Every sermon I’ve heard on the book of Joel began with the assumption that Joel was using a recent locust invasion to send a message to God’s people. The problem with that assumption is that Joel wasn’t talking about a locust invasion. He was talking about four locust invasions:
What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. (Joel 1:4)
On top of that, what exactly is a hopping locust? These aren’t subspecies, they’re made-up labels to differentiate the four invasions. So let’s step back for a moment. In chapter one, Joel seems to be talking about bugs. Then, in chapter two, he starts talking about horses and chariots. He speaks of soldiers, weapons and a powerful army. So we have two choices: either Joel is likening a locust invasion to an army or he’s likening an army to a locust invasion. I find the latter to be much more plausible.
In chapter two, along with the imagery of an army, Joel refers to the day of the Lord. All three major prophets associate that phrase with God’s judgment of a nation through a military conquest, most commonly, the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Joel also refers to fire. “Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns.” (Joel 2:3). Fires are not typically accredited to locusts but Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem and the temple.
When I first considered four waves of locust invasions, I pictured the same piece of land being invaded four times. But what if Joel is referring to four different areas. Neither a locust invasion nor an army would come back to a barren land. The history is interesting here. The Assyrian army invaded Israel three times going further west and then further south ending up at Jerusalem on their last sweep. Similarly, the Babylonian army invaded Judea three times taking more plunder each time. Are you starting to get the picture?
Like most prophets, Joel had a vision. His vision was swarms of armies invading their land. Armies that left devastation behind them and ultimately judged Judah for her adulterous ways. Are the locusts real? No, but they are a powerful image. An image of the great day of the Lord that God’s people brought upon themselves.
Update: The nations that God used to judge His people also brought judgment to other nations. The prophet Ezekiel likened those waves of multiple armies to the waves of the sea, relentlessly pounding, one after another. “Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.” (Ezekiel 26:3). This matches Joel’s locust invasions beautifully.