A wasted life, one that has been squandered and misused in sin and depravity, is a sad thing. However, there is rejoicing if that man or woman turns around and cleans their life up, repents and turns to God. When the years and the sin have been extensive, can there be any hope that God can use this person? Can there be hope for any joy for this person, or is it too late for them? Our Scripture today from the prophet Joel can give us an answer.
The prophet Joel was an earlier prophet in the history of Judah, preaching sometime between the 9th - 8th century BC. Earlier in the prophecies of his short book, Joel had spoken about locusts, caterpillars, and other insects being sent by God to destroy the people’s crops as a punishment for their sins. Many people today are not too familiar with plagues of locusts. We tend to think of them as something scary out of the Old Testament, and fortunately the great swarms that occurred back then are very rare today. The desert locust is a grasshopper-like insect, which bands together with millions of others and causes mass destruction of crops. They have been known to have swarms of almost 400,000,000 locusts per square mile. They can travel close to 100 miles per day, destroying every green plant in their path. Today they are mainly found only in eastern Africa and parts of southwest Asia. They are only mentioned a few times in the Bible, once being the well-known plague of locusts in Egypt at the time of Moses, another time being here in Joel, and then just a few other times. Everyone knew, though, that when the locusts would come, all the crops were sure to be destroyed, and famine might likely follow. It was a terrifying time. It would be like a scene out of a horror movie, and I would never want to encounter that!
God used plagues of locusts to get the attention of people, and here in the time of the prophet Joel, He was doing just that. The people of Judah had fallen into grave sin, had turned their back on the Lord, and had cast His Word behind them. Due to that, He sent locusts, caterpillars, and other crop-eating insects as we read in Joel 1:4-7. Because the people were not walking faithfully with the Lord, He sent a plague of locusts as judgment. Joel warned the people to fear the coming of God’s judgment on sin. Despite his, and many other godly and faithful prophets and preachers’ warnings, the people continued in sin, and so judgment came.
Judgment on sin is not just limited to the days of the Old Testament. God still judges sin today. When we continue in a sinful activity or lifestyle, the day will come when we must face judgment, and the price of sin is steep. If someone repents and returns to the Lord, He will graciously forgive and accept the errant person. However, there is a ravaged life, just like the ravaged land after the locusts have moved on. What then? Can and will God restore that?
As we read in our Scripture today, Joel promises the people that if they return to the Lord, He will restore the years that the locusts have eaten (vs. 25). When we repent we will be able to rejoice. As Joel preached, during the years of sin there was famine or loss, plagues and judgments of God, and mourning. However, God promises repayment of that destruction if we will repent, ask God for mercy, and follow Him. Now, if we truly repent, there can be feasting, harvests, and praise. God’s blessings are promised only to those who sincerely and consistently follow Him (vs. 26-27). There can still be hope for our future, just like there was for the people of Judah.
The Lord is not absent during dark seasons, even dark seasons brought on by our own sins. He is always present, and always mindful of us. If we seek Him with humble hearts, He will bestow His blessings; blessings so wonderful they will cover the darkness of the years that the locust has eaten away.
No comments:
Post a Comment