And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt, very grievous; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them will be such.
Hail had already stripped Egypt. This verse marks the moment the locusts land, and it raises two questions: what brought them, and why no swarm like it would ever come again.
The locusts did not drift in by chance.
At the command of the Lord, Moses stretched out the rod in his hand over the land of Egypt. The east wind blew that day and night. It brought a tremendous swarm of locusts such as had never been before, and we are told there would never again be such a scourge (v. 14).
The wind mattered for more than transport.
In the last two plagues God used the air and the wind to work His will. The locust obeys the wind. These plagues set aside Egypt's deities of air and wind, as earlier plagues had set aside their deities of earth and water.
Bad locust swarms were nothing new in that part of the world.
The records of the east hold plenty of accounts of the damage a bad swarm of locusts does. This blow was so severe that there had never been such locusts before, and there never would be again. So we can imagine the terrible plight of the land of Egypt.
A swarm this size does not merely damage crops. It leaves a country unrecognisable — and it spared no district, not even the region where Israel lived.
Then came the rush of the wings of the moving millions. A moment later the devouring hosts covered the land, and the noise of their unstoppable jaws filled it. Every green thing fell before them. They took away all that the hail had left. So far as the eye could reach, the land of Egypt was a wilderness, as barren as the yellow deserts on its borders. Goshen — the garden of Egypt — also fell under the plague, for its fruits and its crops were no longer necessary for Israel.
Pharaoh — Meneptah — began this contest by asking who the Lord was that he should obey Him.
Eight plagues had now been sent, and this last a dreadful one. Locusts on the ground, covering the face of it, so that the land was darkened. Locusts, too, in their houses, and filling them. And when they were gone, not a green thing in herb or tree could be seen. Could Meneptah still say, "Who is the Lord? I do not know the Lord." What an answer he had already received. The Lord he did not know had power over the waters, over the ground, over the bodies of men and animals, and over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues.
The blow landed on Egypt's religion too.
The book of Joel gives a vivid description of the damage locusts do. Locusts are a picture of God's judgments in punishment. The locust plague was aimed to show the powerlessness of the Egyptian god Serapis. The Egyptians trusted him as their protector against locusts. Locusts are also mentioned in a symbolic way in Revelation 9:1-12.
Locusts move with a discipline no one commands, and Scripture names the commander.
Man may have departed from God and become hostile to Him. But nature in its whole framework is obedient, and serves Him still. So the sinner finds himself in a stream of hostile forces, the hosts of the Lord. The army of locusts gives us a vivid picture of them. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank." (Proverbs 30:27.) This instinctive discipline, under an invisible king, shows whose hosts they are and who marshals them: the Lord calls them "His army." (Joel 2:11.)
- Wind — The swarm came on an east wind at God's word. The air itself, and every god Egypt trusted in it, lay under His hand.
- Weight — This blow stood alone: no such locusts before it, none after it, and not a green thing left in tree or field.
- Reach — Water, ground, bodies and now the air had all obeyed Him. Pharaoh had asked, "Who is the Lord?" Every area of nature gave him the answer.
- Rank — Locusts march in rank with no king, and the Lord calls them "His army." Even the insect world serves His purposes.
- Rivals — Egypt trusted the god Serapis to guard it from locusts. The plague showed him powerless, as earlier plagues had shown the gods of earth and water.
And they covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing on the trees, and in the herbs of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
A swarm of locusts settles over the whole land of Egypt. It blots out the light and eats everything the hail had spared. The verse records a country stripped bare. It raises two questions: who commands such an army, and why God sent it against Egypt.
One writer pictures how that morning looked and sounded. Even Goshen, where Israel lived, was hit this time.
In the early morning, right on time, a yellow fringe appeared all along the eastern horizon. It spread fast across the sky. Like a dense brown cloud, it covered the blue and shut out the light. Then came the rush of wings from the moving swarms. A moment later the devouring hosts covered the land and filled it with the noise of their unstoppable jaws. Every juicy plant fell before them. They took away all that the hail had left. As far as the eye could see, the land of Egypt was a wilderness, as barren as the yellow deserts on its borders. Goshen — the garden of Egypt — also came under the plague, for its fruits and crops were no longer needed for Israel.
The words "that the hail had left" tie this plague to the last one. The hail had broken trees and flattened crops, but not everything. The locusts finished the job, and the warning came with a way out.
Even in those days locusts were well known as a serious plague. The warning made the extra severity of this one clear: it would destroy all that was left in the land. The wheat and rye had escaped before, but they would not escape this. Also, the hail had broken the trees of the field, but they were still in leaf. Now the locusts would strip them bare. There was one way of escape: Pharaoh must humble himself before the Lord and let Israel go.
Locusts have no visible leader, yet they move like a trained army. One writer sees a clue there to who directs them.
Man may have departed from God and become hostile to Him, but nature in its whole framework is obedient, and serves Him still. So the sinner finds himself in a stream of hostile forces — the hosts of the Lord. The army of locusts pictures them for us. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank" (Prov. 30:27)... This instinctive discipline, under a king no one can see, shows whose hosts they are and who commands them. The Lord calls them "His army" (Joel 2:11)... To fight them is hopeless. The destruction they cause is total: "The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them" (Joel 2:3).
This plague was not random damage. It had a specific target.
Locusts covered the face of the whole land and destroyed every green thing. The book of Joel gives a vivid description of the damage locusts do. Locusts are typical of God's punitive judgments. The plague of locusts aimed to show the powerlessness of the Egyptian god Serapis. The Egyptians trusted him as their protector against locusts. Locusts are also mentioned symbolically in Revelation 9:1-12.
The idols could do nothing here. The plagues showed Pharaoh a God at work in every part of the natural world.
Pharaoh did not know this Lord. Yet He had power over the waters, power over the ground, power over the persons of men and animals, and power over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues. He did what the idols could not. He proved to be the absolute Master of the powers of nature. He alone decides the destiny of His creatures, and He would prove that too.
This ruin broke Pharaoh — for a moment. One writer follows the locusts to their end, and shows who followed them there.
Pharaoh took a humble attitude. He confessed that he had sinned and asked for a forgiveness that would also remove the punishment. The Lord knew his heart, yet He listened to his plea. By a strong west wind He removed the locusts so completely that not one was left. The locusts were drowned in the Red Sea. Not many days later Pharaoh and his armies were drowned there too.
- Total — The locusts took everything the hail had left. Egypt was as barren as the deserts on its borders.
- Targeted — The plague struck at Serapis, the god Egypt trusted for protection from locusts. Locusts picture God's punitive judgments.
- Commanded — Locusts have no king, yet they march in ranks. The Lord calls them "His army." The sinner who defies God meets forces that still serve Him.
- Comprehensive — Water, ground, people, animals, air: Pharaoh met a God who could foretell the plagues, bring them, and alone remove them.
- Temporary — Pharaoh's confession lasted only as long as the pressure. The locusts drowned in the Red Sea, and soon he did too.