Locusts

Would locusts cause you to repent?

Locusts were the eighth plague that the LORD sent over the land of Egypt (Genesis 10:3-19). Pharaoh’s servants pleaded with him to allow Moses and Aaron to depart from them, but to no avail. It was described, “They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt (Genesis 10:14b-15).”

The prophet Amos wrote of a vision of the Lord God forming locusts at the beginning of the late crop, and they ate the grass of the land. Following this vision, Amos prayed that the Lord God would forgive those that sinned, and He relented (Amos 7:1-3).

Joel tells of the various locusts and the great destruction they may cause in the first two chapters of his book. As the second chapter concludes and the third chapter unfolds, Joel charges the people to repent for the Day of the Lord is coming (Joel 2:12-13; 3:14).

Pharaoh did not truly repent, even after the LORD brought the locusts. Amos knew that God would destroy those that would not repent, but was willing to forgive them. Joel knew that the Day of the Lord is coming, so he charged the people to repent!

Locusts were a good way to show God’s power, and give people a chance to repent. What would it take for us to consider the power of God, and to repent?