Heading to Uganda for the summer to serve at Called Christians and people are sharing stories and advice about serving there. I have heard repeatedly about locusts, those little grasshopper like insects. God used locusts in the 8th plague, see the book of Exodus in the Bible chapter 10 if you have not read about this. Also locusts are mentioned in the book of Joel.
God used locusts to attack the health of the people when Pharaoh would not release the Israelites. Each plague used demonstrated how an Egyptian god was false. It seems the locusts were debunking the Egyptian god “Set” or “Suetekh” who oversaw war, storms, chaos, and disorder. The swarm of locusts swept through the land eating everything, leaving nothing for people to eat.
You can also find locusts in the book of Joel. Joel gives a warning to the people of Judah. The book opens with the author describing an attacking storm of locusts. Some say this is a metaphor for a destroying army that is to come, but others say it is a picture of what sin does in your life. The visual is quite disturbing. Rounds of locusts eating everything in sight even stripping trees down three layers to the white. Locusts represent devastation, repeated pummeling until there is nothing left.
I also watched some videos. There are recent newscasts from Africa talking about the locusts. Here is an example:
There are other videos you could watch, too, if you are interested. I found a short video showing Ugandan police officers spraying the locusts and there was footage of yellow locusts. So I wondered what they actually look like.
I was amazed they could grow up to 2.75 inches (70mm). A baseball is 2.75 inches in diameter. Then I think about a wall of them coming at me. Yikes. Locusts.
