The Locust Years

by L.B. Home | Category: The Minor Prophets | Apr 1969

This month we will look at some of the shorter books. Joel is only three chapters long, Obadiah only one. Historically they have many things in common. There is no clear indication of the date of either but what inferences there are to be drawn point to much the same period in history. In Joel chapter three a number of enemies are mentioned who also appear in the story of Jehoram's terrible reign, in 2 Chronicles chapter 21. If the relationship is accepted, the date of Joel would be earlier than the other minor prophets, as early as 800 B.C. The only evidence to date Obadiah is the references in verses 11 to 14 that may be to historical events in the time of Jehoram or Ahaz, although they could equally apply to the much later time of Jeremiah.

Joel was the son of Pethuel, and that is all that we know about him for certain. He appears to have been a native of Judah and to have prophesied in Jerusalem. His style of speaking is very different from Hosea or Amos. There is less emotion in his voice, his figures of speech do not have such deep feeling, but a new quality is present. There is a tremendous energy that tumbles phrase upon phrase. His phrases present sharp, distinct pictures that replace each other rapidly, like images on a film:

"Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet" (Joel 2.16).

The first part of Joel is concerned with a series of agricultural plagues that were causing famine. "That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten ..." (Joel 1.4). There was a series of such plagues in Palestine such as had never been remembered before. Joel recognised them as the direct action of God, the warning of the approaching day of the LORD. If the early date for Joel is correct, this would be the first use of this term that is frequently applied later to describe God's intervention in history. It does not refer to one specific event, but to a time when God steps into action, and carries with it overtones of judgement, of the end of a phase of human carelessness and disobedience. The prophets live in an age of corruption because of sin, God had promised an age of fulfilment, of wholeness and righteousness, and the cataclysmic period that would work the change is the day of the LORD. In the letters of Peter and Paul, the term is used for the coming of Christ in judgement and the period following it.

It is surprising to find how much the three chapters of Joel have supplied us with well-known phrases and quotations that we often see but rarely credit to source. The writers of the New Testament echo his words, particularly in passages describing future events. Joel 2.28-32 was quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, and we have the impression that he must have known the book almost by heart. John, in the Revelation, describes a plague of locusts very similarly to the way Joel presented his picture. In chapter three we discover the words that have become a challenge to evangelical Christianity, "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision". The verse is often taken out of context, because the valley Joel speaks about is the valley of Jehoshaphat and the decision is in the hands of God, "For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about"; but the words are a challenge to our complacency.

There is almost always, in the prophets, a statement of all-conquering love that will eventually triumph over the deadly selfishness of men. "Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for He is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." It is this God who promises to restore unto them the years that the locust has eaten. That is a wonderful phrase and a wonderful promise. There are years in our own lives that the locusts took but, thank God, the promise stands that He will restore the things that He did not take away.

Obadiah

Obadiah is a very short prophecy directed specifically against Edom. We know nothing more about the prophet than his name. The remarkable thing about the book is that it made specific promises about a proud nation and that they are proven true in the geography of our time.

"The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, 0 thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground?" (v.3).

This description of Petra, the city of wonder at the heart of the caravan routes, is graphic, but the fate of Petra was sad. "The men that were at peace with thee have destroyed thee" (v.7). The city is described by H. V. Morton. "We went on over a stony track with tall cliffs on each side; honeycombed with black entrances to tombs, houses and temples". Morton adds, "If I had to select one place among all the places I know in the world where the spirit of desolation might have its home, I would choose the dead city of Petra". The mountains around the city are crowned with the high places of forgotten local deities.

In the 5th century B.C. the Nabataeans, a trading people, took over Petra. They swallowed up the civilisation of Edom and most of what remains is their work. Aretas, father-in-law of Herod Antipas and ruler of Damascus at the time of Paul's escape, was a member of this nation. The city was captured by Trajan in 106 A.D. and lay desolate for years. In the 7th century the Moslem invaders destroyed it again. In the 12th century the Crusaders built a fort there. After that it was forgotten until, in 1812, Burckhardt rediscovered its existence. It stands as a witness to the fact that God will always keep His word.

Jonah

Finally we come to the four chapters of Jonah. His story is so well known that we do not need to repeat it and will keep off the well-worn paths. The book is more easily placed because there is a reference to the prophet, who foretold the territorial expansion that would take place in the reign of Jereboam 11(2 Kings 14.25). This would make Jonah roughly contemporary with Amos and it casts light upon the state of the rising nation of Assyria. Jonah came from Gath-hepher in Zebulun, a few miles north of Nazareth. From this little place he went to a great city whose magnificence is increased by every fresh discovery of the archaeologists.

The lesson of Jonah is the lesson of responsibility. When God sends a man into a position of danger, it is because God is responsible for all the people in the world. In his selfish national pride Jonah had written Nineveh off, but God cared.

The mounds of ruins on the east bank of the Tigris mark the site of Nineveh. The palaces of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, the library of Ashurbanipal, the royal stables and warehouses, the blocks of government buildings surrounded by wide parks and game preserves, they are all gone. Assyria came to be a hated word, the synonym for unrivalled cruelty. In the early days of the empire, there was a temporary change of heart.

The savage, hook-nosed soldiers who tore Judah apart, who raped and tortured on a searing path across the terrified nations, were the children of men who listened to Jonah. Perhaps the victims who writhed, impaled on stakes, may have denounced the God who forgave Nineveh and preserved the monster. They could also have thought that He was the same God who had forgiven them, His children, times beyond number, and that the monster lived inside themselves as well as outside. Nobody has a monopoly in God's mercy and nobody can ignore the significance of sin in his own experience.

Jonah's reason for not going to Nineveh is usually interpretated as fear, but he gives his reason in chapter 4.2. He could not bear to look foolish. He could not spend all that effort unless God would promise to act in judgement. Like Elijah, he was faced with the fact that he was less than his message. His dignity was touched, the great "I" was levelled. Elijah said, "I am not better than my fathers". In the wake of deflation came despondency and a death-wish, a denial of purpose or value.

There is no escape from the despair of worthlessness except to live with the idea every day that we are expendable, "not I but Christ". Then the circumstances in which we confront the idea will not suddenly throw us off balance.

L.B. Home | Apr 1969
The Minor Prophets