The Great Reversal: From Locusts to Lavish Grace Text: Joel 2:18-27
Introduction: The Grammar of Repentance
The book of Joel opens with a scene of utter devastation. An army of locusts, described in terrifying, apocalyptic language, has stripped the land bare. The fields are ruined, the trees are skeletal, and the wine, the oil, and the grain, the very symbols of God's blessing, are gone. This is not a random act of nature; this is the disciplined, methodical work of God's great army, sent in judgment upon a disobedient people. The priests are to mourn, the elders are to tremble, and the whole land is called to a solemn assembly, to fasting, weeping, and mourning.
But the central hinge of the book is found just before our text, in the call to rend hearts and not garments. God calls His people to a genuine, heartfelt repentance. And He grounds this call not in their ability to perform, but in His own character: "for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm" (Joel 2:13). This is the crucial point. True repentance is not a transaction where we try to buy God off with our tears. True repentance is casting ourselves upon the stated character of God. It is a desperate, hopeful appeal to who He has revealed Himself to be.
Our text today is God's answer to that repentance. It is a stunning, glorious reversal. The pivot from judgment to grace is so sharp it can give you whiplash. One moment the land is a wasteland, the next it is overflowing with abundance. One moment the people are facing shame and reproach, the next they are promised they will never be put to shame again. This is the grammar of the gospel. God brings His people to the end of themselves, to a place of utter ruin, so that they might see that their only hope is in Him. And when they turn to Him, He does not just patch things up. He does not just restore what was lost. He lavishes them with a super-abundance that far exceeds what the locusts consumed.
This passage is not just about ancient Israel and a literal plague of insects. It is a pattern of covenantal renewal. It shows us how God deals with His people in every age. When we sin, He sends His locusts, whether they are financial, relational, or spiritual. He strips us of our counterfeit comforts. And He does this in order to drive us to our knees, so that He can then show us the breathtaking magnitude of His grace. This is the story of our salvation, and it is the story of our sanctification.
The Text
Then Yahweh will be zealous for His land And will spare His people.
Then Yahweh will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
But I will remove the northern military force far from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, And its vanguard into the eastern sea, And its rear guard into the western sea. And its stench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up, For it has done great things.”
Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For Yahweh has done great things.
Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit; The fig tree and the vine have yielded their full force.
So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in Yahweh your God, For He has given you the early rain in righteousness. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and late rains as before.
The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
“Then I will pay back to you in full for the years That the swarming locust has consumed, The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, My great military force which I sent among you.
And you will have plenty to consume and be satisfied And praise the name of Yahweh your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame.
Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am Yahweh your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame.
(Joel 2:18-27 LSB)
The Divine Initiative (v. 18-19)
The great reversal begins not with the people, but with God. Look at the first word of verse 18.
"Then Yahweh will be zealous for His land And will spare His people. Then Yahweh will answer and say to His people..." (Joel 2:18-19a)
The word is "Then." After the call to repentance, after the people have turned to Him, then Yahweh acts. But His action is not a reluctant response. It is a passionate, zealous movement of His own heart. The word "zealous" here is the same root used for a husband's jealousy over his wife. God's land and God's people have been violated, and His holy love is stirred to action. He is zealous for His own name and His own reputation, which are tied to the well-being of His people.
Notice the two actions: He will be zealous, and He will spare. This is pity, mercy. This is not justice in the sense of them getting what they deserve. They deserved the locusts. This is God's tender compassion for His children who have come home in rags. And this pity is not a silent feeling in the heart of God. It is followed immediately by an answer. God speaks. He is not a distant, deistic landlord. He is a Father who hears the cries of His children and answers them.
And what is His answer? It is a promise of lavish, material restoration. "Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them." These are the very things the locusts had destroyed. God's restoration is specific and targeted. He doesn't just give a generic blessing; He restores the precise things that were lost. And the goal is satisfaction. Not just subsistence, not just getting by, but being "satisfied in full." This is a God of abundance, not a God of scarcity. He loves to see His people full and satisfied in Him. And this physical blessing has a spiritual purpose: "I will never again make you a reproach among the nations." God's reputation is at stake. When His people are blessed, His name is honored. When they are shamed, His name is shamed. Our well-being and His glory are tied together in the covenant.
The Rout of the Enemy (v. 20)
Next, God deals with the instrument of His judgment. The locust army is dealt with decisively.
"But I will remove the northern military force far from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land... And its stench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up, For it has done great things." (Joel 2:20)
The locusts are called the "northern military force." This is likely because locust swarms often came from the north, but it also anticipates the later invasions by Assyria and Babylon. God takes the very army He sent and He annihilates it. He drives it into the desert and the sea. The image is one of total destruction. The only thing left of this terrifying army is a foul stench. The instrument of judgment is itself judged.
And notice that last phrase: "For it has done great things." This is biting, divine irony. The locusts, in their mindless devouring, acted as though they were a great power. They magnified themselves. God says, "You think you have done great things? Watch what I do with your stinking carcasses." This is a profound truth. God can use wicked and destructive forces for His purposes, but He remains sovereign over them, and in the end, He will judge them for the evil they intended. Assyria was the rod of God's anger, but God later broke that rod for its pride (Isaiah 10). The same principle applies to our spiritual enemies. Satan and his minions may do "great things" in their own eyes, but God will drive them into the lake of fire, and their foul rebellion will be remembered no more.
The Call to Rejoice (v. 21-24)
With the threat removed and the promise of restoration given, the tone shifts from mourning to unrestrained joy. God commands it.
"Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For Yahweh has done great things." (Joel 2:21)
God addresses the land itself. The whole creation, which groaned under the curse of the locusts, is now called to rejoice. And why? "For Yahweh has done great things." This is the direct answer to the proud boast of the locusts. Their "great things" were destructive. God's great things are restorative. This is the foundation of all true Christian joy. We do not rejoice because our circumstances are perfect or because we feel happy. We rejoice because of what God has done. Our joy is objective, rooted in the mighty acts of God in history.
The call extends to the animals, "Do not fear, beasts of the field," and then to the people, "So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in Yahweh your God" (vv. 22-23). The reason for their joy is the return of God's blessing, symbolized by the rain. "He has given you the early rain in righteousness." The rain is not just a meteorological event; it is a sign of God's covenant faithfulness, His righteousness. He is keeping His promises. The result is overflowing abundance. "The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil" (v. 24). This is a picture of postmillennial optimism. When God's people repent and turn to Him, He pours out His Spirit, and the result is not just spiritual renewal, but cultural and material abundance. The gospel is meant to make the world fat and happy.
Restoration and Vindication (v. 25-27)
The climax of the passage is one of the most glorious promises in all of Scripture.
"Then I will pay back to you in full for the years That the swarming locust has consumed... My great military force which I sent among you." (Joel 2:25)
God promises to restore the years the locusts have eaten. This is staggering. He doesn't just promise a good harvest next year. He promises to make up for the lost time, the lost labor, the lost hope. God is able to redeem our wasted years. The years we spent in rebellion, the years devoured by sin, the years stripped bare by our own folly, when we bring them to Him in repentance, He can restore them. He can make the latter years of a man's life so fruitful that they swallow up the memory of the wasted former years.
And notice, He again takes ownership of the locusts: "My great military force which I sent." This is a crucial aspect of our comfort. The devastation was not random. It was not a meaningless tragedy. It was a severe mercy from the hand of a loving Father, designed to bring us to repentance. Because God was sovereign over the destruction, He can be sovereign in the restoration.
The final verses summarize the purpose of this entire drama of judgment and grace.
"And you will have plenty to consume and be satisfied... Then My people will never be put to shame. Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am Yahweh your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame." (Joel 2:26-27)
The ultimate goal is theological. The material blessings are a means to a greater end: that they would praise God, that they would never be shamed again, and that they would know Him. "Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel." The presence of God is the ultimate blessing. And you will know "that I am Yahweh your God, And there is no other." This is a polemic against all idols. The locusts could not be stopped by Baal. The rains were not given by Asherah. Yahweh alone is God. The entire experience, from the plague to the restoration, was a divine object lesson designed to drive this truth deep into their hearts.
The promise that "My people will never be put to shame" is repeated twice for emphasis. This is the great covenant promise of vindication. In Christ, our shame has been dealt with. He bore our shame on the cross so that we might be clothed in His righteousness. And in the final day, when all accounts are settled, those who are in Him will be vindicated before the watching world. We will never be put to shame.
The Restored Years in Christ
This entire passage finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the true Israel who perfectly obeyed the Father. And yet, on the cross, He endured the ultimate locust invasion. The wrath of God, our sin, and the powers of darkness swarmed over Him and stripped Him bare. He was made a reproach, a curse for us.
But because He endured the judgment, He secured the great reversal for us. Through His resurrection, God the Father declared that He has done "great things." He has routed the enemy, death itself, and left its stench in the empty tomb. And now, He pours out the promised rain of the Holy Spirit, not just on Israel, but on all flesh, on all who call upon His name.
And He is the one who restores the years the locusts have eaten. Every year you have wasted in sin, every moment devoured by regret, every opportunity stripped away by folly, can be restored in Him. When you come to Christ, He doesn't just forgive your past; He redeems it. He takes the wreckage of your life and builds a cathedral. He takes the compost of your sin and grows a garden. He pays you back in full, not because you deserve it, but because He is a God of lavish, overflowing, restorative grace.
Therefore, do not fear. Whether the locusts in your life are literal or metaphorical, whether they are the consequences of your own sin or the mysterious providences of God, the command is the same. Rend your heart. Turn to the Lord your God. Cast yourself upon His mercy. For He is zealous for His people. He will answer. He will restore. And He will do it so that you might know that He is your God, and that in Him, you will never, ever be put to shame.