Joel’s prophecy opens this morning with a devastating plague of locusts. The devastation was thorough—nothing was left! (Joel 1:4) As a result, the fields were destroyed and the ground itself mourned (Joel 1:10), the farmers wailed (Joel 1:11), the granaries were empty (Joel 1:17), the cattle and beasts of the field mourned (Joel 1:18), and the pastures and wilderness were dried up as though burned by fire (Joel 1:19–20)! Gladness had dried up, too, and terror took its place (Joel 1:12, 2:6).
God calls His people to repent from their sins through the prophet Joel. That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.”… (Joel 2:12–13, NLT) Notice what God is looking for when it comes to repentance. He says to tear the heart, not the clothes. Tearing the clothes is a surface-level “repentance”—a whole lot of show, but no sorry. It is escapism from the fruit of sin, not sorrow over one’s sin. In the rest of verse thirteen, Joel says…Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. (Joel 2:13, NLT) In other words, repentance is a turning from and a returning unto!
Notice what God tells His people if they repent. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, The cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25, KJV) While God doesn’t erase what the locusts did, He does promise to miraculously bless the future of the repentant heart. This goodness of God reminds me of a verse in the Book of Romans. …But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Romans 5:20, KJV) Restoration is the future of repentance! Destruction is the future of a hardened heart. Devastation can be turned into restoration, if we will, but repent.
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Joel 1-3.