Joel

Chapter 1:4-7 (ESV) - What the cutting locust left,
    the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    the destroying locust has eaten.

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.
For a nation has come up against my land,
    powerful and beyond number;
its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

Question to consider: Do you think the locusts being described by Joel were literal? Why or why not?

The book of Leviticus may not be at the top of your biblical reading list, but if you want to understand the history of Israel and gain insight into the words of the prophets, I recommend that you become familiar with chapter 26. This is the chapter that described the blessings and curses associated with the covenant of Moses. If Israel kept the Law, they would receive the peace and blessings of God, and if not, they would receive curses that increased sevenfold upon every generation that continued in disobedience until Israel would be decimated by their enemies and scattered over the earth. The greatest blessing of Leviticus 26 was the promise that, “...if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers…then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.” (verses 40 and 42)

This is why Daniel confessed the iniquity of the people before the end of the exile. This is why Christ interceded for His church. This is why we pray even for our enemies to be brought to faith. Unlike the gods of the nations who were indifferent or cruel to their worshipers, our God longs to be reconciled with His creation and lavishes His mercy upon the penitent.

The sending of pestilence was one of the growing punishments of the warning given in Leviticus 26, “And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.” (vers 25) 

It is possible that Joel’s description of locusts devastating the land was a literal plague sent upon the nation, but he followed it up with a warning that a nation had come upon the land and devastated it so it seems more likely that the destruction of the invading armies was being compared to that of locusts. The apostle John used similar imagery in Revelation 9 where locusts were described in details reminiscent of the Roman army.

Sennacherib’s devastation of the Judean countryside was a strategic measure to starve the city of Jerusalem as he planned his siege. Joel’s warning to the elders and inhabitants of the land was rather biting since he compared them with sleeping drunkards who only recognized their plight because their wine had run out, and the means to make new wine were destroyed. It was as if to say, “If the elders and inhabitants refuse to confess their iniquity before God, maybe at least the drunkards will wake up and repent because their wine has run out.”

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for Your patience and willingness to suffer our unrighteousness until we can be brought to repentance. Help us to see that the time of judgment has come so that we may turn to You and live. Amen.