Ravages of Locusts
REV. W. M. THOMSON, D. D.—These locusts at once strip the vines of every leaf and cluster of grapes, and of every green twig. I also saw many large fig orchards “clean bare," not a leaf remaining; and as the bark of the fig-tree is of a silvery whiteness, the whole orchards, thus rifled of their green veils, spread abroad their branches " made white " in melancholy nakedness to the burning sun.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 105.
Joel 1; 15, 16.—Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
REV. W. M. THOMSON, D. D.-This is most emphatically true. I saw under my own eye not only a large vineyard loaded with young grapes, but whole fields of corn disappear as if by magic, and the hope of the husbandman vanish like smoke.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 105.
REV. W. M. THOMSON, D. D.—This is poetic, but true. A field over which this flood of desolation has rolled shows not a blade for even a goat to nip. The land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 105.
Joel 2:1-111Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 7They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:1‑11).—Blow ye the trumpet... sound an alarm... let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh... a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong... the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle-array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks.... They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.... The sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great.
VOLNEY.—Syria, as well as Egypt, Persia, and almost all the south of Asia, is subject to another calamity, no less dreadful than earthquakes; I mean those clouds of locusts so often mentioned by travelers. The quantity of these insects is incredible to all who have not themselves witnessed their astonishing numbers; the whole earth is covered with them for the space of several leagues. The noise they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard, to a great distance, and resembles that of an army foraging in secret. The Tahtars themselves are a less destructive enemy than these little animals; one would imagine that fire had followed their progress. Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure of the country disappears, as if a covering had been removed; trees and plants, stripped of their 'leaves, and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of winter to succeed, in an instant, to the scenery of spring. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, to surmount any obstacle, or to traverse more rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may be literally said to be obscured by them. Happily this calamity is not frequently repeated, for it is the inevitable forerunner of famine and the maladies it occasions.— Travels in Egypt and Syria, Vol. I., p. 283.
REV. W. M. THOMSON, D. D.—Abeîh, in Lebanon, 1845. For several days previous to the first of June we had heard that millions of young locusts were on their march up the valley toward our village, and at length I was told that they had reached the lower part of it. Summoning all the people I could collect, we went to meet and attack them, hoping to stop their progress altogether, or at least to turn aside the line of their march. Never shall I lose the impression produced by the first view of them. I had often passed through clouds of flying locusts, and they always struck my imagination with a sort of vague terror; but these we now confronted were without wings, and about the size of full-grown grasshoppers, which they closely resembled in appearance and behavior. But their number was astounding; the whole face of the mountain was black with them. On they came like a living deluge. We dug trenches, and kindled fires, and beat, and burned 'to death “heaps upon heaps," but the effort was utterly useless. Wave after wave rolled up the mountain side, and poured over rocks, walls, ditches and hedges, those behind covering up and bridging over the masses already killed. After a long and fatiguing contest; I descended the mountain to examine the depth of the column, but I could not see to the end of it. Wearied with my hard walk over this living deluge, 1 returned, and gave over the vain effort to stop its progress.... Day after day they advanced.... The noise they made in marching and foraging was like that of a heavy shower on a distant forest... When the head of the mighty column came in contact with the palace of the Emeer Asaad, in Abeîh, they did not take the trouble to wheel around the corners, but climbed the wall like men of war, and marched over the top of it; so, when they reached the house of Dr. Van Dyck, in spite of all his efforts to prevent it, a living stream rolled right over the roof. “They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief." Every touch in the picture is true to the life.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 102, etc.
Joel 2:2020But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savor shall come up, because he hath done great things. (Joel 2:20).—But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill-savor shall come up, because he hath done great things.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—As in the visitation of Egypt, so now it is found that the only means of deliverance from the plague of locusts is when a strong wind drives them into the sea; and even then, as mentioned by Joel, their dead bodies taint the air and induce pestilence.—Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 315.
PAXTON.—In a state of putrefaction, the stench emitted from their bodies is scarcely to be endured; the traveler, who crushes them below the wheels of his wagon, or the feet of his horses, is reduced to the necessity of washing his nose with vinegar, and holding his handkerchief, dipped in it, continually to his nostrils.—Illust. In loco.
LIVY.—Scarcely recovered from the miseries of the last Punic war, Africa was doomed to suffer another terrible desolation. An immense number of locusts covered the whole country, consumed, etc.... After they had accomplished this terrible destruction, a sudden blast of wind swept and plunged their innumerable hosts into the sea. But the deadly scourge was not then at an end; the raging billows threw up enormous heaps of their dead and corrupted bodies upon that long extended coast, which produced a most insupportable and poisonous stench. This soon brought on a pestilence, which affected every species of animals; so that birds, and sheep, and cattle, and even the wild beasts of the field, perished in great numbers. The destruction of the human species was horrible; in Numidia 80,000 persons died; along the seacoast in the region of Carthage 200,000 perished; and out of a garrison of 30,000 at Utica only ten remained alive.—See Liv., lib. xc.
Judgments of Tyre and Sidon
ARRIAN.—Alexander, having taken Tyre, about 8,000 of the inhabitants were slain; some who had fled into the temple of Hercules received a free pardon: the rest, to the number of 30,000, were sold for slaves.—Exped. Alex., lib. ii., C. 24.
CALMET. —Alexander took Tyre. . . . Artaxerxes Ochus destroyed Sidon, and subdued other cities of Phoenicia. In all these wars, the Jews, who obeyed the Persians, did not neglect to purchase Phoenician slaves, whom they sold again to the Arabs.—In Adam Clarke's Com.