THE MARCH OF THE LOCUSTS

God has designed locusts in such a way that under certain conditions they change their breeding habits and produce great swarms covering up to thousands of square kilometers. The locusts go on the march, seeking food. They do so in perfect order or rank, not turning to the right or left, like a great army, Joel 2:7-8. Their technique is so efficient that what was green before them becomes like a desert behind them. Trees and vines look like white skeletons bleached in the sun -- total destruction, Joel 2:3. The aftermath is suffering, hunger and death; and hopefully, repentance and restorative blessings to the people, Joel 2:25.

God used locusts to bring Pharaoh and the Egyptians to repentance so that they would free the Israelites. The suffering brought about by the locusts caused a short-lived repentance by Pharaoh. Ex 10:1-20.

Just before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Moses warned them that if they failed to obey God, He would send locusts to destroy their lands, Deut.28:38-46. As we saw above, this eventually took place in the days of the prophet Joel. Note the total devastation pictured in Joel chapter 1. At Joel’s call to repent, the people turned from all their disobedience to again rank themselves under the law of the one true God and were greatly blessed. Joel 2:18-27.  To these Jews who obeyed God, Joel made one of the greatest Messianic prophetic promises of the Old Testament. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” On Pentecost Peter used these verses from Joel as a proof text for the first sermon of the Christian Age. Keep in mind to whom this sermon was addressed -- to Jews who fifty days earlier had crucified their Saviour! Moreover, this promise extends even to bless us today, “Whoever” means, not only Jews, but that from that day forward people from all nations could be saved, no matter how grievous their sins!  However, to be saved, one must “call on the name of the Lord.”  “O, Lord, to you I cry out,” cries the prophet in Joel 1:19. God’s reply is in 2:12: “Turn to Me with all your heart.”  The Jews on Pentecost cried out, “What shall we do?” God’s replay was,“Repent and baptized,” Acts 2:37-38. This is how we call on the name of the Lord! Just as God restored the land that had been devoured by the locusts in Joel’s day, He now restores the heart of the sinner that had been devoured by Satan and self-will when they repent and are baptized. Truly the rewards of submitting to God are great! “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” James 4:7. We resist the devil by submitting to God! Vine’s defines the word submit as a military term: to rank under, be subject to, in all matters. Before the 3000 obeyed the first gospel call, Peter warned them to submit to God’s command by exhorting them, “be saved from this perverse generation,” Acts 2:40. What is a “perverse generation”? It is a people who, instead of submitting to God, do whatever pleases themselves. They march according to their own drumbeat. An “unsaved” people!

The locust has no king, Prov.30:27, yet it marches in perfect order to the drumbeat of its God-given instinct. We have the privilege of being invited to march to the drumbeat of the Messiah, the king “exalted to the right hand of God,” Acts 2:33.  The last verse of Acts 2 presents Jesus as the “Lord” adding to His kingdom, the church, all of us who have chosen to truly submit to Him, to march in rank as He lovingly leads us day by day to our eternal home. Imagine what an effective blessing the church would be if we all marched in perfect rank, as do the locusts!

Where are you – in step in some areas, but out of step in others? What have you learned from the march of the lowly locusts?