Ed Walsh
Puritan Board Senior
Friends,
These thoughts were a great blessing to me. (It's a little lenghty. But well worth it)
Joel 2:25-27
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
The restoration of the locust years
The blessing that comes with this fantastic restoration is put in the context of the previous judgment of the Lord. He will ‘restore the years the locust has eaten’. The verb used to describe the restoration comes from the commonly recognized Hebrew word ‘Shalom.' This term means more than simply ‘peace,' as it is used in general parlance. It has the idea of fullness or completeness, and is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to a legal recompense (Exod. 22:1; Lev. 24:18). God will bring back in all their fulness the years that the locust has eaten. Whatever has been lost as a result of the ravenous appetites of the locusts will all come back. In all its completeness it will be restored.
‘I shall restore the years that the locust has eaten.’ What a glorious phrase! No richer promise can be found in the Bible. It is like the words of the psalmist: ‘Weeping endures for the night … but joy comes in the morning’ (Ps. 30:5); or like the close of the book of Revelation: ‘He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and they shall remember them no more’ (Rev. 21:4).
It happens. Here we see the power of God to redeem. He sends the judgment of the locust, and he reverses the whole process of devastation that they launched. Just at this point of promise, the army of locusts is identified as ‘my great army which I have sent among you’. As Job says, ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away’ (Job. 1:21). And you know how the story of Job ends.
Do you mourn over the lost years of your life? Do you think back with bitterness of soul as you remember the wasted years of youth when you did not serve the Lord? Was it twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years before you humbled yourself in repentance before your Maker? The Lord restores the years the locust has eaten—all of them.
Have you spent a number of years living in carnality and lukewarmness, doing only what pleased you? Have you made a number of serious mistakes in your life? Did you make some hasty decisions that you now regret? Do you often muse about those decisions and the effect they have had on your life?
Did you leave school too early? Did you make a hasty choice in marriage? Did you fail to recognize the perfect partner for you? Have you gone through a divorce or an abortion? Did you conceive a child out of wedlock? Did you make a bad business decision? Did you lose a large amount of money in speculative investments? Did you miss out on the investment opportunity of a lifetime? Did you move your family when you should have stayed where you were? Did you lack faith to move out when the opportunity presented itself? Did you fail to buy a house when the market was right? Did you buy a house when you really couldn’t afford it? Did you rebel against the wise counsel of your parents when you were a teenager? Did you commit a moral crime at one point in your life, a crime that haunts you even today? Do you live in mortal terror that somehow people will discover the great mistakes of your past?
Even ministers of the gospel often look back with regret at their years in the Lord’s service that the locust has eaten. Were you impetuous and judgemental in the early days of your ministry, alienating people to the right and to the left? Were people offended by you rather than by the gospel? Did you fall victim to the snare of intellectualism? Did you think you would win people into the kingdom by your piety or your preaching? Have you begun to reap the mushy fruit of a life of spiritual slovenliness? Do you find it almost impossible to lead your people meaningfully and movingly to the throne of grace in prayer? Have you neglected the disciplined study of the Word for so long that you now have nothing fresh to say?
Listen to these words. Apply them to your life. God restores the years that the locust has eaten. He gives back everything that you have lost, and more besides.
Living with regrets is sin for a Christian. Regret is the sorrow of the world that works death. Living with regret has nothing to do with the godly repentance that leads to life and restoration. Living with regret means that you refuse to believe the glorious truth that God restores the years that the locust has eaten.
Do you mull over your past failures? Like an ugly hyena gnawing on a putrid bone, do you let your thoughts feed morbidly on your sins of the past?
Don’t insult the glorious redemption that Christ has accomplished. Believe him. Start rejoicing in faith. Look your failures straight in the eye, and listen to Satan’s accusations no more. Trust fully in God’s ability to restore the years the locust has eaten.
The people’s reaction
The last two verses of this section describe the reaction of the people to this work of restoration done by the Lord. As you are restored, you will do four things.
First, you will satisfy yourself with his blessings: ‘You will feast and be satisfied’ (2:26). You will learn how to receive the new blessings coining from the hand of the Lord, and you will cherish them. You will enjoy everything about your renewed life in Christ.
Secondly, you will praise the name of the Lord who has done miraculous things for you. As the prophet says, ‘You will praise the name of the Covenant LORD your God who has done a wonder for you’ (2:26).
When you talk to a person who has had his locust-years restored, you hear repeatedly about how great is the Lord, about how much the Lord loves him and about how much he loves the Lord in return. If you have experienced even in a small way the power of the Lord to restore the years that the locust has eaten, you should do the same thing. Praise him continually for restoring the lost moments of your life.
Thirdly, you will have an intimate knowledge of the Lord, and understand that he is always with you as your ever-present God:
In the fullest sense, you will know the Lord. You will live with an innate consciousness that the one you know is the true God and that there is absolutely none other beside him.
This truth translates into a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as your Saviour who cares for you, who is your constant companion, and who encourages you throughout your life. To experience the reality of knowing him is to share in the ultimate blessing that a human being can enjoy. ‘This is life eternal, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’ (John 17:3). Is that true of you?
Finally, you will never be ashamed again. Twice in these concluding verses, the phrase is used: ‘For my people shall never be ashamed again … so my people shall never be ashamed again’ (2:26, 27).
Beginning now and lasting throughout eternity, you need never again be ashamed. You can cringe in a corner if you wish. But you shouldn’t. Your source of shame will be found only in your own pride, not in the judgment of the Lord. Never again will you have to bear the stigma of the person whose life has been devoured by the locusts. At the very place where you felt failure most keenly, there will be your point of greatest strength.
Conclusion
Remember again: this passage speaks first to the believing community that has strayed. You are the ones who need to repent and return to God above all others. As the regenerate, God’s call to return is addressed first to you.
Repentance is God’s way of revival. Returning to the Lord in humility is the way to receive all his blessings. In response to your repentance, he will restore the years that the locust has eaten.
These thoughts were a great blessing to me. (It's a little lenghty. But well worth it)
Joel 2:25-27
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
The restoration of the locust years
The blessing that comes with this fantastic restoration is put in the context of the previous judgment of the Lord. He will ‘restore the years the locust has eaten’. The verb used to describe the restoration comes from the commonly recognized Hebrew word ‘Shalom.' This term means more than simply ‘peace,' as it is used in general parlance. It has the idea of fullness or completeness, and is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to a legal recompense (Exod. 22:1; Lev. 24:18). God will bring back in all their fulness the years that the locust has eaten. Whatever has been lost as a result of the ravenous appetites of the locusts will all come back. In all its completeness it will be restored.
‘I shall restore the years that the locust has eaten.’ What a glorious phrase! No richer promise can be found in the Bible. It is like the words of the psalmist: ‘Weeping endures for the night … but joy comes in the morning’ (Ps. 30:5); or like the close of the book of Revelation: ‘He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and they shall remember them no more’ (Rev. 21:4).
It happens. Here we see the power of God to redeem. He sends the judgment of the locust, and he reverses the whole process of devastation that they launched. Just at this point of promise, the army of locusts is identified as ‘my great army which I have sent among you’. As Job says, ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away’ (Job. 1:21). And you know how the story of Job ends.
Do you mourn over the lost years of your life? Do you think back with bitterness of soul as you remember the wasted years of youth when you did not serve the Lord? Was it twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years before you humbled yourself in repentance before your Maker? The Lord restores the years the locust has eaten—all of them.
Have you spent a number of years living in carnality and lukewarmness, doing only what pleased you? Have you made a number of serious mistakes in your life? Did you make some hasty decisions that you now regret? Do you often muse about those decisions and the effect they have had on your life?
Did you leave school too early? Did you make a hasty choice in marriage? Did you fail to recognize the perfect partner for you? Have you gone through a divorce or an abortion? Did you conceive a child out of wedlock? Did you make a bad business decision? Did you lose a large amount of money in speculative investments? Did you miss out on the investment opportunity of a lifetime? Did you move your family when you should have stayed where you were? Did you lack faith to move out when the opportunity presented itself? Did you fail to buy a house when the market was right? Did you buy a house when you really couldn’t afford it? Did you rebel against the wise counsel of your parents when you were a teenager? Did you commit a moral crime at one point in your life, a crime that haunts you even today? Do you live in mortal terror that somehow people will discover the great mistakes of your past?
Even ministers of the gospel often look back with regret at their years in the Lord’s service that the locust has eaten. Were you impetuous and judgemental in the early days of your ministry, alienating people to the right and to the left? Were people offended by you rather than by the gospel? Did you fall victim to the snare of intellectualism? Did you think you would win people into the kingdom by your piety or your preaching? Have you begun to reap the mushy fruit of a life of spiritual slovenliness? Do you find it almost impossible to lead your people meaningfully and movingly to the throne of grace in prayer? Have you neglected the disciplined study of the Word for so long that you now have nothing fresh to say?
Listen to these words. Apply them to your life. God restores the years that the locust has eaten. He gives back everything that you have lost, and more besides.
Living with regrets is sin for a Christian. Regret is the sorrow of the world that works death. Living with regret has nothing to do with the godly repentance that leads to life and restoration. Living with regret means that you refuse to believe the glorious truth that God restores the years that the locust has eaten.
Do you mull over your past failures? Like an ugly hyena gnawing on a putrid bone, do you let your thoughts feed morbidly on your sins of the past?
Don’t insult the glorious redemption that Christ has accomplished. Believe him. Start rejoicing in faith. Look your failures straight in the eye, and listen to Satan’s accusations no more. Trust fully in God’s ability to restore the years the locust has eaten.
The people’s reaction
The last two verses of this section describe the reaction of the people to this work of restoration done by the Lord. As you are restored, you will do four things.
First, you will satisfy yourself with his blessings: ‘You will feast and be satisfied’ (2:26). You will learn how to receive the new blessings coining from the hand of the Lord, and you will cherish them. You will enjoy everything about your renewed life in Christ.
Secondly, you will praise the name of the Lord who has done miraculous things for you. As the prophet says, ‘You will praise the name of the Covenant LORD your God who has done a wonder for you’ (2:26).
When you talk to a person who has had his locust-years restored, you hear repeatedly about how great is the Lord, about how much the Lord loves him and about how much he loves the Lord in return. If you have experienced even in a small way the power of the Lord to restore the years that the locust has eaten, you should do the same thing. Praise him continually for restoring the lost moments of your life.
Thirdly, you will have an intimate knowledge of the Lord, and understand that he is always with you as your ever-present God:
And you shall know that
in the midst of Israel
am I;
and I am
the Covenant LORD your God,
and there is no other
Joel 2:27.
in the midst of Israel
am I;
and I am
the Covenant LORD your God,
and there is no other
Joel 2:27.
In the fullest sense, you will know the Lord. You will live with an innate consciousness that the one you know is the true God and that there is absolutely none other beside him.
This truth translates into a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as your Saviour who cares for you, who is your constant companion, and who encourages you throughout your life. To experience the reality of knowing him is to share in the ultimate blessing that a human being can enjoy. ‘This is life eternal, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’ (John 17:3). Is that true of you?
Finally, you will never be ashamed again. Twice in these concluding verses, the phrase is used: ‘For my people shall never be ashamed again … so my people shall never be ashamed again’ (2:26, 27).
Beginning now and lasting throughout eternity, you need never again be ashamed. You can cringe in a corner if you wish. But you shouldn’t. Your source of shame will be found only in your own pride, not in the judgment of the Lord. Never again will you have to bear the stigma of the person whose life has been devoured by the locusts. At the very place where you felt failure most keenly, there will be your point of greatest strength.
Conclusion
Remember again: this passage speaks first to the believing community that has strayed. You are the ones who need to repent and return to God above all others. As the regenerate, God’s call to return is addressed first to you.
Repentance is God’s way of revival. Returning to the Lord in humility is the way to receive all his blessings. In response to your repentance, he will restore the years that the locust has eaten.
Robertson, O. P. (1995). Prophet of the Coming Day of the Lord: The Message of Joel (pp. 75–79). Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.
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