Exodus 10:12-20
Locusts without Number
12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind.”
13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
14The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be.
15They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
16Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
18So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.
19And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt.
20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
Berean Standard Bible
The locusts and darkness make resistance costly, while parents are told to remember aloud.
Do not turn the people in the scene into cardboard heroes or villains. Exodus shows fear, courage, impatience, violence, complaint, worship, and mercy close together. We can name what is wrong without pretending that our own household is above the same need for correction.
Ask each person to name one detail that would disappear if the family hurried. Then ask what that detail reveals about God, the people, or the responsibility in front of them.
Carry the reading into the week as a question to live with, not as a slogan to use against someone else. Let the family keep one clear thread from “Locusts without Number” in view during the week, and return to it when circumstances make faith feel less tidy than it sounded at the table.
Questions
1 What is happening in this reading?
AnswerThe locusts and darkness make resistance costly, while parents are told to remember aloud. It invites the family to see what the people fear, choose, and learn as the scene moves rather than reducing the unit to a single inspirational sentence.
2 What should we notice?
AnswerNotice the words, actions, relationships, and limits in the reading. Ask who speaks, who acts, who is vulnerable, and who is accountable. The concrete details around “Locusts without Number” are part of the meaning, not background decoration.
3 What response does it invite?
AnswerIt invites honest attention and responsible trust. The household does not need to copy every action described. It can receive the warning, promise, command, or example that is actually present and ask how faithfulness would look at home.
4 What could a family practice?
AnswerA family could name one promise and one responsibility from the reading, then choose a small act that joins them. Explain why that practice belongs to “Locusts without Number,” rather than treating the reading as a general prompt to be nicer. Keep the response concrete enough to recognize when it has been done.
What This Means for Us
“Locusts without Number” gives the household a clear place to notice fear, courage, complaint, and mercy. The text does not ask us to pretend that the pressure, cost, or unfinished work is absent.
Ask where this reading touches your household's use of power, memory, speech, work, worship, or care for people who depend on you. Keep the question close to home. Do not use Exodus as a quick verdict on another person's faith while avoiding the responsibility it places in front of you.
Choose one truthful response for the week. It may be a prayer, a repair, a shared task, a boundary, an act of welcome, or a remembered promise. Let it be concrete enough that the family can recognize it when it has been done.
Prayer
We pray: Lord, receive the questions and responsibilities we bring today. Make our household a place where truth can be spoken, burdens can be shared, and people with less power are treated with care. Stay with us. Amen.