Monday 23 January 2023
Hear this, O elders, give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your ancestors? (v. 2)
Background
My Bible commentary appears to get somewhat frustrated by not being able to date the book of Joel accurately. It says “The most that can be said with any probability about the date of the book is that it is most likely postexilic.” So despite nearly two-thirds of the book of Joel focusing on this plague of locusts as the key concern, we can’t connect it to any historical plague event. Without that specific connection we need to look for something different.
As we see in our reading today and elsewhere in Scripture a plague of locusts was devastating for subsistence farming communities who did not have modern pesticides. We might think also of the plague of locusts unleashed on the Egyptians in Exodus 10:12-20 or in the list of disasters in 1 Kings 8.37.
Locusts seem to be the whole focus of the lament in Joel. It isn’t all that common to have a lament like this focused on a single form of adversity, but Psalm 137 is another example.
Today’s passage ends with a powerful call to repentance and prayer. Again that is a response to adversity that we often see in Scripture, being reminded that John’s baptism was described as a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Acts 19:4).
This winter has given us too many reasons to join with Joel in a “Lament over the Ruin of the Country” (as this passage is titled in the NRSV). I wonder how they compare in scale for us and whether a modern Joel would pick one of these for a lament (such as the climate crisis) or would they write more like Psalm 22:12-18 where the lament covers so many different crises.
To Ponder:
- We don’t tend to use laments a great deal in our society. Do you think it would be helpful to include these from Scripture more often? Why?
- Joel calls the clergy to lead the people in a time of repentance in a number of ways including lamenting, wearing sackcloth and fasting. Might that be a good idea today? If so for what issue, and when would it be appropriate?
Prayer
Holy God, give us courage and strength to be honest with you about our emotions and how the current crises affect us. May your Holy Spirit bring us peace and healing as we bare our souls before you. Amen.