When Locusts Speak: Joel's Warning to Complacent People

The haunting words of Joel 1 come alive in this immersive audio experience, transporting you to an ancient land devastated by successive waves of locusts. But this is no mere natural disaster story—it's a profound spiritual reckoning that speaks directly to our modern hearts.

Walk alongside the prophet Joel as he witnesses his homeland transformed from abundance to ash. Four waves of locusts strip away every green thing, leaving empty fields, withered vines, and a people confronted with their own spiritual emptiness. Through masterful narration and thoughtful reflection, we explore how God sometimes uses devastation as divine disruption—a holy alarm to wake us from complacency.

What makes this episode particularly powerful is how it bridges ancient text with contemporary spiritual challenges. As the narrator observes, "Sometimes God allows the ground to be stripped bare so that our hearts might finally be made whole." We're invited to examine our own lives: Where have we grown comfortable in blessing while forgetting the Giver? What distractions have consumed our spiritual vitality? What areas of our lives feel as dry and barren as Joel's locust-ravaged fields?

Yet even amid desolation, hope remains. The episode doesn't leave us in despair but guides us toward the promise of restoration that comes through genuine repentance. "There's no shame in the return, only grace," reminds the narrator, echoing the heart of Joel's message.

Whether you're familiar with biblical prophecy or encountering Joel for the first time, this episode creates space for both reflection and revelation. Join us as we discover that sometimes it takes everything being stripped away for us to remember what truly matters. Visit www.inthefieldaudiobible.com for more episodes that bring scripture to life and deepen your spiritual journey.

Music Credit: "All to You" by Hector Gabriel

Thank you for joining us in this episode of In the Field Audio Bible, where we explore the richness of God’s Word, one chapter at a time. We hope today’s reading brought insight, comfort, or inspiration to your journey of faith.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and questions! Feel free to send us a text to let us know how In the Field Audio Bible is impacting your faith journey. Until next time, may God’s Word guide and bless you.

Episode Transcript

In the Field Audio Bible (04:39):
, I'm grateful to have you here with
me today.
Before we dive into today'sepisode, I want to invite you to
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(05:00):
along with reading reflections,tune in to worship radio and
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com and make it a meaningfulpart of your journey with God.
Today we step into the hauntingand urgent words of Joel,

(05:27):
chapter 1, a chapter marked bydevastation, divine disruption
and the unraveling of comfort.
Through a land laid waste bylocusts, god confronts his
people with a sobering callReturn, repent and prepare for

(05:48):
the coming Today, of the Lord.
You wake before dawn, drawnfrom sleep by a silence too deep
, too strange.
You step outside, your breathcatches.
The air smells like dust anddecay, the ground beneath your

(06:18):
feet feels brittle, broken Off.
In the distance, the horizon isbruised, blurred, with a thick,
shifting cloud, not of rain,not of smoke, but of wings, tiny

(06:46):
, countless, devouring wings.
They come wave after wave,endless and merciless.
This is no bad season.
This is no off unfortunate year.
I watched it all.
I am Joel, son of Petuel.
I saw it, I felt it in my bonesbefore the first swarm landed.

(07:07):
I knew it was not just judgment, it was a reckoning.
Not just judgment, it was areckoning.
I stood as the land groaned.
I watched the sky blacken, withlocusts stripping every vine,
every fig, every green leaf.
What one swarm left.

(07:29):
Another devoured, anotherdevoured.
Four waves, four plagues, nomercy.
The fields empty, the grain gone, wine presses stand dry and

(07:49):
echoing.
Big trees wither like forgottenbones.
Palm branches droop likemourning veils.
The cattle moan, lost inpastures that no longer exist,
the sheep silent.
Even the temple is hollow.
Priests stand with empty hands.

(08:12):
There is nothing left to offer.
You see the faces of yourneighbors streaked with ash.
No laughter, no singing, justthe ache of loss.
The people stumble through theruins like mourners at a funeral

(08:33):
that never ends.
But something deeper stirsbeneath the devastation Not just
sorrow, not just hunger.
A voice, God's voice.
Not a shout but a weight.
Not a fire but a silence thatburns this plague.

(09:00):
It is his alarm, a holy trumpetblast to a people who forgot
his name in the comfort of fullbarns and brimming vats.
He called me to speak, not justto warn, but to awaken.

(09:21):
You see, this isn't just aboutlocusts, it's about hearts that
have grown dry.
It's about a people who haveoffered him routine without
reverence, sacrifice withoutsorrow, worship without
repentance.
The land is a mirror and we,God's people, have seen our

(09:45):
reflection stripped and scorched.
And yet from the ashes awhisper begins to rise, a call
not to despair but to return, toweep, to rend hearts instead of
garments, to remember who weare and who he is.

(10:07):
The locusts were not the end,they were the beginning.
The day of the Lord is near.
Not just terror buttransformation, not just
judgment but mercy.
If the people would return,even now, the rains would come
again, the fields would liveagain, the oil would flow, the

(10:31):
wine would return, the joy wouldrise from the ruins.
But first you must walk throughJoel's vision, through the
silence, through the dust,through the truth.
As we prepare to hear Joel 1,step into the dust-choked

(10:57):
silence.
Joel walks through not just asa witness to ruin, but as a
voice trembling with divineurgency.
This is more than a tale ofnatural disaster.
It is a soul-deep reckoning.
Through locusts and drought,God strips away every illusion

(11:18):
of security to expose the truththat, without Him, even
abundance turns to ash.
Joel does not speak with colddistance.
He mourns with the people, yetcalls them higher.
He invites them and us intoholy sorrow.
He mourns with the people, yetcalls them higher.

(11:40):
He invites them and us intoholy sorrow, the kind that leads
to healing.
Let these words stir yourspirit, awaken your conscience
and remind you that sometimes ittakes devastation to make room
for restoration.
Now let's take a moment toquiet our hearts and listen to
the word itself.
Let these words sink deep intoyour spirit, bringing comfort,

(12:04):
conviction and encouragement.
Whether you're sitting in aquiet place or out in the world,
allow scripture to meet youright where you are.
I hope you have your favoritecup of tea or coffee.
Sit back, relax and let's stepinto the sacred text of the book

(12:26):
of Joel, chapter one.
The Book of Joel, chapter 1 theWord of the Lord that came to

(12:53):
Joel, son of Petuel.
Hear this, o elders, give earall inhabitants of the land.
O elders, give ear allinhabitants of the land.
Has such a thing happened inyour days or in the days of your
ancestors?
Tell your children of it andlet your children tell their

(13:17):
children and their children,another generation, what the
cutting locust left, theswarming locust has eaten, what
the swarming locust left thehopping locust has eaten and
what the hopping locust left thedestroying locust has eaten.

(13:37):
Wake up, you drunkards and weep,and wail, all you wine
drinkersers, over the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your
mouth.
For a nation has invaded myland, powerful and innumerable.
Its teeth are lion's teeth andit has fangs of a lioness.

(13:59):
It has laid waste my vines andsplintered my fig trees.
It has stripped off their barkand thrown it down.
Their branches have turnedwhite Lamb, it like a virgin
dressed in sackcloth for herhusband of her youth.
The grain offering and thedrink offering are cut off from

(14:19):
the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn, theministers of the Lord.
The fields are devastated, theground mourns for the grain is
destroyed, the wine dries up,the oil fails.
Be dismayed, you farmers wail.
You vine dress over the wheatand the barley, for the crops of

(14:45):
the field are ruined.
The vine withers, the thicktree droops, pomegranate, palm
and apple.
All the trees of the field aredried up.
Surely, joy withers away amongthe people.
Put on sackcloth and laminate.
You, priests, wail.

(15:05):
You, ministers of the altar,come pass the night in sackcloth
.
You, ministers of my God, grainoffering and drink offering are
withheld from the house of yourGod.
Sanctify a fast, call a solemnassembly, gather the elders and

(15:27):
all the inhabitants of the landto the house of the Lord, your
God, and cry out to the Lord.
Alas for the day, for the dayof the Lord is near, and as
destruction from the Almighty itcomes.
Is not the food cut off beforeour eyes, joy and gladness from

(15:48):
the house of our God, the seedshrivels under the cloths, the
storehouses are desolate, thegranaries are ruined because the
grain has failed.
How the animals groan.
The herds of cattle wanderabout because there is no
pasture for them.
Even the flocks of sheep aredazed.

(16:10):
To you, o Lord, I cry for.
Fire has devoured the pasturesof the wilderness and flames
have burned all the trees of thefield.
Even the wild animals cry toyou because their watercourses
are dried up and fire hasdevoured the pastures of the

(16:31):
wilderness.
As we come to the end of ourtime together, let's take a

(16:52):
moment to reflect on thesobering weight of Joel 1.
This is more than a propheticwarning.
It's a mirror held up to apeople who had grown comfortable
in their blessings and numb tothe giver.
Through devastation, Joelinvites us to feel what has been

(17:13):
lost not just crops and cattle,but reverence, dependence and
intimacy with God.
Yet, even in the ruin, there isa call to wake up, to weep, to
return.
It's a reminder that sometimesGod allows the ground to be

(17:34):
stripped bare so that our heartsmight finally be made whole.
Picture yourself walking besideme, Joel, in the midst of this
desolation the sky is heavy withthe shadow of locusts, the
ground beneath us cracked andbarren, the crops are gone, the

(17:55):
vines are withered.
And yet, even in the midst ofthis ruin, I carry a message not
just of judgment but of hope, acall strong and urgent to
return.
In the silence of this barrenlandscape, I ask you now what in

(18:17):
your own life has withered away?
What have you neglected?
Maybe a relationship with God?
Maybe the care of your ownheart?
Have you allowed distractions,complacency or the busyness of
life to pull you away from whattruly matters?

(18:38):
Take a moment, reflect on theways you've let the blessings
around you fade without trulyacknowledging their source.
What parts of your life feeldry like the land before us?
Are there areas where you'vebeen relying on your own
strength, where you've beentrying to control or fix things

(19:00):
without seeking God's guidance?
Where in your life do you feelempty, like the priests standing
in the temple with their handsempty, offering no sacrifice, no
prayer?
But here's the truth Even inthis brokenness, God's
invitation remains Return to mewith all your heart.

(19:25):
There's no shame in the return,only grace.
No matter how far we'vewandered, God promises to meet
us where we are, to heal thewounds we've carried and to
restore what's been lost.
The grain will grow again, thevineyards will bear fruit, the

(19:47):
joy of the Lord will fill theemptiness.
Take this moment, this quietspace, and allow God to speak
into those areas.
Allow him to bring you back tolife, to refresh the dry ground
in your soul.
This is the promise of Joel 1that even in our lowest point

(20:12):
there's an opportunity forrenewal, for revival and for
restoration.
Thank you for joining me todayas we journey through the book
of Joel 1.
I pray that you carry thesereflections with you into your
day.
Thank you for joining me todayas we journey through the book
of Joel 1.
I pray that you carry thesereflections with you into your

(20:32):
day, into your week, and thatyou find strength in knowing God
is with you in every trial,every temptation and every step
of obedience.
If this time in God's word hasencouraged you, take a moment to
share it with someone who mightneed it.
And be sure to join me nexttime as we continue walking
through the scriptures, learning, growing and staying faithful

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in the field of life.
Until next time, may you findpeace in the quiet trust in
God's call and rest in Hisunchanging love.
This is In the Field AudioBible, where we Listen to the
Bible One Chapter at a Time.