I) In Joel 1:1-3, God through His prophet addresses a people faced with absolute calamity.
A) He asks, “Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?” (NKJV). He says that the nation faces a crisis greater than any seen in generations (“or even in the days of your fathers?”), a crisis so great that they will be speaking of it for generations to come. (“Let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.”)
Verses 4-12 describe the disaster that has come upon the nation – a plague of locusts. Living in America, it is hard for us to imagine the scope of a locust plague. Just last year (2020), East Africa saw swarms of locusts the size of major cities, with each swarm containing hundreds of billions of locusts. These swarms can be so dense as to literally darken the sky, and to completely engulf everything on the ground. Though locust swarms can be large enough to encompass entire countries, a swarm that is merely a single square mile in size can eat as much food in a single day as 100,000 people.
Locust swarms are not uncommon in the Mideast, but Joel portrays the plague in his day as far worse than the common swarms. He describes a land completely destroyed as by another nation (1:6), with every crop and every bit of vegetation consumed: grapes, olives, figs, wheat. Even the bark is stripped from the trees (1:7, “made white”). Imagine how devastating this would be, with the nation losing all of its food, unable to feed either livestock or people. They could look forward to mass starvation and disease. It would seem as if life as they knew it was gone, and to a large extent that would be the case.
B) Though we are unlikely to ever encounter a locust plague ourselves, each of us will suffer tragedy in our lives that will leave us reeling and feeling as desolate and hopeless as did Judah in the days of Joel. It may be when we have serious illness or death in our family. It may be when we suffer major financial setbacks. It may be when others act toward us with callousness or even hatred or severely disappoint us. It may be war or a natural disaster. Whatever the cause, it will seem hopeless, as if life as we know it cannot possibly go on. As Joel addresses Judah, God gives us a pattern as to how we can face such disasters in our own lives.
II) Mourn
A) Joel tells the people in 1:8 to mourn with the most intense sort of mourning, like a young bride who is widowed, perhaps even having to don the sackcloth of mourning before even having a chance to wear her wedding dress. He goes on to observe that the entire nation is in mourning:1:9 the priests, 1:10 the land, 1:11 the farmers and vinedressers, and 1:12 all of mankind (“the sons of men”). Having observed that all are in mourning, Joel 1:13 enjoins the priests to continue doing just that.
B) Grief is a natural response to calamity and is not a response that we should try to suppress. On the surface, grief may seem to be inconsistent with faith. After all, don’t we truly believe that we have an eternal life of joy ahead of us, making the things of this world almost irrelevant? But as Solomon observes in Eccl 3:1 that “To everything is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven,” he goes on in verse 4 to say, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (NKJV). Weeping and mourning is every bit as much a part of this world and of ourselves as is laughing.
C) Even Jesus wept tears of grief. In Jn 11 we find the account of how Jesus hears of the serious illness of His friend Lazarus, then delays going to him for days, ultimately telling His disciples that He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He arrives to find that Lazarus has already been buried for four days. He encounters first Martha and then Mary, sisters of Lazarus, who each in turn observe aloud that if Jesus had arrived earlier, their brother would not have died. In Jn 11:33 we find Jesus “groan[ing] in the spirit and … troubled,” moved to compassion for Mary and the weeping Jews that are with her, but also undoubtedly sorrowful that His actions in delaying (allowing Lazarus to die so that He could raise him) have caused Mary and the others to endure such pain. And in Jn 11:35 is the simple statement, “Jesus wept.”
Even knowing that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus Himself grieved to see the anguish that the others were suffering and to know that He could have prevented that suffering. Yes, Jesus wept tears of compassion, but I believe that the text suggests that He wept tears of personal grief as well. He was about to bring great joy, but still grieved it had been necessary to allow the others to suffer pain. If Jesus could suffer grief, even knowing what joy was coming, certainly we do not need to try to suppress our own grief.
III) Gather
A) But Joel shows us what is needed next in order to avoid simply despairing as we wallow in our grief. He tells the people to gather with their brethren. “Call a sacred assembly” (Joel 1:14). It is tempting in times of great grief to try to isolate ourselves. But Joel doesn’t leave the people to try to deal with the situation on their own; he directs them to assemble.
B) We are much stronger when we face a difficult situation with others rather than alone, as Solomon reminds us in Eccl 4:12, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Removing others from our lives or hiding our trouble is never helpful in dealing with difficulties.
C) Even when it seems that there is nothing that can be done, we still draw comfort from one another. Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians with that thought, in 2 Cor 1:3-4. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Paul says that those in tribulation can draw comfort from the experience of others who have been through similar difficulties and who can relate how God helped them to get through them.
D) When suffering, we need to seek out our brethren, and even the assembly.
IV) Pray
A) Joel goes on to instruct the people in Joel 1:14, “Cry out to the Lord.” He tells them to pray, and that needs to be our reaction as well when faced with overwhelming trouble or grief.
B) When everything seems hopeless and it seems there is nothing we can do that will ever make it better again, we need to remember that there is one who can overcome any obstacle, improve any situation, even comfort the inconsolable. Phlp 4:6-7 reminds us that if we will submit our requests to God, He will give our hearts and minds a peace that is beyond anything that man can understand. When it seems as if having peace in our hearts again is impossible, God can give us peace. When we are overwhelmed by sickness, or grief, or fear, or sorrow, or doubt – when we cannot even imagine how anything can ever make us whole again – God can give us that which we cannot even imagine. How? It truly “surpasses all understanding.”
C) Paul reminds us again in Eph 3:20 that God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Not only can God do things that we cannot even imagine to ask for, but “exceedingly abundantly” more than that.
D) When our hearts are ripped to shreds by grief or fear, we need to turn to God in prayer for a peace that is beyond explanation.
V) Return to God
A) In Joel 2:12, Joel provides another thing for us to remember in times of distress – we need to turn our lives back to God. In some cases, our own departure from God’s path has brought trouble upon ourselves. In other cases, God brings catastrophe to get our attention when we have nearly forgotten Him. In many cases, we are simply victims of either the decisions of others or of random events in life. But in every instance, disaster should serve to remind us of our need for God. The very essence of disaster is the recognition that we are ourselves powerless in the face of it. That realization should humble us, should remind us that God alone is able to save, and that we stand before Him in desperate need of His mercy and of His strength and power.
B) Thus Solomon says in Eccl 7:2-4 that it is “Better to go to the house of mourning that to go to the house of feasting.” That sounds like an easy choice – attend a funeral or attend a party? Why is it better to attend the funeral? “For that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart” (7:2b). The funeral makes us think about the frailty of life, and the need to seek immortality through godliness. “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better” (7:3). The sorrow, though painful, makes us better because it motivates us to consider our spirits.
C) Just as grief can cause us to try to isolate ourselves from others, it can also make us turn from God. Grief can make us feel as if God has abandoned us. We can find ourselves wondering why God would allow such a thing to happen. Which of us has not at some time felt as David in Psalm 13:1, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” We need to make a conscious effort not to let our despair pull is in that direction. Instead, let God use the situation to instill in us a greater appreciation of our need for His strength and salvation.
VI) Trust in God
A) And that brings us to our final guidance from Joel for those who are in despair: trust in God. In Joel 2:13, the prophet tells the people to return to God, “For [because] He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” “He is gracious;” He gives us even that which we do not deserve. He is “merciful.” Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary tells us that this is better translated “compassionate,” as the NIV translates it here. God feels our pain and suffering. He is “slow to anger;” we may have slipped away from Him, but God is always ready to take us back under His wing if we will but turn to Him. He is “of great kindness,” or abounding in love. God wants what is best for us, and God is able to fully accomplish whatever it is that He wants.
B) In our despair, we need to trust in God’s promise of Rev 21:4, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” The next verse goes on to say of this promise, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
VII) So that is the guidance that we can draw from Joel’s prophecy to those who were facing a cataclysmic plague of locusts. When disaster strikes our own lives and everything feels hopeless, we need to do these five things.
A) Take time to mourn.
B) Don’t isolate yourself from others. In particular, allow your brethren to comfort you.
C) Pray for help and for comfort.
D) Take time to meditate upon how much you are in need of God and thus to grow from the experience.
E) Trust that God, who is infinitely powerful and infinitely loving, can give you peace that “surpasses all understanding.”
Broad outline borrowed with thanks from “The Day of Disaster,” a sermon by W. Maynard Pittendreigh.
