LOCUST CLOUD – ANOTHER BIBLICAL PROPHECY TO BE FULFILLED
A swarm of locusts in biblical portion from Egypt is now reaching southern Israel and the workers from the Ministry of Agriculture of Israel is using pesticides to combat.
Yes, these are all happening three weeks before the Passover and it, thus, undoubtedly reminds the eighth plague (out of ten) that God struck Egypt with before the Israelite exodus.
Problem, however, is this – why is this plaguing locust cloud also infesting Israel?
Surely, it has to be more than just a reenactment of pre-exodus event.
WHAT DOES LOCUST / GRASSHOPPER REPRESENT IN THE BIBLE?
We see that the locusts or grasshoppers in the Bible refer to;
A) an uncountable number (hence the presence in such vast number itself is a disaster) (Judges 7:12, Proverbs 30:27; Jeremiah 46:23; Nahum 3:15, et al),
B) a total wipe out of crops (Exodus 10:5, 12, 15; Deuteronomy 28:38, 42; Joel 1:4, et al),
C) as punishment to disobedience (Exodus 10:4; 1 Kings 8:37 et al) and
D) representation of the wicked (Isaiah 33:4; Jeremiah 51:14)
Now those aside, locusts and or grasshoppers, for one, were also used to denote and represent E) war(s), invasions and attack.
Judges 6:3-5
3. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
4. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.
5. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.
[Joel 2:25] “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
This verse in Joel requires further examination as below, but let’s first continue on.
[1 Kings 8:37] “When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;
Concept of either or combination of famine, pestilence and war go together.
Then, there are more direct warnings too.
[Jeremiah 51:27]
Set up a banner in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.
[Revelation 9:7] The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.
We also know that there doesn’t seem to be any hope for improvement in the relationship between Israel and Turkey which is deteriorating fast as seen by Erdongan’s recent comment in comparing Zionism to a fascism. Iranian threats, too, aren’t really helping either.
And if we consider other agglomerating situations set against Israel, then it’s not that difficult to picture the war of Gog and Magog taking place.
Learn more: Revealed Glimpses of Leviathan, Israel’s Gas Exports and the Basis for Battle of Gog and Magog
BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD, COMES THE LOCUST CLOUD
What is happening in Egypt and hence to Israel currently, indeed, is a phenomenon.
If the above quoted verses convey what the locusts or grasshoppers in group can denote and symbolise, then we ought, more importantly, also be concerned with what this phenomenon taking place at this juncture could mean. That, we find in Joel 2.
Joel 2:1-12
1. Blow 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 is coming, for it is at hand:
2. A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.
3. A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them.
4. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like swift steeds, so they run.
5. With a noise like chariots over mountaintops they leap, like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.
6. Before them the people writhe in pain; all faces are drained of color.
7. They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks.
8. They do not push one another; every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down.
9. They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter at the windows like a thief.
10. The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness.
11. The LORD gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One Who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it?
12. “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
The above is a vivid description of the locusts, likened to an army invading, taking over the land in a disastrous proportion in warning that the day of the LORD is really near.
To end the post like this will be no different to those media who do not see the significance of the current locust plague as other than the mere biblical reenactment of Exodus 10 of which, after all, is incorrect.
Well here is a twist. Joel 2:25, quoted in the above, and the verses afterwards pack a whole lot more than simply denoting locusts symbolising destruction. If you read the rest of Joel 2, there, in fact, is a promise that God will bless Israel if they take these signs to turn themselves around to Him, He will even cast off the real armed forces (v 20) (Gog and Magog maybe?), and then people will know that the Lord is indeed and still with Israel who shall never be put to shame (v 27). And the conditional promise, then, once again, is extended to all of the people – before that day of the Lord finally comes, those who call on the name of the Lord shall be still saved. (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:16-21)
For it is one of the last awakening calls for all the inhabitants to call on the name of Christ Jesus, the locust prelude that Israel witnessed is not a disaster. In fact, His followers first started to witness the beginning of the fulfilment of Joel 2:32 and are still continuing to witness such. The prelude itself, while there remains time and chance, thus, is a blessing in disguise.
– Agape –
Facing the End 