The Locust
11.13.24
There are four things which are little upon the earth but they are exceeding wise. (Proverbs 30:24)
King Agar is in the midst of taking an upward look. He is considering the great and the minute works of our Wonderful and loving Creator.
Today we will see what he has to say about the locust. The locusts have no king, yet all of them go forth by bands (Proverbs 30:27). This little fellow can teach us some important truths.
My youngest brother has three sons. One week we were visiting my mother together when his boys were in their teens. She raised four boys, but it had been awhile since the last of us grew up and moved away. Her idea of food preparation no doubt was based on having some of her older lady friends over for a meal. A can of Pringles that she thought would last a week lasted a mere fifteen minutes. In her words, “the boys came to the table like a plague of locusts.”
Throughout history, there have been outbreaks of locust swarms in many parts of the world, including North Africa, Israel and Australia. The United States, including southern MN, has faced this problem. A visit to the Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove will give information regarding the plague that helped to drive the Ingalls family from farming.
We note that the Bible speaks of the locusts and their hordes. They were one of the plagues that God sent upon Egypt in his deliverance of Israel from bondage.
Locusts represent in Scripture two important concepts. First, they picture the overpowering nature of sin. When Eve took that first bite of fruit in Eden so many years ago, little did she understand the flood tide that she would unleash upon the world. While Eve was deceived into eating the fruit, Adam immediately and willingly followed his wife into sin. From that moment on, every child born to woman is born a sinner.
This world lies in the lap of Satan, the Wicked One. Lost mankind cannot keep from sinning. Sin is a cruel taskmaster. It binds us with cords so that we cannot escape. Only Jesus Christ can forgive sin and deliver a person from its power. No man, church, ritual, creed or tradition can forgive a man and deliver him from sin. Only the power of God can keep this world from its own self-destruction.
The second concept taught to us by the locust is that of order. The locusts have no king, yet they all go forth by bands. Unlike the bee or the ant, which King Agar presented previously, the locust has no leader, yet its path of destruction is thorough.
God has an order for our lives. First, He wants us to become his child through faith in the Lord Jesus. Then, we are to be immersed and identify with the people of God. Then we are to serve Him with our lives. Far too many people have these mixed up, but it is clearly the Scriptural order: Then they that gladly received His Word were baptized…and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship (Acts 2:41, 42
This is Pastor Rob Adams asking you to pause and consider these things. If we at Immanuel Baptist Church can be of any help to you, please feel free to call upon us.