Hello Mike,

I have been trying to study the spirit behind the letter when I read the scriptures. I have recently been reading the book of Joel and am stumped on quite a few things that I hope you can shed some light on.

What is the spiritual meaning of “A nation has invaded my land” Joe 1:6 and also Joe 2:2, and also Joe 1:4. What are all these locust? I feel like it is saying a lot more than meets the eye, but I just can’t seem to grasp it.

I thank you in advance and appreciate all insight you may have.
Sincerely,
R____

Hi R____,

It is very gratifying to see that you realize that there is something being said in the scriptures which is more than the words of scripture themselves. All the writers of the New Testament were aware of this Truth, and demonstrate that awareness in the way they use and handle the Old Testament scriptures in the New Testament writings. This is true in the gospels and in the epistles. It is very apparent in the book of Acts and in the book of Revelation. All the writers of the New Testament knew the truth of this principle expressed in 1Co 2:

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

If you have not done so yet, then be sure to read Rightly Dividing The Word, in the essential reading section of the home page of the site.

Thank you for your questions. You ask about the spiritual meaning of the nation which invades God’s land in Joel 1:6, Joel 2:2, and you ask about the locusts in Joel 1:4.

The first thing we need to do is to look at those verses, so here they are:

Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
Joe 1:5  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.
Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joe 1:7  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.
Joe 1:8  Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.

I have cut and pasted verses 4-8 just to given the verses you ask about some context. It is clear that the palmerworm, the locust, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, are all very voracious insects who are all know for their devastating consequences, when they come upon the land in great numbers.

Chapter two is the same story with the same “great and strong people” who consume and devour and destroy all that is in their path just as do the voracious insects of chapter one.

Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.” The symbols are different. Here the symbol is horses instead of insects, but just as with Pharaoh’s dream, the vision is one, and the desolation and destruction is all the same.

Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

The fact that these insects are likened to a lion is no surprise because we are told that they are “strong and without number”, and their “teeth are the teeth of a lion…” What do these “teeth of a lion” do? They “bark God’s fig tree” (Joe 1:7).

The word “For” connects these voracious insects with the nation that has come upon God’s land. In scriptural and Biblical terms these locusts, and by extension, all of these devouring insects, are nothing less than “many false prophets [which] have gone out into the world”. These same locusts also become horses in Revelation nine. Here are the verses which bear all this out.

Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts [were] like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads [were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces [were] as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings [was] as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

These are the same locusts we see back in Joel 1, but here in Revelation 9 we also learn that not only do they devour everything in their path, but they also have tails which sting and hurt men. If we can learn what is the spiritual meaning of ‘tails’ and we can see that these locusts with these tails both devour and sting men, then we will know who they are. So what do tails signify in scripture? As is always the case, we are not left to speculate. Here is what tails signify, and here is what all of these voracious insects signify:

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one [is] an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up [like] the lifting up of smoke.
Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

“Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the land is darkened”. That is exactly what is taking place in Rev 9 where these locusts are again mentioned and where we were informed that they have stingers in their tails. Notice how these locusts darken the sun and the air in that same 9th chapter of Revelation:

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

What do you suppose comes out of this smoke which darkens the sun and the air “through the wrath of the Lord of hosts”? Here is what comes out of that smoke. It is simply Isaiah 9 found in Revelation 9.

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

These “locusts” with “stingers in their tails” are the “nation… come upon my land, strong, and without number…”

Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

This “strong nation without number” is “the prophet which prophesies lies” and hurts God’s people, robbing them of their wealth and their very salvation, “until the time appointed of the Father”. As Joseph told the Pharaoh of the cattle and the corn, “the dream is one.” In this case palmerworm, cankerworm, caterpillar, and locust are all one and the same thing. They are all false doctrines which have come upon God’s land, which you and I are.

Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm  hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

The whole orthodox Christian world realizes that Egypt symbolizes our journey out of sin. They even realize that the crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan are both types of baptisms. Many in the orthodox world can even see that all of the giants in the land of Canaan are types and shadows of the great weaknesses and obstacles such as alcoholism, compulsive gambling, drugs, illicit sex and pornography, etc., which we must overcome in order to to possess the land. But very few have come to see that “the land” is the type and shadow of our physical bodies in which all those weaknesses dwell.

You said:

I feel like it is saying a lot more than meets the eye, but I just can’t seem to grasp it.

I hope this has helped you to better understand the spiritual meaning of the letter of the words of Joel 1 and 2 and to”grasp it” just a little better. I hope you now see that God’s “land” is our bodies, and that the “strong nation” that comes upon it to devour it is the “kingdom of darkness” with all of “the prophets who prophecy lies”. I hope too, that you are now able to see that all of this is nothing less than God pouring out his wrath on all of our ungodliness and unrighteousness, while we stubbornly cling to all those false and lying spirits and doctrines known as briers and thorns, which are consumed by the fire that is the truth of God’s Word.

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one [is] an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up [ like] the lifting up of smoke.
Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike