Delivered From an Army of Locusts by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 17, 1914

Delivered From an Army of Locusts

By W. A. S.

[IN ONE OF HIS REPORTS TO THE EUROPEAN DIVISION, ELDER H. STEINER, OF THE ABYSSINIAN MISSION, IN THE ITALIAN COLONY OF ERITREA, EAST AFRICA, REPORTS AN EXPERIENCE THAT GAVE TO THE WORKERS IN THAT MISSION FIELD A NEW APPRECIATION OF THE PROTECTING CARE OF THE LORD. THIS MISSION HAS DEPENDED LARGELY UPON ITS CULTIVATED FIELDS WHICH HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGINGLY PRODUCTIVE. THEREFORE THE THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE CROP BY AN INVASION OF LOCUSTS WAS A SERIOUS THING. HERE IS THE STORY AS TOLD SOME MONTHS AGO BY ELDER STEINER IN THE European Division Quarterly:—

This year we have been troubled greatly by drought and locusts. A few days ago I saw something I had never before seen—clouds of locusts. Like a snowstorm they settled on the fields for miles around. What a sight it was! I was right in the middle of the cloud, and the insects buzzed loudly. We tried to protect our fields as far as possible. Like a dense cloud they gathered yesterday on our station. A general panic follows when the locusts are sighted. I cried inwardly to the Lord to help us, and he heard my prayer. Soon after, thousands of birds, storks, vultures, etc., gathered on our land. Where they came from we have no idea. We were all impressed with the fact that the Lord had sent them. Even the natives believed this. I called all our men back out of the fields so as not to frighten the birds away. Still the locusts kept coming, but the storks walked up and down in our fields and kept them away, protecting our crops, where we had tried in vain. Birds were to be seen everywhere; I had never seen such flocks before—thousands, everything was white and black with storks. Soon after, the locusts disappeared, without our crops having been spoiled, whereas all around us everything eatable was devoured by the insects. It was a miracle before our eyes. May our faithfulness to God only be increased by this wonderful incident. We thank and praise the Lord for his goodness.

It may be recalled that every winter the storks and wild fowl fly southward from Europe into Africa, these feathered hosts returning northward in the spring. Thus they were on hand in the time of need.

Not for a moment, of course, would the workers have lost confidence in God even if the deliverance had not come. Not always amid these scourges of the last days may we expect our missions to escape reverses on the temporal side. Habakkuk’s

declaration of trust is written with special reference to the destroying agencies of the latter days:—

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Hab. 3: 17-19.

But when the providential hand of the Lord is stretched forth to save and to deliver, it is fitting to recognize the intervening mercies, which are the same today as of old. We read in this a token that the same hand of might will lead the workers on into Abyssinia proper in the good time of his own providence. W. A. S.