Locusts & Robbers

1. Synopsis

• Moses is instructed by God to go to Pharaoh and deliver a message: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” God forewarns Pharaoh that if he refuses to release the Israelites, a swarm of locusts will cover the land, devouring every green thing left by the previous plagues.
•  Despite this warning, Pharaoh’s officials advise him to let the Israelites go. However, Pharaoh remains resistant to God’s demand.
• The locust plague is unleashed upon Egypt, and the land is covered with a vast swarm of locusts.
• They consume all the vegetation, leaving the fields bare. The devastation is so severe that it prompts Pharaoh to summon Moses and Aaron in haste.
• He admits his sin and asks for forgiveness, pledging to let the Israelites go. Moses intercedes, and God removes the locusts from the land. However, Pharaoh’s heart remains hardened, and he does not keep his promise to release the Israelites.

2. The plague

• This plague is locusts- the 8th plague of the ten. 
• In the Bible, locusts are often used as symbols of judgment, destruction, and divine punishment. 
• They are instruments of God’s wrath. The pharoah is not letting the people go, so God sends the locusts to eat whatever is left that wasn’t destroyed by hail. God is punishing Pharaoh. 
• Joel’s prophecy in Joel 1:2-4 locusts are described as a symbol of divine judgment. The prophet Joel uses a locust invasion as a metaphor for an impending invasion of a foreign army, emphasizing the devastation and desolation that will result from turning away from God.
• Rev9:1-3 locusts are part of the judgments during the end times. described with frightening imagery, and their appearance is linked to a period of tribulation and divine intervention.
• Locusts are not only literal insects causing physical harm but also symbolic representations of God’s power, justice, and the consequences of disobedience. 
• They signify a form of divine retribution and serve as a means by which God enforces His will or punishes those who have strayed from His commands. 
• The destructive nature of locusts serves as a vivid illustration of the severity of divine judgment.

3. The false God

• Seth- Egyptian God of Storms and Disorder-Egyptian Plague– Locusts sent from the sky

• Set was a vile God. Took advantage sexually of other gods, men and women
• Became personification of Evil. Still worshipped even though seen as evil to the Egyptians
• Catch this- The Egyptians were worshipping a god of storms and disorder who was seen as evil
• Set took sexually from other Gods that were not his to take
• Set was a thieving god who was worshipped in spite of his evil nature and actions. 
• This will come up- Set took what was not his. He took sexually and destroyed land.

4. The idea of property

• Before we fully explain the 8th commandment of thou shalt not steal, I want to explain to you this idea of personal property and the right to own something that belongs to you. 
• This idea is a very important idea to understand when it comes to what you possess, give, and think of what you are entitled to from another persons possessions that are not yours.  
• Understanding biblical personal property ideals should infiltrate what you believe about life.
• Lets back up for a minute here, The reason why we are connecting the ten commandments to the ten plagues is because that what God did and does. We covered the instances of 10. 
• The ten commandments were the first commandments given to the nation of Israel. 
• needed to be given very clearly, with very clear consequences or they would never obey. 
• You cannot have a concept of God without a concept of consequence. If there are no consequence there are no rules. There must be another side, or it is not a rule. 
• Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible, but the ten commandments were given in History BEFORE the Pent. Was written. Moses, by design, uses the 10 commandments as the backdrop to the stories that are shared within the first 5 books to show and support what God originally spoke to Israel- the ten clearly defined timeless commandments they must follow
• God never changes and has not changed. He is the same God of Genesis, Matthew and Rev. 
• God had these commands from the beginning, even in the garden of eden. 
• These stories show us what happens when we break the commandments of God. 

• Ge2:15-17
• From the beginning, God gave property to man. This is yours. Keep it. He put the desire for ownership into Adam. It was God’s design that we would own things. And CONSEQUENCE
• Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
• He gives him dominion over the whole earth but says- there’s one part that is not yours
• He showed man- everything does not belong to you- You don’t get this one. It’s mine
• Do not steal from me. Do not take what is not yours. I give you all but what is mine. 
• Some people never get this- Milano cookies when I was a kid. Big no-no. Sodas. NO
• The idea is somethings do not belong to you. They belong to someone else. 
• THIS- This is a very important distinction. Many people cannot fathom this basic biblical truth that somethings do not belong to you. You are not entitled to someone elses possessions. 
• Tree- not yours. Don’t steal. The garden is property it has boundaries and it has rules. 
• Adam is supposed to guard the garden, and possess Property. An item that is HIS. 
• Think about the story we’re int. Moses goes to Pharoah and says you can’t own these people they are God’s property, I am taking them to the “promised land” where they will have property. 
• These are 3 important distinctions you must understand before moving forward
• There are things that belong to you. They are yours. There are things that belong to others, they are theirs. There are things that belong to God and they are his.