Joel 2: 1-11
Now Joel is saying that the past locust infestation is similar to a military incursion that they need to know is coming, the Assyrian invasion that will come to pass in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.
(1) Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the Day of the Lord is coming;
Surely it is near,
The "shofar" rams' horn has been used in Israel for both ceremonial and military uses. The sounding of this horn blasts out a warning of impending doom, when blown from the walls of the city.
Joel says that this impending army will be like the locusts that they experienced. So his description will have images of both the insect and the human armies.
And both of these events look forward to the Day of the Lord, that will surpass them both.
(2) A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
This will be a day of thick thunderstorms that blocks out all the light of the sun and brings darkness.
As the sun comes up over the mountains to spread its light over the land, so this massive army will come up over the mountains to spread out over the city. There has never before been an army like this one before, and there will not be another similar to it until the End of Days.
(3) A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
The effect of the invaders' advance is detailed here as that which had been a scene of beauty would become a picture of utter desolation. Nothing in the land will escape.
(4) Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
Here Joel is referring to locusts again, which do have a startling resemblance to horses: note the Italian, (cavalletta, "little horse") and the German (heupferd, "hay horse") words for locusts. The ancient world abounded with examples of likening armies to locusts and vice-versa; in their appearance, their behavior, and their effect.
(5) With a noise as of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
The Assyrian war chariot was a dreaded item. Sennacherib's own specific war chariot was named raggi u seni, "The Vanquisher of the Wicked and Evil" and sapinat zairi, "The Vanquisher of the Enemy" (Assyrian Annals).
The clamor of the locusts' flight had been like the din of the dreaded war chariot or like the crackling of blazing stubble ignited by a wild fire.
(6) Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces turn pale.
If the locusts had caused terror, how much more the human invaders in their savage and irresistible onslaught!
(7) They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each march in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.
(8) They do not crowd each other,
They march every one in his path;
When they burst through the defenses,
They do not break ranks.
The attack of this coming mighty army is compared to the locust infestation they have just experienced: Just as disciplined, focused, and thorough.
(9) They rush on the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
Their power and swiftness, running unrestrictedly through the city, entering into the houses through the open or latticed windows, with the speed and daring of a thief in search of that which is not his.
(10) Before them the Earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
(11) The Lord utters His voice before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
It is the Lord who will be directing His Assyrian army to wield His wrath upon His erring people, evidenced by the raging thunderstorm, blocking out all the light of the sun and moon and stars, and shaking the ground itself with their onslaught.
The Day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?
The locusts and the coming Assyrian conquest both show how very great and awesome is the Day of the Lord, and in the End Time when the actual prophesied Day begins, it will so much overshadow both of these, that they will look like a picnic in the park in comparison.
Our God is the Mighty God over every other god that has been worshiped. His Son, our Lord God has been given Lordship over all of God's creation by the Father. He is the acting of the Father, and has all of the Father's authority to rule over Mankind.
He is the Lord God Almighty who delivered Israel out of Egypt's slavery. He is the Lord God who appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush as the "Great I AM," who gave to Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, and sustained the people for 40 years in the Desert with manna, and their clothes and sandals did not wear out.
The Lord God ordained the priests through Aaron, and gave them all the rules for the sacrifices so they would recognize Him when He came to fulfill them in His own body.
And He it is who informed the prophets to write what has been planned for the future, because He will make sure that everything is carried out according to Plan, and He wants us to be expecting it, and be prepared to face it.
O my Father, thank You for sending Your Son to be our Lord God, to deal with us, Your wayward precious ones, who so desperately need Your mercy and grace.
O Father, when You planned out all of our human story, You knew that we would be weak, and sin against You by turning to others. You decided to love us anyway, and provide the way to escape the pull of our damaged DNA to go our own way.
So You had our Lord God show us who we are, and how much You love us, and how we can be rescued from all the travail we experience as the consequences of our poor choices. You laid out the path of redemption through the blood of sacrifice, then sent Your Son to be our Sacrifice, fulfilling that picture of the lamb slain upon the altar individually for each of us, as His Blood was sprinkled on the sides of the Cross (see Leviticus 1).
And You also provided for that same Sacrifice to fulfill the requirements of the Atonement Day sacrifice for all the people, when His Blood was poured out at the foot of His altar, the Cross. Now He has purchased us as His own possession, and is our Judge.
O Father, You have thought of everything. And Your Son has carried out all Your plans, both to save and rescue those who turn to You by bearing Your wrath for us, and to judge all wickedness and evil as Your wrath pours out on them.
And then, Father God, You will send Your Son Jesus back to this Earth for the Day of the Lord to begin, and to last until the end of this world. The Earth will explode, the Universe will implode, and the Big Bang will happen all over again, when You create the New Heaven (Universe) and the New Earth, predicated upon a whole new basis of existence.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
