The Locust Plague and the Call to Lament

1:1 This is the Lord’s message that was given to Joel the son of Pethuel: 1:2 Listen to this, you elders; pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life or in the lifetime of your ancestors? 1:3 Tell your children about it, have your children tell their children, and their children the following generation. 1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed, and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! 1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine drinkers, because the sweet wine has been taken away from you. 1:6 For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. 1:7 They have destroyed our vines; they have turned our fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark and thrown them aside; the twigs are stripped bare. 1:8 Wail like a young virgin clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of her husband-to-be. 1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of the Lord anymore. So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning. 1:10 The crops of the fields have been destroyed. The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished. The fresh wine has dried up; the olive oil languishes. 1:11 Be distressed, farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished. 1:12 The vine has dried up; the fig tree languishes – the pomegranate, date, and apple as well. In fact, all the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, the joy of the people has dried up! 1:13 Get dressed and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister at the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God, because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of your God anymore. 1:14 Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. 1:15 How awful that day will be! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer. 1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! 1:17 The grains of seed have shriveled beneath their shovels. Storehouses have been decimated and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up. 1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! The herds of livestock wander around in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering. 1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, for fire has burned up the grassy pastures, flames have razed all the trees in the fields. 1:20 Even the wild animals cry out to you; for the river beds have dried up; fire has destroyed the grassy pastures. The Locusts’ Devastation

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Joel describes a terrible locust plague that strips the land bare, ends the offerings at the temple, and brings grief to everyone. He calls the people to remember this disaster, gather together, and cry out to the LORD, because the day of the LORD is near.

Joel speaks for the LORD and calls the whole land to listen. The disaster is so severe that it must not be forgotten. Parents are told to pass the story on to the next generation.

The locusts have eaten everything. What one wave left behind, another wave destroyed. The vines, fig trees, grain, and olive oil are gone. Joy has gone from the land. Even the drunkards are told to weep, because the wine has been cut off.

This is not only an agricultural disaster. It also stops the grain offerings and drink offerings at the temple. So the priests mourn, the farmers wail, and the whole people are summoned to a holy fast and a sacred assembly. They must gather and cry out to the LORD.

Joel says this crisis points to the nearness of the day of the LORD. That means the people should not treat it lightly. They must see it as a serious warning from God and respond with lament and prayer. The chapter ends with a cry for help, because only the LORD can answer such a ruin.

• God rules over the land, the crops, and the crisis.
• The locust plague is total and devastating.
• The disaster shuts down grain and drink offerings at the temple.
• The whole community, not just one group, must mourn and gather before the LORD.
• The day of the LORD is near, so the people must take the warning seriously.

• Listen and pay attention.
• Tell the next generation about what happened.
• Weep and wail over the loss.
• Announce a holy fast and a sacred assembly.
• Gather at the temple and cry out to the LORD.

This passage shows the LORD using a real disaster to warn his covenant people and call them back to himself. It begins the book’s larger message: judgment comes first, and only the LORD can restore what has been ruined.

God’s people should not ignore severe trouble or treat it as chance alone. When God brings hardship, the right response is humility, repentance, prayer, and corporate worship. The passage also teaches leaders to help the community remember God’s dealings and pass them on clearly to the next generation.

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