Part 2.
These past two weeks I have felt like a character out of the latest hit Netflix show Outer Banks. For those of you who haven’t watched it, you should. But in essence, a group of kids are on a full-blown treasure hunt. The more they look, the more they realize the number of layers that are in the quest. The closer they got, the more they had to think through. That is how I have felt as I been camped out on the word Restore. Specifically, the usage of it in Joel 2:25.
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”
The more I dug in the more I realized how many layers there were to think through. The more I found, the more questions I wanted to ask. To be honest, it can feel daunting to ask questions about something in scripture and feel like you can’t find the answer. It felt like I would hit dead ends over and over. However, that was the first place I went wrong. I needed to make it not about finding the answer to what the word restore means, although that would be part of it. I had to and I believe we all need to make our main priority to know the heart of the Father better because of what we are seeking. The whole point of this series is to move away from “what do I think this means” to “Lord, show me what you mean by this.” When that is the foundation of the quest, it is a delight, not a duty. I will know my Father better because of the time I spend searching His words. It has felt like a treasure hunt. Treasure because I knew that what I was looking for would be cherished. What I didn’t know was that what I would cherish wouldn’t be what I found but who I found.
I want answers but more than I want answers, I want awareness of Him. When I slowed down enough, I realized the miraculous was in the question itself. I didn’t even need to find an answer. The fact that I have permission to ask a question to Jesus is stunning all on its own. He lets us know Him. I don’t want to ever get over that.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have randomly asked friends in conversations what they thought the word restore means. It amazed me the hesitation that came every single time. What I began to see was that the word restore is such a common church word but in reality, few people actually fully understand what it means. Even those who did answer were quick to make sure they said, “Well I think…” Here is the thing though, our God is not secretive. Restore is a word that is used throughout scripture over and over. More than that, it is a promise God makes to His people. So how can it be that His people lack the confidence in knowing what it means?
I believe that where you and I have gone wrong is that we have taken scriptures like Joel 2:25 and put our own personal agenda on them. By doing so, we have landed in a place where there are a million different ways people are understanding God’s words. Our own agenda’s trap us. We are deciding what we want something to mean and then we are confused or disappointed because we believe that God did not do what He said He would do. Yet, you and I have to remember that the story of scripture is not a story about us. It is a story about God. I cannot approach His words with my agenda. I must approach them knowing that it is God’s agenda that is at hand. What is God’s agenda? His glory.
Whew. Okay, let’s take a breather. Maybe it is just me but that feels like a lot to take in. Nobody has ever told me this. I am not saying that we are not allowed to still ask God for what it is we desire. I am not saying that God doesn’t have promises in scripture that directly relate to His people. I am not saying that God turns a deaf ear to us and is not concerned about anything we are going through. His glory is His agenda but what we will come to see is that the more we know Him and love Him – the more His glory becomes our agenda too. It is the dying of my flesh, the trusting of His heart for me, and the belief of His sovereignty that will lead me down a path that will desire to have a faith that does not shrink back from being honest with Him but in the end will rise up as His child saying, “I want you to get glory.” This is the kind of faith David had. This is the kind of faith I want. Faith that asks boldly but also bows reverently.
“Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.” Psalm 79:9
This is the unfathomable story of the gospel. God will see to see to it that He gets the rightful glory that is His. Yet while doing so, His kindness leads us to repentance. He invites us into the heavenly places. We are not the center of the story but at the same time, we are not excluded from the story.
What does all of this have to do with the word restore and Joel 2:25?
All of this will help us better understand what God is saying to His people in that passage. We are quick to take the phrase “God will restore what the locust has eaten” and believe it means: God’s going to restore my finances, my health, my possessions, or my popularity. Or we believe that God is going to give back to me what I lost, whatever it might have been.
I thought that is what this verse meant for the longest time. Then I started thinking that I don’t believe God wants to take us back. I think He wants to take us foreword. So maybe there is more to the word restore than just for God to give us something back. Maybe there is more to this verse. Sometimes God does give back what was lost but there is always a newness at play. That’s what we see play out in the book of Joel.
Joel is the second of twelve minor prophets. The date around which the book of Joel was written is controversial. Joel, the author of the book, does not mention any names of a King in the book, which is typically how we could pinpoint the date. The book centers around the prophetic judgment of the southern kingdom of Judah. The crazy thing is we don’t know much about Joel. In fact, we hardly know anything at all. He mentions his father’s name in the opening verses but other than that he spends no time telling us about himself. He gets right to the point.
I will be the first to admit that before now I have never spent any time in this book of the bible. I have heard the notorious verse we are looking at today, but other than that – I knew nothing. We could spend hours breaking apart these verses because there is so much to each of them. You should absolutely read the whole thing on your own. For now, I’ll give you a big overview and hopefully lead us into chapter 2 where we will find what we are looking for.
There has been an invasion of locust in the southern kingdom of Judah. Not just any invasion, but actually four stages of invasions: chewing locust, swarming locust, hopping locust, and destroying locust. All through chapter 1 we see what destruction this has caused. The fields, the water brooks, grains, wine, all of it has been destroyed. Joel gives the people permission to lament for what has been lost (vs:8). With the grain and wine being cut off, the people now have nothing to offer up as sacrifices to the Lord. Or so they thought. Joel then rises up and tells the people they need to repent. They didn’t need to offer up any more grain or wine, they needed to offer up themselves.
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” Joel 2:12-13
Return to me with all your heart. God did not desire ½ hearted love. Rend your hearts and not your garments. Rending your garments was the tearing of your clothes. People would do this to show how sorry they were for their sins. God didn’t want just outward emotional experiences, He wanted their hearts to be changed. This is huge. It is the self-evaluation we all need to do. Am I rending my garments? Going through the motions. Doing what will portray me as walking in the ways of the Lord. Or am I rending my heart? Repenting. Returning. Offering up all that I am because of all that He is – Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.
You shift down further into chapter 2 and you see where Joel tells the priest to say to the Lord, “spare your people.” (vs:17). There isn’t much context for what was happening in the southern kingdom of Judah before the invasion of the locust. But when you take the language that is in the text, it seems pretty obvious that they were not walking in the ways of the Lord. Joel is basically telling them they need to ask the Lord to spare His people. To me, that means they knew they were in the wrong.
Now we are finally to our verse!
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.” Joel 2:25
Webster defines the word restore as: to bring back, to return. However, in biblical terms, this word has such a greater connotation to it. It is not just to bring back but it’s actually to let the final state be better than the original state. In this verse, the word restore is translated to the Hebrew word – shalam. Which actually means, amends.
Hello! Anyone else surprised by that? Okay, maybe just me. Amends??? The first thing that came to my mind when I read that was the 12 steps of AA/NA. As a sister of recovering addicts, I know that one of the steps in recovery is to make amends with people, with the intent of creating peace. It is the hope of reconciliation. I texted one of my siblings and asked what they thought amends meant. They answered: Changing behavior and doing something different. Becoming something new that you and others can trust and believe in.
Becoming something new. Doing something different. Change. Aiming for peace. Reconciliation.
This is it. This is restoring.
The years that the locusts have eaten are referring to years of sin, unbelief, and lack of repentance. God would change them. He would make them new. It was less about the harvest they lost and more about the heart of the Father who longed for them to return. Yes, God sent them grain, wine, and oi, but it is so much more than that. He changed them. This is the level of newness that I mentioned before. He gave them back what they lost but there was a difference now. It was old things but new creations. They were different. There was now a satisfaction in them. There was a different component – praise.
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God.” Joel 2:26
I don’t want you to miss this. I want you to get it. Maybe this isn’t what you were hoping this verse meant for us. Maybe you were hanging on for dear life because you thought God would bring it back, whatever “it” is. But as one of my friends said, “sometimes by wanting these verses to mean something good for us we actually strip them of all their beauty.”
We want “God will restore what the locust has eaten” to be: God’s going to give me back everything we lost. When in actuality it’s far better. This whole passage is pointing us forward. God restores us. With Jesus, crucified, and resurrected, He created a way for eternal restoration. God in His great love and grace, will redeem you from your rebellion. He came down Himself to serve you, save you, and sacrifice Himself for you that you may be reconciled to Him forever.
I am encouraged by this. Because yet again, as I sit here, in a season where there has been much loss, I can know that God is still being true to His word. He promised to restore the years that the locusts have eaten. Jesus has proved that He was true to His word. He already did this. I must just step into it.
There might be times when the job comes back, or the friends comes back, or the finances come back, but I firmly believe that when they do there is a newness to you. There is always a change happening. God told the people in Judah that He would send grain, oil, and wine. He didn’t say that He would let them go back to getting it the way they were before. He changes our hearts. Inward change makes us operate differently. Then our hands carry stuff in ways like we didn’t before.
And the moments that it doesn’t play out how you thought, you can stand firm knowing that He has not gone back on His word. You can know Him. He offers us reconciliation to Him. The amends have been made.
He does restore. He has restored.
Jesus, thank you that you have the final word, not us. Keep changing our thinking. We want to know your ways, not ours.
My friends, may you eat in plenty and be satisfied. But may you never forget to praise the name of the Lord your God. A God that cares enough to give us the crops that we need but a God that has been willing all along to offer us more than just crops – He offers us Himself.
He is teaching me that what I lost will never compare to what I have gained – Him.
He is the treasure.
“I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” Psalm 16:2
