1The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
The book of Joel opens with no time frame given. The question in verse 2 expects a negative answer: the situation in view is unprecedented in the lifetime even of the old men and in the lifetimes of their ancestors. Verse 3 implies that in future generations, too, it would remain unparalleled. It is possible that a literal locust invasion is in view, though there is no mention in the historical books of the Old Testament of such a marked devastation in Israel by locusts (but there is also no mention in the historical books concerning the earthquake which took place during the reign of Uzziah [Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5]). Details in the coming verses, however, give cause for consideration that the locusts may not be literal but rather figurative of invading armies. In either case, verses 1-4 allow that Joel be describing a situation that has not yet taken place and which will be unprecedented in Israel’s history to this point. Verse 2 of the next chapter speaks of an invading army in the Day of the LORD and uses similar words: “neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.”
Verse 4 lists four types or stages of development of insects; the exact entomological correspondents of these four Hebrew words is uncertain. The first, “ga-zam,” is said to have devoured gardens, vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees (Amos 4:9). The second, “ar-beh,” comes from the verb “to be or become much, many, great.” Using this word, Judges 6:5 states that “they [the Midianites] came as grasshoppers.” Judges 7:12 states, “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude.” The same word is used in Jeremiah 46:23: “They [the Babylonians] shall cut down her [Egypt’s] forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.”
The third category of insect listed by Joel is the “ye-leq.” Jeremiah used this word in 51:14,27 when he wrote, “The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee [Babylon] with men, as with caterpillers...call together against her [Babylon] the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.” The fourth category is the “kha-sil,” a word which comes from verb “to finish off, consume.” Isaiah used this word in Isaiah 33:4 when he wrote, “And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts [a different Hebrew word] shall he [the LORD] run upon them [the enemy of Israel].”
Thus, the locust is an image frequently used in Scripture to represent an invading army. Joel 2:25 says, “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.” It seems significant that in this second listing of the same four insects, the first (“ga-zam” [the palmerworm]) is listed last. If the four categories are intended to represent the armies of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, the four empires spoken of in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, then the movement of Babylon to last position corresponds with Babylon’s future reappearance, prophesied in Revelation 17:11 and in Revelation 18.
5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. 6For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.7He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
In verse 5, the LORD tells the drunken to wake up. According to this verse, they were still drunk and drinking. Thus, the new wine had not yet been “cut off from [the] mouth” of those to whom Joel is speaking. He is telling them what will take place. The LORD says that “a nation is come up upon my land.” These words are in the past tense because whatever God says will happen is completely sure. The invading nation is described as mighty, uncountable, and with teeth like the teeth of a lion. In Daniel’s dream, he saw four beasts. The first was like a lion and symbolized Babylon (Daniel 7:1-4), in parallel with the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:32,37-38). The invading nation (“he” since “nation” is a masculine noun in Hebrew) will lay waste God’s vine and splinter God’s fig tree. Israel is God’s vine and God’s fig tree. God wanted His vine and fig tree to bear spiritual fruit for Him, but the drunkards of Israel were preoccupied with consuming the physical fruit of the vine. The LORD tells them to awake to their judgment.
8Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn. 10The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 11Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 12The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
The admonition to lament in verse 8 probably addresses the city of Jerusalem. These verses describe a time and situation in which there had apparently been no damage to the temple. The priests were also still present. The damage was in the fields. Cereal grains had perished. Olive trees had not produced. Grapevines and fruit trees had dried up and withered. The verb “be ye ashamed” in verse 11 and the verb “is dried up” in verse 12 are very similar in Hebrew (“ho-vi-shu” and “ho-vi-shah”). Probably the similarity of word choice is intended to point out the shame that results when God takes away blessing. Beginning with verse 15, Joel will begin to relate the coming devastation to the day of the LORD. In that context, which continues in the next chapter, the dryness accompanies the presence of fire. In all of these verses, no specific reference to locusts is made. It seems that the absence of a stated time setting in the book of Joel may be because the prophecy is entirely eschatalogical. The rebuilt temple in Jerusalem will not be harmed during the Tribulation which precedes Christ’s return, but the rest of Jerusalem, and surely the fields of Judah, will be without protection in the invasion of Antichrist (Revelation 11;1-2).
13Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.
The right response of a people who expect God’s judgment is to lament, fast, and come together to cry out to Him. Joel identifies himself with Israel when he addresses “ye ministers of my God.” He also emphasizes to them that none are exempt, when he speaks of “the house of your God.” A similar call to lament, fast, and come together to cry out to God is found in verses 15-17 of the next chapter.
15Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
It seems likely that the reference in verse 4 to four waves of attack by locusts is spoken prophetically of the coming destructive domination of the land of Israel by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Verse 15 tells us that the culmination of these invasions is “the day of the LORD.”
What is the background of the expression “the day of the LORD” ? Deuteronomy 31:16-18 says,
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.”
Then, in the song that Moses taught the people before his death, are found these words:
“To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.” (Deuteronomy 32:35)
Thus, God told Moses that Israel would break the covenant of Law that He had made with them. As a result, a day would come in which He would judge the nation. Deuteronomy 32:36 goes on to say, “For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.” That is, after God breaks the strength of Israel, He will cease to be angry with them. As Joel will explain in the next chapter, Israel’s repentance will bring great blessing for them from the LORD. This prophesied judgment on Israel followed by God’s blessing is called “the day of the LORD.”
Moses also said concerning Israel, “For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 31:29).
16Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
The next chapter opens with a specific reference to “the day of the LORD,” as was found in verse 15 of this chapter. Thus, the verses found between those two references are to be understood in that context. These verses speak of drought, fire, empty granaries, parched pasturelands, and burned trees. With this destruction, the gladness of bringing offerings to the temple is also gone.
Joel is graphically describing the destruction that will take place in Israel in the day of the LORD. Foretastes of that destruction will come in the invasions of the four empires pictured as locusts, beginning with that by Babylon. The statement “fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness” is found twice, in verses 19 and 20. This fire will be further spoken of in the next chapter.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.