Joel 2:18

"Then was Jehovah jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.

Whether viewed as a prophecy of Joel of relief for the penitent people or as an exclamation of praise after the event of his mercy, this section (Joel 2:15-17) is rich with a portrayal of God's abundant blessings upon the covenant nation (not the secular state, as such, but the spiritual remnant who, in scripture, were always equated with the "true Israel"). "Apparently Joel had been successful in inspiring the people of Judah to repent sincerely, for here we are told that, `The Lord became jealous for his land.'"[27] Two motives may be assigned to God as reasons for his "repentance" of the threatened disaster:

"The first is jealousy, the dishonor done to his name must be forever removed; the second, his pity, which has been stirred by the penitence of his afflicted people."[28]

It should be observed that none of this could be applied to the locust plague, a disaster which was already present; but it indicates that the ultimate destruction of Israel and their removal to other nations as captives, the more terrible judgment of which the locust plague was a symbol - that disaster was indeed averted for the time.

The failure to see this second chapter as the prophecy of a far greater judgment than that of the locusts results in the interpretation of these verses (Joel 2:18-27) as a statement of God's promise to remove the terrible scourge of the locusts, or to bring about the cessation of it. Deere commented thus:

"Evidently the people responded to the prophet's invitation. The solemn convocation was convened; the people repented; and the Lord forgave them. Consequently, he now promises to remove the locusts and restore the prosperity of the land. Now all will know that God Himself dwells with his people."[29]

This is, of course, correct as far as it goes; but the great damage of the locust plague still remained; and it is better to view the removal of the locusts as a symbol of a lifting of that greater doom impending, which eventually came, in the invasion of Assyrians and Babylonians.