#DailyDevotion Will We Recognize The LORD’s Call To Repentance?
Joel 1 The LORD’s Word that came to Joel, Pethuel’s son: 2Hear this, you aged men, and listen, all you who live in this country. Has this ever happened in your time or the time of your fathers? 3Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children tell the next generation. 3What the cutting locusts left, the swarming locusts ate; what the swarmers left, the hopping locusts ate; and what the hoppers left, the stripping locusts have eaten.
Well there is no consensus on who Joel was or when he was a prophet. It was during a time when there was a temple standing at Jerusalem. So probably after Solomon to the Babylonian Captivity or after the return to Jerusalem after Persia took over. Nevertheless, it is a witness of the LORD calling out to His people to repent of their sins and to return to Him. Its language is very apocalyptic and Peter uses it in his first sermon on Pentecost demonstrating we are in the last days. The LORD appeals to the aged men in the country to be a witness. They would have knowledge of the history of their country. What has happened has never happened on the scale they have ever experienced or heard about. They are to make sure what has happened is never forgotten.
So what has happened? A plague of locusts. Not just any old plague of locusts occurred. This was the plague of all plagues of locusts they had ever experienced. Locusts should be seen in light of God’s judgment upon Egypt (Ex. 10), one of the ten plagues upon them through Moses. Then there is the judgment in Revelation 9. Their experience of the locusts must have been horrific.
Well here we have one group of locusts after another eating up everything. There are in fact four different groups of them signifying they covered the whole land (the four corners). One group would eat their fill and then another group would appear. They would eat whatever was left or whatever new was growing. These guys really did a job on Judah and most likely Israel as well. There was nothing left. No bread for the children. Nothing was left. The LORD had brought this destruction upon them to call them to repentance.
Unfortunately, the LORD never tells us what His people are guilty of here. No doubt, there was idolatry. But from that proceeds many sins. The people forget the greater part of mercy and kindness. They forget and oppress the widow, the orphan, the poor and the foreigner at the gate. They no doubt coveted each other’s possessions and worked the legal system to steal what is not rightfully theirs. Murder perhaps was rampant. Their sons and daughters were perhaps sold as prostitutes in the pagan temples in the land. They were not being guided by the Mosaic covenant.
So we should take care and take notice when various and sundry disasters befall us and our nation. While some may say they are natural disasters, we should realize the LORD is using these to call us to repentance. We should confess our sins, turn away from them and turn to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Ask Jesus to give you the Holy Spirit so you may live the life God the Father intends for you.
Heavenly Father, forgive me and the sins of our nation for the sake of Jesus Christ. Grant our nation repentance and through the Word spoken by Your people, call each citizen to faith in Jesus Christ and give us Your Holy Spirit that we may live according to Your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.