Spiritual rebirth must have been close to the heart of the prophet Joel when, after rebuking the children of Israel for their disobedience, he spoke to them with tender feeling of the opportunity to redeem the inheritance which they seemed to have lost. After exhorting them to fresh effort by repentance and fasting, he said (2:21), "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things." And further assuring them of God's willingness to restore peace and plenty as a sign of their reinstatement, he declared God's promise (verse 25), "I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten."
It is to be noted that Joel encouraged the people to expect great things of the Lord. His vision took in a loving, heavenly Father who, following their repentance and reformation, could and would erase the memory of those locust-eaten years and replace it with newborn hope and inward confidence. God's unchanging love would be revealed to the people in ways that would satisfy their human needs and provide them with a fresh start. No holding on to condemnation for their past blunders is indicated.
Has not almost every adult at one time or another looked back regretfully at some phase of his history and wished that it had been different, more consistent with the better understanding of God that he has since gained or perhaps less disturbing to his personal complacency? And with such wistful thinking has there not come the desire to change the mental picture, to relive and correct the unsatisfying period, the memory of which brings remorse? Such thinking is obviously vain, since the very nature of time is so fleeting that one cannot hold even the passing moment in his grasp, much less recapture that which calls itself one's past.
