The last months have been filled with countless opinions of how we should view and respond to our national (and international) tragedy. Health and government officials have interpreted for us the nature of the problem and the potential solutions. We have been fixated on these reports each day and we have been directed by men’s opinions and best ideas.
All of this is good and helpful. But where is the Divine Voice? Are 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 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 have seen in the spring of 2020. A microscopic virus has swarmed across the earth, relentless in its attack. It has changed the course of history and paused almost every enterprise of man.
THE REPENTANT RESPONSE
So what should we do in a season of national disaster? Should our only interpreter 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.
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 a 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.
We can ignore God in this moment, 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 abundant 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!
