“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”
Joel 2:25
Science-fiction writer Stephen King fantasized time as a tangible asset. In his novel, once time was lost, it was devoured by grotesque indomitable creatures he called “The Langoliers.” They were time-eaters. Time was their food.
Time-Eaters
The Bible surpass all science-fiction by impressive truth. The Scripture shows ‘time’ as a measurable construct of Creation, It gives accounts of how it is controlled, (NOT by Daylight Savings Time) and It captures in ‘still-life’ the end of all time. There is a whole Book of the Bible dedicated to the philosophic problem of the passage of time.
The Lord Jesus during His walk on earth was bound by time. He was constrained when His hour was not yet come, then He was compelled when His time finally came. All men are limited by its unseen reservoir, not knowing how much is left until it is spent.
Eerily enough, according to our verse in Joel, time can also be devoured.
Joel gives warning in three chapters of the Day of the Lord– long awaited, terrible– which will come as a thief and as lightning. My understanding is that this Day is a 24-hour day that opens into the Millennial Day, a 1,000-year reign to complete the prophetic week of human history. That day will mark the end of the Tribulation, where 3 and a half years have been devoured by supernatural locusts with a paranormal appetite.
Sound a little far-fetched? That’s not the half of it.
Consider what God said here. He is going to make some things grow that were never planted (read Joel 2:24 and 26). The miraculous restoration of what the locusts have eaten will be crops, when no crops were plowed in, planted, or planned for!
This future miracle dwarfs “The Langoliers” by sheer truth and originality. It will happen just like God said it would over 2,400 years ago. Incredible to think that time may be eaten, moreso that God will replace it with fruit never sown.
The meditation I leave you with is this: if time can be eaten away– your time– what can you do about it?
- Be a giver. God promises in Malachi 3:11, “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.” This benefit is reserved for the tither.
- Get wisdom. The Lord exhorts in Colossians 4:5 to “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” Ask for, and keep ahold of wisdom, and the Lord will pay you back in time.
- Plant something you desire to reap. Galatians 6:7 says, “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” God will keep His promise to rebuke the devourer. What are we sowing in our hearts, spiritually, that we want to reemerge in time?
God can do the miraculous and restore our years. But let us also keep our hands to the plow to make sure what comes up was worth waiting for.
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