It was never this bad; not in their lifetime, not in anybody’s lifetime. It was so terrible that children would tell their children who would then tell their children about this time of thick clouds, darkness, and destruction. All the fields were devastated and the grain was ruined. Herds of cattle and sheep were dying of starvation. Fruit-bearing trees were splintered and drying up, withering away like the people’s joy. It seemed like the whole world was coming to a terrible end. Everyone was lamenting and mourning. Everything seemed out of control.
What was going on here? A military invasion? The results of a nuclear blast? A plague? Well, yes and no. This is the setting for today’s scripture text, described in the first chapter of Joel. It was an invading army of locusts — common enou…