Small but Mighty – Lessons from the Locust

The Exodus after the locusts

Proverbs says four things on the earth are small, but are exceedingly wise. The locust is listed in those four. Proverbs says locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks.

When Pharoah refused to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt, God sent plagues, ten of them, in fact. The eighth plague was locusts.

When Pharoah refused to let the Israelites go for the seventh time, God sent locusts.

Exodus tells us this about those locusts:

By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

facts about the locust

Locusts are insects closely related to a grasshopper. They are revered and feared, for they swarm across regions. They devour crops and destroy farmland. Swarms are nearly impossible to wipe out once they form, thus the fear people have had of locus swarms, ever since Bible times.

While locusts are a subset of grasshoppers, they fly further than grasshoppers can fly. Locusts also swarm, which grasshoppers do not do.

Although small in size, they are mighty in number which makes them wise. Left by itself, one locust cannot do much. 

Locusts do not attack humans or animals; however, compounded with hundreds of other locusts, they can destroy acres of fields and forests quickly. Their diligent work can soon result in billions of dollars of loss and  deadly food shortages. 

Wisdom from the locusts

Left to himself, a man becomes an island. The locust does not live as an island. Instead, this small creature lives in community. It knows the power of teamwork. The locust understands the strength of unity. That is how the locust functions. He’s never a lone-ranger. He always moves with a group of locusts. This adds stability, vision, teamwork, and unity.

Discord and competition are not the nature of the locust. Together they can cover forests and crops. Though locusts have no king, together, they march in formation and take over the land.

From the locust, we learn that there is strength in numbers. There is might in unity, and there is power in teamwork.

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