How many of you like grasshoppers? I can remember as a child, my brothers teasing me with grasshoppers. I also remember trying to catch grasshoppers, the bigger the better, for fishing bait. Then there was the year that grasshoppers ate holes in our window screens. Of course, they also go by the name of "locust" in the mid-east, and were the main protein for John the Baptist. (Yuk!)
When swarms of them would hit the crops at once, whole fields would be stripped bare. One of the plagues on Egypt was of locusts. Sometimes swarms of them were sent by God as an army, destroying the crops and generating repentance among Israel, as our original text in Joel indicates.
People in this country might remember a time (or remember reading of a time) when swarms of locusts (grasshoppers) descended like a cloud upon the wheat fields and destroyed the entire crop. These pests, en masse, bring darkness; they devour all that is green and strip the bark off trees, and can even break boughs off trees by their cumulative weight.
Of course, my garden doesn't have that many, yet, but the presence of grasshoppers means that leaves will be eaten and string beans will be marred.
What the swarms of locusts symbolize are the huge sweeping problems that overtake us: the destruction of property by a storm or fire; the sudden loss of loved ones from a tragedy; an attack on the country, as on 9/11/01; an assault on one's person, from a mugging or rape; or any other catastrophic event that totally consumes us.
God may allow these events to come into our lives to get our attention, to cause us to seek him. Sometimes they are the direct result of someone else's wrong choice (the terrorist, mugger, or rapist's), in which case we should not blame God. Unfortunately, such things are a part of life, like the insects and pests in my garden.
But we have God's promise that after the event, there will be blessing, as we look to him. "Don't be afraid, animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness will grow green; the fig-tree and the vine give their strength"—Joel 2: 22. The fields and pastures and trees and vines will grow again, green and fruitful. Our lives will again have joy and hope and growth.
After all, the life span of a grasshopper (in the nymph and adult stages combined) is only 2-3 months (with the total lifespan, including the egg stages, is only about a year). The adult stage is only about 30 days.
So, of any locust type problem in our life, we can realistically say, "This, too, shall pass."
"For our light affliction, which is only for a moment, works for us a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen (the locusts), but at the things which are not seen (the joy and hope that God wants to give us); for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen (spiritual things) are eternal"—2 Corinthians 4: 17, 18.
Next week: "Cankerworms"
"Let Freedom Ring"
7/3/2020 2:38:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Caring and Sharing
6/20/2020 5:50:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
One Race -- Two Creations
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An End to Racism
6/2/2020 9:02:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
With One Voice
5/24/2020 3:38:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Trust in God
5/17/2020 3:21:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
A Firm Foundation
5/9/2020 6:35:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
No Fear!
5/2/2020 3:35:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Author of Peace, Not Confusion
4/28/2020 2:44:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Too Timid to Tell
4/24/2020 8:52:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Resurrection Promise
4/11/2020 3:54:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
God's Mercies
4/2/2020 11:04:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Yet I Will Rejoice
3/18/2020 11:22:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Slow Suicide—Part 2
3/5/2020 6:00:00 AM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Slow Suicide—Part 1
3/2/2020 6:00:00 AM by: Vicki Dorshorn
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
2/6/2020 6:14:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
A Stable and an Empty Tomb
12/24/2019 6:01:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Do Definitions Matter?
12/17/2019 3:08:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Darkness Creeping In
11/26/2019 10:17:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
The Presence and Purpose of Pain and Sorrow
8/31/2019 9:27:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Salt and Light
8/21/2019 8:15:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Real Rainbows and True Light
8/17/2019 3:17:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
The Light of Life
8/7/2019 9:20:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
A Giant Eraser
4/23/2018 3:09:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
He Is Risen
3/30/2018 2:57:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Rejection
7/22/2015 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Liberty Bell & more
7/4/2015 3:32:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Breaking News
6/22/2015 11:26:00 AM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Cracked Foundations
6/12/2015 1:50:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Power Transformers
6/5/2015 12:27:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Transformers
5/28/2015 by: Vicki Dorshorn
What is my name?
5/20/2015 by: Vicki Dorshorn
What age is Jesus for you?
12/21/2014 8:41:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Part 2 - Stories of Sovereignty from England
11/21/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Stories of Sovereignty from England
11/15/2014 7:28:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Coincidence or Sovereignty?
11/3/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Time to Care
8/24/2014 10:59:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Lion on the Loose"
8/16/2014 5:29:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Lessons from My Garden - Part 6
8/10/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Lessons from My Garden - Part 5
8/3/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Lessons from My Garden - Part 4
7/27/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Lessons from My Garden - Part 3
7/20/2014 3:33:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Lessons from My Garden -- Part 2"
7/12/2014 8:54:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Lessons From My Garden - Part 1
7/7/2014 7:23:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Dreams, Revisions, and Renewal
6/29/2014 10:30:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
A Dream that is Reality
6/21/2014 9:13:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
The Return of the Swallows
6/14/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Part 2 - Where will I go when I die?
6/7/2014 2:30:40 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Where will I go when I die?
5/31/2014 9:05:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Truth or Deception
5/24/2014 5:34:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Deliverance from Falling
5/16/2014 2:30:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Deliverance from Tears
5/10/2014 8:03:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Deliverance from Death
5/3/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
The Significance of Death
4/27/2014 5:45:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Conclusion of Why Bad Things Happen
4/19/2014 8:35:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Good and Bad, Relatively Speaking
4/12/2014 1:18:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
The Potter and the Clay
4/5/2014 9:10:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Bad Things" - Part 5
3/29/2014 1:47:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Bad Things" - Part 4
3/21/2014 12:52:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Bad Things" - Part 3
3/15/2014 12:18:00 AM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Bad Things" - Part 2
3/8/2014 1:56:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
"Bad Things" - Part I
3/1/2014 7:14:00 PM by: Vicki Dorshorn
Who are "good" people?
2/26/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
Why do bad things happen to good people?
2/22/2014 by: Vicki Dorshorn
