The Prophecy of Joel and the Superman-Type Grasshopper
Contents:
1. Locusts as Symbols in the Prophecy of Joel.
2. What are Locusts?
3. Quotations of Interest.
4. The Bible and Locusts.
5. Locusts as One of the Ten Plagues.
6. Joel Describes the Locusts as an Overwhelming Horde of Invading Alien Troops!
7. Are Locusts Kosher?
1. Locusts as Symbols in the Prophecy of Joel.
The Book of Joel open with a descrition of a Plague of Locusts. In continuation it transpires that this was an actual historical event of importance. Joel uses what happened, and which he evidently was an eye-witness to, as a padardigm to an actual foreign invasion that will take place in the future. Joel describes the Locust Plague as if it was the overrunning of the Land by a great mass of foreign troops. He follows this up by intimating that the Locust Plague actually does resemble the occupation and destruction of the Land by vast numbers of organized alien humans.
2. What are Locusts?
Locusts are a certain type of grasshopper that have undergone changes. Grasshoppers are typically ground-dwelling insects with powerful hind legs which allow them to escape from threats by leaping vigorously.
On the whole they live and die as they are, but sometimes they can change.
A long drought followed by a wet period may cause certain species of short-horned grasshoppers to become locusts. Grasshoppers usually keep a distance from each other but as locusts they crowd together, bunch up, and are stimulated by each other. Their brains and bodies change. They become larger, and of a different color. They eat more and breed faster, while accumulating into swarms. After that, "They start to march together in coordinated formations across the landscape."
3. Quotations of Interest.
Wikipedia (entry Grasshopper) tells us:
The largest recorded locust swarm was one formed by the now-extinct Rocky Mountain locust in 1875; the swarm was 1,800 miles (2,900 km) long and 110 miles (180 km) wide, and one estimate puts the number of locusts involved at 3.5 trillion. An adult desert locust can eat about 2 g (0.1 oz) of plant material each day, so the billions of insects in a large swarm can be very destructive, stripping all the foliage from plants in an affected area and consuming stems, flowers, fruits, seeds and bark.
1915 Ottoman Syria locust infestation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_Ottoman_Syria_locust_infestation
From March to October 1915, swarms of locusts stripped areas in and around Palestine, Mount Lebanon and Syria of almost all vegetation. This infestation seriously compromised the already-depleted food supply of the region and sharpened the misery of all Jerusalemites.
The Great Famine of Mount Lebanon (1915-1918) was a period of mass starvation during World War I. The Allies' blockade was made worse by another introduced by Djemal Pasha, the commander of the Fourth Army of the Ottoman Empire in Syria region, where crops were barred from entering from the neighboring Syrian hinterland to Mount Lebanon, and by the locusts infestation in 1915. The famine was caused by a convergence of political and environmental factors that lead to the death of half of the population of Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, a semi-autonomous subdivision of the Ottoman Empire and the precursor of modern-day Lebanon.
Locusts Are A Plague Of Biblical Scope In 2020. Why? And ... What Are They Exactly?
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/14/876002404/locusts-are-a-plague-of-biblical-scope-in-2020-why-and-what-are-they-exactly
In 1988, swarms originating in North Africa crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made it successfully to the Caribbean and South America. Even today, they routinely traverse the Red Sea a distance of 186 miles.
The Biblical locust plagues of 2020
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200806-the-biblical-east-african-locust-plagues-of-2020
In 2020, locusts have swarmed in large numbers in dozens of countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia. When swarms affect several countries at once in very large numbers, it is known as a plague.
4. The Bible and Locusts.
The Hebrew name for "Locusts" is "Arbeh." This name may derived from the Hebrew word root "RBH - rabeh" connoting "increase and multiply."
Two Major Locust Plages are described in Scripture. The first is a Locust Plague that was part of the 10 Plagues visited upon Egypt. This was of one unspecified type known simply as "Arbeh" which is the name for Locusts. The other plague was that in the time of Joel which was comprised of 4 different types of locust, one coming after the other and each one devouring what the other had left.
5. Locusts as One of the Ten Plagues.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the forefathers of the Hebrews. The name of Jacob was changed to Israel. Israel begat 12 sons who became the forefathers of the 12 Tribes.
Jacob and his sons and grandsons came down to Egypt to settle there. One of the sons, Joseph, was then in charge of the administration of Egypt and its food supply. Thanks to Joseph Egypt and a portion of the rest of the world had been saved from starvation thanks to Joseph.
In Egypt the Hebrews increased greatly. Pharoah, a new king of Epypt decided to diminish their numbers.
The Book of Exodus tells us how the Egyptians under Pharaoh was oppressing the Hebrews.
The Almighty sent Moses to deliver them. Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptians before they agreed to let the Israelites go.
The 10 Plagues of Egypt were: 1. water turning to blood, 2. frogs, 3. lice, 4. flies, 5. livestock pestilence, 6. boils, 7. hail, 8. locusts, 9. darkness, and 10. the killing of firstborn children.
The 8th plagues was that of the Locusts.
Exodus 10:
1 THEN THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, GO TO PHARAOH, FOR I HAVE HARDENED HIS HEART AND THE HEART OF HIS SERVANTS, SO THAT I MAY PERFORM THESE SIGNS OF MINE AMONG THEM, 2 AND THAT YOU MAY TELL IN THE PRESENCE OF YOUR SON, AND OF YOUR GRANDSON, HOW I MADE A MOCKERY OF THE EGYPTIANS AND HOW I PERFORMED MY SIGNS AMONG THEM, SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.
3 SO MOSES AND AARON WENT TO PHARAOH AND SAID TO HIM, THIS IS WHAT THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS SAYS: HOW LONG WILL YOU REFUSE TO HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE ME? LET MY PEOPLE GO, SO THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME. 4 FOR IF YOU REFUSE TO LET MY PEOPLE GO, BEHOLD, TOMORROW I WILL BRING LOCUSTS INTO YOUR TERRITORY. 5 AND THEY WILL COVER THE SURFACE OF THE LAND, SO THAT NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE LAND. THEY WILL ALSO EAT THE REST OF WHAT HAS SURVIVEDWHAT IS LEFT TO YOU FROM THE HAIL AND THEY WILL EAT EVERY TREE OF YOURS WHICH GROWS IN THE FIELD. 6 THEN YOUR HOUSES WILL BE FILLED WITH THEM, TOGETHER WITH THE HOUSES OF ALL YOUR SERVANTS AND THE HOUSES OF ALL THE EGYPTIANS, SOMETHING WHICH NEITHER YOUR FATHERS NOR YOUR GRANDFATHERS HAVE SEEN, FROM THE DAY THAT THEY CAME UPON THE EARTH UNTIL THIS DAY. AND HE TURNED AND LEFT PHARAOH. 7 THEN PHARAOHS SERVANTS SAID TO HIM, HOW LONG SHALL THIS MAN BE A SNARE TO US? LET THE PEOPLE GO, SO THAT THEY MAY SERVE THE LORD THEIR GOD. DO YOU NOT YET REALIZE THAT EGYPT IS DESTROYED? 8 SO MOSES AND AARON WERE BROUGHT BACK TO PHARAOH, AND HE SAID TO THEM, GO, SERVE THE LORD YOUR GOD! WHO SPECIFICALLY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE GOING? 9 MOSES SAID, WE SHALL GO WITH OUR YOUNG AND OUR OLD; WITH OUR SONS AND OUR DAUGHTERS, WITH OUR FLOCKS AND OUR HERDS WE SHALL GO, FOR WE MUST HOLD A FEAST TO THE LORD. 10 THEN HE SAID TO THEM, SO MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU, WHEN I LET YOU AND YOUR LITTLE ONES GO! WATCH OUT, FOR EVIL IS ON YOUR MIND! 11 NOT SO! GO NOW, BUT ONLY THE MEN AMONG YOU, AND SERVE THE LORD, SINCE THAT IS WHAT YOU DESIRE. SO THEY WERE DRIVEN OUT FROM PHARAOHS PRESENCE.
12 THEN THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, REACH OUT WITH YOUR HAND OVER THE LAND OF EGYPT FOR THE LOCUSTS, SO THAT THEY MAY COME UP ON THE LAND OF EGYPT AND EAT EVERY PLANT OF THE LAND, EVERYTHING THAT THE HAIL HAS LEFT. 13 SO MOSES REACHED OUT WITH HIS STAFF OVER THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND THE LORD DIRECTED AN EAST WIND ON THE LAND ALL THAT DAY AND ALL THAT NIGHT; AND WHEN IT WAS MORNING, THE EAST WIND BROUGHT THE LOCUSTS. 14 THE LOCUSTS CAME UP OVER ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT AND SETTLED IN ALL THE TERRITORY OF EGYPT; THEY WERE VERY NUMEROUS. THERE HAD NEVER BEEN SO MANY LOCUSTS, NOR WOULD THERE BE SO MANY AGAIN. 15 FOR THEY COVERED THE SURFACE OF THE WHOLE LAND, SO THAT THE LAND WAS DARKENED; AND THEY ATE EVERY PLANT OF THE LAND AND ALL THE FRUIT OF THE TREES THAT THE HAIL HAD LEFT. THEREFORE NOTHING GREEN WAS LEFT ON TREE OR PLANT OF THE FIELD THROUGHOUT THE LAND OF EGYPT. 16 THEN PHARAOH HURRIEDLY CALLED FOR MOSES AND AARON, AND HE SAID, I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD YOUR GOD AND AGAINST YOU. 17 SO NOW, PLEASE FORGIVE MY SIN ONLY THIS ONCE, AND PLEAD WITH THE LORD YOUR GOD, THAT HE WOULD ONLY REMOVE THIS DEATH FROM ME. 18 THEN HE LEFT PHARAOH AND PLEADED WITH THE LORD. 19 SO THE LORD SHIFTED THE WIND TO A VERY STRONG WEST WIND, WHICH PICKED UP THE LOCUSTS AND DROVE THEM INTO THE RED SEA; NOT ONE LOCUST WAS LEFT IN ALL THE TERRITORY OF EGYPT. 20 BUT THE LORD HARDENED PHARAOHS HEART, AND HE DID NOT LET THE SONS OF ISRAEL GO.
cf.
10:14 "THEY WERE VERY NUMEROUS. THERE HAD NEVER BEEN SO MANY LOCUSTS, NOR WOULD THERE BE SO MANY AGAIN."
RASHI (see RABBIS QUOTED) Comments:
# What about the plague of locusts in the time of Joel, where it says, Joel 2:2 THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT, NOR WILL THERE BE AGAIN AFTER IT ...?
# This teaches us that the Plague of Locusts in the time of Joel was more onerous than that of Moses. That of Joel was comprised of several different types numbering four altogether (Joel 1:4), the common locust, the swarming locust, the creeping locust, the stripping locust. The Locust Plague in the time of Moses was all of one type, and like that there will not be another. #
6. Joel Describes the Locusts as an Overwhelming Horde of Invading Alient Troops!
Joel (NASB) 1:
4 WHAT THE GNAWING LOCUST HAS LEFT, THE SWARMING LOCUST HAS EATEN;
AND WHAT THE SWARMING LOCUST HAS LEFT, THE CREEPING LOCUST HAS EATEN;
AND WHAT THE CREEPING LOCUST HAS LEFT, THE STRIPPING LOCUST HAS EATEN.
The Locusts are described like an invading army, a vast horde of disciplined soldiers, moving in one body and destroying every thing before them. The different types invaded one after the other.
Joel (NASB) 1:
6 FOR A NATION HAS INVADED MY LAND,
MIGHTY AND WITHOUT NUMBER;
ITS TEETH ARE THE TEETH OF A LION,
AND IT HAS THE JAWS OF A LIONESS.
7 IT HAS MADE MY VINE A WASTE
AND MY FIG TREE A STUMP.
IT HAS STRIPPED THEM BARE AND HURLED THEM AWAY;
THEIR BRANCHES HAVE BECOME WHITE.
Joel (NASB) 2:
2 A DAY OF DARKNESS AND GLOOM,
A DAY OF CLOUDS AND THICK DARKNESS.
AS DAWN IS SPREAD OVER THE MOUNTAINS,
SO THERE IS A GREAT AND MIGHTY PEOPLE;
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT,
NOR WILL THERE BE AGAIN AFTER IT
TO THE YEARS OF MANY GENERATIONS.
3 A FIRE CONSUMES BEFORE THEM,
AND BEHIND THEM A FLAME DEVOURS.
THE LAND IS LIKE THE GARDEN OF EDEN BEFORE THEM,
BUT A DESOLATE WILDERNESS BEHIND THEM,
AND NOTHING AT ALL ESCAPES THEM.
4 THEIR APPEARANCE IS LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF HORSES;
AND LIKE WAR HORSES, SO THEY RUN.
5 WITH A NOISE AS OF CHARIOTS
THEY LEAP ABOUT ON THE TOPS OF THE MOUNTAINS,
LIKE THE CRACKLING OF A FLAME OF FIRE CONSUMING THE STUBBLE,
LIKE A MIGHTY PEOPLE DRAWN UP FOR BATTLE.
6 BEFORE THEM THE PEOPLE ARE IN ANGUISH.
7. Are Locusts Kosher?
Certain types of grasshopper or locusts are permitted as food by the Torah.
Leviticus (NASB) 11:
20 ALL THE WINGED INSECTS THAT WALK ON ALL FOURS ARE DETESTABLE TO YOU. 21 YET THESE YOU MAY EAT AMONG ALL THE WINGED INSECTS THAT WALK ON ALL FOURS: THOSE WHICH HAVE JOINTED LEGS ABOVE THEIR FEET WITH WHICH TO JUMP ON THE EARTH. 22 THESE OF THEM YOU MAY EAT: THE LOCUST IN ITS KINDS, THE DEVASTATING LOCUST IN ITS KINDS, THE CRICKET IN ITS KINDS, AND THE GRASSHOPPER IN ITS KINDS. 23 BUT ALL OTHER WINGED INSECTS WHICH ARE FOUR-FOOTED ARE DETESTABLE TO YOU.
The Talmud (Chulin 53b) says, there are 800 non-kosher species of grasshoppers and locusts, only eight of which are kosher. Traditionally, as well as having certain physical characteristics an ongoing tradition of have treated the creature in question as edible was also needed.
In the past specific locusts were eaten by Jews in North Africa (e.g. Morocco, Tunisia) and in Yemen.
These included the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) which is the most common type in those regions.
The locusts would be either boiled and then roasted or simply roasted. Only select parts were eaten and the rest discarded.
Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (1696-1743, commonly known as "Or Hachaim") in Morocco banned the eating of locusts. Most Jews of that region followed him in this.
In Yemen locusts were eaten by the local Jews until the early 1900s. Nowadays it is unlikely that any Religious Jews would eat them but you never know.
A few years ago there was an organization in Israel that tried to revive the eating of all Kosher Animals the consumption of which had fallen into abeyance. They would hold annual festive well-publicized meals. As I remember grasshoppers and locusts were on the Menu.
See Also:
Why Are Grasshoppers (Locusts) Kosher for Some Jews?
by Yehuda Shurpin
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4624319/jewish/Why-Are-Grasshoppers-Locusts-Kosher-for-Some-Jews.htm
Continued at "Locusts and Science."