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Locust, the.

From: The New Topical Textbook

By: Reuben Archer Torrey

• 1 min. read • grade level: 10

A small insect. Prov. 30:24, 27²⁴There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: (Proverbs 30:24)
²⁷The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; (Proverbs 30:27).

Clean and fit for food. Lev. 11:21, 22²¹Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; ²²Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. (Leviticus 11:21‑22).

DESCRIBED AS

Wise. Prov. 30:24, 27²⁴There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: (Proverbs 30:24)
²⁷The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; (Proverbs 30:27).

Voracious. Ex. 10:15¹⁵For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10:15).

Rapid in movement. Isa. 33:4⁴And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. (Isaiah 33:4).

Like to horses prepared for battle. Joel 2:4⁴The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (Joel 2:4), with Rev. 9:7⁷And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. (Revelation 9:7).

Carried every way by the wind. Ex. 10:13, 19¹³And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. (Exodus 10:13)
¹⁹And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. (Exodus 10:19).

Immensely numerous. Psa. 105:34³⁴He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, (Psalm 105:34). Nah. 3:15¹⁵There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts. (Nahum 3:15).

Flies in bands and with order. Prov. 30:27²⁷The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; (Proverbs 30:27).

One of the plagues of Egypt. Ex. 10:4-15⁴Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: ⁵And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: ⁶And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. ⁷And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? ⁸And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? ⁹And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. ¹⁰And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. ¹¹Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. ¹²And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. ¹³And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. ¹⁵For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10:4‑15).

THE JEWS

Used, as food. Matt. 3:4⁴And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4).

Threatened with, as a punishment for sin. Deut. 28:38, 42³⁸Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. (Deuteronomy 28:38)
⁴²All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. (Deuteronomy 28:42).

Deprecated the plague of. 1 Kin. 8:37, 38.

Often plagued by. Joel 1:4⁴That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. (Joel 1:4). Joel 2:25²⁵And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25).

Promised deliverance from the plague of, on humiliation, &c. 2 Chr. 7:13, 14¹³If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; ¹⁴If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:13‑14).

ILLUSTRATIVE

Of destructive enemies. Joel 1:6, 7⁶For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. ⁷He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. (Joel 1:6‑7). Joel 2:2-9²A 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. (Joel 2:2‑9).

Of false teachers of the apostasy. Rev. 9:3³And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:3).

Of ungodly rulers. Nah. 3:17¹⁷Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. (Nahum 3:17).

(Destruction of,) of destruction of God's enemies. Nah. 3:15¹⁵There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts. (Nahum 3:15).

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