Joel 1:2-4. 2Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. 4What 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.
In the Bible, the locust is always a symbol of God’s judgment. Why? Because locusts are one of the most destructive creatures on Earth.
What is a locust? A locust is an insect in the same family as the grasshopper. These special grasshoppers live on every continent, except Antarctica. Have you ever seen a grasshopper? Most grasshoppers are completely harmless, and one locust by itself is also harmless. But locusts are grasshoppers that do something unique – they swarm. And a swarm of locusts is devastating.
A swarm occurs when literally millions, billions, or trillions of locusts join together as one humongous group that eats everything in its path. This is why they are often called a “plague of locusts” (locusts were also one of the Ten Plagues in Exodus). In America, there was a swarm of locusts in 1874 that covered 200,000 square miles (the same size as California). They estimated that the swarm had three trillion locusts in it. They ate every plant in their path, but they also ate wood, leather, sheep’s wool, and stripped the paint off of wagons. Scientists don’t know why locusts choose to swarm together, but when they do…watch out!
The prophet Joel describes locusts in four ways: cutting, swarming, hopping, destroying.
Cutting = the locusts devouring everything.
Swarming = the locusts multiplying.
Hopping = the locusts moving quickly.
Destroying = the locusts leave nothing behind.
As Christians we know that God came to the world at Christmastime as Jesus. And we know that Jesus will come again someday. This means God will come to us twice. But in Joel’s day they thought God would only come once, and that when he comes he will come to judge and destroy his enemies just like a swarm of locusts. When the locust swarm attacked Israel in Joel’s day, he told the people that it was a sign that God was coming to judge them. If you think these locusts are bad, just wait until God comes down here from Heaven.
Praise God that he came as a little baby before he comes again like a plague of cutting, swarming, hopping, and destroying locusts. There’s literally nothing you can do about a swarm of locusts, once they start to swarm, it’s too late. But there is something you can do today about the baby Jesus. You can receive him, and love him, and let him be your friend and savior. When you receive Jesus you will become “locust proof.” God’s swarming judgment against sin will not swarm on you on the day Jesus comes again.
Questions: How do swarming locusts give us a picture of God’s judgment against sin? Do you sin? Do you deserve to be judged by God? How does Christmas remind you that you don’t have to be judged by God?
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