Halftime interview with an excited athlete… Bachman-Turner Overdrive song… Plague of locusts??? Let's take door number three and the book of Joel as we start round two of the Minor Prophet of Month Club!
Having already read through Joel's three chapters several times, I'm starting to piece together the big picture and identify some key questions to investigate. I'm fascinated by how God supernaturally superintends natural events to accomplish His purposes. As with most of the Minor Prophets, the central message of the book is a call to repentance as God's people turn their backs on Him. In this case, a swarm of locusts unlike any seen before invades Israel and strips the country bare.
You might think a natural disaster of such magnitude would be enough to turn the hearts of God's people back to Him. But apparently is was not, so the message of Joel becomes, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" The locusts and the destruction they leave in their wake foreshadow a much more devastating invasion. Unless Israel repents, an army from the north will make the plague of locusts look like a Sunday picnic nuisance.
Joel seems to be full of prophetic passages with multiple degrees of fulfillment intended. As the month goes on, I'm interested to dig into those prophecies and their historical/future implications. I'll probably spend some time in Acts, Romans and of course, Revelation along the way. For now, the big "what do I learn from this" idea I'm starting with is, "What does it take for God to get my attention when I'm straying from Him?" I'm watching out my window for locusts!
BTW… if you want a little visual aid for the book of Joel - and don't mind your skin crawling a bit - check this out!
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