Joel 1:5-9 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.… It is generally the way of God to meet sin by appropriate retribution; hence He destroys the vines of the drunkard. Some men are only reached through the lowest propensities of their nature, and are only conscious of penalty when their carnal wants are unsupplied. I. THAT THE AGENCIES OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION ARE GREAT IN THEIR NUMBER, "For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number." 1. These agencies are numerous; The locusts did not come in a single flight, but in incredible and successive swarms, Heaven has an infinite resource of retributive messengers waiting its behest, It can soon darken our lives by a throng of hostile energies. 2. These agencies are strong. True, these locusts were in themselves weak and diminutive creatures, They were not like the proud monarch of the forest, and had not the majestic appearance or strength of the lion or the bear. They were insects. And so the most trivial agencies of the universe, when sent by God to punish sin, become mighty and resistless. Then the superior intelligence of man will avail nothing against them. Then the pride of the mighty will be brought to the dust. 3. These agencies are united, The locusts came upon the land of Judah as though they were animated by one national policy. The ants and conies are designated a people (Proverbs 30:25, 26), indicative of the wisdom by which they are Divinely taught to act. Hence the term nation gives no favour to the view that the locusts are symbolical era foreign invasion. And so the retributive agencies of heaven often come upon the wicked in terrible combination. The agencies of Eternal Justice are unconsciously in sympathy with each other, and advance in one vast army to execute the penalty of sin. II. THAT THE AGENCIES OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION ARE WELL EQUIPPED FOR THEIR WORK. "Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion." 1. Their equipment is appropriate. The teeth of the locust are said to be "harder than stone." They appear to be created for a scourge; since to strength incredible for so small a creature, they add saw-like teeth admirably calculated to eat up all the herbs in the land. The providence of God in executing the penalty of sin generally employs those agencies whose natural constitution the best fit them for the end contemplated. Heaven knows the most appropriate instrumentalities by which to punish the sinner. 2. Their equipment is fierce. These locusts were armed as with the cheek-teeth of a great lion. Thus they would be able to bite off the top, branches, and boughs of trees. And truly there are times when the judgments of heaven come fiercely upon the wicked, and destroy all that is precious to them. III. THAT THE AGENCIES OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION ARE DESOLATING IN THEIR EFFECT. "He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree: he hath made it Clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white." 1. They desolate things of the greatest value. These locusts laid waste the noblest and most valuable fruit-trees of the land, which the Lord had given to His people for their inheritance. The messengers of Eternal Justice will not spare the vines and fig-trees of a sinful life. They strike at the root of all secular prosperity. 2. They desolate things to the utmost extent. These locusts attacked the herbage, fruit, leaves of trees, the young shoots, and their bark. Everything in the country was devoured and made clean bare. And so the agencies of Divine retribution sometimes spread their desolation over a vast area, over the entire history of a nation, throughout the entire circumstances of a family, or of an individual. They leave no token of former splendour. 3. They desolate things to the remotest period. The agencies of Divine retribution often achieve a destruction which is felt to the end of life. IV. THAT THE AGENCIES OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION ARE PRODUCTIVE OF SAD CONTEMPLATION IN THE MIND OF THE TRULY PATRIOTIC. "For a nation is come up upon my land." The prophet here speaks in his character of representative of the people of God, and sees in the desolation of his country an occasion for sorrow. Hence the prophet, regarding the land as a Christian patriot, was pained by its desolation, and sought to remove the cause of the Divine anger. Piety makes men truly patriotic. Lessons — 1. That the retributive agencies of heaven are countless in number. 2. That the retributive agencies of heaven are effective in equipment. 3. That the retributive agencies of heaven spare not the most sacred possessions. (J. S. Exell, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. |
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