I Will
Restore What the Locusts Have Eaten
Part One -
Joel 2:18-27
Would you like the lost
years of your youth and young adulthood back?
Would you like the years that you wasted in unproductive relationships
and jobs that did not match your personality and skills set? The locusts of time have eaten many days of
our lives. Consider the various false
starts of your life. Think of the years
of sweat equity in business, school, marriage, family, organizations, service
and other worthy causes that did not yield a harvest. You concur with the characterization of
“failure.” You greatly lament the swarm
of locusts: finances, fear, anger, frustration, impatience, apathy, blame,
indifference, reputation, resources, doubt, and cynicism. Calculate the colossal lost of time, talent,
treasure and temperament that these locusts consumed over those years. Possibly, this swarm of emotional,
psychological and spiritual locusts continues to consume your potential harvest
by eating away meticulously and steadily your belief in Almighty God and yourself. Each day, you lose countless of amount of
money and immeasurable success because you fail to sow seeds of creativity and
ingenuity. However, the immortal words
of the prophet, Joel, encourage us that God will restore all that has been
lost!
The book of Joel centers
upon a plague of locusts which the Lord allows to punish His people. The opening verses details five types of
locusts which can devour viciously the much-needed crops any potential
harvests. The people to whom Joel spoke
were dependent primarily upon the land and its yield of crops. Because of the density of the population in
this region, the land produced just enough food. The lost of a year’s harvest easily
threatened a famine. More unfortunately,
ravenous swarms of locusts remain indigenous to Africa ,
Asia and the Middle East
where Joel’s audience resides. Mostly,
their merciless consumption affects sixty countries which equate withy
one-fifth of the world’s surface and one-tenth of the world’s population. More specifically, a desert locust swarm
could comprise four hundred and sixty square miles inclusive of forty to eighty
million locusts per one-half square mile.
Numerically, a plague of desert locusts potentially totaled eighty to
one hundred and sixty million locusts per square mile resulting in a possible
minimum of 36,800 million to a total of 73,600 million locusts. Hence, Joel speaks with the vivid imagery of
the sky darkening with a plague of locusts.
Their sheer number covers the canvass of the horizon enroute to a
plague. This vast army of predatory insects
consumes 423 million pounds of crops per day.
Arguably, this plague greatly exceeds the damage that any human army,
however fierce and formidable, could perpetrate upon an enemy.
Biblical scholars debate
the historical verifiability of Joel’s prophecy. Scarce extra-biblical evidence exists to
corroborate independently Joel’s assertions about the plague and its
devastation. Yet, we have the privilege
of allegorizes this intriguing passage.
Many of us have experienced plagues in our lives reminiscent of the
destruction of the desert locusts.
Perhaps, your recollections of your childhood years do not conjure
pleasant and satisfying memories.
Honestly, the average American family does not resemble the Cosby, Brady
or Walton families portrayed on television.
Maybe, you were robbed of feelings of love, admiration, affirmation and
security due to the incapacities of your parents, siblings and extended family
members. If you grew up in an
impoverished environment, you probably have a hard time trusting Almighty God
for your daily bread. You may think that
you cannot give to charitable causes because you fear that you will not have
enough for your family and yourself.
Tithing is simply out of the question.
Someone with such a background, undoubtedly, watches every penny and
fears that the ends of the months will not meet harmoniously. This type of individual harbors the deeply
held anxiety that his or her quality of life and standard of living will not
exceed measurably the childhood years.
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