11/05/2007
Joel 1:4 (NASB)
4
What the gnawing locust has left, the
swarming locust has eaten;
And what
the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what
the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
13
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.
14 Who
knows whether He will not
turn and relent
And
leave a blessing behind Him…
My mother tells a story about her father, who during the time of the depression had a field of wheat. They were told that locusts were coming. The truth of the matter was, there was nothing anyone could do to prevent locusts from coming. Yet my grandfather walked the perimeter of his field praying for the Lord’s protection. After the locusts had gone, they had devastated the fields adjacent to my grandfather’s, yet his field was untouched. Only a barbed-wire fence separated the two.
The book of Joel tells of a coming swarm of locusts, greater than had been experienced before. Whether the swarm is literal or figurative, I do not know. Yet the truth remains that devastation was coming on Israel.
Yet I find Joel 2:13-14 fascinating – yet familiar. Every time God pronounces some form of punishment on Israel, there is a clause for escape. “Rend your heart and not your garments” is a reference to the genuineness of repentance and grief. It was a common sign of grief for one to rend (tear) his garments publicly. Yet God is looking for a more intimate and genuine sign of repentance and grief.
“Who knows?” the scripture says “whether He will leave a blessing behind.”
Just the same as a parent does not delight in punishing a child, God takes no pleasure in punishing us. With each life-lesson, He gives us the opportunity to do the right thing - to seek Him. And in those times, He takes delight in blessing us. That blessing may be physical, emotional or spiritual. Nonetheless, He would much rather bless us than punish us.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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