The Locust Invasion
This is how Joel describes the locust plague — something no generation has ever seen before.
What is “unprecedented destruction”?
This group is told to “wake up and weep” because their wine supply is cut off.
Who are the drunkards?
Joel says the land does this — a human emotion — to show the depth of the crisis.
What is mourn?
The priests are told to put on this symbol of mourning.
What is sackcloth?
Joel says this “day” is near — a time of reckoning.
What is the Day of the Lord?
This group is told to “hear” and “give ear” because the disaster must be passed down to their children.
Who are the elders?
The loss of wine symbolizes the loss of this — the thing they depended on for escape.
What is comfort or pleasure?
This tree, often associated with joy and abundance, withers along with the fig tree.
What is the vine or grapevine?
Joel calls for this spiritual practice — a communal act of humility.
What is fasting?
This emotion describes how the people feel as the day approaches.
What is fear or dread?
These four stages of locusts — cutting, swarming, hopping, and destroying — symbolize total devastation.
What are the four waves of locusts?
Joel uses this image to describe how the locusts have stripped the vines bare.
What is a lion tearing bark or branches?
The farmers and vine dressers are told to wail because these have dried up.
What are the grain and drink offerings?
The priests are commanded to do this — a deep emotional response to crisis.
What is weep or lament?
The locust plague is described as this — a preview of something greater.
What is a foreshadowing of judgment?
Joel compares the locusts to this kind of invading force.
What is a nation or army?
Joel addresses the drunkards first because they represent this spiritual condition.
What is numbness or complacency?
This word describes how joy has disappeared from the people and the land.
What is “withers” or “fades away”?
Joel instructs the priests to gather this group of leaders for a sacred assembly.
Who are the elders?
Even these animals cry out because they have no pasture.
What are the cattle or sheep?
This is the deeper spiritual meaning behind the locust invasion.
What is God’s wake‑up call or judgment?
The removal of wine is meant to expose this deeper issue in the people’s hearts.
What is misplaced trust or idolatry?
The mourning of the land reflects this New Testament idea found in Romans 8.
What is creation groaning?
The priests’ response teaches that leadership begins with this posture.
What is humility or repentance?
Joel ends the chapter by doing this — modeling the right response.
What is crying out to the Lord?