-uh.

[00:02:29] Probably early on.

[00:02:30] Uh-uh.

[00:02:31] Right, yeah.

[00:02:32] Well, and more than that, it felt like each book might have been written at a different

[00:02:36] time frame.

[00:02:36] Which is very likely.

[00:02:37] Right.

[00:02:38] That makes you feel better because it definitely felt that way.

[00:02:42] Yeah.

[00:02:42] Yeah.

[00:02:42] I mean, we kind of knew that going in because that was in our intro.

[00:02:46] Sure.

[00:02:46] Yeah.

[00:02:46] We had talked about how probably if there was an original Joel, that first book was probably

[00:02:52] that one and then other people added to it.

[00:02:54] Right.

[00:02:54] Exactly.

[00:02:55] Yeah.

[00:02:56] There are a bunch of different theories that I thought I would present a few of.

[00:03:00] I'm sure there are.

[00:03:01] Yeah.

[00:03:01] Would you like to hear some of them?

[00:03:02] I'm so excited to hear this.

[00:03:03] Yes.

[00:03:04] Okay.

[00:03:04] So some historians think that Joel prophesied while the kingdom of Judah subsisted, but

[00:03:09] not long before its subversion, as his words seem to imply that its captivity was approaching.

[00:03:16] This would mean that he lived under Manasseh and before his conversion, which was sometime

[00:03:22] from before 697 to around 660 BCE.

[00:03:27] Okay.

[00:03:28] That seems, I don't know, that seems a little later than I would have expected maybe.

[00:03:32] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:03:33] So that was saying that, so are we thinking, I'm having trouble with timeframes here.

[00:03:38] Is that before the Babylonian invasion or the Assyrian invasion?

[00:03:41] Which one is that?

[00:03:43] Because I thought the, I can't remember which one's which and what timeframes they were.

[00:03:48] So I'm curious.

[00:03:50] You didn't look that up, did you?

[00:03:51] Honestly, no.

[00:03:52] I have the years.

[00:03:53] I don't have like what was happening.

[00:03:55] I'm like looking at wife and she's giving me the blank stare thing.

[00:03:58] Like I don't fucking know.

[00:03:59] No.

[00:04:00] So I'll just ask.

[00:04:01] Okay.

[00:04:02] And you can go on.

[00:04:03] Okay.

[00:04:03] Well, other scholars date the book of Joel even further back, which felt more real.

[00:04:09] Because remember, we thought it sounded like some of the Deuteronomistic peoples were writing it.

[00:04:15] So other scholars date it to around 835 BCE.

[00:04:19] Okay.

[00:04:20] Which I can see that.

[00:04:21] Right?

[00:04:22] That sounds more realistic.

[00:04:23] Yeah.

[00:04:23] This would make Joel a pre-exilic, so pre-exile prophet who served before the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE.

[00:04:34] Uh huh.

[00:04:34] And the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE.

[00:04:38] Okay.

[00:04:39] So that feels more like what we're talking about, you know?

[00:04:43] It would also make Joel one of the earliest prophets.

[00:04:46] Wait, what was it about 586 and 5...

[00:04:48] You weren't listening.

[00:04:49] No, I'm trying to figure out the timeframes on stuff here.

[00:04:53] So I apologize.

[00:04:55] All right.

[00:04:55] Are you listening?

[00:04:55] Yeah.

[00:04:56] So before we do that though, I do want to say that the Assyrian invasion kind of started around like 740 to 732 BCE.

[00:05:04] Mm-hmm.

[00:05:05] And then the Babylonian invasion started in the late 500 BCE.

[00:05:11] So like 597 to 587 type timeframe.

[00:05:13] Mm-hmm.

[00:05:14] Okay.

[00:05:14] So let's go through that one more time.

[00:05:15] All right.

[00:05:16] What were the timeframes and what were they?

[00:05:17] The first one mentioned was living under Manasseh.

[00:05:22] Yeah.

[00:05:23] Sometime from before 697 to around 660 BCE.

[00:05:28] Okay.

[00:05:28] But that didn't feel early enough to me.

[00:05:31] Right, right.

[00:05:31] And then other scholars date the book of Joel even further back to 835 BCE.

[00:05:38] Okay.

[00:05:39] This would make Joel a pre-exile prophet who served before the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE and the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE.

[00:05:50] Okay.

[00:05:50] That sounds more correct.

[00:05:52] Right.

[00:05:53] Because when we were talking about the first chapter, right, we were talking about how he referred to them as Israel still.

[00:05:59] Mm-hmm.

[00:06:00] And there was a lot of, you know, on our part, a little bit of confusion because of how he was referring to things.

[00:06:06] Mm-hmm.

[00:06:06] And that makes more sense.

[00:06:08] And even if you're 100 years out, you're starting to feel the influence of those Assyrians that are going to be coming down on you shortly.

[00:06:15] Yeah.

[00:06:15] Exactly.

[00:06:15] So, you know, it probably, that makes more sense to me.

[00:06:20] Yeah, me too.

[00:06:20] Me too.

[00:06:21] Yeah.

[00:06:21] And they were using the term locusts.

[00:06:23] Yes.

[00:06:24] So, like, I'm sure that that was part of that whole lead up to the Assyrian invasion.

[00:06:27] I am going to talk about the locusts in a bit.

[00:06:29] Okay.

[00:06:29] Because I have some shit to say.

[00:06:31] Okay.

[00:06:32] Okay?

[00:06:32] Yeah.

[00:06:32] All right.

[00:06:33] Five, I'm sorry, 835 BCE was a time of turmoil and transition in Judah at the end of the reign of the queen mother Athaliah and the beginning of the reign of King Joash.

[00:06:46] Hmm.

[00:06:47] Okay.

[00:06:48] Athaliah seized power at the sudden death in battle of her son Ahaziah.

[00:06:53] Okay.

[00:06:53] Who only reigned for one year.

[00:06:55] And that was described in 2 Kings chapter 8 and 2 Chronicles chapter 22.

[00:07:00] I do vaguely remember that.

[00:07:02] But I do, it's interesting that there was a queen of Israel.

[00:07:04] Yeah.

[00:07:05] I don't recall hearing about that, really.

[00:07:07] I vaguely remember that.

[00:07:08] But it was, yeah, it's been a while since we talked about that.

[00:07:10] Well, Athaliah killed all her son's heirs except for one who was hidden in the temple and escaped.

[00:07:16] Oh, I do remember that.

[00:07:17] I do remember that, yeah.

[00:07:17] Okay, okay.

[00:07:18] One year old Joash, who we talked about in 2 Kings.

[00:07:22] Yep.

[00:07:23] Okay.

[00:07:24] Athaliah's six year reign of terror ended in 835 BCE when the high priest Jehoiada overthrew her and set the seven year old Joash on the throne.

[00:07:37] Right.

[00:07:37] And that was described in 2 Kings chapter 11.

[00:07:40] Okay.

[00:07:40] During her six years as queen over Judah, Athaliah reigned wickedly.

[00:07:45] She was the granddaughter of the ungodly King Omri of Israel, making her daughter or niece to Ahab one of Israel's worst kings as described in 2 Kings chapter 8.

[00:07:59] Got it.

[00:07:59] Athaliah, the bitch queen, raised her son Ahaziah to reign in the same wicked pattern of Ahab and even brought in Ahab's counselors to advise him.

[00:08:11] Oh, wow.

[00:08:12] And that was described in 2 Chronicles chapter 22.

[00:08:15] Okay.

[00:08:15] When Ahaziah was killed in battle, Athaliah seized power and set her other sons to do evil, even desecrating the temple and its sacred things.

[00:08:26] Got it.

[00:08:26] We read about that in 2 Chronicles chapter 24.

[00:08:29] Okay.

[00:08:30] Okay.

[00:08:30] It is, if it is accurate to think that Joel prophesied in 835 BCE, then the judgment he described came toward the end of the six year reign of evil under Queen Athaliah.

[00:08:42] Okay.

[00:08:43] So that could, I don't, I'm not opposed.

[00:08:46] Sure.

[00:08:46] You know what I mean?

[00:08:47] Yeah.

[00:08:48] Okay.

[00:08:48] We'll talk a little bit more about some other ideas.

[00:08:51] Right.

[00:08:51] Okay.

[00:08:52] But first, let's talk about those locusts.

[00:08:55] Yeah.

[00:08:56] Okay.

[00:08:56] No, the wording, the way that they say it, intrigues me because of how we've learned that the Assyrians were referred to as locusts.

[00:09:04] Sure.

[00:09:05] Now, Israel has actually experienced locust invasions even in modern history.

[00:09:12] So let's talk about that.

[00:09:13] Yeah.

[00:09:13] One of the most notable recent outbreaks occurred in March of 2013.

[00:09:19] Oh.

[00:09:20] When swarms of locusts from Egypt invaded Israel just before the Passover holiday, the swarms mainly affected the Negev desert and other southern regions of the country causing damage to crops and vegetation.

[00:09:34] So it sounds more like a pass through.

[00:09:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:37] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:38] Shut up.

[00:09:39] Yeah.

[00:09:40] The Israeli government responded with aerial and ground pesticide spraying to control the outbreak and minimize agricultural losses, which would have been just drastic.

[00:09:50] Yeah.

[00:09:51] Yeah.

[00:09:51] And something they wouldn't have been capable of managing back in ancient times.

[00:09:55] So.

[00:09:55] Right.

[00:09:55] So let's go back a little bit further back, though.

[00:09:57] Okay.

[00:09:58] Yeah.

[00:09:58] So this was 2013.

[00:09:59] Another significant locust invasion occurred in the early 1950s during a period when locusts were widespread across the Middle East, including Israel.

[00:10:11] These outbreaks can still happen occasionally, often linked to favorable breeding conditions in nearby regions such as North Africa or the Arabian Peninsula.

[00:10:22] Got it.

[00:10:23] One of the earliest recorded locust plagues in the region occurred in 1915 during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

[00:10:32] And this one apparently is, like, really well known.

[00:10:35] Okay.

[00:10:36] Even though it's the earliest in recorded modern history.

[00:10:39] Right.

[00:10:40] Yeah.

[00:10:40] A massive locust invasion struck the areas of present-day Israel, Palestine, and parts of Lebanon and Syria.

[00:10:48] The swarms caused significant agricultural devastation, destroying crops, fruit trees, and other vegetation.

[00:10:55] The event worsened an already difficult period marked by World War I and a blockade that had led to food shortages in the region.

[00:11:04] So what I'm hearing here is that in modern history, it's happened within three times within 100 years.

[00:11:10] Yeah.

[00:11:11] Right?

[00:11:11] So these things didn't happen often, but they happen enough to be in recent memory.

[00:11:17] Yeah.

[00:11:17] Right?

[00:11:18] Mm-hmm.

[00:11:18] And so I can see how events like this would be tied to a god or lack of belief in that god or whatever.

[00:11:27] Right.

[00:11:27] Right.

[00:11:27] But it makes sense, right?

[00:11:29] Mm-hmm.

[00:11:29] But they're just ecological events.

[00:11:31] Yeah.

[00:11:31] They're natural events that are happening because of conditions that occur.

[00:11:34] But the fact that they only happen every so often makes it seem even more cuckoo beans magical when it does.

[00:11:42] Much like we attribute way too much meaning to, like, solar eclipses and things like that.

[00:11:46] Yeah, like, every time there's an eclipse, the Christians just lose their fucking mind because they didn't see it written on the fucking calendar.

[00:11:52] Oh, my God.

[00:11:53] Do you remember all this last time we had the...

[00:11:55] Yeah.

[00:11:55] I mean, there was, like, it's...

[00:11:56] There's always prophecies of fucking end times, especially if it's happened in the United States.

[00:12:00] Yeah.

[00:12:00] Like, they're all like, world's gonna end.

[00:12:03] Look at these cities it's passing over.

[00:12:05] It's passing over names that mean something.

[00:12:07] Look, man.

[00:12:08] I'm just like...

[00:12:09] And then I'm like, we're still here, guys.

[00:12:11] We're still here.

[00:12:11] Well, not only that, but did you not know that you could look this shit up online?

[00:12:16] Yeah.

[00:12:16] You could look this up online and, like, plan accordingly.

[00:12:17] So, if you're really that scared that the eclipse is gonna get ya...

[00:12:21] Yeah.

[00:12:22] You can actually see when they're coming and, like, build your underground bunker and hide away.

[00:12:27] That's crazy.

[00:12:28] It's almost like science works.

[00:12:30] Right?

[00:12:32] Like, wow, man.

[00:12:35] So, yeah, they're just weird.

[00:12:37] People are.

[00:12:37] They are, yeah.

[00:12:38] Yeah.

[00:12:39] So, the 1915 Locust Plague is very well documented with photographs and first-hand accounts describing

[00:12:46] the thick swarms that darken the sky and stripped the land of greenery.

[00:12:51] Huh.

[00:12:51] I would be interested in some of those photographs, actually.

[00:12:53] So would I.

[00:12:54] Anyway, the infestation lasted several months with multiple waves of locusts causing severe

[00:13:00] food scarcity and economic hardship.

[00:13:02] Because every time the adult ones die...

[00:13:07] Yeah.

[00:13:07] ...the next wave of the ones that they already laid come in because their...

[00:13:12] The cycle is...

[00:13:14] The cycle is so short.

[00:13:16] Got it, yeah.

[00:13:16] That it doesn't take much.

[00:13:18] So it's a real, real fucking problem.

[00:13:19] It is a real problem and it's a real thing.

[00:13:22] So when those people were like, fuck me, the locusts are coming.

[00:13:25] Yeah.

[00:13:25] Like, yeah.

[00:13:26] We think we got it bad with cicadas over here, but no, apparently locusts are just, you know,

[00:13:30] A whole next level shit.

[00:13:31] And ladybugs.

[00:13:33] I never saw so many fucking ladybugs.

[00:13:35] God damn, ladybugs.

[00:13:35] Ladybugs.

[00:13:36] Okay, listen, I moved to Ohio in the year 2000 and I had only ever prior to that seen

[00:13:42] like a couple ladybugs here and there.

[00:13:45] Like I could probably count on both hands in my entire life the number of times I'd seen

[00:13:50] a ladybug in person.

[00:13:51] We lived in a yellow house.

[00:13:53] Do you remember?

[00:13:54] Okay, I'll let you...

[00:13:55] They fucking swarmed.

[00:13:57] Yeah.

[00:13:57] They were like covering the door.

[00:13:59] It was bad.

[00:14:00] Well, I lived in prior to that, prior to me and you, I lived in a house where I went

[00:14:05] out back and this was, this was like in the summer of 2001.

[00:14:10] So this is the first time I'd ever seen such a thing.

[00:14:12] Right.

[00:14:13] We had a tree in our backyard and it was completely covered.

[00:14:18] Like you could not see the wood and this was ladybugs.

[00:14:23] Yeah.

[00:14:23] Harmless.

[00:14:23] But I was like...

[00:14:24] I mean, they'll bite you.

[00:14:26] I mean, some.

[00:14:27] It depends on the species.

[00:14:28] Right.

[00:14:28] Yeah.

[00:14:28] But these were all the red ones.

[00:14:31] I don't know what species they were, but I was kind of freaked the fuck out because

[00:14:35] I'd never seen such a thing.

[00:14:36] It's not about the bug itself.

[00:14:38] The bug looks harmless, right?

[00:14:39] Right.

[00:14:40] No.

[00:14:40] It's the quantity.

[00:14:41] It's the quantity and the realization that they could cover you, smother you, crawl into

[00:14:45] your orifices and you die.

[00:14:47] Yeah.

[00:14:48] Because they're like, there's no way to understand what a whole fuck ton a lot means until you

[00:14:53] see that.

[00:14:54] I don't know that this is absolutely like scientific fact, but like when we lived in the house that

[00:14:58] was yellow, which we referred to as the yellow house.

[00:15:01] Mm-hmm.

[00:15:01] But it was, I heard that ladybugs were attracted to certain colors.

[00:15:06] Mm-hmm.

[00:15:07] And I think that lighter pastel colors or yellow maybe specifically.

[00:15:11] Yeah.

[00:15:12] Are something that they're attracted to.

[00:15:13] And like we had our entire, like one side of our house was like just cut, not completely,

[00:15:19] but it had a fuck ton of fucking ladybugs on it.

[00:15:22] It was just crazy.

[00:15:24] It was.

[00:15:24] And like I said, I'd never seen such a thing until I moved to Ohio.

[00:15:27] Yeah.

[00:15:27] So go Midwest.

[00:15:29] Yeah, right.

[00:15:29] So locust invasions have been a part of the region's history.

[00:15:33] I'm not talking about the Midwest of America anymore.

[00:15:35] Right.

[00:15:35] We're going back to Israel.

[00:15:37] Okay.

[00:15:37] For centuries dating back to ancient times.

[00:15:40] Of course.

[00:15:41] It's in the fucking Bible.

[00:15:42] Right.

[00:15:42] Outside of religious texts, however, historical records from various ancient civilizations such

[00:15:49] as the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians mentioned locust invasions affecting the broader Middle

[00:15:55] Eastern region.

[00:15:56] Sure.

[00:15:57] Including areas that would have encompassed ancient Israel.

[00:16:01] For example, Assyrian inscriptions from the 8th century BCE record locust plagues as

[00:16:07] signs of divine displeasure.

[00:16:10] Interesting.

[00:16:11] Yeah.

[00:16:11] And that would line up with the timeframes that they're talking about with Joel, 8th century

[00:16:16] BCE, right?

[00:16:17] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:18] You said that 835 was like on that queen.

[00:16:20] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:16:21] Yeah.

[00:16:21] So that would be the same timeframes.

[00:16:23] Yeah, that makes sense.

[00:16:24] Possibly.

[00:16:24] Yeah.

[00:16:25] But it would be interesting to see, like take the Egyptian historical accounts and the

[00:16:29] Babylonian historical, whatever, all the groups that were keeping historical records at that

[00:16:33] time.

[00:16:33] Yeah.

[00:16:34] And compare them to these passages in the Bible.

[00:16:38] Right.

[00:16:39] Just to see if there's any inference as to like this stuff going on.

[00:16:42] How do they line up?

[00:16:44] Right, right.

[00:16:44] Not do they line up, but how do they line up?

[00:16:46] But that would be one way to like, I mean, I find that whole field of study very intriguing.

[00:16:51] Right.

[00:16:52] Because you're taking things from here and there and piecing it together and seeing if

[00:16:56] this matches and that.

[00:16:57] It's like a puzzle.

[00:16:58] Yeah.

[00:16:58] And I find it very, very cool.

[00:17:00] It's putting together the pieces of history that up until now have been a mystery.

[00:17:05] Right.

[00:17:05] And you think about it like, you know, we're talking about a time span of under 3000 years

[00:17:11] total.

[00:17:11] Right.

[00:17:12] And it it does seem like a long time.

[00:17:16] But in the grand scheme of the history of this world, it's absolutely nothing.

[00:17:20] Right.

[00:17:20] It's absolutely nothing.

[00:17:21] So it's we're still trying to piece together recent Earth history.

[00:17:26] Right.

[00:17:26] From our own time frame.

[00:17:28] And to me, that is just one of the coolest things about humans is that we care about that.

[00:17:33] Some of us care about that history of where we came from and how we got here.

[00:17:37] Well, I think even using the word modern history, like, OK, the entire last 3000 years

[00:17:44] is modern history compared to, you know, the entirety of the Earth.

[00:17:48] Yeah.

[00:17:48] If you look at it, I'd like one of my one of our favorite shows is the cause of the one

[00:17:53] that Neil deGrasse Tyson did with it was Cosmos or whatever.

[00:17:56] Well, the one that was Sagan before that.

[00:17:58] Yeah.

[00:17:58] But they had like the history of the planet and they used the universe and they showed

[00:18:03] it in like time frames of where we existed.

[00:18:07] Like on a clock.

[00:18:08] And we're just a fucking blip.

[00:18:09] Yeah.

[00:18:09] We're like right before midnight.

[00:18:11] Yeah.

[00:18:11] Like a blink of an eye.

[00:18:12] Yeah.

[00:18:13] We're nothing.

[00:18:13] Yeah.

[00:18:14] So that's what I mean.

[00:18:16] Like it's interesting to use the word modern history.

[00:18:19] Like we know in context that, oh, no, we're only talking about the last like 300 years

[00:18:25] or so.

[00:18:26] Right.

[00:18:26] Modern history.

[00:18:27] Well, and one of the things that I find that distinguishes atheists and secular from

[00:18:32] the Christians or any religious group really is our ability to find wonder and awe in the

[00:18:39] fact that we are so insignificant.

[00:18:41] Right.

[00:18:42] Right.

[00:18:42] Exactly.

[00:18:42] We don't need to attribute significance to our existence.

[00:18:46] We find beauty in the fact that we do exist from such a vast universe of possibilities.

[00:18:53] Right.

[00:18:54] Like that's where the quote unquote magic lies for us.

[00:18:57] Yeah.

[00:18:58] And we understand that it's not magic, but it gives us that same feeling of awe.

[00:19:02] Right.

[00:19:03] And it just makes me wonder like, oh, you can't find awe in that.

[00:19:08] Right.

[00:19:08] Like you have to, you have to think that the earth is the center of the universe and

[00:19:13] that the sun moves around us.

[00:19:14] Huh?

[00:19:14] And I almost feel sorry for them.

[00:19:17] Right.

[00:19:17] Right.

[00:19:18] To not be able to see the beauty in that, to not be able to, to need to be big in order

[00:19:22] to feel any kind of all.

[00:19:25] Lose your self-importance, lose your need to be something more and just experience what

[00:19:33] it is to be alive.

[00:19:34] Right.

[00:19:34] You know, I mean, it's why they're so offended when we say that humans are animals and they're

[00:19:40] like, how dare I'm not an animal.

[00:19:43] I'm well above the monkeys.

[00:19:45] And I don't know why I attribute a British accent other than like, sure.

[00:19:50] Where that's where modern history started for America.

[00:19:54] Sure.

[00:19:55] You know.

[00:19:55] Okay.

[00:19:56] Yeah.

[00:19:56] Kind of.

[00:19:57] Like all the British coming over, you know.

[00:19:59] Right.

[00:19:59] French are involved too.

[00:20:00] But I know.

[00:20:01] Okay.

[00:20:01] But we don't attribute anything to the French except for the Statue of Liberty over here

[00:20:08] in America.

[00:20:09] Well, in colloquial speak.

[00:20:12] Yes.

[00:20:12] Yes.

[00:20:13] That's what I mean.

[00:20:13] That is very true.

[00:20:14] Yes.

[00:20:15] Having said that, I would love to visit France.

[00:20:17] Oh, I would too.

[00:20:18] So I'm not like anti-France here.

[00:20:20] Yeah.

[00:20:20] If we've got any fans over there that really want us to come speak, please hit us up.

[00:20:24] Yes.

[00:20:24] For sure.

[00:20:25] For sure.

[00:20:26] All right.

[00:20:27] Get back to the topic at hand.

[00:20:29] Yeah.

[00:20:29] While the specific documentation of locusts in Israel itself is scarce in ancient non-biblical

[00:20:35] texts, it's clear that locust invasions were a recurring threat in the region for millennia

[00:20:42] due to its geographic location and climate.

[00:20:46] Right.

[00:20:47] Modern pest control measures and monitoring systems help reduce the impact compared to ancient

[00:20:52] times.

[00:20:53] Right.

[00:20:54] Now, it has been suggested that this may be a double prophecy.

[00:20:59] Ooh.

[00:21:00] Okay.

[00:21:00] Okay.

[00:21:01] Like not just the bugs, right?

[00:21:03] Yeah.

[00:21:03] And that in alluding to the locusts, the destruction by the Chaldeans may also be intended.

[00:21:12] But the Chaldeans were part of the Babylonian, which would put us in a different timeframe than

[00:21:15] what we were just talking about.

[00:21:17] And that's how we're going full circle on this thing.

[00:21:20] Okay.

[00:21:20] Let me finish my sentence here.

[00:21:22] The destruction by the Chaldeans may also be intended.

[00:21:25] And the four kinds of locusts mentioned, because remember there were like the four stages,

[00:21:30] right?

[00:21:31] May mean the four several attacks made on Judea by them.

[00:21:35] So it would have been number one in the last year of Nebuchadnezzar.

[00:21:40] I'm sorry.

[00:21:41] Nebuchadnezzar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar.

[00:21:44] Okay.

[00:21:44] Number two, when Joachim was taken prisoner in the 11th year of his reign.

[00:21:50] Number three, in the ninth year of Zedekiah.

[00:21:54] And number four, three years after that, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

[00:22:00] Right.

[00:22:00] Okay.

[00:22:00] Yeah.

[00:22:01] Others, even more.

[00:22:03] See, there's lots of suppositions about when all this happened.

[00:22:06] Yeah.

[00:22:06] Because it's not clear.

[00:22:07] Right.

[00:22:07] And what all they meant by the locusts.

[00:22:09] Okay.

[00:22:10] Others say that they mean four powers, which may have been enemies of the Jews.

[00:22:15] Number one, the Palmer worm would have been the Assyrians and Chaldeans.

[00:22:20] Okay.

[00:22:21] Now the interpretation, the translation that we read did not break down the four different

[00:22:26] stages.

[00:22:27] They were all referred to as locusts.

[00:22:29] Okay.

[00:22:30] Like the chewers and the slurpers and the whatever.

[00:22:32] Sure, sure, sure.

[00:22:32] But in other translations, they refer to them as different worms or different bugs.

[00:22:38] Got it.

[00:22:39] Okay.

[00:22:39] Okay.

[00:22:39] All right.

[00:22:40] But most people agree that that is not correct, that it was the different stages of life

[00:22:47] of one locust.

[00:22:49] Okay.

[00:22:50] So number one would have been the Palmer worm, and that would have represented the Assyrians

[00:22:55] and Chaldeans.

[00:22:57] Number two would have been the locust, which would have represented the Persians and Medes.

[00:23:01] Number three was the canker worm, which would have represented the Greeks and particularly

[00:23:06] Antiochus Epiphanes.

[00:23:08] Okay.

[00:23:08] And number four, the caterpillar would have represented the Romans.

[00:23:12] Interesting.

[00:23:13] So that's actually referring to like the Chaldeans and the Assyrians are separate from the Babylonian

[00:23:20] exiles.

[00:23:20] So maybe we are talking about back during the Assyrian conquest of Israel.

[00:23:25] Who knows, right?

[00:23:26] Right.

[00:23:26] Because I remember the Chaldeans were conquered by Babylon and brought into their camp when

[00:23:33] that happened.

[00:23:33] So if we're talking about the Assyrians and Chaldeans together as one, that this might be a different

[00:23:38] timeframe we're discussing.

[00:23:39] Right.

[00:23:40] Right.

[00:23:40] This might be the earlier Assyrian influence where the northern tribes got taken over by

[00:23:45] Assyria.

[00:23:45] Exactly.

[00:23:46] Which lines up with them calling them locusts.

[00:23:49] Exactly.

[00:23:49] So.

[00:23:50] Yeah.

[00:23:50] It's just so interesting that we can't decide what it means though.

[00:23:54] No.

[00:23:54] Yeah.

[00:23:55] And that's part of what I find intriguing about reading through all this stuff and kind

[00:23:59] of these breakdowns that we do.

[00:24:00] We're not experts.

[00:24:02] Hell no.

[00:24:02] I don't want anybody to take away from our Q and A's or our wrap ups that we are presenting

[00:24:08] 100% fact on these things.

[00:24:10] Oh no.

[00:24:10] This is all.

[00:24:10] We are giving our best guesses.

[00:24:12] This is all opinion and silly guesses.

[00:24:16] Yeah.

[00:24:16] Based on the bare minimum of research that we've put into it.

[00:24:20] Well, which is more than a lot of people do.

[00:24:21] Sure.

[00:24:22] You know.

[00:24:22] Yeah.

[00:24:22] No, I don't want to discount it, but I also don't want anybody thinking that like.

[00:24:27] We sure as hell don't have a research team sitting in our basement.

[00:24:29] Yeah.

[00:24:29] No, this is just me like fucking around on the internet.

[00:24:33] Right.

[00:24:33] This is what I found.

[00:24:34] Yeah.

[00:24:34] There's one more that I wanted to present.

[00:24:37] Why fucked around and found out.

[00:24:38] I did.

[00:24:39] I fucked around and then I found out.

[00:24:41] Yeah.

[00:24:42] Thank you for that.

[00:24:43] Yeah.

[00:24:44] I fucked around and found out.

[00:24:45] Yeah.

[00:24:45] There's one more suggestion though.

[00:24:48] Others make them for kings.

[00:24:50] Tiglath Pilesar, Shalmanasar, Sinesherob, and of course Nebuchadnezzar.

[00:24:57] Okay.

[00:24:57] So any of those kind of make sense.

[00:25:00] Sure.

[00:25:00] I have zero problem with any of them, but I do like the earliest, the 835 BCE.

[00:25:08] That tracks best to me.

[00:25:10] I do too.

[00:25:10] And mostly because of the reference to Israel as a whole.

[00:25:14] Mm-hmm.

[00:25:14] And that's prior to the fall of any of it.

[00:25:17] Exactly.

[00:25:17] Exactly.

[00:25:17] So that makes a lot of sense.

[00:25:19] And we are going to talk a little bit more about locusts in a little bit when we get into, I think, chapter 3 maybe.

[00:25:26] Okay.

[00:25:27] So, you know, just hold on to that thought.

[00:25:29] Yeah.

[00:25:29] Okay.

[00:25:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:25:30] All right.

[00:26:28] We have a verse 8, which is,

[00:26:31] the word virgin is actually a bad translation there.

[00:26:34] Oh.

[00:26:34] The original Hebrew actually signifies a young woman or bride, not a virgin.

[00:26:41] Oh, okay.

[00:26:41] Yeah.

[00:26:41] And that.

[00:26:42] But more often than not, though, that young woman or bride would have been a virgin in

[00:26:46] those times according to, you know, the way that their society broke down.

[00:26:51] Right.

[00:26:51] Because it was very important that they be a virgin until married.

[00:26:54] Right.

[00:26:55] Obviously.

[00:26:55] But when we talk about a bride, a bride grieving for the betrothed of her youth.

[00:27:03] Yeah.

[00:27:04] That makes better sense.

[00:27:06] Got it.

[00:27:06] In that sentence.

[00:27:07] Oh, I see what you're saying.

[00:27:08] Okay, okay.

[00:27:08] Yeah.

[00:27:08] I see what you're saying.

[00:27:09] Than saying a virgin.

[00:27:10] Right.

[00:27:11] Why the fuck would a virgin, it doesn't matter if a virgin, that doesn't make sense in context.

[00:27:15] In context.

[00:27:16] Right.

[00:27:16] Exactly.

[00:27:17] Okay.

[00:27:17] Okay.

[00:27:17] Okay.

[00:27:17] All right.

[00:27:20] All right.

[00:27:20] All right.

[00:27:26] All right.

[00:27:27] So we had questions about the day of the Lord, which it was mentioned five times in

[00:27:34] the book.

[00:27:35] Right.

[00:27:35] Right.

[00:27:35] And we're like, whoa, just in case you forget.

[00:27:38] Right.

[00:27:38] Yeah.

[00:27:38] So the day of the Lord refers to a time of divine judgment and catastrophic events often

[00:27:45] associated with God's direct intervention in human affairs.

[00:27:49] Yeah.

[00:27:49] It is described as a day of darkness, destruction, and calamity where God punishes the people for

[00:27:55] their sins.

[00:27:56] You know, that loving God.

[00:27:57] Mm-hmm.

[00:27:58] In the broader context of the Hebrew Bible, the day of the Lord can encompass various forms

[00:28:04] of judgment, including natural disasters, military invasions, or cosmic upheaval.

[00:28:11] Right.

[00:28:11] It is not just a single event, but rather a motif used throughout the prophetic books to

[00:28:17] convey God's judgment and the need for repentance.

[00:28:20] Always be repenting.

[00:28:22] Yeah.

[00:28:22] Because you suck.

[00:28:23] Never forget.

[00:28:24] You fucking worm.

[00:28:25] You always suck.

[00:28:26] Yeah.

[00:28:26] According to the Bible.

[00:28:27] Exactly.

[00:28:28] We always, you always, everybody always sucks.

[00:28:30] Exactly.

[00:28:31] As long as you're aware.

[00:28:32] Yeah.

[00:28:33] Okay.

[00:28:33] So moving on to verses 19 and 20.

[00:28:37] To you, Lord, I call for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames

[00:28:43] have burned up all the trees in the field.

[00:28:45] Even the wild animals pant for you.

[00:28:49] The streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

[00:28:55] Okay.

[00:28:55] Okay.

[00:28:55] There is a similar affecting description of the effects of a drought in Jeremiah chapter

[00:29:02] 14 verse six, wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals.

[00:29:11] Their eyes fail for lack of food.

[00:29:14] So there must've been a drought as well as a host of locusts as some of these expressions

[00:29:19] seem to indicate such.

[00:29:20] Right.

[00:29:20] And I'll mention more of those in a little bit, but they talk a lot about heat and fire

[00:29:25] and all kinds of stuff.

[00:29:27] Sure.

[00:29:27] So that tracks.

[00:29:28] Well, and those things could back up against each other, right?

[00:29:32] Because like the whole, the circumstances that lead to a locust invasion probably have

[00:29:37] certain ecological things that happen.

[00:29:39] They do.

[00:29:40] Yeah.

[00:29:40] In order to make that happen.

[00:29:41] You feel the effects of the locust invasion for literal years because they've ruined the

[00:29:47] crops and made the land barren.

[00:29:49] Sure.

[00:29:50] And your animals die.

[00:29:52] So like, it's not just, it happens and then it's done.

[00:29:54] Thank goodness we can move on.

[00:29:55] Right.

[00:29:56] It happened.

[00:29:56] And now we're in the aftermath, which lasts even longer.

[00:30:00] Shit sucks.

[00:30:00] Yeah.

[00:30:01] Right.

[00:30:01] It's kind of like once the hurricane in Florida passes, we don't hear a lot about them anymore.

[00:30:08] The people, the survivors, the victims.

[00:30:10] But they still have to deal with the aftermath.

[00:30:12] Right.

[00:30:12] Right.

[00:30:13] And then another comparison is when people say, oh, this guy didn't die of COVID.

[00:30:21] He died of a heart attack.

[00:30:22] Right.

[00:30:22] Right.

[00:30:23] And so they have to write heart attack as cause of death.

[00:30:26] But that doesn't convey the whole picture was that the heart attack occurred as a result of what was happening around him during the COVID thing.

[00:30:37] Right.

[00:30:37] Or that his symptoms of COVID led to a heart attack.

[00:30:40] Right.

[00:30:40] Like maybe he had long COVID and so his body was more frail than it should have been or could have been had he not had COVID.

[00:30:49] Sure.

[00:30:49] And so he had the heart attack.

[00:30:51] So did COVID kill him?

[00:30:53] Not specifically.

[00:30:54] Yeah, though.

[00:30:54] It did though.

[00:30:55] Yeah.

[00:30:55] Right.

[00:30:56] But he didn't die of COVID.

[00:30:57] Right.

[00:30:58] So these are all just me bringing up examples of ways to remember that there's the thing and then there's the fallout of the thing.

[00:31:07] I still think we are way overdue for the Star Trek tricorders and, you know, fix it things that they have.

[00:31:14] Yes.

[00:31:14] Why don't we have those yet?

[00:31:16] I demand an explanation.

[00:31:18] Right.

[00:31:18] Please contact us immediately if you are working in these fields.

[00:31:22] Right.

[00:31:22] Thank you.

[00:31:22] Have a nice day.

[00:31:23] Yeah.

[00:31:24] All right.

[00:31:24] So let's move on to chapter two.

[00:31:26] Okay.

[00:31:26] Yeah.

[00:31:26] So in this, Joel is picturing the approaching swarms of locusts as a person in Jerusalem sees them.

[00:31:34] He compares them to an enemy army and commands the watchmen on the city wall to blow the trumpet to warn the city's inhabitants of the attack.

[00:31:42] The swarms are so thick that they look like black clouds as they sweep down over the mountains.

[00:31:48] Right.

[00:31:48] I want to say something here.

[00:31:49] By the end of chapter two, when we were reading it, we were convinced that the locusts were not real and that they were just a representation of an army.

[00:32:04] Right.

[00:32:04] By the time I got done with these notes, my opinion had changed 100%.

[00:32:09] Again.

[00:32:09] Yeah.

[00:32:10] I'm convinced that it actually was locusts.

[00:32:13] Okay.

[00:32:14] Okay.

[00:32:14] All right.

[00:32:16] They, I think that the army, particularly the Assyrians were compared to the locusts and not vice versa.

[00:32:25] Okay.

[00:32:26] Is what I mean to say.

[00:32:27] So they experienced the locusts and then they're like, Oh shit, those guys are kind of doing the same thing.

[00:32:32] Those guys are almost as bad as locusts.

[00:32:34] Right.

[00:32:35] Fuck me.

[00:32:35] Yeah.

[00:32:36] So, um, verse one reads, blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy hill.

[00:32:42] Let all who live in the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming.

[00:32:47] It is close at hand.

[00:32:49] So in Joel one, I'm sorry, in Joel chapter one, the prophet spoke of the judgment that had arrived in Judah, a plague of locusts and drought.

[00:32:58] Right.

[00:32:58] Right.

[00:32:59] Now in chapter two, he begins by describing the judgment and subsequent punishment that will come a mighty army set against Judah.

[00:33:08] Okay.

[00:33:08] All right.

[00:33:09] So they spread over the countryside, like an uncontrollable bushfire, turning healthy farmlands into barren waste.

[00:33:16] And the people were terrified.

[00:33:18] They were helpless before the onslaught of this destructive quote unquote army.

[00:33:23] Right.

[00:33:23] Right.

[00:33:23] So let's read verses four and five.

[00:33:26] They have the appearance of horses.

[00:33:27] They gallop along like cavalry with a noise like that of chariots.

[00:33:33] They leap over the mountaintops like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

[00:33:41] Okay.

[00:33:42] So we are talking about bugs and comparing them.

[00:33:46] To an army.

[00:33:47] Yes.

[00:33:47] Right.

[00:33:48] Furthermore, let's read a little bit of explanation here.

[00:33:52] Sure.

[00:33:53] The head of a locust is remarkably like that of a horse, oblong head and bending downward.

[00:34:01] The Italians call locust cavalletta or cavalry.

[00:34:05] Oh, interesting.

[00:34:06] Also, the locust hordes fly with a great noise and can be heard as far as six miles away.

[00:34:14] Oh, damn.

[00:34:14] Shut the fuck up.

[00:34:15] Right?

[00:34:15] Yeah.

[00:34:16] While they are eating, the sound of them, quote, is like that of a flame driven by the wind.

[00:34:22] And that is recorded in the Ibad, which is one of the Jewish writings.

[00:34:27] Gotcha.

[00:34:27] Okay.

[00:34:28] Finally, the locusts attack Jerusalem.

[00:34:30] City walls cannot keep this enemy out as locusts swarm into the city and through the houses.

[00:34:35] Like, remember, it talked about them like climbing on the walls and like dancing in the windows and shit.

[00:34:42] And we were like, what the fuck?

[00:34:43] Yeah.

[00:34:44] Totally locusts.

[00:34:45] Yeah.

[00:34:45] And you're looking at a picture right now.

[00:34:47] Yeah.

[00:34:47] They look basically like a grasshopper or a cricket or something.

[00:34:50] But yeah.

[00:34:51] But their head is like the head of a horse, like the same shape.

[00:34:54] Right.

[00:34:54] Yeah.

[00:34:55] So, yeah.

[00:34:56] See what I mean, though?

[00:34:56] I'm completely convinced now.

[00:34:58] Oops, my bad.

[00:34:59] It was not an army.

[00:35:00] It was locusts.

[00:35:01] Sure.

[00:35:01] No, I just I never know how to take these things in the Bible, you know?

[00:35:04] Yeah.

[00:35:05] And, you know, I could be 100% wrong.

[00:35:07] I don't fucking know.

[00:35:08] Sure.

[00:35:08] Even knowing all that, we could be wrong.

[00:35:11] Sure.

[00:35:11] Right.

[00:35:11] Yeah.

[00:35:11] So the clouds of insects are so thick that they blot out the sun.

[00:35:16] Jesus.

[00:35:17] The darkness demonstrates to all that this is God's judgment and the day of the Lord is upon

[00:35:21] them.

[00:35:22] Right.

[00:35:22] To me, it demonstrates there's a fuck ton of locusts coming at me.

[00:35:25] Yes.

[00:35:25] Yes.

[00:35:26] Exactly.

[00:35:27] All right.

[00:35:28] So verse 10 reads before them, the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are

[00:35:35] darkened and the stars no longer shine.

[00:35:37] And again, in the Ibbid, it reads their multitude is sometimes so immense as to obscure the heavens

[00:35:45] for the space of 12 miles.

[00:35:48] Damn.

[00:35:48] Right.

[00:35:49] Wow.

[00:35:50] That's crazy.

[00:35:51] That's a lot of fucking bugs.

[00:35:52] That's a lot of fucking bugs.

[00:35:53] Yeah.

[00:35:54] All right.

[00:35:54] So moving on.

[00:35:55] Although God is the one who has sent this judgment, it is not too late for the people

[00:36:00] to ask for his mercy.

[00:36:01] Fuck you.

[00:36:02] Right.

[00:36:03] However, this must be accompanied by genuine inward repentance, not just by the outward

[00:36:09] show of torn clothing, sackcloth and ashes.

[00:36:12] Yeah.

[00:36:13] Remember, it was rend your, rend your heart, not your clothes.

[00:36:17] Right.

[00:36:17] Yeah.

[00:36:18] God may then restore their fields and vineyards and they will be able to worship him with their

[00:36:24] cereal and wine offerings again.

[00:36:26] So he's not going to stop them from coming.

[00:36:28] Right.

[00:36:28] But he's going to fix their fields.

[00:36:30] Right.

[00:36:30] He'll take away the cause themselves eventually anyway.

[00:36:34] Right.

[00:36:34] But just to be fair here, it would have been years of recovery.

[00:36:38] And they're saying that God will take away those years.

[00:36:41] Yeah.

[00:36:42] These things happen once every 50 to 100 years.

[00:36:45] Right.

[00:36:46] So living memory of how long it takes would have been very sparse.

[00:36:50] And I call bullshit here.

[00:36:52] Sure.

[00:36:53] I think that they were looking for any reason to say, God will help us fix this.

[00:36:58] And then when it did eventually happen, they're like, God helped us fix this.

[00:37:01] Although that didn't happen.

[00:37:03] Okay.

[00:37:03] Well, yeah.

[00:37:04] Fuck God then.

[00:37:05] Right.

[00:37:05] Yeah.

[00:37:07] Yeah.

[00:37:07] Once more, a trumpet is blown, but this time to call the people to the temple to seek God's mercy.

[00:37:13] No one is to be excluded.

[00:37:14] Not even the children.

[00:37:16] All are fast.

[00:37:18] All are to fast and mourn.

[00:37:20] And even people who would normally be rejoicing and celebrating, such as those who have just been married.

[00:37:26] So everybody got to come out and we got to pray this shit away.

[00:37:29] Yeah.

[00:37:30] Get these bugs out of here.

[00:37:31] The priests gather in the temple court between the porch and the altar and lead the people in prayer.

[00:37:38] Okay.

[00:37:39] So I'm going to read verse 17 now.

[00:37:42] Okay.

[00:37:42] Let the priests who minister before the Lord weep between the portico and the altar.

[00:37:48] And I kind of remember we were like, what the fuck is even, I don't know, whatever moving on.

[00:37:53] Right.

[00:37:54] But I came across a note and I, I remember we didn't have a specific question, but we just like, didn't understand what that meant.

[00:38:01] But we didn't care enough to like, have that be a question.

[00:38:04] Right.

[00:38:04] So here's the thing though.

[00:38:06] And the altar of burnt offerings stood before the porch of the temple as described in second Chronicles chapter eight.

[00:38:14] And between them, there was an open space.

[00:38:17] And that's where the priests prostrated themselves or brought the sacrifice or spoke to people that were confessing sins and seeking atonement.

[00:38:26] Okay.

[00:38:26] So that's why it was like, get over there in that space between those buildings and cry you priests.

[00:38:31] Got it.

[00:38:31] Okay.

[00:38:32] So that's what that was about.

[00:38:33] All right.

[00:38:33] So then God promises to defend his repentant people against the mighty army.

[00:38:38] And God will in due time take vengeance on all the enemies of pure and undefiled religion.

[00:38:46] God accepts the people's repentance and promises to remove the locusts.

[00:38:50] He will drive them out to perish in the desert regions to the south, in the Dead Sea to the east, and in the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

[00:38:59] Wow.

[00:39:00] Okay.

[00:39:00] Okay.

[00:39:01] He's going to be going to get them gone.

[00:39:02] Yeah.

[00:39:02] He's going to pull out his mighty come, come wand.

[00:39:08] Remember, remember in chapter three, it says something about how he poured his spirit out on the people.

[00:39:14] Oh, yeah.

[00:39:14] And we were like, he came all over them.

[00:39:17] Okay.

[00:39:17] Yeah.

[00:39:18] That's yeah.

[00:39:19] His penis is like a pet pesticide.

[00:39:21] Oh my God.

[00:39:22] What?

[00:39:23] Okay.

[00:39:24] Verse 20.

[00:39:25] I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land.

[00:39:30] Its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.

[00:39:36] And its stench will go up.

[00:39:39] Its smell will rise.

[00:39:40] And we were like, what?

[00:39:42] I don't even, what?

[00:39:43] All of that just was so confusing.

[00:39:46] Well, here's the thing.

[00:39:47] Okay.

[00:39:47] Syria, which was northward of Judea, was infested with locusts.

[00:39:51] And it must have been a northern wind that brought them into Judea in the time of Joel.

[00:39:57] Oh, okay.

[00:39:57] As God promises to change this wind and carry them into a barren and desolate land.

[00:40:03] I see.

[00:40:04] Okay.

[00:40:04] After having been drowned by millions in the Mediterranean, the reflux of the tide would often bring the bugs back.

[00:40:12] Oh.

[00:40:13] And throw them in heaps upon the shore where they putrefied in the heat, infected the air, and produced pestilence by which both men and cattle died in great multitudes.

[00:40:26] Damn.

[00:40:26] Yeah.

[00:40:26] That's horrible.

[00:40:28] Right?

[00:40:29] Shit.

[00:40:29] Yeah.

[00:40:31] So, again, there's other sources that verify this shit, not just the Bible.

[00:40:38] Right.

[00:40:38] St. Augustine and many others after him related that there was such an immense crowd of locusts in Africa that, having eaten up every green thing, a wind arose that carried them into the sea where they perished.

[00:40:53] But being cast upon the shore, they putrefied and bred such a pestilence that 80,000 men died of it in the kingdom of Manasseh.

[00:41:03] Good God.

[00:41:03] And 30,000 in the garrison of Utica, in which only 10 remained alive.

[00:41:09] That's crazy.

[00:41:10] Yeah.

[00:41:11] So, these bugs are like…

[00:41:13] They're nothing to fuck around with.

[00:41:14] Yeah.

[00:41:15] They are like no joke.

[00:41:16] Yeah.

[00:41:17] Yeah.

[00:41:17] So, again, I'm convinced that we're talking about bugs now.

[00:41:21] Sure.

[00:41:22] Okay.

[00:41:23] Yeah.

[00:41:24] You see why I would think that?

[00:41:26] Yeah, I do.

[00:41:27] Okay.

[00:41:27] Okay.

[00:41:28] Are you with me or what do you think?

[00:41:29] I'm with you.

[00:41:30] I just…

[00:41:31] I'm struggling with the…

[00:41:33] Like, if we're taking the Bible as a continuous book of knowledge, right?

[00:41:39] As a recording of God's word, right?

[00:41:43] Mm-hmm.

[00:41:43] It's really fucking confusing.

[00:41:45] Yeah.

[00:41:45] Because in one breath, they'll talk about the Assyrians as locusts.

[00:41:49] Mm-hmm.

[00:41:49] In the next breath, we're talking about locusts as locusts.

[00:41:51] Right.

[00:41:51] Right.

[00:41:52] Yeah.

[00:41:52] There's no continuity.

[00:41:53] There's no way to tell we're talking about this or that because of…

[00:41:58] And you have to dig…

[00:41:59] Because their phrasing is not just metaphor.

[00:42:01] It's like hard metaphor.

[00:42:03] Right.

[00:42:03] When you have to dig so far into this, and it's about…

[00:42:06] You're digging into ancient times to discern meaning from places that we're not even sure that we're talking about the right time.

[00:42:14] Right.

[00:42:15] Right?

[00:42:15] Yeah.

[00:42:15] So it's so hard to figure out what these folks meant when they were writing this.

[00:42:21] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:21] And it was people that were writing this, you know.

[00:42:24] But we no longer can understand what they meant because we're not in that time.

[00:42:31] Right.

[00:42:32] We're not in that place to understand what they were talking about.

[00:42:35] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:35] And so we just have to take our best guesses.

[00:42:38] Even the most studied, you know, theologians don't know exact answers all the time.

[00:42:42] Right.

[00:42:42] You know?

[00:42:43] And it's just a…

[00:42:45] That's why we can contribute some, right?

[00:42:47] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:47] That's why we can offer something to this conversation because no one really fucking knows.

[00:42:52] Exactly.

[00:42:53] You know?

[00:42:53] Yeah.

[00:42:54] So great prosperity of the Jews subsequent to their return from the Babylonish captivity is

[00:43:00] what we're about to get into, okay?

[00:43:02] Okay.

[00:43:02] There may be some unpleasantness at first because of the smell from the millions of decaying locust

[00:43:09] curcasses, some lying in heaps on the ground and others washed up on the shores.

[00:43:13] But after this, the land will become productive again.

[00:43:17] And then God will give good rains and good harvests to compensate for the losses suffered

[00:43:23] during the locust plague.

[00:43:25] That's nice of God.

[00:43:26] Mm-hmm.

[00:43:26] Yeah.

[00:43:26] Yeah.

[00:43:26] This whole experience of judgment, repentance, forgiveness, blessing, and thanksgiving will

[00:43:32] cause them to know God better.

[00:43:34] You know, I have to say, I would hate to live in these times because when shit starts going

[00:43:39] wrong for just no reason other than nature, right?

[00:43:43] Then these godly people start getting blamed.

[00:43:47] They start blaming people for not worshiping God enough.

[00:43:50] Right.

[00:43:50] Or the right God or whatever.

[00:43:53] And I'm betting that a lot of shit went down between people.

[00:43:57] Yeah.

[00:43:57] During these time frames because you don't worship God hard enough or you don't do this enough

[00:44:01] or whatever.

[00:44:02] Yeah.

[00:44:02] You're praying the wrong way.

[00:44:04] You're praying to the wrong God.

[00:44:05] But there's no God, right?

[00:44:06] Yeah.

[00:44:07] So they're just getting fucked over because some goddamn locusts invaded and there's nothing

[00:44:11] you can do about it in ancient times because there wasn't pesticides.

[00:44:14] There wasn't ways to remedy the problem.

[00:44:16] Right.

[00:44:17] And so people got blamed for being not godly enough and probably, you know, disowned or

[00:44:22] banished or all kinds.

[00:44:23] Who knows what all fucking happened, right?

[00:44:24] Right.

[00:44:25] But shit went down because nature happened.

[00:44:29] And to me, that's just all kinds of fucked up.

[00:44:31] It's tragic.

[00:44:32] Yeah.

[00:44:32] So Joel then makes an elegant transition on the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day

[00:44:39] of Pentecost.

[00:44:39] And that's when, you know, he came all over the people.

[00:44:41] Ah, yeah, yeah.

[00:44:42] Okay.

[00:44:43] And now we're going to get into the prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem.

[00:44:47] Okay.

[00:44:48] And the promises of safety to the faithful and penitent.

[00:44:51] Okay.

[00:44:52] All of this must happen before the final great day of the Lord dawns.

[00:44:56] Okay.

[00:44:56] The darkness and terror of the locust plague is only a faint picture of the horror of that

[00:45:03] last great judgment.

[00:45:05] Ah.

[00:45:06] On that day, believers will be saved, but sinners will perish.

[00:45:11] Hmm.

[00:45:12] Hmm.

[00:45:12] That's sad.

[00:45:13] Womp womp.

[00:45:14] All right.

[00:45:15] Now we're getting into chapter three.

[00:45:16] Right.

[00:45:16] Ready?

[00:45:17] If that happened, why is there generally, generationally, just like a shit ton of fucking

[00:45:23] sinners in Israel and in this Bible story?

[00:45:26] Right.

[00:45:27] Right.

[00:45:27] If you kill them all so often, because it does happen quite often.

[00:45:30] It does.

[00:45:31] Then why aren't they mostly gone?

[00:45:33] Right.

[00:45:34] You know, by the next generation.

[00:45:35] They're not.

[00:45:35] They're not gone.

[00:45:36] At all.

[00:45:37] Yeah.

[00:45:38] Some people die and you're like.

[00:45:39] It's almost like God is bad at math.

[00:45:42] It's almost God, like God doesn't, you know, exist.

[00:45:45] Right.

[00:45:45] But also if he did, he really sucks at discerning who is sinful and who's not.

[00:45:50] Yeah.

[00:45:51] So.

[00:45:51] I agree.

[00:45:52] Mm hmm.

[00:45:53] So Joel pictures enemy nations gathering for a last attack on Jerusalem.

[00:45:58] But these nations do not realize that God is the one who has brought them together.

[00:46:03] He is now going to execute his judgment.

[00:46:06] God is.

[00:46:07] Yeah.

[00:46:07] Upon them for their crimes against Judah.

[00:46:10] Chief among these crimes are their seizure of Judah's territory and their treatment of Judah's

[00:46:15] people, whether in driving them into other countries or in selling them as slaves.

[00:46:21] I would like to point out that God told them to do this.

[00:46:25] Sometimes he did.

[00:46:26] Other times.

[00:46:27] Well, he claimed them as his armies.

[00:46:29] Like he claimed.

[00:46:30] Sometimes.

[00:46:30] Okay.

[00:46:31] Whatever.

[00:46:32] Regardless of sometimes or not.

[00:46:33] Some of these armies, some of these people, sometimes God told them to do this

[00:46:37] and he's still punishing the fuckers.

[00:46:38] Yes.

[00:46:39] That's bullshit.

[00:46:39] Well, the argument that the priests or whatever would make is that, no, they were going to

[00:46:45] do bad things anyway, but God used them as his tool to better sharpen his people.

[00:46:53] Okay.

[00:46:54] Yeah.

[00:46:55] I.

[00:46:55] It's a very mealy mouthed argument.

[00:46:58] If they were going to do it anyway, then you didn't actually use them as a tool.

[00:47:00] They were already going to do it.

[00:47:01] And that, that, that those are two different things.

[00:47:04] You can argue if you want to, as an apologist that these people were already going to do

[00:47:09] the things that they were going to do.

[00:47:10] But if that's the case, then God didn't use them for shit.

[00:47:13] Right.

[00:47:13] They were just going to do what they were going to do.

[00:47:15] No, I'm with you.

[00:47:16] Now, if we're to, um, accept that the word of the God is in the Bible and that these,

[00:47:21] these statements where they say God says and God does and whatever are true.

[00:47:25] If we're to accept that, then we're accepting the fact that these were God's armies.

[00:47:29] These were God's tools.

[00:47:31] These were God's actions.

[00:47:33] Right.

[00:47:33] And then the fact that he is.

[00:47:36] So if we're accepting that fact, if we're accepting what is in the Bible as written word

[00:47:40] in the Bible as fact, then these people are not responsible for what they did.

[00:47:45] And yet he's going to punish them, which he means kill them or sell them into slavery.

[00:47:52] Right.

[00:47:52] Right.

[00:47:52] Which is what this time is what they do.

[00:47:54] I understand that apologists have to make excuses for the shitty actions of God.

[00:47:59] And I, I, I guess I'm kind of feel bad.

[00:48:02] I mean, like he is so shitty.

[00:48:04] Yeah.

[00:48:04] So there's a lot of apology, apologizing that you have to do.

[00:48:07] Exactly.

[00:48:08] But don't, don't be disingenuous here.

[00:48:11] Like you, you, you are telling me something that, that if, okay, there's, there's no reason

[00:48:16] why God would make somebody do something who was already going to do it.

[00:48:22] Right.

[00:48:22] That's, that's bullshit.

[00:48:23] Right.

[00:48:24] That's just bullshit.

[00:48:25] It doesn't, it's not logical.

[00:48:26] It doesn't make any sense.

[00:48:27] Right.

[00:48:27] All right.

[00:48:27] But let's read some verses of chapter three.

[00:48:30] Okay.

[00:48:31] All right.

[00:48:31] Verses one and two in those days.

[00:48:34] And at that time.

[00:48:35] Yeah.

[00:48:36] When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down

[00:48:41] to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

[00:48:43] Right there.

[00:48:44] I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance.

[00:48:47] My people is real because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

[00:48:55] Okay.

[00:48:56] Okay.

[00:48:57] But again, you know, based on what was said prior to this, he made them do this.

[00:49:02] Right.

[00:49:03] So I just wanted to point that out one more time.

[00:49:06] One more time.

[00:49:06] Cause you haven't said it enough.

[00:49:08] No, I know.

[00:49:09] I know.

[00:49:09] I just, it's, it's one of those things I feel needs to be reiterated because the apologist

[00:49:14] will say otherwise.

[00:49:15] Yes.

[00:49:15] They will, they will make it seem otherwise.

[00:49:18] So an apologist speaking of says in a lesser and a mere,

[00:49:24] immediate sense, this was fulfilled in the return from the Babylonian exile.

[00:49:29] But in the greater and ultimate sense, it will be fulfilled in the end times, regathering

[00:49:35] of Israel to the point where an expectant Israel welcomes Jesus and salvation comes to Israel

[00:49:42] as a whole.

[00:49:43] So what they're saying is we don't have a fucking clue what he's talking about.

[00:49:47] We don't give a shit more over and it can apply to whatever the fuck you want it to apply

[00:49:51] to.

[00:49:51] Yeah.

[00:49:52] And, and we really liked the idea of God's chosen people, but also become Christian.

[00:49:59] Yeah.

[00:50:00] Oh yeah.

[00:50:01] They love that.

[00:50:01] That's the best.

[00:50:02] Right.

[00:50:03] So Joel here describes the final gathering of the nations in rebellion against God at

[00:50:09] the battle of Armageddon.

[00:50:11] There is no place in Israel known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

[00:50:15] Okay.

[00:50:16] But the name Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges.

[00:50:20] It describes God place, God's place of judgment.

[00:50:23] Got it.

[00:50:25] For behold, in those days, right?

[00:50:27] Like in that time, in those days, according to the preceding prophecy, the one before that,

[00:50:33] these days should refer to gospel times or to such as should immediately precede them.

[00:50:40] So yeah, but this is a part of the prophecy, which is difficult to understand.

[00:50:44] Go figure.

[00:50:45] There's all kinds of arguments as to what it fucking means.

[00:50:48] Let's read a few of the ideas.

[00:50:50] Okay.

[00:50:51] Okay.

[00:50:51] That seriously oppose each other.

[00:50:53] Okay.

[00:50:54] All interpreters are at variance upon it.

[00:50:58] Some applying its principal parts to canvases.

[00:51:01] And I'll tell you more about who the fuck that guy is.

[00:51:04] Okay.

[00:51:05] Yeah.

[00:51:05] In a minute here.

[00:51:06] Sure.

[00:51:06] His unfortunate expedition to Egypt, the destruction of 50,000 of his troops by the moving pillars

[00:51:13] of sand whom he had sent across the desert to plunder the rich temple of Jupiter,

[00:51:18] Ammon, his return to Judea and dying of a wound which he received from his own sword in mounting

[00:51:26] his horse, which happened at the foot of Mount Carmel.

[00:51:29] Okay.

[00:51:30] On which his army composed of different nations, seeing themselves without a head, fell out and

[00:51:36] fought against each other till the whole were destroyed.

[00:51:39] Okay.

[00:51:39] Okay.

[00:51:40] So this is okay.

[00:51:41] I'm, I'm lost a little bit.

[00:51:43] Like what?

[00:51:44] What's happening?

[00:51:44] Okay.

[00:51:45] So when we say gospel times, what we're talking about is the times of Jesus and his disciples.

[00:51:50] Okay.

[00:51:51] Okay.

[00:51:51] So this is Christian apologists for sure.

[00:51:53] Yes.

[00:51:54] Okay.

[00:51:54] So that's what we mean by gospels.

[00:51:57] I thought you would jump there, but I wasn't really sure.

[00:52:00] Right.

[00:52:00] So some people, apologists like who study the Bible hard, right?

[00:52:04] They're saying that this particular prophecy where God is going to gather them in the Valley

[00:52:12] of Jehoshaphat, meaning the Valley of God's judgment.

[00:52:15] Yeah.

[00:52:16] Um, it already happened.

[00:52:18] It fell during the time of the gospel during the time of Jesus.

[00:52:24] Got it.

[00:52:24] Okay.

[00:52:24] Or, or preceding like leading up to Jesus.

[00:52:28] Okay.

[00:52:29] So, but this is a part of the prophecy, which, Oh, I already read that.

[00:52:32] So, okay.

[00:52:33] Let's talk about who the fuck was Ken Bissi's again now.

[00:52:36] Sure.

[00:52:36] Apparently he was a leader who killed himself accidentally with a sword.

[00:52:39] All right.

[00:52:40] Okay.

[00:52:40] Yeah.

[00:52:40] So he was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great.

[00:52:44] Oh.

[00:52:45] Who ruled from 550 to 530 BCE.

[00:52:49] Right.

[00:52:49] And as I recall, Cyrus the Great was the one that let the Israelites go back to their homeland.

[00:52:54] Sure.

[00:52:55] Okay.

[00:52:55] Before his accession, Kambisies had briefly served as the governor of Northern Babylonia

[00:53:02] under his father from April to December, 538 BCE.

[00:53:07] Afterwards, he resided in the Babylonian cities of Babylon and Sippar before being appointed

[00:53:13] by his father as co-ruler in 530 BCE.

[00:53:16] I recall this actually.

[00:53:18] We covered this.

[00:53:18] But I didn't remember his name.

[00:53:20] I didn't either.

[00:53:21] I didn't either.

[00:53:21] And I'm not sure that we learned his name at that time.

[00:53:23] Probably not.

[00:53:24] But I do remember we were talking about, oh, it was nice he took off with this impending,

[00:53:28] you know, war that was going to happen.

[00:53:30] Exactly.

[00:53:30] So his father then set off on an expedition against the Masagitei of Central Asia.

[00:53:38] Yeah.

[00:53:39] Where he met his end.

[00:53:40] Oops.

[00:53:41] Womp womp.

[00:53:42] Okay.

[00:53:42] Poor Cyrus.

[00:53:42] Right.

[00:53:43] Kambisies thus became the sole ruler of the vast Akhamanid Empire, meaning the Greeks.

[00:53:50] Sure.

[00:53:51] Facing no reported opposition.

[00:53:53] Okay.

[00:53:54] Okay.

[00:53:54] Yeah.

[00:53:54] His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in North Africa, notably Egypt,

[00:54:00] which he conquered after his victory over the Egyptian pharaoh Samtik III around 526 to 525 BCE at the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BCE.

[00:54:15] Okay.

[00:54:15] Okay.

[00:54:15] After having established himself in Egypt, he expanded the empire's holdings in Africa, including the conquest of Cyrenaica.

[00:54:24] In the spring of 522 BCE, Kambisies hurriedly left Egypt to deal with a rebellion in Persia.

[00:54:32] Okay.

[00:54:32] And this is where he's about to hurt himself.

[00:54:34] Okay.

[00:54:34] While en route to Syria, he received a wound to the thigh, which was soon affected by gangrene.

[00:54:41] Kambisies died three weeks later.

[00:54:44] Oopsie.

[00:54:45] And this is supposed to be what Ezekiel means by Gog and Magog.

[00:54:50] Okay.

[00:54:50] And the destruction of the former.

[00:54:52] Yeah.

[00:54:52] Yeah.

[00:54:53] That's where we talked about it.

[00:54:54] Yeah.

[00:54:54] Others though, going back to theories about what the fuck.

[00:54:58] Okay.

[00:54:58] God's judgment and, you know, all that.

[00:55:01] Yeah.

[00:55:01] Others apply this to the victories gained by the Maccabees, whom we haven't read yet.

[00:55:07] Right.

[00:55:07] But we did read a little bit about them.

[00:55:08] We read about them, yeah.

[00:55:10] And to the destruction brought upon the enemies of their country, while several consider the whole instead as a figurative prediction of the success of the gospel among the nations of the earth.

[00:55:23] So back to Jesus.

[00:55:25] Okay.

[00:55:25] Yeah.

[00:55:26] It may instead.

[00:55:29] Your face, you're like, oh my God.

[00:55:31] Like, okay, look.

[00:55:33] We're reading something from the Old Testament, right?

[00:55:35] Yeah, yeah.

[00:55:35] These Jewish people had no fucking clue if this was ever going to get compared to any of this.

[00:55:39] Right.

[00:55:39] It has no relevance, really.

[00:55:41] Christian apologists love to tie everything to the New Testament.

[00:55:45] And it's just like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:55:48] You know, to me, this is so absurd.

[00:55:51] Yeah, it is.

[00:55:52] They're just trying to ascribe meaning to things that really don't have any meaning.

[00:55:56] Sometimes, yeah.

[00:55:57] And when I'm listening to it, I'm like, and here's an excuse, and there's a reason, and there's, like, they're just making shit up on the fly.

[00:56:04] And attributing it to whatever the fuck they want to.

[00:56:07] Whatever.

[00:56:08] So it may instead, again, refer to those times in which the Jews shall be brought in with the fullness of the Gentiles and be reestablished in their own land.

[00:56:20] That's very exciting.

[00:56:22] Or there may be portions in this prophecy that refer to all the events and to others that have not even fallen yet within the range of human conjecture.

[00:56:32] That's so convenient.

[00:56:33] And will only be known when the time of fulfillment shall take place.

[00:56:37] Yeah, that time was.

[00:56:39] Sure.

[00:56:40] Okay.

[00:56:40] All right.

[00:56:40] So moving on, though.

[00:56:41] Right.

[00:56:42] Okay.

[00:56:42] Yeah.

[00:56:42] So God warns the nations that he will retaliate against those people who have mistreated his people.

[00:56:48] Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia are examples of those nations that fought with Judah, plundered the Jerusalem temple, and sold the people into slavery.

[00:56:59] Sure.

[00:56:59] In punishment, God will now treat them as they treated Judah.

[00:57:02] Remember, we were like, oh, so he's a vengeful little bitch.

[00:57:05] Right.

[00:57:06] Right.

[00:57:06] Okay.

[00:57:07] So let's read verse 7.

[00:57:10] See, I'm going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.

[00:57:19] Yeah.

[00:57:20] Remember, we were like, oh, I hate you so much.

[00:57:22] Well, yeah.

[00:57:22] I mean, that's a petty God.

[00:57:24] But okay.

[00:57:25] Yeah.

[00:57:26] So it is said that Alexander and his successors set at liberty many Jews that had been sold into Greece.

[00:57:33] And it is likely that many returned from different lands on the publication of the Edict of Cyrus.

[00:57:41] Okay.

[00:57:41] Like, remember?

[00:57:42] Yeah.

[00:57:42] We talked about how, yay, you're welcome to come home now.

[00:57:45] Right.

[00:57:45] They even kind of liked Cyrus.

[00:57:47] And before that, they liked Alexander the Great for some reason.

[00:57:51] Right.

[00:57:51] Remember?

[00:57:51] And we learned about that in the Jewish fairy tales book.

[00:57:54] Yeah.

[00:57:55] Okay.

[00:57:55] So verse 8 reads, I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabians, a nation far away.

[00:58:04] The Lord has spoken.

[00:58:06] So when Alexander the Great took Tyre, he reduced into slavery all the lower people and the women.

[00:58:13] Again, Arian, this guy that wrote in a bunch of the early, what am I trying to say, Jewish texts?

[00:58:24] Okay.

[00:58:24] Like the writings is, says that 30,000 of them were sold.

[00:58:29] Our Tisirce's Ocas destroyed Sidon and subdued the other cities of Phoenicia.

[00:58:36] In all these wars, the Jews who obeyed the Persians did not neglect to purchase Phoenician slaves whom they sold again to the Sabians or Arabs.

[00:58:47] Okay.

[00:58:47] So they're saying fulfilled.

[00:58:48] Got it.

[00:58:49] Okay.

[00:58:49] Yeah.

[00:58:50] So let's move on.

[00:58:51] Okay.

[00:58:53] All right.

[00:58:53] Returning to the picture of nations gathering for war in the valley outside Jerusalem, Joel, the prophet, ironically urges the enemy armies to make full preparation for the battle.

[00:59:07] He then calls upon God to send down his angelic armies to be ready to carry out his sentence of judgment upon the enemy.

[00:59:15] I'm like, well, I don't really remember that.

[00:59:17] So let's read a verse.

[00:59:19] Let's read verses 9 and 10.

[00:59:21] Sure.

[00:59:21] Proclaim this among the nations.

[00:59:23] Prepare for war.

[00:59:24] Rouse the warriors.

[00:59:25] Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.

[00:59:28] Beat your plowshares into swords.

[00:59:31] Right.

[00:59:32] And your pruning hooks into spears.

[00:59:35] Let the weakling say, I am strong.

[00:59:37] Yeah.

[00:59:38] So God challenged the nations to prepare for war against him.

[00:59:41] Basically, he's saying if you're going to go into battle against God, you should have every weapon available because you're going to lose.

[00:59:47] But go ahead.

[00:59:49] Fight your best.

[00:59:49] Okay.

[00:59:50] Okay.

[00:59:50] So God's moment of decision comes and he announces his verdict on the nations.

[00:59:55] They are guilty.

[00:59:56] Of course.

[00:59:56] Their wickedness is great.

[00:59:58] Yeah.

[00:59:58] And therefore they must die.

[01:00:00] Of course.

[01:00:02] Saw that coming.

[01:00:03] There's the story of the Bible.

[01:00:05] Right.

[01:00:05] Pretty much.

[01:00:06] Yeah.

[01:00:06] They are cut down like grapes from a vine.

[01:00:09] Their blood flows like grape juice overflowing a wine press.

[01:00:13] Jesus.

[01:00:13] The valley of God's judgment is filled with the bodies of dead soldiers.

[01:00:18] Such a loving God.

[01:00:19] I mean, it's just amazing, isn't it?

[01:00:21] Yeah.

[01:00:21] The amount of love.

[01:00:22] So much love.

[01:00:23] That pours out from him.

[01:00:24] Mm-hmm.

[01:00:25] Yeah.

[01:00:26] Yeah.

[01:00:26] So let's read verse 15.

[01:00:28] The sun and moon will be darkened and the stars no longer shine.

[01:00:32] Here's the thing.

[01:00:33] High and mighty states shall be eclipsed and brought to ruin and the stars, petty states, princes, and governors shall withdraw their shining, withhold their influence and tribute from the kingdoms to which they have belonged, and set up themselves as independent governors.

[01:00:51] Okay.

[01:00:52] So there are different scholars that are like, yeah, that is just a metaphor.

[01:01:00] Yeah.

[01:01:00] Like, you know, the stars will stop shining is just like the people.

[01:01:06] They're just.

[01:01:06] The Hollywood celebrities.

[01:01:10] It's the drama.

[01:01:10] Will fall.

[01:01:11] Yeah.

[01:01:12] Right.

[01:01:12] Yeah.

[01:01:12] Those stars.

[01:01:13] Sure.

[01:01:13] Sure.

[01:01:14] Yeah.

[01:01:15] The time of God's judgment on his enemies is also the time of his deliverance of Jerusalem.

[01:01:20] He protects his people from punishment, purifies them from uncleanness, and gives them peace and prosperity.

[01:01:27] Pretty.

[01:01:28] Having punished all enemies, symbolized here by Egypt and Edom, God now dwells among his people forever.

[01:01:36] Right after he punished his enemies.

[01:01:39] But before that, he punished the Israelites.

[01:01:42] And then prior to that, he punished his enemies.

[01:01:44] And before that, he punished the Israelites.

[01:01:46] And then after that, he punished the Israelites.

[01:01:48] Yeah.

[01:01:49] Let's not forget that it happens more and more again.

[01:01:51] Right.

[01:01:51] I know.

[01:01:51] Yeah.

[01:01:51] I just.

[01:01:52] You were starting by going backwards.

[01:01:53] No, I know.

[01:01:53] I know.

[01:01:54] But it goes forward.

[01:01:54] It goes forward too.

[01:01:55] Yeah.

[01:01:55] Yeah.

[01:01:56] For sure.

[01:01:56] So, having punished all enemies, blah, blah, blah.

[01:02:00] He now dwells among his people forever.

[01:02:02] The persecutors receive their just punishment, but the righteous enter into eternal life.

[01:02:08] So, we're almost done here.

[01:02:10] Let's read verse 18.

[01:02:12] Okay.

[01:02:13] In that day, the mountains will drip new wine and the hills will flow with milk.

[01:02:18] All the ravines of Judah will run with water.

[01:02:22] A fountain will flow out of the Lord's house and will water the Valley of Acacias.

[01:02:27] It was a very hopeful ending to the book.

[01:02:31] Yes.

[01:02:31] Yeah.

[01:02:32] Yes.

[01:02:32] So, the Valley of Acacias, or as it's commonly known, the Valley of Shittim.

[01:02:38] Okay.

[01:02:38] Was a place associated with both failure and victory.

[01:02:42] It is located on the eastern side of the Jordan River to the north of the Dead Sea.

[01:02:48] It was where the king of Moab sent his young women to the men of Israel to seduce them into

[01:02:55] idolatry and sexual immorality in the book of Numbers, chapter 25.

[01:03:00] I recall that, actually.

[01:03:01] It was also the launching place for the armies of Israel when they set out against Jericho

[01:03:06] and Canaan in the days of Joshua.

[01:03:09] Okay.

[01:03:09] And that was in the book of Joshua.

[01:03:11] Yeah.

[01:03:11] Isn't that where they crossed the river and, like, they stopped the water and, like, they

[01:03:16] carried shit across and stuff?

[01:03:17] Mm-hmm.

[01:03:17] Probably?

[01:03:18] Mm-hmm.

[01:03:18] Yeah.

[01:03:18] Now, I read a phrase that I really liked, and so I just wrote it down with zero context,

[01:03:24] but I think that you will understand what I mean by it.

[01:03:29] Okay.

[01:03:29] This phrase is vindictive justice.

[01:03:32] Yeah.

[01:03:33] Right?

[01:03:33] Yeah.

[01:03:34] So, I mean, that pretty much embodies the entire God concept, right?

[01:03:39] Yeah.

[01:03:39] At least in the Old Testament.

[01:03:40] Yeah.

[01:03:41] The Old Testament God is—you can never do anything right enough, and his justice is dependent

[01:03:50] upon you doing things exactly just so.

[01:03:54] Mm-hmm.

[01:03:54] And if you don't, then he's going to rain fire and brimstone and kill you.

[01:03:58] Yeah.

[01:03:59] And that's pretty much how he operates, which is really disgusting.

[01:04:04] It really is.

[01:04:05] And I don't approve, and I—there is no amount of New Testament that can fix this God.

[01:04:12] No.

[01:04:12] No.

[01:04:12] I'm just saying, this God has already—he's done fucked up.

[01:04:15] He's so bad, ugly, and wrong.

[01:04:17] Right.

[01:04:17] He's so ancient, and, like, ugh, you're so old-school stupid.

[01:04:22] And look, I get it, right?

[01:04:23] You can take as many things as you want from this Bible as you want, and you can forget

[01:04:29] the ugly bits, right?

[01:04:31] There's definitely—if we read through the Bible and tried to not see the ugly on purpose

[01:04:37] and pick out the philosophical, beautiful points, we could make it sound beautiful, right?

[01:04:44] But that's the problem.

[01:04:45] You can't pick and choose.

[01:04:47] You have to read it through.

[01:04:48] Yeah.

[01:04:48] If you read it through, it's ugly.

[01:04:50] Yeah.

[01:04:50] It's fucking horrible.

[01:04:51] Yeah.

[01:04:51] And the way you get to, quote-unquote, beautiful is by killing a fuckton of people.

[01:04:56] Yeah.

[01:04:56] And that's not okay.

[01:04:58] Yeah.

[01:04:58] So fuck that vindictive fuck.

[01:05:00] Yeah.

[01:05:00] That's all I'm saying.

[01:05:01] I agree.

[01:05:02] Fuck that vindictive fuck.

[01:05:03] Yeah.

[01:05:03] That sounds like a great place to end.

[01:05:05] Yeah.

[01:05:05] All right.

[01:05:06] Well, that was the wrap-up for Joel.

[01:05:08] And the Q&A for the three chapters that we read.

[01:05:12] Yeah.

[01:05:12] And—

[01:05:13] We finished another book, y'all.

[01:05:14] We did.

[01:05:15] We do have one more episode, though.

[01:05:17] Mm-hmm.

[01:05:17] And that will be our—

[01:05:19] You're Always Wrong!

[01:05:21] Or Contradictions.

[01:05:22] And a pop quiz.

[01:05:23] Yeah.

[01:05:24] Which I will reveal here now I got a 60% on.

[01:05:27] Ooh.

[01:05:28] Yeah.

[01:05:28] All right.

[01:05:29] All right.

[01:05:29] So we'll be back.

[01:05:30] We're going to record this, actually, right after we finish this.

[01:05:33] So it'll be out tomorrow.

[01:05:34] Mm-hmm.

[01:05:34] And we'll see you guys then.

[01:05:36] Bye!

[01:05:37] Bye!