"Even the Days the Locusts Have Eaten"

Children’s church

Anyone here enjoy bugs!?!?

God made bugs. And he made the special. Often enough, I think the more we think about it… God has done a lot more positive work with bugs than punitive work. Do you know what that word - punitive - means? You may have never heard it!

Punitive means “intending punishment.” (Anyone ever been punished?) What’s that mean? What’s it feel like when you’re punished?

Well, has your mom or dad or one of your grandparents ever told you more than once to do something… and you DIDN’T DO IT!? Do your parents have a “first time obedience rule?” What happened after they asked you so many times?!

For me, my Momma - who’s watching right now! - Used to call on me when I was out of the room. She would ask me to do something like, “Josh! Bring your Tonka Trucks inside before it rains. If I responded but didn’t do what my asked the first time… The next thing I would hear was usually “Joshua! C’mon, Joshua, I already told you once! I’m not going to ask again!” So, I’d say, “Uh OK, OK, Mom! I’ll do it!” But guess what… I was “busy”. I didn’t plan to do it…

Then it got SERIOUS! Ya know how I knew it got SERIOUS?! All of the sudden this sweet, little woman, with red hair and a darling smile became a victim of internal mother rage! It’s usually initiated by continued acts of disobedience. By the third time… my Momma was HOT WITH ANGER! The next thing I heard was “Joshua RYAN!...” And in my room… it’s as if the camera pulled a super fast close up… and I knew it, “Uh OH! NOW I’M IN TROUBLE!”

Ya know what eventually happened to my Tonka Trucks? Eventually, I disobeyed my Momma so many times and left them out in the rain, they rusted! The were covered with weeds! And the very toys that brought me the most joy… ended up causing me the most pain. I couldn’t use them anymore. They were lost!

When mom and dad tell us to do something, we shouldn’t treat the the way Pharaoh treated God and Moses and Aaron. There’s consequences for long-kept disobedience. And sometimes the punishment comes from the very piece that brought pleasure in the first place.

Introduction

The 8th plague of the Exodus… it’s a nightmare for those disgusted by creepy, crawly things. And the locusts are nothing less than a nightmare for Pharaoh and his courtiers. Moses is commanded by God to step into Pharaoh’s presence. He offers Pharaoh the opportunity to release the Israelites lest a plague will strangle the Egyptians of their scant resources following the hailstorm.

God’s intentions are two fold in this second plague of the third cycle. First, He wants to begin a precedence for telling and retelling the story of God’s dealings with Pharaoh. Secondly, He wants to make certain that Moses and the Hebrews also know Yahweh is the LORD.

What a curious spin on the intentions of the plagues. God used each previous wonder to make himself known to Pharaoh and Egypt. Now Israel is included. For some, God’s wonders are pure revelation of himself and his might. For others, God’s wonders are a clear solidification of His existence and supreme power. To the Egyptians, the plagues are awe-striking; to the Hebrews they’re confidence builders.

Let’s open our Bibles or follow along on the screen to look into the Plague of Locusts...

Exodus 10:1–20 ESV

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” 3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’ ” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh. 7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

EXPOSITION: Walk back through the text...

God’s Critical Uniqueness for the 8th Plague - Verses 1-2 - “Remembrance Introduced”

Announcement and Explanation of Plague - verses 3-6 - “How long will you refuse to Humble yourself before me. Let my people go that they may serve me.”

Courtiers persuasive attempt - verse 7 - 1st time the advisors have stepped in and put their neck out to question Pharaoh’s care for Egypt. They make a suggestion.

Moses and Aaron are summoned again/ Pharaoh’s incalcitrant response and partial obedience - verses 8-11 - “The LORD is LORD if you think I’m going to let you go!” “For that is what you are asking.” (??)

The plague unleashed - verses 12-15 - an account from Laura Ingalls Wilder shared with me by Pastor Sean:

Accounts of Plagues of locusts in US and World. The standard of each plague of locust is that people who went through it report the “noise” The march of legs or flying of swarms is so loud every person who has gone through it leaves an account of what the plague of locusts sounds like. Note the Plague of Locusts in 1874. It was estimated there were between 120 billion to 12.5 trillion locusts in the great plains. Trains from East to West were so covered in locust guts that they were derailed by the slick tracks.

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about the Plague of locusts and its impact on her family:

“Charles was gloating over the wheat as the family sat down to dinner one June day. Raising his arms, he showed them how tall it was, “with long beautiful heads and filling nicely.” Just as he pronounced it a “wonderful crop,” they heard someone calling them outside. It was their neighbor Olena Nelson, and she was screaming, “The grasshoppers are coming! The grasshoppers are coming!”

A Kansas woman found denuded pits hanging from her peach tree. She tried to save her garden by covering it with sacks but soon saw it was hopeless: “The hoppers regarded that as a huge joke, and enjoyed the awning . . . or if they could not get under, they ate their way through. The cabbage and lettuce disappeared the first afternoon.” She noticed the “neat way” they had of eating onions from the inside out, leaving the outer shell behind.

They were marching, Wilder wrote, “like an army,” and the family looked around at each other “as though we were just waked from a bad dream.” Grasshopper bodies filled the creek and left fields pocked with holes, “like a honey comb.” The holes were filled with eggs.

The plea for Moses and Aaron/ The Confession of Sin and a glimmer of sincerity - verses 16-17

Moses Intercession/ The Locust Army Leaves - verses 18-19

Pharaoh’s heart is hardened - Verse 20

Conclusion -

The crux of this plague is REMEMBRANCE! The intensity of the language is most strongly felt at the beginning of the passage… not the end! It is at the beginning that God made it clear why He was going to send the plague of locusts in the first place - “that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you (all) may know that I am the LORD.” Remembrance is the defining characteristic of this plague when compared to all the plagues previous. Why? Because we are people who are quick to forget but fashioned to know our Maker through the world He has made.

Earlier this week, in the evenings, Wifey and I watched “The Jesus Movement.” It was very insightful for me. Something that resonated with me was the “why” behind the hippie druggies movement… juxtaposed with the “why” behind the hippie-Jesus movement.

At the time of those movements, both largely sought an answer to the question “What is Truth?” The story of Pastor Chuck Smith, Lonnie Frisbee, and, Gregg Laurie is that they found how Jesus answered that question. The beauty of the story isn’t the sweet marriage that took place between Gregg and Kathy (though that’s WONDERFUL), it’s not the fact that there is reconciliation that takes place between Chuck and Lonnie following Lonnie’s bout with arrogance and Chuck jumping to give someone too much rope too soon… It’s also not about whether or not you or I think the story was told well or if we think one of those main characters is heretical...NO! The story is about how they recognized, told and RE-TOLD The Story of Christ! That story answered the question “What is Truth” and they… REMEMBERED, REHEARSED, AND RETOLD the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection and His purposing power to those without purpose, His Way, TRUTH, and LIFE, for those searching for all three! They told the story again. And Again. And AGAIN!

Look where we are in this very moment. Here at the communion table. I want you to make note; keep this in mind; prepare your heart and mind -- remember what I’m saying.

When Jesus spends his last night with his disciples… what was he doing???

HE WAS RE-TELLING THE STORY OF THE EXODUS! He was reminding them of God’s faithfulness to release his people from the oppression of tyrant; he was re-instilling in them the miraculous work of God in Egypt to redeem Israel so that He could point them to ultimate redemption found in Him! He was completing the grand work of God that was set out for him from the moment God said, “Let there be light!”

Just as when the plague of locusts descended upon Pharaoh and darkened his vision, squelched his hope, and choked tight his last breath of Egypts salvation… when the plague of the locusts declared “Whatever salvation you thought was in your grasp in the residual crops and fruits… it’s been gobbled up.” So our sins can choke, starve, and deprive us of any hope of salvation. The question layed before Pharaoh was, “Do you know Him?! Yahweh!” As Pastor Mike would often say of our relationship to Christ, “Do you know HIM?!”

It’s, again, my assumption that if you have come today, you are not searching for truth among the Word of God, rather your hungering for nourishment from the Word of God.

Therefore, as we come to the communion table, keep this in mind, our God ruled the heavens and the earth before He uttered their existence. In the Exodus, He shed mercy on Israel that they might find affirmation in the Almighty Yahweh’s outstretched arm to deliver; Egypt was shown mercy… because each plague was a vivid revelation of Yahweh’s magnificence, untouchable power, and unavoidable presence. And you and I were given the foundations for the completed work of deliverance and salvation found only in the person of Jesus Christ!

SO GO TELL THAT STORY!

PARENTS - YOU AND I MUST TELL AND RETELL THE STORY! IT WAS COMMANDED OF MOSES. IT’S BEEN COMMANDED BY OUR SAVIOR. WILL WE LET A LOVE OF THE GOOD THINGS IN THIS TEMPORARY KINGDOM OF LIFE CHOKE OUT THE SALVATION AVAILABLE FOR THE ETERNAL KINGDOM WITH CHRIST AND LIFE TO COME?

If today you find yourself thinking, Pastor Josh, you and Sean get to study God’s Word as a part of your work and ministry. Where in this world among the business and demands of my work, my family, and each person’s commitments in my family will I ever find the time to tell and retell this story… I’m ‘out of time!’

Listen to me, spiritually… listen to me practically… God doesn’t give us an option of telling and retelling! It’s a command! Look at the text of 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Remember this moment, says Jesus. Remember the sacrifice that I have made for you. And, by remembering my sacrifice, you will no longer remember the insufficient sacrifices of the old covenant. Behold, I make all things new! And even the days the locusts have eaten will grow fresh, virulent, and powerful stories to lead generations after you until the LORD returns.

Include this…???

Pharaoh was saddened for a moment. Moses pleaded for God’s intervention. But after the locusts were driven to the Red Sea, God hardened Pharaoh’s hard heart... further. The darkness cast by the swarms of locust foreshadow a deeper darkness yet to come.

Chris Rice lyrics to “Tell me the Story Again”??