The Lodestar

Nobody wants to hear that the tough times they have been through are just the beginning and that more challenging days may still lie ahead. But this was precisely the message that the prophet Joel had to share with the people of Judah. Little is known about Joel, but his deep concern for Judah and Jerusalem suggests he lived and ministered there. He brought his prophecy at a time when a swarm of locusts had ravaged the land, destroyed crops, and left the nation in despair. “The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man” (Joel 1:12). Joel compared the locusts to a mighty army marching through the land: “For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness” (Joel 1:6). What shocked the people even more was that Joel revealed the Lord was leading this devastating army of locusts. The NLT translation says it clearly: “The LORD is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the LORD is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?” (Joel 2:11). For generations, the Israelites believed that the “Day of the Lord” would be a time when the Gentiles would be judged for their sins. But Joel turned that expectation upside down. He declared that the “Day of the Lord” had begun, not with the judgment of outsiders, but with the people of God themselves—because their sin was no less severe. What mattered to God was the presence of sin, not where people were from. However, Joel’s message was not all doom and gloom. The Lord is compassionate, and he was waiting for them to repent so that the worst could be avoided. The plague of locusts was a warning, a wake-up call. If the people turned back to God, he would restore what they had lost: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25). But this restoration would only happen if the people repented. Joel urged them to let this hardship soften their hearts and lead them back to God: “And rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster” (Joel 2:13). Have you felt like the locusts have marched through your life—devouring joy, peace, or purpose? Joel’s message reminds us that even in seasons of loss and judgment, God is not distant. He is calling us to return, not with outward gestures, but with hearts laid bare before him.

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