The Lesson of the Locust
“The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.”
Proverbs 30:27
God made the desert locust a special creature with a changing personality. It teaches you a valuable lesson about success and happiness in life. Ordinarily very reclusive and solitary, this animal minds its own business, ventures about only at night, and meets other locusts only for brief mating encounters. However, when the situation calls for it, they change dramatically in color and even more drastically in social behavior, becoming very friendly and group oriented, creating huge swarms for their mutual benefit.
Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. He could talk in detail about things like trees and insects (I Kings 4:29-34). He knew all about the desert locust, and he used it to teach the value of joining together with others. God created you to be a social creature, and you will only maximize your potential by using the societies he created for you, which are family, school, marriage, church, friends, business, and nation. He also said, “Two are better than one …and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl 4:9-12). He gave four glorious advantages to using your societies to your advantage.
BBSRC’s website, “One of a Crowd.”
Widipedia, the Desert Locust
“Creature of the Month,” by No-Pest
Proverbs 30:27
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
Here is a fabulous proverb in fourteen words. It is simple, intriguing, and contains an obscure lesson of great wisdom. Locusts teach us that society is better than individuality, that there is power in numbers and unity. Without a leader, they travel in large, coordinated swarms that still frighten men today. Can you learn their wisdom?
Four little creatures teach powerful lessons (30:24-28). Here is the desert locust, which inhabits the areas near Israel. The LORD Jehovah gave the desert locust a very unique trait to teach us wisdom, and our Preacher reveals this wisdom here for our learning.
The desert locust usually lives a very lonely, quiet, individual, and solitary life. They are extremely shy except for their brief mating encounters. They fly at night and avoid each other, very content at being alone. Rather sluggish by nature, they are quite harmless. But when put in a crowded situation with other locusts, due to ideal ecological circumstances or the search for food, they drastically change to become very social creatures.
This radical change in personality is their unique trait. In addition, their very physiology and color change to indicate their new temperament. They now want to swarm together, and they do so in very coordinated ways with sometimes billions of locusts involved. So great is this transformation, they were regarded as two separate species until recently!
Scientifically, a locust with its individualistic and reclusive temperament is called solitarious. When it undergoes its great personality change and becomes a very eager social creature, it is scientifically said to be gregarious! We use the word ourselves to describe someone who is very friendly, social, interactive, and enjoying group activities!
Only three inches long and weighing two grams, a single locust can eat his weight in food every day! They have a top speed near 20 mph, and they can cover 75 miles in a day. With a few others, they can ravage a country, devouring most edible things in their path.
A swarm of locusts covering 2,000 square miles crossed the Red Sea in 1889, and was estimated to weigh 500,000 tons and contain 250 billion individual locusts. Swarms still occur today and are a serious threat to agriculture from North Africa to Asia.
The blessed God calls these creatures His army, and He describes their character and destructive capability in great detail (Joel 1:4-7; 2:1-11,25). He sent this army into Egypt once to encourage Pharaoh to let His people Israel go to Canaan. The results were devastating (Ex 10:3-6,12-19)! They darkened the sun and ate every single green thing! He commands the locusts (II Chron 7:13)! And He created their great use of society!
The wisdom to be learned is the advantage of numbers and unity. Society is better than individuality. Solomon taught, “Two are better than one … and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl 4:9-12). Every person with a decent spouse knows that marriage is certainly better than being single (Gen 2:18; Eccl 9:9). This fact is obvious to wise men, regardless of the modern babbling about the blessings and virtue of the single life.
There are four advantages to human society, or the gathering of individuals into a group (Eccl 4:9-12). First, they can share the rewards of labor and prosperity. Second, when one has difficulties, the others can help him. Third, their different abilities are synergistic and result in greater productivity. And fourth, they can defend against greater enemies.
Loners are losers, for their choice of individualism guarantees their perpetual inferiority. God has chosen human society to maximize human potential. Marriage is a wonderful blessing to a single person; a family is a glorious social unit, and so it is with companies, nations, and churches. Careful regard for the vitality of the group is essential wisdom!
We see the purpose of the local church from locusts. Saints join together into a common society for the greater benefits of the group. By Solomon’s four reasons, they can thrive spiritually, when they use one another. And the apostles taught this fact (Acts 2:42-47; Rom 15:1-7,13-14; I Cor 12:13-27; Gal 6:1-2; Eph 4:16; I Thess 5:14; Heb 3:12-13).
Those who lightly regard God’s divine wisdom and neglect assemblies are selfish men and dangerous to the body. They should be excluded from its communion, for they are counterproductive deadbeats (Heb 10:23-25; II Thess 2:15; 3:6). Every true saint is needed to help maintain the integrity and vitality of the overall body.
We also see the need for a close and unified church. What good is a church divided against itself? It will surely fall, as Jesus taught (Mat 12:25). Division in a family, city, or kingdom will bring certain ruin, so a church must be united (I Cor 1:10). God hates those who sow discord, and they also should be excluded (6:16-19; Mat 18:17; Rom 16:17-18).
Regardless of how you feel about others, you cannot do nearly as much or as well by yourself, as you can with the assistance of others. And you will be a whole lot happier in the exchange, for there is great pleasure in the group dynamics of saints, especially when assisted by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ps 133:1-3). Let God and the locusts be true!
Reader, do you have a locust’s wisdom? Do you understand the value of human society? Are you maximizing your marriage? Promoting your family? Building your church? Enhancing your company? Unifying your nation? Do you know how to modify your individual tendencies to serve the group’s needs? The locust teaches these things, and he does not need a king to force him to do them. He does them by obedience to his Creator!
For Further Study:
- The sermon outline, “What Is a Church?” defines the nature and purpose of a church with the roles for members.
- The sermon outline, “Pillar and Ground of the Truth,” exalts the church’s role in defending the truth of God.
- The sermon outline, “Which Every Joint Supplies,” shows the important role of each member in church growth.
- The sermon outline, “Brotherly Love,” deals with the simple aspect of loving fellow believers in simplicity.
- The sermon outline, “The Purpose of the Church,” considers goals and objectives for churches and members.
- The sermon outline, “Blood Is Thicker than Blood,” shows the tight bond believers have through Christ’s blood.
- The sermon outline, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” refutes the lie that Christians can be reclusive individualists.
- The sermon outline, “The Life of the Church,” considers the true purpose for churches and their members.
- The sermon outline, “The Glory of the Church,” deals with the lofty reality of a New Testament church.
- The sermon outline, “Christian Liberty,” details freedom of church members from manmade rules of conduct.