Eating Locusts

Leviticus 11:21-22
“Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.”

It might come as a great surprise, but even if you are following Jewish dietary laws, you are allowed to eat locusts.

As these Creation Moments are heard around the world, some of you may be thinking that eating locusts is a perfectly rational, everyday practice.

Most insects were forbidden food under dietary law. In Leviticus 11:20, we read: “All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.” By the way, the term “all fours” does not imply that people in Old Testament times could not count the number of legs on an insect. It is a euphemism for all legs. But in the next verse, God gave the people an exception. “Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind” (Leviticus 11:21-22).

Locusts are highly concentrated in protein and useful fatty acids. I am told that they taste great and are pleasantly crunchy. They can be roasted and lightly salted. Methods of serving them have even included covering in chocolate. And years of swarming locusts could be mitigated by eating our way through the increased numbers. But I don’t think I can bring myself to do that just yet.

Prayer: Thank You for Your bountiful provision to us. You provide all that we need for sustenance and health. Amen.

Author: Paul F. Taylor

Ref: Eating Locusts, < https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21847517 >, accessed 1/25/2020. Image: CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported.

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