What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. – Joel 1:4

Today's Scripture Reading (February 1, 2023): Joel 1

Nineteen-fifteen was not a good year, especially in the Middle East. The War to End All Wars began in July of 1914, and the fighting seemed to be drawing everyone into its wake. Food was at a premium; the world economy was struggling under the weight of the conflict. Even neutral nations were feeling the effects of war. And then, in March 1915, a plague that was quite literally of biblical proportions swept through Palestine, Mount Lebanon, and Syria. That plague consisted of swarming locusts that swept through the area from March until October 1915. The plague began as adult locusts, who then laid thousands of eggs all over the region. Once hatched, they began to jump and walk, consuming everything as they went until they were old enough to fly and swarm once again. As a direct result of the locusts, the winter harvest of 1915 was down between ten and fifteen percent. But the summer and fall harvests were decimated. Depending on the crop, the best scenario was that the area lost about sixty percent of the crop, but in other areas, the locusts didn't stop eating until the crop had been decimated. Residents resorted to the desperate action of burning what might have been left to get rid of the locusts. The region couldn't make enough food to feed its people, and the World War only exacerbated the problem. At the time, this world region was ruled by the Ottoman Empire. The Empire was active in the World War on the side of the Central Powers, which included Germany and Austria-Hungary (and Bulgaria after 1915). The crop loss in the area set the stage for a severe famine that would sweep through the region until the World War ended in 1918. The locusts hadn't only stolen away the food of the people, but they had taken all of their hope as well.

Joel wasn't announcing a coming judgment on the area in his time. He opens by giving a summary of the current conditions in the region. And like the plague in 1915, this was not just a normal inconvenience caused by insects. The locust plague would go through the same stages as the 1915 plague. The locusts would move into the area as adults and consume whatever was present. They would lay their eggs. Once the eggs hatched, the young locust would crawl and hop along the ground, consuming whatever was in their path. And eventually, these young locusts would learn to fly and swarm once more; the devastation would continue. All of this would set up a time of trial and testing for Israel. Joel says that the suffering would be so significant that his audience would want to relay the story of how they survived the Great Locust Plague to their children and grandchildren. Living through this time would be a badge of honor for the survivors. And surviving this tribulation was something they could be proud of in the days that were to come.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joel 2