יואל, פרק ד׳, פסוק ב׳

In the End of Days, God will orchestrate a historic and public trial, gathering the nations of the world to avenge the suffering of the Israelites and punish those who ruined their land. The primary approach among commentators is that this massive assembly refers to the future war of Gog and Magog. God will steer the course of history, planting the desire within the nations to unite and wage war against Jerusalem [רד״ק]. This future conflict will involve massive clashes between the empires of Edom and Ishmael [מלבי״ם]. However, a different historical perspective suggests this event already occurred in the past, when Ammon, Moab, and Seir joined forces against the vast army of the King of Judah [אבן עזרא]. Looking beyond the physical battlefield, a deeper view suggests that God will not only gather the physical nations but also their spiritual patrons. These are the spiritual forces responsible for injecting hatred and the desire to harm Israel into the hearts of the nations [חומת אנך].

The nations will be led to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for this confrontation. Some commentators identify this as a physical valley near Jerusalem that either belonged to King Jehoshaphat or was the site of his great deeds, specifically pointing to the Valley of Berachah [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, אברבנאל]. Yet, the primary approach among commentators is that the name is entirely symbolic, capturing the very essence of the event. The name Jehoshaphat translates to the judgments of God. It signals that God will descend to the absolute depths of justice to punish the nations [רש״י, רד״ק, אברבנאל, מלבי״ם].

In this valley, God will engage in a piercing dispute with the nations, bringing disaster upon them for their ancient crimes against the Israelites [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון]. God will demand justice for the humiliation of His people and His heritage, as the Israelites remain His eternal possession [מלבי״ם]. The divine indictment will focus on two major crimes. The first is the violent scattering of the Israelites across the globe. This points directly to the destructions of the Temple, particularly the devastation brought by Titus and his armies, who ruined the land and exiled its people [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. The nations were not satisfied with simply sending the Israelites into exile; they compounded the tragedy with continuous evils, expulsions, and forced conversions, ensuring the people found no rest as they were scattered to the corners of the earth [מלבי״ם].

The second major crime is the division of God's land. The nations carved up the land of Israel and divided it among themselves [מצודת דוד]. Throughout history, various empires took turns ruling over it, shifting between the powers of Ishmael and Edom [אברבנאל]. Beyond mere conquest, the nations treated the Israelites as their personal financial property. Operating from this master-slave mindset, they assumed that the land of Israel inherently belonged to them as well, relying on the legal principle that whatever a slave acquires automatically becomes the property of his master [מלבי״ם].