“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten, the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm, my great army that I sent among you.” Joel 2:25
Do you realise that when God restores, he does not simply bring things back to where they were or erase the penalty. He makes up for the time, fruitfulness and capacity that were lost during seasons of trial, failure or divine discipline.
The background to our text is this: Judah had been devastated by a massive locust plague. It destroyed crops, crippled the economy and threatened their survival. Joel presents this disaster as a wake-up call, pointing to the coming judgement of the “Day of the LORD”.
In verses 13 and 14, he called on the people, saying, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing, grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.”
First thing obvious herw is that true repentance does not demand or presume upon God’s mercy. It appeals to his nature.
The call to repentance included everyone: the elders, children, infants, brides and bridegrooms. No one was exempt from the need to turn to God. The priests were instructed to weep between the temple porch and the altar, praying, “Spare your people, LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn…” (v. 17).
In the ancient Near East, tearing one’s clothes was a public expression of grief or remorse. But here, God made it clear that he wanted more than an outward display of sorrow. He wanted their hearts to be torn. He wanted genuine repentance, not an outward show of religion.
As Exodus 34:6 tells us that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God promised restoration when his people repented. Our text says, “he will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” God also promised to drive away the threat of the northern army and remove the shame that had fallen upon Judah.
In verses 22 to 24, the rain returns. The early and latter rains bring life back to the land. The pastures turn green, the trees yield their fruit and the threshing floors overflow with grain, new wine and oil.
God does not merely stop the loss. He restores what was lost during seasons of destruction and discipline.
The devastation caused by the four kinds of locusts, the palmerworm, the crawling locust, the consuming locust and the chewing locust, was complete. Nothing was left untouched. The destruction affected the economy, spiritual life and the very structure of society.
Humanly speaking, you cannot recover a wasted year or bring back a season of devastation. Yet God promised to multiply the yield of future seasons so that the abundance to come would make up for what had been lost.
The promised physical harvest also points to the spiritual harvest to come. Just as rain causes seeds to spring to life in the natural world, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit brings spiritual life into human hearts.
The season of discipline was not intended to destroy but to bring the people back into alignment with God. Once their hearts were turned back to him, the judgement gave way to the promise of an outpouring of the Spirit (Joel 2:28).
Verse 26 shows us the ultimate purpose of this turnaround: “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God… and my people shall never again be put to shame.”
Remember David at Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:18-19)? The Amalekites had burned the city and taken their families captive. But when David returned, “David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away… nothing was missing, whether small or great, son or daughter, spoil or anything that had been taken; David recovered all.”
Think also of the prodigal son. When he returned home, he expected to be made a hired servant. Instead, his father restored him to his place as a son, giving him a robe and a ring and celebrating his return (Luke 15:22-24).
God is a restorer of lives. Open your heart to him in repentance today. He will forgive, recover and restore your life in full.
