The operation was the largest single-day invasion of all time. Just under 200,000 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel delivered over 130,000 troops along a stretch of the Normandy coast in France. They, in turn, were supported by 12,000 aircraft flying 14,000 sorties. These invaders’ goal was to get past the well-entrentched German army that was 250,000-troop strong. June 6th, 1944, “D-Day” as we now simply call it, was a pivotal day in the Second World War. It opened the way for the destruction of the Nazis and the deliverance of Europe.
As many bombs fell and bullets were fired on the D-Day of 1944, that day will pale in comparison to the Divine D-Day that is coming. This D-Day will not just lead to but be a day of destruction for unbelievers and a day of deliverance for believers.
Divine D-Day is of course just another name for Judgment Day. In our sermon text the prophet Joel, who lived about 830 B.C., gives us three pictures of Judgment Day. In the first picture God summons the peoples of this world to do battle with him. “9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears… 12 ‘Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side” (Joel 3:9, 10a, 12).
What strikes me about this section of Scripture is how confident God is. He sounds like a hotshot warrior summoning, even taunting his enemy to grapple with him. God is so confident of victory that he doesn’t take up a defensive posture in preparation for this battle. He doesn’t even stand up to meet the invading army. He just coolly sits on his throne of judgment!
Is God overconfident? Not at all. He’s taken on these kinds of armies before. By summoning his enemies to the Valley of Jehoshaphat God seems to be alluding to a battle he fought during the reign of King Jehoshaphat, the fourth king of Judah. One day, word reached this king that the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites were coming to attack with what was described as a “vast” army (2 Chronicles 20:2). Although Jehoshaphat had a capable army at his disposal he first ordered his people to fast and then he prayed for the Lord’s help. God answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer by giving a Levite this message: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s’” (2 Chronicles 20:15).
Since this battle was the Lord’s, King Jehoshaphat and his army marched to the battle site simply to observe what God would do. As they marched they sang words familiar to us: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21). That doesn’t sound like an appropriate battle cry but it was and is. Jehoshaphat and his men were already giving thanks for the victory they knew God would grant. And when they arrived at the battleground they saw dead bodies of the enemy all around them. Not one soldier from the invading army was left alive and Jehoshaphat’s men hadn’t fired a single arrow! God had caused the enemy to fight one another! This incident illustrates how God allows testing into the lives of believers so that they get to see his grace and power at work. As a result, it will move us to praise God all the more. So give thanks to the Lord, no matter what you’re battling, for the battle is really the Lord’s and his merciful love for you endures forever!
Just as God single-handedly dispatched the vast army of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites so he will one day forever dispatch all those who dare fight against him. Could that be us? How can it? We’ve never taken up arms against the Lord, have we? We may never outwardly curse God and seek to destroy his Church but Divine D-Day may end up being a day of destruction for us if we’re not careful. To explain what I mean let’s take a look at Joel’s second picture for Judgment Day. Joel writes: “13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe” (Joel 3:13a).
Comparing Judgment Day to harvest day is an illustration that Jesus also used. It’s so familiar that we may fail to see ourselves in the picture. Perhaps this illustration will make us take pause. A farmer noticed that every autumn a tragedy played out in his cornfields. All summer long families of field mice had made their homes among the growing plants. They ate and slept, they worked and played and raised their families. The mice imagined that those green fields belonged to them. But then one day, at the end of the summer, the mouse community got an awful shock. The farmer entered the fields with his harvesting machinery and all of a sudden those comfortable summer homes and food pantries that the mice had enjoyed came crashing down on their heads.
Can you see any similarity here between field mice and people? Do we look upon this world as our home and so day after day go off to work, earn money, play, fall in love, get married and have children, imagining that this world is our home and will always be our home? If you remember the mice though, you might want to ask yourself: “Am I forgetting that this world is not mine…that it’s just a temporary place to stay…that harvest day is nearly upon us?” (John Jeske “Connecting Sinai to Calvary” p. 179)
Knowing that a day of judgment is coming, however, is not the same as being ready for it. German intelligence knew that the Allies were going to invade on June 6th, 1944. How then do you explain that many German officers, including the commanding general, went on leave the weekend of the attack? It’s because they underestimated the strength and the resolve of the Allies. They figured that even if the Allies did attack, they would have time to get back to the front line to sort things out. It was a fatal underestimation. Are you making the same fatal underestimation in regard to Judgment Day? Do you treat your faith like a weekend hobby taking leave of it Monday through Saturday thinking should Judgment Day happen on one of those days you’ll still be able to talk your way into heaven? If so, Joel has news for you. Listen to his third description of Judgment Day. “14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble” (Joel 3:14-16a).
The Valley of Decision is another name for the Valley of Jehoshaphat that Joel described earlier. This valley is not so much a place as it is an event: the Divine D-Day. It’s described as the Valley of Decision because that is what’s going to happen on Judgment Day: God, not man, will make a decision. This decision will be clear cut. In fact the Hebrew word “to judge” comes from a word that means “to cut.” On Judgment Day God will cut, or divide mankind into two groups for eternity. Those who have put their faith in his Son for forgiveness right up to the very end will be saved. And those who rejected Jesus or even just made their personal life more important than their life of faith will be banished from God’s loving presence forever. There will be no pleading or bargaining with God on this day. Indeed, who will get a word in when Joel describes God as roaring so that earth and sky tremble? Even the sun, moon, and stars won’t dare show their countenance on this day. It will be a day of darkness as it was when Jesus was crucified.
Wow! Sounds frightening doesn’t it? It will be a frightening day for those who have rejected Jesus. But for those whom the Holy Spirit has brought and kept in the faith, D-Day will be a day of deliverance. We can be certain of this because Joel describes God as “a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel” (Joel 3:16b).
The pillboxes the Germans had constructed on the Normandy coast were a refuge for the German soldiers. In spite of the all the shelling, these structures continued to stand and protect the soldiers. The only reason the pillboxes were captured is because the soldiers inside eventually ran out of ammunition. God, of course, is an even better refuge than German-built pillboxes. They were stationary structures on the Normandy coast; God is with us everywhere. That’s why King David called God an “ever-present” help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). So with God as our refuge, the darkness of the Divine D-Day will not be frightening to believers, and nor will the dark days of this life – the loneliness, the guilt of your sin, the looming blood test, the frustration over lack of adequate housing, these are nothing for the believer because the Lord cares for those who trust in him (Nahum 1:7). He surrounds us with his love and protection. He surrounds us with the cleansing blood of his Son.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like on that D-Day of 1944. The movies I’ve seen are scary enough. But a D-Day even more dramatic than the one of 1944 is coming. Are you ready for it? If not, you will end up shut up in darkness forever (Matthew 25:30) cut off from God’s love but not from his hatred for your sins. But that doesn’t have to be what Divine D-Day is like for you for this day will also be a day of deliverance for all who continue to trust in Jesus as their Savior. May that describe each of us as we march towards the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Judgment Day) singing: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” Amen.
