Joel 2: 18-27
When the people have already been devastated by the locusts, and been warned of the Assyrian invasion and the future antichrist, and they respond by humbling themselves before the Lord, seeking His mercy, throwing away all their idols; then this will be the Lord's response.
(18) Then the Lord will be zealous for His land
And have pity on His people.
This is what He wanted to do all along, He just had to wait until they were ready to receive His goodness!
(19) The Lord will answer and say to His people,
"Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
He says he will restore their economy and their reputation.
(20) "But I will remove the northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.
All the live locusts would blow away, leaving all the rotting dead ones.
(21) "Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For the Lord has done great things.
This army locust plague did great bad things, but the Lord will do greater good things, when His people turn to Him.
(22) "Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
Even the wild animals will find plenty to eat, with the trees and vines and all the other vegetation getting enough moisture to grow and proliferate.
(23) "So rejoice, O sons of Zion,
And be glad in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The early and latter rain as before.
God will see that the climate goes back to normal weather, with the fall and spring rains coming on schedule to provide the water needed for everything to grow well.
(24) "The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
Bread will be plentiful and they'll have more than enough grape juice and plant oils, providing everything they need, and more.
(25) "Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
God promises that He will "restore the years the locust has eaten." All the seasons of failed crops will seem like nothing in the face of the prosperity God wants to give to His people.
(26) "You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the Name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.
When the people are faithful to the Lord their God, then they won't lack anything in any way; in their economy, in their relationships, and in their reputation among all the other nations.
(27) "Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God,
And there is no other;
And My people will never be put to shame."
Then they will have proper gratitude to the Lord, giving Him the credit and glory for everything He does; and admit that the Lord God is the only real God who is above every other god or idol that has ever been worshiped.
This is what God promises those who respond to Him positively, in humility and submission. This is God's character, and it is a promise, not just for Jewish people, but for all people who will turn to Him, away from all the other priorities they had before, putting Him first.
God made the human race to be His own children, but He gives us the choice to decide to love Him back. People who don't turn to Him, refusing to admit they deserve death, are not His children. Jesus called some of the people in His day, children of the devil, and these were the religious leaders! They were the ones who thought they could work their own way to God, and didn't think deserved to die, but wanted to kill Him to get Him out of their way.
But those who realize how much He loves us and done for us already, and humbly turn to Him for salvation from sin through His Son, then He turns to us and causes us to be born into His own family, as His children. He cleanses us in the Blood of Jesus, and puts His own Holy Spirit into our human spirit, making it alive. And this Holy Spirit cuts off our sinful flesh from this new spiritual life, nullifying the power it had over us in our bad habits and addictions.
O my Father, You are so great. You are so generous and gracious to us. We don't deserve any of Your goodness to us, but You want to lavish Your gifts upon us.
Father, send out Your children to share with every living person how much You love us all. Let every person hear and understand clearly enough to make a fully informed decision to accept Your gracious and generous gift, or to reject Your compassionate offer in their pride and delusion.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, 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!
