PROVISION

Consider the following definitions of the noun provision:

1a: the act or process of providing

1b: the fact or state of being prepared beforehand

1c: a measure taken beforehand to deal with a need or contingency

2: a stock of needed materials or supplies especially: a stock of food – usually used in plural

  • What do you personally due to insure you have provision for today?
  • Do you also have a plan for insuring you have enough provision for the future?
  • How far in the future are you preparing?
  • What type of provision do you deem most important to secure for daily and future needs?
  • Have you benefitted from others provision on your behalf?
  • What does Joel 3:18 have to say about provision?

NET  Joel 3:18 On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water. A spring will flow out from the temple of the LORD, watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.

What provision is mentioned in Joel 3:18?

Sweet wine, milk, and water.

Now consider the NIV translation of Joel 3:18:

NIV  Joel 3:18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house and will water the valley of acacias.

What reveals the amount of provision being described in Joel 3:18?

The mountains (plural) will drip new wine.

The hills (plural) will flow with milk.

All the ravines  or previously dry stream beds (see NET translation) will run or flow with water. (Again, note the plural in this phrase as well).

The pluralities used communicate a sense of ongoing abundance that will be provided.

Why are these three specific provisions mentioned?

Consider the following verses in Joel regarding wine:

ESV  Joel 1:5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.

ESV  Joel 2:19 The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

ESV  Joel 2:24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

Joel 3:18 confirms again the promise of sustained provision to the Lord’s followers with the phrase the mountains will drip with new wine.

Consider the following verses in Joel regarding animals that produce milk:

ESV  Joel 1:18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.

ESV  Joel 2:22 Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

Joel 3:18 confirms that not only will the Lord provide new wine but will provide pasture for the beasts of the field so that they too may be revived.

Consider the following verses in Joel regarding water:

ESV  Joel 1:20 Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

ESV  Joel 2:23 “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.

The return of water in the form of seasonal rains to quench the drought that had occurred in the land is a vital provision the Lord will offer again.

Joel 3:18 is stressing that the very things that the Lord caused to awaken His people with earlier in the book of Joel are the very things that He will restore to them in an abundant fashion.

These food and drink provisions were vital to the Judeans livelihood and still are for us today.

Neither human, animal, nor plant can survive without a source for water.

Neither human or animal can survive or thrive without sources of vegetation.

When will this abundant provision take place according to 3:18?

Read our verse again:

NET  Joel 3:18 On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water. A spring will flow out from the temple of the LORD, watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.

Consider the following previous verses in Joel:

ESV  Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.

ESV  Joel 2:13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

ESV  Joel 2:14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

ESV  Joel 2:18 Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.

Why does the Lord wait for His people to humble themselves before He restores them?

Consider the following previous verses in Joel:

ESV  Joel 1:2 Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

ESV  Joel 2:17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?'”

ESV  Joel 2:27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

ESV  Joel 3:17 “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

The Lord wants His people to be His witness to all future generations.

The Lord wants His people to know beyond any doubt that He is the one who provides for all their needs.

The Lord wants His people to know that He desires to be in an intimate relationship with them.

Read Joel 3:18 one more time in two different translations:

NET  Joel 3:18 On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water. A spring will flow out from the temple of the LORD, watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.

NIV  Joel 3:18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house and will water the valley of acacias.

What is the significance of the final sentence of this verse?

By saying the fountain or spring will flow from the Lord’s temple or house we are being told that the Lord is the source of all provision we truly need.

Acacia trees are tolerant of arid dessert regions. But when given more favorable conditions will grow rapidly.

Commentators can only theorize as to the exact location of this valley of acacia trees.

Thus, most see this valley as spiritually symbolic similar as the earlier references in Joel to the Valley of Jehoshaphat or valley of decision. (See Joel 3:2 and 3:14).

The Lord is communicating that He not only desires to provide for those who are lacking resources but is able to supply abundantly.

In addition, the Lord is communicating that He is not just a source of physical support but also spiritually. He alone is the most reliable source.

Impact for Today

The Lord cares enough about His creation that He will discipline us when we go astray.

The reason He disciplines us is not to harm us but to wake us up to who He truly is and all He desires to provide for us so that we will be His witness for future generations by giving Him glory and praise.

What other takeaways do you have about the impact this study of Joel is having on you?

Leave a comment for group discussion or send email me if you prefer a private dialogue.

May you be encouraged to lift your eyes and humbly see that the Lord is your ultimate provision.

NIV  Psalm 121:1-8 A song of ascents.

1I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip– he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you– the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm– he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Blessings,

Barbara Lynn

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