June 2 - Joel 1:1-12

June 2 - Joel 1:1-12

Most people in my generation have never seen a locust plague. I remember reading about it in one of the "Little House on the Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and it absolutely terrified me! I was worried about facing down a hordes of locusts. Even to this day when I see numerous cicadas, grasshopper, locusts - whatever you want to call them, I shudder. I don't find them endearing at all.

In 1915, locusts swarmed Palestine and surrounding areas from March to October, stripping the land of all vegetation. A rabbi declared a day of prayer and petition, believing that the swarm was a punishment from God. Within a few days, the locusts had finished swarming and left, though they also left larvae throughout the region. A local law was passed that each man was to collect 20 kilograms of locust eggs for destruction or risk a monetary fine.

The devastation that locusts bring is terrifying and Joel's prophecy tells us that four separate waves of locusts will come through the region destroying everything in sight. This plague of locusts is like nothing anyone has ever seen (Joel 1:2-3) and is a harbinger of the Day of the Lord.

He tells them that the locust's invasion is like that of a nation. Drunkards will weep because the vines have been destroyed (Joel 1:5-7), offerings will no longer be offered to the Lord because the fields are ruined (Joel 1:8-12).

And the joy of mankind is withered away (Joel 1:12b). There will be no harvest, there will be nothing to offer to the Lord. There will be no joy.

This is a call to mourning. When the airplanes attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the nation went into a long period of mourning. The devastation of our sense of safety and the loss of lives wrung every ounce of joy from people around the world. Nothing like this had ever happened to us. No one knew how to comprehend the pain.

God offers us chance after chance to come before Him in repentance, whether it is individually or as a nation. The Day of the Lord will come. Who will be ready?