When the Sky Went Dark: How a Modern Locust Plague Proves Joel Was Right

“Has anything like this ever happened?” This is a paraphrase of the question that God asked the people of Israel through his prophet Joel. The question is in response to a locust plague that had affected the people of Israel. The answer to the question is a rhetorical “no”; nothing like this had ever happened. Joel is trying to get the people of Israel to wake up, consider the plague that was sent from God, and see it as a sign of the coming Day of the Lord. Nothing like this had ever happened in their generation.

But was Joel being hyperbolic? Was the locust plague really that bad? What about Joel 2:20 - was the army that came from the North actually locusts when locusts usually came from the south?

Many questions arise when we read about these ancient events. The answers to these questions impact how we consider the message of Scripture. If Joel wasn’t accurate about the physical event, then how can we trust him regarding spiritual truth? The inverse is also true; if Joel was able to describe the locust invasion accurately, he becomes a credible source for God’s message.

So, how do we know if Joel was credible? One way is by looking at a similar event in history. Is there anything that has been documented more recently that closely resembles what is described in Scripture? In the case of a Palestinian locust invasion, the answer is a resounding yes. The year was 1915. Here is an excerpt from an article about the Plague from the Library of Congress:

Swarms of locusts were not unprecedented in the desert environment and periodic visitations to vegetated areas could be expected ... But the locust invasion of 1915, which began in Palestine in February, took hold in March and April, and lasted through June—and in some areas of the region, into October—astonished the locals in its length and ferocity ... the locusts moved across the Palestinian landscape upon the hundred thousands, forming various waves during their different stages of existence. As the first image in the album depicts, they made their initial appearance as great clouds of flying insects, darkening the day-time skies as they approached Jerusalem from the northern horizon. ... In the next phase of the plague, female flying locusts laid eggs in the ground, giving rise to the second, and most devastating, stage of the invasion. On April 19, 1915 local authorities issued a proclamation obligating men from age sixteen to sixty to gather and turn in several pounds of eggs each, or pay a fine, all in an effort to limit the multitude of eggs soon to hatch. Tens of thousands of new locusts could potentially be produced from eggs laid in just a few meters square of earth. The young men ... dutifully set about meeting the requirement. Soon the newly hatched larva emerged, wingless, and began moving in droves so vast viewing them made some witnesses motion sick. These crawlers advanced over the face of the earth, consuming everything edible in their path. They blanketed the road near the Jerusalem railroad station. They mobilized in countless rows like armies, leaving large portions of previously thriving landscapes devoid of vegetation. Former shade trees were rendered leafless. The locusts burrowed inside the trunks of palms and cactus. They invaded bee hives, consuming honey and bees alike.

From this description, it is pretty easy to see that Joel was an eyewitness to a locust invasion. Consider some of the parallels between Scripture and the account above.

1:4 What the cutting locust left, 

the swarming locust has eaten. 

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten, 

and what the hopping locust left, 

the destroying locust has eaten. 

1:7 It has laid waste my vine 

and splintered my fig tree; 

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; 

their branches are made white. 

2:5 like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 

2:20 I will remove the northerner far from you

“Forming various waves during their different stages of existence”

“leaving large portions of previously thriving landscapes devoid of vegetation. Former shade trees were rendered leafless.”

“They mobilized in countless rows like armies”

“As they approached Jerusalem from the northern horizon”

 In the Library of Congress article, the author describes the event in 1915 using almost identical language to Joel, and of course, has a photo album to corroborate their claims. Joel’s account of the locusts was accurate and credible.

Since Joel was accurate about the locusts, it lends credibility to what he said about God. The message of Joel, then, is one that we should pay close attention to. There are three things worth mentioning here.

Return to me with your whole heart, rend your hearts and not your garments.

God only truly wants one thing, and that is your whole heart. True repentance, or even genuine religion, can have no pretense or facade. We need to ensure that we dedicate our entire being to God. That will result in only one outcome, total obedience to his word.

And in those days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh 

What is harder for us to believe, that locusts would come or that God would give us his Spirit? Joel was not only right about the locusts, he was right about the events at Pentecost. Peter, quoting directly from Joel, says that their ability to speak in tongues was what Joel had prophesied about. As God promised, we have the outpouring of the Spirit on all people who bear his name and give to him their whole heart.

All those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved 

Finally, mentioned several times in the New Testament, most prominently in Romans 10, Joel states that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Paul uses this to talk about our own salvation. We know that calling on the name of the Lord is what we do in baptism (1 Peter 3:21), appealing to God for a clean conscience. But how do I know that we will be saved?

If the Bible is accurate about things that don’t matter, like locusts, we can trust it when it talks about eternal matters like salvation. Let us give God our whole heart, and in the end, we will enjoy his salvation. Not because we earned it, but because he promised to give it to us freely.

All Images and the Library of Congress Article can be found here:

“The Locust Plague of 1915 Photograph Album | Articles and Essays | American Colony in Jerusalem, 1870-2006 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress.” Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, www.loc.gov/collections/american-colony-in-jerusalem/articles-and-essays/the-locust-plague-of-1915-photograph-album/.