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\(^{25}\)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.

God’s promise to restore the years that the locust has eaten is a promise unlike anything a person could make. I think God has to be talking (at least in part) about eternal life. Once a year has passed, it is gone, no one can make up to you years that were wasted.

The book of Joel shows very much how it was not possible for the Israelites to merely inherit God’s favour by being children of Abraham. God himself claims responsibility for justly punishing them.

\(^{28}\)And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. \(^{29}\)Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

This is a clear foreshadowing of the day of Pentecost when this promise would be fulfilled. It’s easy for me to forget sometimes how privileged I am to live in a time where the Spirit has been poured out in a way he wasn’t.

\(^{32}\)And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

It is a wonderful thing that the Lord is ready and eager to forgive and that he calls and draws people to him.