The Invasion of Locusts
“This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel: Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?
Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.
A Call to Mourning
Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth. Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD. The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.
A Call to Repentance (Amos 5:4-15; Zephaniah 2:1-3; Luke 13:1-5)
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness
from the house of our God? The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away. How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering. To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field. Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.
Talk about climate change! Nobody knows exactly what kinds of locusts are about to hit Judah, but there are four kinds: devouring locusts, swarming locusts, young locusts, and destroying locusts. By the end of these visitations, there will not be anything left. Vineyards, olive groves, fig groves, pomegranates, date palms, apples and grain fields – everything will be devastated. Not only will the economy collapse, but people will starve. Left without vegetation, the land will suffer severe drought, making it far more difficult for agriculture to recover. “Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.”
“Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth. Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD…. Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.” Joel is warning the people of Judah that they either repent and mourn now or they will REALLY grieve later! Things will be so bad that there won’t even be grain left for the grain offerings or wine and oil for the other offerings.
“Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away. How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering. To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field. Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, nd fire has consumed the open pastures.”
Left without any shade or rainfaill, seed will shrivel in the dry ground, and pastures and the trees of the field will burst into flames. All the streams will fail, leaving animals to die.
APPLICATION: In 1981-82, severe drought hit Ghana and bush fires destroyed 50% of the vegetation. At the same time, Nigeria forceably repatriated one million Ghanaians overnight, causing the population to increase from thirteen million to fourteen million. One grim joke asked, “Where do the fourteen million magicians live?” with the answer, “In Ghana, because nobody knows how they are making it.” At the time, many Ghanaians did turn to the Lord, and God answered their prayers, sending the much – needed rains.
Many times, we want to imagine that we can control our environment; however, all it takes is one fierce tornado or hurricane to remind us that we cannot. But what is our response? Do we repent or do we try to find other answers? Do we ask the Lord of the Universe for help, or do we turn to science, politics, etc.?
When Joel first gave these messages, he was begging his friends and relatives to turn back to God before they had to face destruction. Today, how close are we to facing the same fate? Are we turning our back on God, only to hope that He will somehow deliver us anyway? May God help us to turn to Him before it’s too late.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, save us! Help us to trust You first and always. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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