Joel 2:1-11

An army of locusts (2:1-11)

Joel now pictures the approaching swarms of locusts as a person in Jerusalem sees them. He compares them to an enemy army and commands the watchman on the city wall to blow the trumpet to warn the city’s inhabitants of the attack. The swarms are so thick that they look like black clouds as they sweep down over the mountains (2:1-2). They spread over the countryside like an uncontrollable bushfire, turning healthy farmlands into barren wastes (3). People are terrified. They are helpless before the onslaught of this destructive army (4-6).Finally, the locusts attack Jerusalem. City walls cannot keep this enemy out, as locusts swarm into the city and through the houses (7-9). The clouds of insects are so thick they blot out the sun. The darkness demonstrates to all that this is God’s judgment and the day of the Lord is upon them (10-11).