Exodus 10

Exodus 10:4

Locusts Tomorrow will I bring locusts into thy border.—Exodus 10:4.Locusts are insects which are found in large numbers in Eastern countries. We have no proper locusts in this country, but our crickets and grasshoppers belong to the same family. In itself a locust is a small thing. So is a snowflake. But if there are snowflakes enough they can stop a train, or bury a town. So if you have thousands upon thousands of locusts, each hungrily eating every green leaf it can find, a field will soon be stripped bare.When the locusts came to Egypt they came with an “east wind.” That is how they always come to Egypt, because the locusts are hatched in the desert places to the east, and when the wind blows strongly from that direction, it blows them in front of it.

They cannot fly against the wind. It catches them and whirls them round and round.

That is why the Psalmist says, “I am tossed up and down as the locust.”The locust lays its eggs in the ground. The eggs are contained in egg-cases, and each case holds about one hundred eggs. From these eggs the young locusts are hatched. They are then in what is called the larva stage. They have legs but no wings, and they move by hopping about. They immediately join together in large numbers and spread themselves over every growing thing. They change their skins six times before they are full-grown. When they have moulted (changed their skins) four times they have reached what is called the pupa stage, and you can see their small wings growing, but they cannot use them yet because they are enclosed in cases.

They now stop jumping and begin to walk. Twice again they change their skins, and after the last change they appear as full-grown locusts. They have two pairs of wings. The front wings are straight, and the back wings are very large and wide and are folded like a fan under the front wings. They have six legs, the hind pair very long and strong so that they can leap with them. When they have moulted for the last time they spread out their wings in the sun till they are dry; then they mount up into the air and fly away in clouds.They fly long distances, and in such multitudes that they darken the sky like a cloud, and the noise of their wings is like pattering rain.

At night they settle on the trees in such numbers that they break down the branches. As soon as the sun rises they fly on again.While they are flying they eat very little; but at the places where they rest they lay their eggs.

So when people see them about to alight on their fields or gardens, they beat iron pans and fire guns and shout in order to frighten them off. Where the locusts do land, men and women, and children too, catch as many as they can, put them into sacks, and destroy them. Then they hunt for the eggs and destroy as many as they can find. But alas! the seekers cannot find all the eggs, and in about three weeks those left hatch out into larvae and begin their terrible march.By some instinct they keep together. As it says in the Book of Proverbs, “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” They march straight forward in regular lines like armies of soldiers, their leaders in front. They cover the ground for miles sometimes to the depth of several inches.

Nothing can stop them. They climb trees and walls, and get into houses.

They even walk straight into water. They have been seen to drop in swarms into the river Jordan where the fish were eagerly awaiting them with open mouths.And where they have passed there is utter desolation. Not a leaf is to be seen, not a blade of grass. The trees are stripped of their very bark. No wonder the Egyptians were terrified when Moses threatened them with a plague of locusts!By the law of Moses, locusts were allowed as food, and they are still eaten in Palestine. They are dried and ground into meal, or toasted and eaten, Sometimes they are stewed with butter.

Cooked thus they taste rather like shrimps. John the Baptist lived on “locusts and wild honey.” It was strange fare, but just what could be got by a hermit in the wilderness of Judaea, where locusts are plentiful, and the clefts of the rocks are full of wild bees and their stores.Now, as I said before, fortunately we have no real locusts in this land, but I think we all have our plague of locusts nevertheless.What is your plague of locusts?

I’ll tell you mine. My plague of locusts is the little faults that will keep hopping up where they are not wanted. These are a real plague to myself and a worse plague to those around me. I should not be at all surprised to hear that your plague of locusts resembles mine.What shall we do then with our locusts—you and I? What shall we do with the little hot tempers, and the jealous feelings, and the sulky looks, and the selfish natures, and the greedy longings that threaten to eat our hearts bare of all that is good and wholesome and lovely?There is only one cure for the real locust. There is only one cure for our special locusts. Kill them in the egg stage. Don’t let them ever grow up.

Exodus 10:19

Children Of The West Wind An exceeding strong west wind.—Exodus 10:19.We have left the West wind to the last (the texts of the other sermons in this series are Exodus 14:21, Ezekiel 1:4, Acts 27:13.), but although it is last, please don’t run away with the idea that it is in any sense least. The West wind has a very important part to play in these islands. Those who watch the winds tell us that there are almost two days in which West or South-West winds blow over them to one day that easterly winds blow. I don’t know whether the proportion of West-wind people to East-wind people is the same, but I think you will find that the number of West-wind people is not at all small.

1. Now, let us see what are the characteristics of the West wind. Well, first of all, it is a warm wind. It blows off the great Atlantic Ocean, and it carries with it some of the warmth of the Gulf Stream, which does so much to keep our Islands mild. West-wind people are very warm-hearted. They give you a welcome when you go among them, and they are ready to share what they have with you. They are kindly and sympathetic and affectionate. Perhaps their affections are not very deep. They are apt to forget you when you are out of sight; but then you must remember what a lot of people find accommodation in their hearts.2. Then the West wind is rather a wet wind. It blows off a great expanse of ocean and brings much moisture with it. When this warm, moist air touches the cold tops of our Western mountains, the moisture comes down as rain.We are not going to accuse the West-wind people of being mournful, but I think you will find they are more easily moved to laughter and to tears than the children of any other wind.3.

But the thing that has struck me most about the West wind is its fitfulness. Sometimes it blows quite softly. Then in a few minutes a stiff breeze has risen, and before long you have a hurricane—tearing the leaves off the trees, driving the dust in wild clouds, lashing the waves into angry foam.This is the chief characteristic of the West-wind people. They are excitable, quick, not very dependable. They act on the impulse of the moment without stopping to think, and often they have much cause to regret their hasty actions. Their temper is somewhat gusty, rising in a moment without the least warning and often with very little cause.

One moment they are all gentleness and laughter, the next a regular tempest is raging so that every one is glad to get out of their way.Now, West-wind people, will you look at your text?— “An exceeding strong west wind.” And what did the “exceeding strong west wind” do? It took up the locusts—that terrible plague which had been devouring every green thing in Egypt—“it took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea.”Do you know that you are really wasting a great deal of energy?

It is your nature to be gusty. Well, there are in the world plenty of great wrongs waiting to be blown away by big gales. What a lot of good you could do if you would only store up your energy to blow away these wrongs instead of squandering it in fitful gusts and storms in tea pots! That energy of yours is a great power, but first you must learn to control it. You must learn to put the brake on your temper and your impulses, else you will be like a powerful engine rushing uncontrolled down a steep incline to meet almost certain destruction at the bottom.Once a great general was talking about the battles he had fought and the victories he had won, and someone asked him which had been the proudest moment of his life. What do you think he answered? “The grandest moment of my life,” he said, “was when I got control of myself.”I want to tell you about a boy who “got control of” himself.

His name was Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and he was the grandson of Louis XIV of France. When he was quite small he was willful, greedy, and cruel.

His temper was so violent that his friends were afraid to play with him. If he lost a game he flew into a terrible passion.When Louis was seven years of age he came under the charge of the wise and faithful Abbe de Fenelon. A year later he wrote the following promise on a piece of paper: “I promise, on the faith of a prince, to M. lAbbe de Fenelon, that I will do at once whatever he bids me, and will obey him instantly in whatever he forbids; and if I break my word, I will submit to every possible punishment and dishonor. Given at Versailles, November 29, 1689. Signed, Louis”The boy evidently found it was easier to make a promise than to keep it, for a few lines are added later: “Louis, who promises anew to keep his promise better, September 20. … I beg M. de Fenelon to let me try again.”Louis did try again, and by the time his boyhood was over he had his temper well under control.

He grew up strong and wise, with a fine sense of duty; and some people think that, had he lived, the French Revolution would never have taken place.You are filled with energy and impulse, West-wind people, and you need a strong hand to help you to control yourselves. If you trust to your own power you can never be sure that you will get the mastery, but there is One who can help you, and if you take Him as your Master your energies will be turned to true and noble use.The world has need of you all—children of the North, the South, the East, the West.

So blow away fresh winds! Blow all the cobwebs off this dusty old world! We could not spare any one of you.Whichever way the wind doth blow,Some heart is glad to have it so;Then blow it east, or blow it west,The wind that blows, that wind is best.