I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

In the previous verses, we saw how God was merciful to the Israelites after they repented, rending their hearts to him. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. One example of this in our current culture is Charlie Kirk, who loved people who hated him and gave people, who disagreed with him and sometimes slandered him, the opportunity to debate.

Here we see evidence of God’s grace. Grace is giving someone a gift they clearly do not deserve. He gave the Israelites a gift here. They not only did not deserve it, he committed himself to a gift of provision that would last well into the future. Only a good God can give these kinds of gifts to his children. He will restore the years the locusts have eaten. This gift had several parts: a) The food supply will be abundant, b) they will praise him with full bellies, and c) they will never again be put to shame [in this complete and utter way].

God, in mercy, forewent his judgment for their wickedness. He did this by rerouting this massive army assembled against them (remember, they had broken their covenant with him). He also did not just leave them to pick up the pieces on their own. He showed them incredible grace by helping them build back their prosperity and providing ample food. And he promised them he would never put them to shame like this again.

I think this is a good model for me of how to work with my children. Discipline them when they deserve it. Hold a hard line on righteous conduct. Don’t compromise. But then when they repent and come back to me, show lots of mercy and grace. (Repentance is different than saying “I’m sorry”. As they get older I need to teach them the meaning of repentance and not let them off the hook with a casual sorry.) Don’t hold grudges. Don’t bring up their past faults or dig at them to make them remember their shame. Instead, seek to prosper them greatly!

Lord, thank you for this great passage that shows the Amazing Grace that you gave the Israelites in Joel‘s time. And you show us the same grace in our lives today. Help me to be merciful with others and to be a grace dispenser, someone who gives grace freely without worry about past faults or wrongs.