Read & explore together
The Invasion of Locusts
Joel 1:1-7 opens with Yahweh’s word to Joel and calls the people of the land to listen. The passage describes extraordinary devastation and insists that it should be remembered and retold across generations.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
The message is introduced as Yahweh’s word to Joel son of Pethuel. Joel speaks to elders and all the inhabitants of the land, asking whether anything like this has happened before. He then describes loss through repeated locust imagery, the cutting off of sweet wine, a strong nation, and ruined vines and fig trees.
Joel 1:1–7Main takeaway
Joel 1:1-7 teaches that Yahweh’s message about extraordinary devastation is to be heard carefully, remembered, and passed on.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Yahweh’s word comes to JoelThe passage begins by identifying the message as Yahweh’s word. Joel, son of Pethuel, is named as the one who receives it.
Explanation
The passage begins by identifying the message as Yahweh’s word. Joel, son of Pethuel, is named as the one who receives it. This opening frames everything that follows as a message from Yahweh, so the reader is meant to pay close attention to the words that come next.
02Elders and inhabitants are told to hearJoel calls both the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to listen. He asks whether anything like this has happened in their days or in their fathers’ days.
Explanation
Joel calls both the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to listen. He asks whether anything like this has happened in their days or in their fathers’ days. That question highlights how unusual and memorable the described event is meant to be.
03The message must be told to later generationsJoel does not want this message to stay with one group of hearers. He commands them to tell their children, then for those children to tell the next generation, and then another generation after that.
Explanation
Joel does not want this message to stay with one group of hearers. He commands them to tell their children, then for those children to tell the next generation, and then another generation after that. The repeated pattern stresses careful remembrance and transmission.
04Loss comes in repeated wavesVerse 4 piles image upon image: what one locust leaves, another eats, and then another, and then another.
05A strong nation leaves vines and fig trees ruinedJoel says that a nation has come up on the land, strong and without number. Its teeth and fangs are compared to a lion and a lioness, which adds a fierce image.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01Who is called to hear this message at the start of the passage?
Look at the groups named in Joel 1:2 and notice how widely the call to listen is given.
02Why does Joel tell the people to speak about this to later generations?
Trace the repeated command in Joel 1:3 and consider what it shows about the importance of remembering this message.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Joel 1:1–7
1Yahweh’s word that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
2Hear this, you elders, and listen, all you inhabitants of the land! Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
3Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.
4What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.
6For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.
7He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.