The Locust Invasion

I am returning to the theme of the relationship between the judgements in the Book of The Revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach, which come to redeem the children of Israel in the last hour, and the judgements which came to redeem the children of Israel out of Egypt.  The key to this relationship is to be found in the plague of the locusts, as discussed in previous posts.

In order to understand this key we must begin with the prophecy of Joel.  The chart here is from the ESV Study Bible.

Interpretative Challenge: The Locust Invasion

If Joel chapter 1 …	then chapter 2 …
1. describes an actual locust infestation …	presents a heightened description of the same invasion.
2. describes an actual locust infestation …	issues a warning about a coming military offensive.
3. describes an actual locust infestation functioning as a prophetic forerunner …	uses that imagery to portray a human army in terms of a decisive conflict on the day of the Lord.
4. describes a military attack in terms of the metaphor of a locust invasion …	represents the coming of an enemy usually viewed as the Assyrians or Babylonians.

My Comment:  Joel lays the foundation for the prophetic understanding of the plagues in Egypt.  That is, the prophecy of Joel teaches us not only that there will be a second exodus but that it will be prophetically patterned upon the first exodus.  As there were locusts in the first exodus, so there will be locusts in the second exodus. Yet understanding this prophetically we are to begin by understanding that the locusts in the first exodus were representative of an army that would come against the adversary that holds Israel in captivity.  But here the mystery is prophetically pronounced.  For the army that is foretold to come is foretold to come against the Land of Israel.  We are brought to ask the question, Who is it who holds Israel in captivity at the end of the day?  The answer will come to us in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach.

Joel 1:15  Alas for the day! For the day of Hashem is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Joel has prophesied a mystery.  He has said to all who have ears to hear that the deliverance of Israel from Egypt was itself a prophecy, for there shall be a complete judgement which brings complete deliverance to the children of Israel, according to the covenant, and the children of Israel shall be delivered out of bondage and shall serve Hashem their G-d.

The judgement that brings salvation to the children of Israel is called, "The day of Hashem."  While it is found in all generations it is one day. Its name is called after the judgement of the final hour.  For then all this prophecy shall be fulfilled.  In the era of Joel the armies of the north came to devastate the Land of Hashem, for the land was under judgement because of the misuse to which it was put by the majority of the people, who followed after the ways of those who worshipped the golden calf.  

Yet Joel spoke even about the judgement that would occur in his own time, together with those judgements of Hashem that had already come, as themselves being prophecies of that great tribulation which would come in the final hour of the world.  For in the final hour of the Day of Hashem truth and judgement are revealed through the great tribulation and the redemption of Jerusalem, the city of Hashem.  That hour then shall be turned into the daylight of a thousand years of truth, and all before it will be seen to have been the night. Nevertheless, because it is daylight it will no less remain a day of judgement for this world, wherein in the last moment of that day will "come like a thief, then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed." 2 Peter 3:10

Let all those all those who can hear listen to this prophecy, for those who are the children of Israel, sealed with the covenant of Hashem in their hearts, minds and souls, in all their being, will be saved from the final judgement that is coming upon the Land of Hashem and upon all the world in the final hour.

____________REFERENCES TO THE DAY OF HASHEM_____________

Joel 2:1
The Day of Hashem
Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of Hashem is coming; it is near,


Joel 2:11
Hashem Utters His Voice
Hashem utters his voice before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of Hashem is great and very awesome;
who can endure it?


Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned to darkness
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood,
before the great and awesome day of Hashem comes.


Joel 3:14
The valley of decision
Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of Hashem is near
in the valley of decision.


Isaiah 13:6
Destruction From The Almighty
Wail, for the day of Hashem is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come!


Isaiah 13:9
With Wrath and Fierce Anger
Behold, the day of Hashem comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.


Jeremiah 46:10
A Day of Vengeance
That day is the day of Hashem God of hosts,
a day of vengeance,
to avenge himself on his foes.
The sword shall devour and be sated
and drink its fill of their blood.
For Hashem God of hosts holds a sacrifice
in the north country by the river Euphrates.


Ezekiel 30:2-3
A Day Of Clouds
2 Son of man, prophesy, and say,
Thus says Hashem God:
“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 For the day is near,
the day of Hashem is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.


Amos 5:18,20,23-24
Let Justice Roll Down
18 Woe to you who desire the day of Hashem!
Why would you have the day of Hashem?
It is darkness, and not light,
20 Is not the day of Hashem darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.


Obadiah 1:15
The Day of Hashem Is Near
For the day of Hashem is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.


Zephaniah 1:2-4;14-18
I Will Cut Off The Human Race
2 “I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares Hashem.
3 “I will sweep away human being and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off the human race
from the face of the earth,” declares Hashem.
“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem…
14 The great day of Hashem is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of Hashem is bitter;
the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 I will bring distress on mankind,
so that they shall walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
pIn the fire of his jealousy,
all the earth shall be consumed;
for a full and sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.


Zechariah 14:1
The Coming Day of Hashem
14 Behold, a day is coming for Hashem,
when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.


2 Peter 3:10
The Day Of Hashem Comes Like A Thief
10 But the day of Hashem will come like a thief,
and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved,
and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

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