An Invasion of Locusts

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Text: Joel 1:1-12

Joel 1:4

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.

(ESV)

When most students of the Bible hear about locusts, their thoughts usually go to the eighth plague of Egypt, the plague of Locusts (Exodus 10:1-20).  So devastating was the destruction in Egypt due to the locusts that Pharaoh’s servants urged Pharaoh to let the Israelites go because Egypt was ruined (Exodus 10:7).  Click on this video link to see how destructive a swarm of locusts can be. 

During the annual celebration of Passover, the people of Judah would have remembered the plagues God brought upon Egypt, including the plague of locusts, as a reminder of the consequences of disobedience to God.  They would have also been reminded of the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience contained in Deuteronomy 28, including the destruction of their crops by locusts.  Joel uses this imagery as a warning in Joel 1:1-12 that their continued disobedience has led to a powerful nation coming up against them and that this army will, like a swarm of locusts bring destruction. 

However, instead of heeding the warning of Joel and avoiding exile from the Promised Land, Judah goes into exile (2 Kings 25:1-21), coming to repentance for their disobedience from exile (Ezra 2).  Had Judah instead heeded Joel’s warning and call to repentance, they could have avoided having to go into exile (2 Chronicles 7:14).  The call to repentance must be quick and part of the normal reaction of believers to revealed sin in their lives in order to avoid the consequences and destruction of the locusts of unrepented sin (1 John 1:9). 

While the destruction of a swarm of locusts is not something most reading this will experience other than watching a video, there are other ways to symbolize the destruction of disobedience in one’s life.  One of these is a comparison of disobedience to God to one suffering from diabetes.  Anyone with diabetes or who is borderline diabetic knows that the disease requires obedience to changing one’s eating habits.  The first step, however, to making these changes is changing one’s diet.  Those choosing to make these changes can experience lower blood sugar and A1C through obedience.  Those choosing not to make these changes will experience a progression of the disease with its dire physical consequences.  This is like unrepented sin or disobedience to God which requires repentance or one changing their behavior.  Failure to make this change relegates one to suffering consequences of condemnation from God and not eternal life (John 3:16-18). 

As we continue in our study of Joel, we will see that the main theme of the book is a call to repentance for disobedience to avoid its consequences which for Israel involved going into exile.  The nation of Israel is a picture of the life of believers in Christ who are blessed when obedient to God but suffer consequences for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28).  This is Labor Day weekend in the United States with many enjoying an extra day off from work.  This extra leisure time is a time to spend with family and friends having fun but I encourage everyone reading this to also take time to reflect on their relationship with God by asking God to reveal any unrepentant sin that stands between them and God.  1 John 1:9 is what I like to call God’s 911 verse for believers for it promises complete forgiveness for sins if we repent and confess them to God. 

The world in which we live is in dire need of revival or a returning to Godly principles revealed in the Word of God, the Bible.  This revival begins with the Children of God repenting of any sin hindering their relationship with God.  My prayer as we continue the study of Joel is that God’s people will free themselves of the weight of sin in their lives so they are not destroyed by the locust of sin and instead are lighthouses shining bright (Matthew 5:14-16).  May God grant everyone reading this a blessed and safe Labor Day weekend and may we all grow closer to God as we shed the weight of sin so our light shines brightly in a dark world.