Joel 2:12-19: Bugs

Introduction

(Read once to be introduced to the series. After that skip this to go right to the good stuff!) 

Welcome to my Devotions Series. This series features devotions based on the Scriptures of the Common Lectionary. The series is being prepared for eventual and hopeful print publication.

The series is also posted and regularly updated on my official blog: http://www.cedwardsellner.blogspot.com/

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Lectionary Series Year A: Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:12-19 (Read it on Bible Gateway)
Bugs
Joel is one of the shorter prophetic books of the Hebrew Testament, running only three chapters. Its been dated anywhere from the ninth to sixth century BCE by scholars. A more exact time is difficult to narrow down, since the book itself makes no reference to concurrent events which would date it more exactly, and its author has no other presence in Scripture which would likewise narrow the window.

Like most prophetic writings passed down, Joel's writings were sparked by a specific event which had far reaching consequences for the lives of the Jewish people (or at least a good number of them) and led to a message from God to the people in the midst of dealing with whatever had occurred. Interestingly enough, Joel's 'spark' if you will was not an invasion by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians or any other mighty empire. Instead it was an invasion by Locusts.

If you read the preceding text in Joel, you will see that he refers to a plague of locusts who swept through the land, destroying the crops and creating famine. Now some scholars have put forth the idea that the locusts were allegory for some other invasion, however, many scholars take Joel much more at face value and believe it deals with bugs.

That being said, I don't want to undermine the severity of these particular bugs. In ancient times, in this part of the world, a plague of locusts could be devastating to an area. They could literally destroy crops, thus, totally undermining the food supply. This, perhaps just as importantly, concerned the food supply of the various domestic animal stock that would often die out very quickly following such plagues. As a matter of fact, in some ways an invasion of locusts could have more serious and widespread ramifications for a population than an invasion by an empire.

In some ways this might serve as a message to us of the fragility of life, how something, seen on one hand as small and insignificant as an insect, can, on the other hand, destroy a way of life.

Joel's message is similar to the message of many other Hebrew Testament Scriptures. It carries with it the twofold focus of judgment and forgiveness. Joel's message is not just that the world carries cruelty, or that this random circumstance will be resolved by God's compassion. Instead, the locusts are seen as God's agents of judgment. In previous text, Joel confronts the people for invoking the wrath of God against them by their own actions.

In this passage he is making that transition we've also seen in Isaiah (see Devotions: Isaiah 52:7-10) where the message is moving from a proclamation of God's judgment for sins past, to calling the people to turn back to God and there find God's Blessings and gifts of abundance. Joel literally, in these verses, calls the people to assemble, from the youngest to the oldest, for them to collectively come back to God and in the midst of worship to find the blessings of God once more.

One of the arguments that Joel uses to affirm that God will make good on God's promises, that God will restore the people is, well, to put it bluntly, that God will look bad otherwise. In verse 17, and you can almost hear the sarcasm, Joel is asking why should people get to say, "Yeah, where's your God?"

Whether this is simply using a clever argument to convince a doubtful people that God indeed will not abandon them, or a rather bold attempt to invoke a "jealous" God we don't know. I certainly wouldn't recommend the latter strategy however when we face our own concerns about God abandoning us.

But whichever the specifics of the approach, the point is made that God will not abandon them. The selection closes with God's answer to the people, which continues on through the chapter. God will not forget them, God will not turn away from them and God will not let them be destroyed by this latest challenge.

So the next time we're struggling, let's remember that God will do the same for us as God did for the people of Israel, even if that means, ahem, working out some of the bugs in life.

For the complete listing of our Devotions, see our Devotions Archive