370. No Strangers
Joel 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
“Strangers” here refers to foreign empires, like the Assyrians and Babylonians, who would attack Judah and Jerusalem. Marauding invaders are the strangers who come to steal, kill, and destroy. Throughout history aggressive empires, rulers, and armies would instill fear of death in order to plunder and dominate. The threat of death was ever before the smaller and weaker peoples, tribes, and villages. It was always the “threat of death” through war, captivity, and enslavement that forced submission.
This physical history is a picture of spiritual history. In the spirit world evil forces use death and the threat of death to intimidate us into fear, worry, doubt and unbelief. “The thief (the devil and the demons) comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.” This is what Sin, Death, and the Devil seek to do to us. These are the “strangers” who will not be passing through the soul any more.
This is quite the promise. The Lord your God dwells in Zion = the Holy Spirit lives in your heart. Jerusalem is holy = the heart is righteous through faith in Christ. Anything ungodly or evil is not allowed in the Holy City of the heart where the Holy God dwells. Temptations, works of the flesh, evil thoughts and desires, and demons will constantly attack the Christian’s heart, where all the bad stuff comes from. But God promises that these strangers shall not pass through. Anything that is sinful and unholy cannot overcome the Holy God in the heart. Anything not of God is “strange.” We put on the armor of God and we wield the Word of God.
This promise we have does not stop the strangers from seeking to steal, kill, and destroy, but we trust the Lord who is in the city (the heart) to defend us, to forgive us, to cleanse, and to drive out the evil ones. “One little word can fell him.” We can say to sin in the heart: “God lives here.”