Judgment by insects and drought

 

READ Joel 1–3

One summer I drove from Chicago through Saskatchewan to Alberta. Part of SK was dry and experiencing a proliferation of grasshoppers. At times, the air was thick with them. These verses in Joel remind me of that cloud:

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. (Joel 1:4)

Joel is telling God’s people that He is going to judge them, and that judgment would involve loss of their crops causing them and their animals to suffer and the land to burn because of drought. He says:

The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished . . . . The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer . . . . the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. (Joel 1:10-20)

These food shortages were due to insects and no rain — the people were helpless against those enemies and Joel made clear this was not climate change. He said, “Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near . . . . The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?” (2:1–11)

However, the people were given an option. This judgment did not have to happen:

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? (2:12–14)

God did become jealous for his land and had pity on his people. He said:

Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied . . . Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield . . . . Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God . . .  he has poured down for you abundant rain . . . . The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else . . . . (2:18–27)

Joel also looks to the latter days and tells how God will pour out His Spirit and save those who call on His name. He will also judge the nations and there will be “Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision when the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.” God will roar in judgment and “the heavens and the earth quake” yet He will always be “a refuge to his people, a stronghold” to those who put their trust in Him.

The assurance of God’s care flies in the face of those who cry “the sky is falling” and those who think humanity can save itself. The words of the prophets are scary, yet they also put peace in my heart.