The Day the Minhah Stopped

As we continue on in the Book of Joel, we see how his descriptions concerning the Day of the Lord are strikingly vivid. We are spared nothing. One image of destruction gives way to the next, rising into a relentless crescendo of devastation. From Joel 1:6 through to 2:18, thirty-two powerful verses, like fleeting images, rush before us with unstoppable force.

 

But, there is something very special in this book: As one keeps reading, something remarkable, something even miraculous, begins to unfold. As we follow the details of these accounts, a deep sense of comfort and assurance begin to rise within us.

 

How is that? How is it possible that such stark descriptions, sometimes of judgment, trial, or upheaval, could leave us calm and at rest?

 

The answer lies in the fact that the Author, in unveiling the enemy, shows us that He knows him thoroughly. He knows exactly where he is, what he is planning, where he is going, and how he operates. He even gives us his path and precise destination. He lays bare his ultimate goal. Once all of this is revealed, we realize that the threat is not as dreadful as it first appeared, for nothing escapes the eye and hand of our God.

 

So then, what do we discover in these verses? Reading verse after verse, the direction may not seem so obvious at first; much like arriving at the scene of an accident, where the scattered parts must be pieced together. Yet, as the picture takes shape, certain truths emerge with unmistakable force.

 

The first striking theme that emerges from Joel’s prophecy, and one that speaks powerfully of our time, is the Temple. In his three chapters, Joel makes more than fifteen references to the Temple in Jerusalem. This is a major theme of his book.

 

To give you an idea, he mentions the Temple, by itself, five times, calling it the House, the house of the Lord, of our God. (1:9, 13, 14, 16, 3:18). He also gives details of the inside of the Temple as in 2:17 where he brings us in between the porch and the altar; this is where they offered the sacrifices. This is where Yeshua said they killed Zechariah the prophet in Matthew 23. He also mentions My Holy Mountain twice in 2:1 and in 3:17.

 

And he refers to the Solemn Assembly, two times (1:14, 2:15). These were assemblies associated with the three Feasts when the Lord summoned all Israel to the Temple.  He also twice mentions the priests and ministers (1:9,13) and the Lord asks them to mourn, to weep, to lament, to declare a fast and prayer in Israel.

 

Three times the prophet mentions the grain, the new wine, the oil; these were the portions owing to the priests. And again three times he mentions  the grain offering, the Minhah מִנְחָה, and the Drink offering, the Nesek  נֶסֶךְ (1:9, 1:13, 2:14). He tells us that these offering were suddenly stopped. But before we get there, let’s identify this Temple with greater precision and with a pressing question:  Which Temple is Joel describing? To which one is he referring? Was it the First Temple that was destroyed in 586 BC or was it the Second Temple, destroyed in 70 AD? Or could it be the Third Temple, the one that is about to be built in Jerusalem? Joel’s prophecies seem to be pointing to the Third Temple for these compelling reasons:

 

First, the book closes with the return of the Messiah who appears right there, in Jerusalem and opens up the Messianic Times. Jesus closes the Book of Joel after a cataclysmic war unlike anything the world has ever seen. In addition, concerning this war, the Lord declares, “Never again to the years of many generations”

(לֹ֣א יוֹסֵ֔ף עַד־שְׁנֵ֖י דּ֥וֹר וָדֽוֹר; Lo Yoseph… dor va dor), that is, never again, from generation to generation, for all eternity.” (Joel 2:2)

 

Second, the vision of this Temple in Joel aligns with the testimony of other prophets. The details mirror those prophecies given by Moses, Isaiah, Habbakuk, Daniel, Zechariah, Paul, John and of course with the prophecies Yeshua Himself, who all describe a future Temple in connection with the end times. And so,  the very first detail we are given about this Temple echoes what both Daniel and Yeshua so strongly emphasized; something that is so timely today.

 

Let us begin with Joel 1:9. Here we are brought right in the midst of the 7-year Tribulation, the grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, The ministers of the Lord. The grain offering (minḥah) and the drink offering (nesek) were presented twice daily, together with the two sacrificial lambs.

 

These continual offerings symbolized Israel’s ongoing dedication to God, day by day, morning and evening. The rabbis often saw the tamid, this continual offering as the spiritual heartbeat of the Temple service.

 

But see that these offerings were not only stopped, but violently so, as they were cut off, karat, a word used to describe the cutting of a body part or the killing of  a person. And so we must ask: what events occurring at that time, will bring the offerings to such a sudden and violent end?  Here the Bible explains itself, for other prophets describe this very same event. The first is Daniel the prophet, who tells us that this very minḥah will be stopped and he tells us who stops it.

 

As the Lord gives us a chronology of the coming of the Messiah along with the rise and fall of the Antichrist in Daniel 9:24-27, we read in vs.27a, speaking of the coming world leader whom John calls the Antichrist, “Then he- the coming world leader, the one John calls the Antichrist – shall confirm a covenant with many for 7 years; But in the middle of the seven years,  he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering/minhah.”

 

It is after the Antichrist’s signing of the 7-year peace treaty with Israel, right in the middle of that treaty, that he will stop the sacrifices, and the minhah. While Daniel gives us the chronology, Joel tells us that he will do it violently, so much so that the priests will mourn and wail. It is then that they are asked to call a national fast in Israel. This would be the moment that we realize that this world leader, who initially came on a white horse, the Antichrist, was never a friend at all.

 

 

Click Here for the Video :  Joel Part 3 : The Third Temple in Prophecy