Locusts, Lament, and the LORD (Joel 1)

Introduction

PRAY WITH ME PLEASE.

If you have a copy of the Scriptures with you this morning, please turn to Joel 1 with me. If you find the book Ezekiel in your Old Testament, it is three books after. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and then Joel.

Over the next 4 weeks, other than October 1st when Mike Wingfield is here, we are going to be looking into the Prophecy of Joel together. I trust that we will find our time in the book profitable, as all Scripture is, as well as instructive, as Paul says in Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.”

READ JOEL 1.

About the book:

When it comes to the book of Joel, the only thing we can be sure about contextually is that it was written by a man named Joel, whose father was named Pethuel. It is quite difficult to nail anything else down.

Joel’s context and purpose.

We aren’t given much detail historically.

Often prophets tell which king they served under. Joel doesn’t.

Prophets would usually name sin outright, like idolatry, or extortion, or even false prophets. Joel doesn’t.

The only thing we can be sure of is that there was a plague of locusts, and this was a sign of the LORD’s judgment upon Israel.

Joel 1:4. cf. Deut. 28:38.

The Locust plague, as the day of the Lord, served to prefigure two other coming days for them.

The invasion of an army: Joel 2:1, 11.

The Eschatological, or End Times, Day of the Lord: Joel 2:31; 3:14.

We commonly see this as the day of the Lord’s return, we He lays waste to the nations that are in battle array against Israel, and ultimately sets up His 1000 year kingdom.

However, this shows how biblical prophecy can have a near and far fulfillment.

Ezekiel 13:5 “You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.”

Joel 2:28. The Holy Spirit being poured out. The Apostle Peter used this on the day of Pentecost to explain what God was doing. Here, we see there is another fulfillment of this that is going to take place amongst the Jewish People when they place their faith in Jesus as Messiah at the end of the Tribulation.

This prophecy serves an important role of showing the juxtaposition of God’s wrath and His mercy.

for instance look over at Joel 2:30–32.

While God must punish sin, He freely forgives those who turn to Him by faith.

Now then, let’s turn our attention to Joel chapter 1.

In fact, we will see that:

Believers who are sensitive to God’s Word will be ready and willing to repent of their sin, and they will find a righteous and holy God who is ready and willing to deliver them by His mercy and grace, ultimately so by the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is made clear in three points:

Listen to the Locusts.

Learn to Lament.

Look to the Lord.

Listen to the Locusts (Joel 1:2-13).

Now Joel brings the very Word of God to his people, and demands a response from them about what God says.

The first thing he says to them is “Shema” or “hear this”.

This two word phrase (in english) is the singular Hebrew word “Shema”. It is used all over the OT, but most famously it is used in Deuteronomy 6:4 ““Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

It is used when the hearer to called to attention. They are to contemplate and consider what is being said to them.

We see that here.

The question is asked of the elders (likely just older men and women who would have a greater understanding of oral tradition and history).

We do this, right? When we want to know the history of what has taken place in our world, we often talk to those who were closest to that era if we can. WW2 vets, Great Depression era, Cold War Era etc.

Following the model of the shema and vihavata, discipleship is in order: Joel 1:3.

Deuteronomy 6:5–9 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.”

The lack of discipleship in the nation of Israel had devastating effects.

The Law was set up to be passed down:

Deut. 4:7-9.

The entire book of Judges demonstrates this.

Judges 2:10, 18, 19.

This eventually leads them into their captivity under Babylon. They no longer would heed the Word of God, brought by their prophets, calling them to repentance and faithfulness.

So often we are quick to push passed the difficult and discouraging and act like it is all okay.

Maybe its the American Dream in us, or maybe is the infiltration of health/wealth/prosperity teaching into mainstream Christianity.

When in reality, the circumstances we find ourselves in are divinely orchestrated to accomplish something in our life. Whether good or bad. If we choose to ignore the bad, set it aside, or refuse to contemplate what is going, we will miss out on an opportunity to learn and grow.

Joel, here, has them consider the completeness of the devastation wrought by the locusts.

Look at Joel 1:4. We see the generations of the locusts. From the moms who lay eggs. To the infant locusts that are growing their wings, to the adolescent locusts learning to fly, to the mating locusts. Each generation takes their strip of the land, utterly devastating society.

All parts of society are affected by this plague. From the town drunk, to the Temple priest. Let’s look at their response to the devastation.

The Drunkards cannot make their wine anymore (v. 5).

the vineyards were stripped bare.

The locusts are compared to a vast army (v. 6).

Compared to a lion with a teeth that scrip a carcass bare.

cf. Revelation 9:8.

God’s people have become a waste (v. 7).

Notice the personal pronouns here. He is calling the fig tree and the vine his own.

God has used both of these analogous to Israel.

Isaiah 5.

Luke 13:6-9.

The People have been cut off from the Covenant (vv. 8-10).

Verses 9, 10 point out that the fields have been stripped bare, so they can no longer offer the morning and evening grain and drink offering before the Lord.

Joel 1:13 “Dress in sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar. Come and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, because grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.”

Joel is borrowing imagery from Isaiah and Jeremiah, where Israel is called the wife of the Lord.

Isaiah 54:5-8.

Jeremiah 31:32.

If they do not repent, they are going to be like that of a young widowed virgin.

Joy is gone from the entire society (vv. 11-12.)

The farmers in this agrarian society have utterly failed and producing a crop.

This trickles down.

Feeding cattle. (vv. 16-18, 20)

Food for people.

Learn to Lament (Joel 1:14-20).

Joel calls on the Priests to lament in verse 13, but in verse 14 he calls them to lead all the people in Lament and repentance. We don’t often use the word “lament” nowadays. Lamentation is what the people of the Bible used to process through the suffering and pain that they faced, but it always led to their faith in God increased, rather than leaving them in the mire.

In fact, the central verse of the book called “Lamentations” is one of the most encouraging verses in all of Scripture. Lamentations 3:22–24 “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.”

“Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. It is the historic prayer language of God’s people as they wrestle through the affects of living in a world broken by sin. Lament invites us to take our pain, sorrow, grief, frustration, and disillusionment to God. But it also intends to lead us on a journey in which we reaffirm our trust in God.” -Mark Vroegop in “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy”.

Famous Lamentations:

Psalm 13.

Starts out this way: Psalm 13:1–2 “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?”

Ends this ways: Psalm 13:5–6 “But I have trusted in your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in your deliverance. I will sing to the Lord because he has treated me generously.”

Psalm 22.

Starts out this way: Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?”

Ends this way: Psalm 22:27–31 “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before you, for kingship belongs to the Lord; he rules the nations. All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down; all those who go down to the dust will kneel before him— even the one who cannot preserve his life. Their descendants will serve him; the next generation will be told about the Lord. They will come and declare his righteousness; to a people yet to be born they will declare what he has done.”

A typical lament will have 4 movements.

Turn—> praying when hope feels distant.

We see this in Joel 1:14, 15.

This fast completely interrupts the daily life of the People. Solemn assemblies were made to be an extra Sabbath, so there was no work. Everyone was to meet at the Temple and pour out their hearts to God.

The Hebrew Word play between devastation and the Almighty.

Sha’dod mi Shaddai.

The only one they could turn to for deliverance is the One who has brought on the devastation because of their sin.

Recognizing that the day of their suffering is of the LORD points them to His Sovereign authority in all things.

Complain—> telling God everything. (Joel 1:16-20, in the communal lament, they recount the completeness of the devastation).

Lament is not license to simply complain, but it is the conscious effort to take all things about your circumstances, whether emotional/spiritual/physical, and lay them bare before the Lord, because He in fact is the only one who can do anything about it.

Ask—> plead for deliverance. Ask God’s help based upon His character and promises.

Trust—> the destination. In verse 19, the pronouns shift from plural to singular, seemingly Joel’s voice rises to the top. Notice how he prays though. “I cry out to you, O LORD”. Literally, “Yahweh”. This name was meant to bring to remembrance the covenant keeping, promise keeping, God, who was faithful to His People Israel, and who delivered them out of slavery.

As we’ve seen already, lament also leads to repentance of sin. When contemplating the destruction, and realizing that it was from the hand of the Almighty, the correct response of the people was not simply to seek deliverance from the suffering, but to repent and seek the grace and mercy of God.

And so at the end of the lamentation, if done well, the People led by the priests, reaffirmed their trust in the Lord for His deliverance, as well as being reconciled to God.

Which brings us to our final point:

Look to the LORD (Joel 1:19a).

If you are not in Christ, if you haven’t placed your faith in Jesus, for the forgiveness of your sins, you, currently have the wrath of God resting on you.

John 3:16-21.

If you remain in your sins, and you don’t come to the light, you will face the wrath of the Lamb, when He returns. As we saw the utter devastation that a simple locust plague can have on a society, by bringing it all to a crashing halt, consider for a moment, when, not a locust horde, but the Lord Himself comes (Zechariah 14:12).

Cry out to the Lord for forgiveness. Repent of your sin, leave the darkness behind, and run to the light of Christ.

Believer, you may be facing difficult circumstances. It may seem like you have done all you can do, and you can go no further. Life may seem to be crumbling around you. Cry out to the Lord! Turn to Him for deliverance, because only He can.

You may be stuck in a sin, and facing the consequences of it. This is God’s loving hand of discipline.

1 John 1:9.

Hebrews 12:7-11. Learn from the discipline.

As we look to the Lord for help in our present circumstances, we can rest assured that He is ready and willing to deliver us.