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Psalm 78:46a "He also gave their crops to the caterpillar..."

Day 143 – Psalm 78

“He also gave their crops to the caterpillar…” Psalm 78:46a

ANCIENT AGRICULTURE

One of the most important features of the strength of Egypt lay in their agriculture. The deity Serapis was worshipped extensively as an important god who protected the crops. But what could Serapis do against a plague of locusts?

“He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labour to the locust.”
Psalm 78:46

1. The plague of locusts (Exodus 10:1-20 The eighth plague)

a) This would be a devastating plague on a land that depended on its agriculture.

b) At this juncture the servants of Pharaoh warned him that the land of Egypt was being destroyed by the plagues that Moses had brought on the land (Exodus 10:7).

2. “He also gave their crops to the caterpillar”

a) How should we understand this statement?

b) There was no mention of any caterpillar in the Book of Exodus!

3. The text of Joel

a) The prophet Joel was one of the writing prophets of Israel.

b) In his book he mentioned a deadly plague of locusts.

c) Joel may have given us some light concerning “the caterpillar”.

d) In his book he mentioned the following:-

i) The chewing locust

ii) The swarming locust

iii) The crawling locust

iv) The consuming locust

e) The text in Joel 1:4 could also be read as the stages of development of the locust.

f) If so, then the “caterpillar” would be a reference to tiny baby locusts.

g) They would be voracious in their appetite even in the “caterpillar” stage.