The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel. Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips. A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.
Starting a new book here, the prophetic book of Joel. The date of the book is unknown, though linguists have theorized that his language style mirrors that of Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Ezekiel’s ministry was between 593 BC and 571 BC. Jeremiah ministered from 626 BC to 586 BC. Zephaniah ministered from 640 BC to 609 BC, during King Josiah’s reign. Amos ministered 792 BC to 740 BC. Micah prophesied between 750 BC and 686 BC. So it is likely the prophet Joel ministered sometime between 792 BC and 571 BC, or around those dates.
Now for the discussion on the first few verses of this book …
One of the tendencies, I have found, of people who have rejected God and decided to live in selfishness and sin, is that they tend to brush off or dismiss his judgments as bad luck.
Joel is watching two equally perplexing things happen: 1) a massive judgment of God’s people through a plague of locusts (and it was more like three successive plagues of locusts). And, 2) the systematic non-response to this event by his nation. It is like they are drunk and asleep at the wheel.
When I see the impact of a life lived under the influence of sin; denial, or excusing the judgments of God (or the consequences of sin) is many times a result.
This event is a once in a century type disaster on the crops, the food supply, of a nation. Even to the stripping off of bark from the trees. When all of the other food for the locusts was eaten, all that was left was bark, and that too was eaten.
Joel’s initial call is a wake-up call for his people to recognize what is happening: God is judging their sin. The first step to a right relationship with God is to recognize our sin. It is only then that we can repent.
What sin am I needing to be honest about to repent of in front of an Almighty God? This is a major way to draw closer to him!
Thank you, Lord, for all of your efforts to wake me up in the past. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts. Your heart is for restoration with your people. I am listening, show me where I can draw closer to you by identifying your corrections of my heart.
