Joel 1

The Plague of Locusts

Open your Bible to…

Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

Pray

Intro

√ The book

We know precious little about Joel! Unlike all of the other prophetic books in the Bible Joel doesn’t give us much information about himself except his and his father’s name!

He doesn’t tell us when he prophesied or where he lived.

He doesn’t tell us the kings who ruled at the time of his ministry.

So, we’re left to try figure out those details from the clues within his prophecy.

Bible students have suggested no less than three different times that Joel may have ministered!

So, we can’t be too dogmatic about the date of Joel’s writing and I would suggest that since God didn’t think it necessary for us to know…

…then it probably doesn’t have any significance with regard to the meaning of the prophecy!

√ Joel’s prophecy

What we do know is that Joel ministered in Judah at a time when drought and plague devastated the nation.

Everyone from the poorest farmer to the priest in the Temple and the leaders of the nation were touched by the devastation.

One of the key phrases you’ll find in his prophecy is…

“The Day of the Lord”

Which speaks of both the present devastation and the future final judgment of God upon the earth.

√ Hope

Like Ezekiel’s prophecy, Joel’s predictions of coming judgment are balanced with the hope of future blessing!

He speaks of the future Millennial Age and looks forward to all that God has promised to those who love Him.

So, as we study the book of Joel we’re reminded again that no matter what troubles we and the world may be facing that God is in control and has a perfect plan to bring in His rule of righteousness.

Ap. Instructions

In chapter 1 Joel gives us 4 instructions to follow when we find ourselves in times of trouble…

…instructions that should be heeded by both individuals and nations.

Hear (vs. 1-4)

Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

Joel 1:2 Hear this, you elders,

And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!

Has anything like this happened in your days,

Or even in the days of your fathers?

Joel 1:3 Tell your children about it,

Let your children tell their children,

And their children another generation.

Joel 1:4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;

What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;

And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.

√ Hear

Joel begins by calling all the people of the land, both the elders and the citizens to “hear” the word of the Lord.

He calls them to look at their present desperate situation and consider whether or not anything like this has ever happened!

The answer is “no!”

God’s word through Joel is meant to emphasize to the people of Judah that the plague of locusts that is working through the land is without precedent!

It is without doubt the worst “natural” disaster they have ever experienced!

When the locusts have finished there won’t be any vegetation left in Judah!

√ The locusts

In verse 4 Joel describes the invading army of locusts…

Joel 1:4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;

What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;

And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.

Some Bible students interpret this verse to represent 4 waves of locust infestation…

…while others interpret it as the 4 stages of locust development.

Chewing locusts ~ young locust chew the leaves off the branches of tree, plants and vines.

Swarming locusts ~ once they grow their wings they spread out over the country and eat every green thing the can find.

Crawling locusts ~ the Hebrew word for “crawling” is “yeleq” which means to “lick”. The locusts return to the areas that they have already been to and “lick” off any remaining vegetation from the branch.

Consuming locusts ~ once the locusts have eaten and licked all the leaves and greenery off the branches then begin stripping off the bark and eating that!

I kind of like the second interpretation, but regardless of which is correct Joel’s prophecy looks at the present devastation that Judah is experiencing…

…as a symbol of the future devastation that God will bring on the earth during the Great Tribulation which we’ll see in chapter 2.

√ Hear the word of the Lord

At every point in Israel’s history when they were in trouble God was faithful to raise up a prophet to interpret the events under which they were suffering.

If they heeded the prophet and heard the word of the Lord then God would relent of His judgment and restore them to blessing.

But, if they would not hear the word of the Lord then God brought about the judgment that He decreed upon them.

Ex. Rehoboam and Shiskak ~ 2 Chron. 12

Even the wicked king Manasseh was restored to his kingdom when he repented and humbled himself before the Lord! (ref. 2 Chron. 33).

Ap. Are we listening?

If you’re walking in disobedience to the Lord He will speak to you!

By His Spirit, through His word, and…

…He will even send people to speak a word to you to help you interpret what you’re going through and why you are!

“Hear the word of the Lord”! Don’t turn a deaf ear to what the Lord speaks to you through one of His servants…

…He’s speaking because He wants to keep you from going in a direction that will bring harm to yourself!

Ex. The word Ray spoke to Bobby ~ Genesis 14

Awake! (vs. 5-7)

Joel 1:5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep;

And wail, all you drinkers of wine,

Because of the new wine,

For it has been cut off from your mouth.

Joel 1:6 For a nation has come up against My land,

Strong, and without number;

His teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.

Joel 1:7 He has laid waste My vine,

And ruined My fig tree;

He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;

Its branches are made white.

√ Awake!

No, we’re not talking about the publication of the Jehovah’s Witness by the same title!

Rather, Joel is calling the drunks of the land to wake up and weep over the destruction of the land.

Not because their wine was gone (“why’s the rum gone!”) but because their sin and the sin of the nation had brought about this judgment.

The point is that the people to whom Joel was ministering were just like so many of us when we get caught…

We’re sad because we got caught and can no longer enjoy our sin.

Rather than being sad over our sin and how it has hurt God and others around us.

Joel’s message to the drunks in the land was that they needed to wake up and look at the consequence of their sin…

…then sober up and get right with the Lord.

√ The invaders

Vs. 6 describes the destruction brought by the locusts in terms of a the damage that a lion can do…

“His teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.”

Just as a lion can rip apart his prey, so the locusts are able to strip bare all of the agriculture of the land ~ read the description of the damage they bring in vs. 7…

“He has laid waste My vine,

And ruined My fig tree;

He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;

Its branches are made white.”

It’s a terrifying picture of the destructive power of locusts.

You get the idea that just as man is powerless before a lion…

…so a nation is powerless to protect its livelihood from the swarms of locusts that sweep across the continents of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Even today with all of our technological advances farmers are powerless to stop a hoard of locusts!

Ex. Recent locust infestations

We don’t hear much about locusts in the USA, but they are a big problem in many parts of the world!

“They attack by the millions, massed so thickly they blot out the sun. Endlessly voracious, they reduce entire lush croplands to barren ruin in hours. And once they take flight, they are almost impossible to stop. They are locusts, the creatures of Biblical plague. They are having a banner year in 2005, and that spells disaster for farmers and agricultural businesses from western Africa to eastern Australia.” (ref. Risk Management 3/1/05).

With the right wind conditions Australian locusts can travel 435 miles in a day!

Destroyed 40% of the crops in one Australian province in a day!

All that to say that locusts are still a threat to the well being on any nation.

Ap. “Natural” disasters

This section reminds us that God’s judgment can come through what we might call “natural disasters”.

He is after all the King of the Universe and has at His disposal the use of wind, earthquakes, fire, storms, floods, wild animals, and the infestation of bugs!

Review the 10 Plagues that God used to destroy Egypt and you’ll find that He employed both “natural” and “supernatural” forces to decimate that nation.

So, when we look at disasters in our own day we don’t want to be too quick to assume it’s just part of living in a fallen world…

…it may be the hand of God’s judgment upon a sinful people, that’s where the discernment of a prophet like Joel is needed!

Lament (vs. 8-18)

Joel 1:8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth

For the husband of her youth.

Joel 1:9 The grain offering and the drink offering

Have been cut off from the house of the LORD;

The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD.

Joel 1:10 The field is wasted,

The land mourns;

For the grain is ruined,

The new wine is dried up,

The oil fails.

Joel 1:11 Be ashamed, you farmers,

Wail, you vinedressers,

For the wheat and the barley;

Because the harvest of the field has perished.

Joel 1:12 The vine has dried up,

And the fig tree has withered;

The pomegranate tree,

The palm tree also,

And the apple tree—

All the trees of the field are withered;

Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.

Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;

Wail, you who minister before the altar;

Come, lie all night in sackcloth,

You who minister to my God;

For the grain offering and the drink offering

Are withheld from the house of your God.

Joel 1:14 Consecrate a fast,

Call a sacred assembly;

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

Into the house of the LORD your God,

And cry out to the LORD.

Joel 1:15 Alas for the day!

For the day of the LORD is at hand;

It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

Joel 1:16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes,

Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Joel 1:17 The seed shrivels under the clods,

Storehouses are in shambles;

Barns are broken down,

For the grain has withered.

Joel 1:18 How the animals groan!

The herds of cattle are restless,

Because they have no pasture;

Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

√ Lament

Joel calls the farmers to lament the loss of their crops (vs. 11) and for the priests to repent and call the nation back to the Lord (vs. 13-14).

Based on Joel’s description of the land it’s easy to understand why everyone was grieving…

…the farmers had nothing to reap at harvest time and the priests weren’t able to offer some of the sacrifices in the Temple because of the shortage of grain, oil and wine.

So, Joel calls the people to seek the Lord with fasting and prayer because God alone can save them from this invasion of locusts!

√ Turn to the Lord!

As I read Joel’s exhortation to the people of Judah to turn to the Lord for help it reminds me that all of us are prone to forget that the Lord is our greatest help in times of trouble!

Ex. How often do we wait until we’ve exhausted every other possibility before we pray!

Perhaps then Joel’s message is meant to stir up the people and the priests to do what Solomon exhorted when he dedicated the Temple…

2Chr. 6:28 “When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

2Chr. 6:29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple:

2Chr. 6:30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),

2Chr. 6:31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

Solomon understood that God is always ready to forgive and restore those who turn to Him with a broken and humble spirit!

The solution then to the problems that the Jewish people faced in Joel’s day was God!

He alone controlled the locusts! He sent them and could just as easily take them away.

All the people had to do was seek the Lord and He would deliver them from destruction, it’s as we read many times in the Bible…

“If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”

So Joel calls the people to seek the Lord!

Ap. Make God your first call!

When trouble comes, either as the consequence or your own sin, or just as a result of living in a fallen world…

…turn to God first!

Ex. Jehoshaphat ~ 2 Chron. 20

When news came to Jehoshaphat that a massive army from Ammon, Moab and Edom was gathering in En Gedi for an attack on Jerusalem…

…Jehoshaphat went to the Lord first!

That’s significant because if you read chapter 18 of 2 Chronicles you’ll find that Jehoshaphat had a large well trained army at his disposal.

Yet, when news of an impending attack comes he doesn’t go first to his generals…

…he goes to the Lord in prayer and the Lord responded by destroying the entire invading army without the use of Judah’s military!

Cry out (vs. 19-20)

Joel 1:19 O LORD, to You I cry out;

For fire has devoured the open pastures,

And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.

Joel 1:20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You,

For the water brooks are dried up,

And fire has devoured the open pastures.

√ Cry out

In these last verses of chapter 1 we find the prophet leading the people and the priests by example as he cries out to the Lord for help!

He compares the plague of locusts to a fire that has passed through the land and burned up all the vegetation.

Adding to their misery vs. 17 & 20 seems to imply that they were also suffering from a drought!

“The seed shrivels under the clods,

Storehouses are in shambles;

Barns are broken down,

For the grain has withered. “ ~ vs. 17

And…

“For the water brooks are dried up,” ~ vs. 20

It’s a sad state of affairs! The crops had been destroyed by the locusts and now what they planted won’t produce fruit because there was no water in the land!

That translates into two seasons without food to harvest!

Whatever they had stored was sure to run out and that meant famine!

So, Joel leads the people in prayer as he cries out to the Lord for help. Perhaps he held to the promise in 2 Chr. 7:14…

“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Ap. Let’s pray!

Our nation faces a very uncertain future and our leaders haven’t put forth any real solutions to our troubles.

It’s high time to seek the Lord!

Pray for our nation, that the leaders and the people would repent of their God-rejecting ways and seek Him and His mercy once more.

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