Joel 1-3 | How Should We Deal With National Tragedy?

Each generation faces national tragedies. In 2020, the COVID virus stopped the world in six weeks. Health and government officials interpreted for us the nature of the problem and the potential solutions. We were fixated on these reports each day and directed by men’s opinions and best ideas.

All of this was good and helpful. But where was the Divine Voice? Were we hearing God’s opinions of these days and turning to Him for Divine solutions?

THE SWARMING LOCUSTS

The prophecy of Joel describes for the people of his day not only the devastation that had come to their entire nation but the remedy.

Locusts had come upon the land. This is not symbolic, but real. Although we may not be familiar with this type of plague, locust invasions are a historical fact, even in our own nation. They can strip the land in a short period of time, reducing her to nothing. David Hubbard in his commentary on Joel gives this account:

The descriptions of travelers who have observed locust swarms are legion. E. B. Pusey, Driver, and other commentators have given lengthy descriptions of locust attacks in the Levant. Driver cites a report of a locust-swarm covering 2,000 square miles and comprising an estimated 24,420 billion insects. Some thirty years ago, a grasshopper horde attacked California and was described in the newspapers in terms reminiscent of Joel. In one county 200,000 acres were covered with insects ‘over every inch and in some places stacked on top of each other.’

The point is this: it is possible for an entire nation to be brought to its knees by forces beyond itself. Surely, this is exactly what we saw in the spring of 2020. A microscopic virus swarmed across the earth, relentless in its attack. It changed the course of history and paused almost every enterprise of man.

THE RESPONSE

So what should we do in seasons of national disaster? Should our only interpreters of these events become those who speak only in physical terms, or is there a deeper spiritual response that is needed? Should we just “shelter in” or should we kneel down? Joel calls for a singular response.

Consecrate a fast,

Proclaim a solemn assembly;

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

To the house of the Lord your God,

And cry out to the Lord. (Joel 1:14)

Joel was speaking for God to God’s people. Without hesitation, Joel proclaims what is needed. The people must turn to God and cry out to Him. Only He can stop the marauding herd of destruction. God is great in his compassion as He is in His judgment. If they will cry out to Him and return to Him, He will relent and perhaps even “leave a blessing behind Him.” But the needed response is one of national mourning and full repentance. No mere outward show will move God.

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

And rend your heart and not your garments.”

Now return to the Lord your God,

For He is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And relenting of evil.

Who knows whether He will not turn and relent

And leave a blessing behind Him. (Joel 2:12-14)

We can ignore God in such moments, thinking (once again) that we are the Masters of our destiny and the Determiners of our fate. We can believe that our Babel towers will ascend to the heights and save the day.

Or, in humility, we can return to God. We can cry out to Him. We can trust Him again. And, if we do, all of human history reminds us that we will discover His great compassion and salvation.

Perhaps it’s time to listen to Joel … and cry out.

Holy God, forgive us for ignoring You. Forgive us for paying more attention to the created than the Creator. Deliver us from merely humanistic solutions when You are standing at the door knocking. Sweep across our land, Lord, reminding us of our desperate need to return to You in full repentance and confession. Raise a worldwide, repentant cry, and then answer that prayer to show the world you are a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. Remind us in unmistakable terms that You can do anything, and You control everything. Deliver us, O Lord, and glorify Your name!