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Locust There are ten Hebrew words used in Scripture to signify locust. In the New Testament locusts are mentioned as forming part of the food of John the Baptist (Mat 3:4; Mar 1:6). By the Mosaic law they were reckoned "clean," so that he could lawfully eat them. The name also occurs in Rev 9:3, Rev 9:7, in allusion to this Oriental devastating insect. Locusts belong to the class of Orthoptera, i.e., straight-winged. They are of many species. The ordinary Syrian locust resembles the grasshopper, but is larger and more destructive. "The legs and thighs of these insects are so powerful that they can leap to a height of two hundred times the length of their bodies. When so raised they spread their wings and fly so close together as to appear like one compact moving mass." Locusts are prepared as food in various ways. Sometimes they are pounded, and then mixed with flour and water, and baked into cakes; "sometimes boiled, roasted, or stewed in butter, and then eaten." They were eaten in a preserved state by the ancient Assyrians. The devastations they make in Eastern lands are often very appalling. The invasions of locusts are the heaviest calamities that can befall a country. "Their numbers exceed computation: the hebrews called them 'the countless,' and the Arabs knew them as 'the darkeners of the sun.' Unable to guide their own flight, though capable of crossing large spaces, they are at the mercy of the wind, which bears them as blind instruments of Providence to the doomed region given over to them for the time. Innumerable as the drops of water or the sands of the seashore, their flight obscures the sun and casts a thick shadow on the earth (Exo 10:15; Jdg 6:5; Jdg 7:12; Jer 46:23; Joe 2:10). It seems indeed as if a great aerial mountain, many miles in breadth, were advancing with a slow, unresting progress. Woe to the countries beneath them if the wind fall and let them alight! They descend unnumbered as flakes of snow and hide the ground. It may be 'like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them is a desolate wilderness. At their approach the people are in anguish; all faces lose their colour' (Joe 2:6). No walls can stop them; no ditches arrest them; fires kindled in their path are forthwith extinguished by the myriads of their dead, and the countless armies march on (Joe 2:8, Joe 2:9). If a door or a window be open, they enter and destroy everything of wood in the house. Every terrace, court, and inner chamber is filled with them in a moment. Such an awful visitation swept over Egypt (Ex. 10:1-19), consuming before it every green thing, and stripping the trees, till the land was bared of all signs of vegetation. A strong north-west wind from the Mediterranean swept the locusts into the Red Sea." - Geikie's Hours, etc., ii., 149.

Lo-debar No pasture, (Sa2 17:27), a town in Gilead not far from Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok (Sa2 9:4, Sa2 9:5). It is probably identical with Debir (Jos 13:26).

Lodge A shed for a watchman in a garden (Isa 1:8). The Hebrew name melunah is rendered "cottage" (q.v.) in Isa 24:20. It also denotes a hammock or hanging-bed.

Log The smallest measure for liquids used by the Hebrews (Lev 14:10, Lev 14:12, Lev 14:15, Lev 14:21, Lev 14:24), called in the Vulgate sextarius. It is the Hebrew unit of measure of capacity, and is equal to the contents of six ordinary hen's eggs = the twelfth part of a him, or nearly a pint.

Lois The maternal grandmother of Timothy. She is commended by Paul for her faith (Ti2 1:5).

Loop A knotted "eye" of cord, corresponding to the "taches" or knobs in the edges of the curtains of the tabernacle, for joining them into a continuous circuit, fifty to a curtain (Exo 26:4, Exo 26:5, Exo 26:10, Exo 26:11).

Lord There are various Hebrew and Greek words so rendered. (1.) Heb. Jehovah , has been rendered in the English Bible Lord, printed in small capitals. This is the proper name of the God of the Hebrews. The form "Jehovah" is retained only in Exo 6:3; Psa 83:18; Isa 12:2; Isa 26:4, both in the Authorized and the Revised Version. (2.) Heb. 'adon , means one possessed of absolute control. It denotes a master, as of slaves (Gen 24:14, Gen 24:27), or a ruler of his subjects (Gen 45:8), or a husband, as lord of his wife (Gen 18:12).The old plural form of this Hebrew word is 'adonai . From a superstitious reverence for the name "Jehovah," the Jews, in reading their Scriptures, whenever that name occurred, always pronounced it 'Adonai . (3.) Greek kurios , a supreme master, etc. In the LXX. this is invariably used for "Jehovah" and " 'Adonai ." (4.) Heb. ba'al , a master, as having domination. This word is applied to human relations, as that of husband, to persons skilled in some art or profession, and to heathen deities. "The men of Shechem," literally "the baals of Shechem" (Jdg 9:2, Jdg 9:3). These were the Israelite inhabitants who had reduced the Canaanites to a condition of vassalage (Jos 16:10; Jos 17:13). (5.) Heb. seren , applied exclusively to the "lords of the Philistines" (Jdg 3:3). The LXX. render it by satrapies. At this period the Philistines were not, as at a later period (Sa1 21:10), under a kingly government. (See Jos 13:3; Sa1 6:18.) There were five such lordships, viz., Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron.

Lord's Day Only once, in Rev 1:10, was in the early Christian ages used to denote the first day of the week, which commemorated the Lord's resurrection. There is every reason to conclude that John thus used the name. (See SABBATH.)

Lord's Prayer The name given to the only form of prayer Christ taught his disciples (Mat 6:9). The closing doxology of the prayer is omitted by Luke (Luk 11:2), also in the R.V. of Mat 6:13. This prayer contains no allusion to the atonement of Christ, nor to the offices of the Holy Spirit. "All Christian prayer is based on the Lord's Prayer, but its spirit is also guided by that of His prayer in Gethsemane and of the prayer recorded John 17. The Lord's Prayer is the comprehensive type of the simplest and most universal prayer."

Lord's Supper (Co1 11:20), called also "the Lord's table" (Co1 10:21), "communion," "cup of blessing" (Co1 10:16), and "breaking of bread" (Act 2:42). In the early Church it was called also "Eucharist," or giving of thanks (Compare Mat 26:27), and generally by the Latin Church "mass," a name derived from the formula of dismission, Ite, missa est, i.e., "Go, it is discharged." The account of the institution of this ordinance is given in Mat 26:26, Mar 14:22, Luk 22:19, Luk 22:20, and Co1 11:24. It is not mentioned by John. It was designed, (1.) To commemorate the death of Christ: "This do in remembrance of me." (2.) To signify, seal, and apply to believers all the benefits of the new covenant. In this ordinance Christ ratifies his promises to his people, and they on their part solemnly consecrate themselves to him and to his entire service. (3.) To be a badge of the Christian profession. (4.) To indicate and to promote the communion of believers with Christ. (5.) To represent the mutual communion of believers with each other. The elements used to represent Christ's body and blood are bread and wine. The kind of bread, whether leavened or unleavened, is not specified. Christ used unleavened bread simply because it was at that moment on the paschal table. Wine, and no other liquid, is to be used (Mat 26:26). Believers "feed" on Christ's body and blood, (1.) not with the mouth in any manner, but (2.) by the soul alone, and (3.) by faith, which is the mouth or hand of the soul. This they do (4.) by the power of the Holy Ghost. This "feeding" on Christ, however, takes place not in the Lord's Supper alone, but whenever faith in him is exercised. This is a permanent ordinance in the Church of Christ, and is to be observed "till he come" again.