Lobsters as God’s scourge

LOCUSTS on our Earth and in History

Lobsters have a prominent place locally in Scripture. You will see them at the beginning of the biblical story, a little past the middle, and at the end. When they appear, they take over the text, as in real life they take over its environment.

Locusts can be a phase of certain grasshoppers at certain times. The word for them is even translated as “grasshopper” in the biblical text, due to the overlap. Fascinatingly, something happens in the brains of this select species of grasshopper when drought occurs, followed by rapid growth of vegetation. They multiply rapidly, gather in large numbers, and even begin to migrate. Wings are added. They then become agents of destruction, consuming everything green wherever they settle.

The Proverb (30:27) marvels at the fact that although locusts have no “king”, yet they all come out in ranks. Yes, they are united and they travel like a huge body when “something” tells them to do so. The Christian Bible student could easily add that that “something” that happens in their brain is orchestrated by the Lord Himself, so that these creatures can be used to do His will when humanity needs a good shake.

In fact, this behavior, at certain moments in history, has contributed to famines and even human migration.

“The devastations they cause in the eastern lands are often very dire. Locust invasions are the most serious calamities that can affect a country.

“Incapable of guiding their own flight, although capable of crossing great spaces, they are at the mercy of the wind, which carries them like blind instruments of Providence to the doomed region that has been given to them by time. Countless as drops of water or the sands of the seashore, its flight darkens the sun and casts a thick shadow over the land (Exodus 10:15; Judges 6: 5; 7:12; Jeremiah 46:23; Joel 2:10).

It seems, indeed, as if a great aerial mountain, many miles wide, advanced with a slow and tireless advance. Woe to the countries below them if the wind falls and lets them settle! Hide the ground. It may be ‘like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness. As he approaches, the town is distraught; all faces lose their color “(Joel 2: 6). No wall can stop them, no ditch will catch them; fires lit in their path are immediately extinguished by the myriads of their dead, and innumerable armies march (Joel 2: 8, 9) Everything made of wood in the house Every terrace, courtyard and inner chamber is filled with them in one Such a dreadful visitation swept Egypt (Exodus 10: 1-19), consuming everything green before it and uprooting the trees, until the land was bare of all signs of vegetation. A strong northwestern Mediterranean wind from the south-west ept the locusts into the Red Sea. “, Hours with the Geikie Bible, ii., 149.

We all know that famous biblical story in Exodus.

Says Geike: “Their number exceeds the calculation: the Hebrews called them ‘the uncountable’ and the Arabs knew them as ‘those who darken the sun’.”

Other literature documents devastating locust events: Wikipedia recounts,

“Ancient Egyptians carved locusts from tombs in the period 2470 to 2220 BC. Locust plagues are also mentioned in the Qur’an. In the 9th century BC, Chinese authorities appointed anti-locust officers. Aristotle studied locusts and their reproductive habits and Livy recorded a devastating plague at Capua in 203 BC He mentioned the human epidemics that followed the locust plagues that he associated with the stench of decaying carcasses; linking human disease outbreaks with locust plagues was widespread A pestilence in China in 311 AD that killed 98% of the local population was attributed to locusts, and may have been caused by an increase in the number of rats (and their fleas) that they devoured the carcasses of the locusts. “

“A large swarm of locusts can consist of billions of them, spread over an area of ​​thousands of square kilometers, with a population of up to eighty million individuals per square kilometer (two hundred million per square mile).”

Modern man has learned to control his behavior and growth with insecticides, but the threat is always present. If the weather is right and men forget to do their part, and especially if men forget to obey God en masse, these curious insects can cause devastation at any moment.

173 outbreaks, recorded over a period of nearly 2,000 years, have appeared in China. In America, the terribly destructive Rocky Mountain locust swarm covered nearly 200,000 square miles, weighed 27.5 million tons, and contained perhaps 12.5 trillion locusts! But eventually that family died out and has not been seen since 1902.

Different continents appear to be home to different species of grasshoppers / locusts. There is one that swarms Australia. The desert locust is best known due to its enormous distribution, namely North and West Africa, the Middle East, and India. The migratory locust swarms in some of those same areas. Migratory locusts are divided into at least 10 subspecies. One such group, of one billion people, in 2013 covered half of the entire country of Madagascar.

Sometimes lobsters turn things around and turn into dinner. They are even considered a delicacy in some countries! Kosher according to Moses (Leviticus 11:22), John the Baptist seemed to enjoy them (Matthew 3: 4). At least they are a good source of protein …

B. LOCUSTS in the Bible.

1. History. Exodus 10.

Biblically, we are first introduced to locusts (Hebrew arbeh) in the days of Moses, Exodus 10. To indicate the severity of the punishment, the locusts are kept almost to the end. Only the darkness and the slaughter of the firstborn are considered more horrible than a swarm of locusts. Consider the details, verses 5-6, 14-15:

• The earth will be invisible because it will be covered with so many locusts.

• They will eat from all the trees and all the plants in the field.

• All the fruit will be consumed equally.

• There will be absolutely nothing green left.

• All the houses will be filled with these creatures!

• Never before or since have there been so many locusts in Egypt.

The key to this incident, however, is not the power of the locusts to destroy. The key is the Lord’s power to direct traffic. First, direct an east wind to carry the creatures to their next meal. After Pharaoh’s superficial repentance, the Lord Himself changes that east wind to a west wind and drives them out, down to the last locust.

There are no accidents here. We can talk about grasshopper brains, and unknown and unexpected transitions and changes, but the fact is that God is still in charge of His creation, and when the situation calls for it, He can speak to the humblest creature on earth, a mere grasshopper. . and let him know that it is time to become a scourge of God.

This would not be the last time the situation would require it. In fact, Moses lets that same people of Israel know, 40 years later, that locusts can be sent to them at any time God wants, if their disobedience demands it. (Deuteronomy 28:38) They had enough collective memory of the Egyptian drama to take that warning seriously.

But the memory eventually disappears. They must remind you again. And so they are, in Solomon’s prayer and God’s answer, in 2 Chronicles 6:28 and 7: 13-14. God says that if ever you were to use locusts again, and the people repented and asked for help, you will certainly hear from heaven and heal your land. Yes, that famous phrase “heal your land” has to do, in context, with the devastation caused by the locusts.