Joel 1:3

"Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation."

Locust plagues were ordinary experiences in that part of the world during the times of Joel, and for centuries prior to and subsequently to his times, as indeed they still are; but this was not an ordinary locust plague.

The special significance of this one related not only to its severity, but also to the fact that it is seen as a prelude to the divine devastation the prophet envisions for the disobedient people of God, and those nations which have oppressed her.[6]

"Tell ye your children ... etc." There is unmistakable allusion to Exodus 10:2, where the Lord charges Moses to tell Pharaoh that he will do signs,"[7] with similar instructions for Pharaoh to tell his sons, etc. This indicates that this mighty plague was comparable in gravity and origin to the plagues of Egypt and the deliverance of God's people through the Red Sea. It must not be understood as merely an extraordinary natural phenomenon, but as a direct judgment of God upon wickedness. The reason why the details of this disaster were to be remembered and passed on to succeeding generations was rightly stated by Myers, "as a deterrent to sin."[8]

The proper understanding and interpretation of such natural disasters as that recounted in Joel must always include the discernment of God's hand in them.

"God would ever have his children recognize his hand in all such visitations. For the believer, there are no second causes. The Lord has said, "I Jehovah create peace, and create evil." And he asks the question, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).[9]