What does Judges 6:5 mean?
Over the course of seven years, Israel developed a tragic, traumatic harvest tradition (Judges 6:1–4). About the time the crops would be ready, invading Midianites would come from the east. They would forcibly take whatever food, livestock, and other goods were to be found. This was the material Israel was depending on to survive through another season. This verse compares the invaders to locusts descending on the crops and devouring them. In the same way as swarming insects, enemy forces would descend on fields and leave them bare.The size of the forces that arrived made the Midianites and their allies irresistible. The number of camels they brought to ride and carry their gear could not even be counted. They would cover the open land with their endless tents full of fighters and harvesters and simply take what they wanted, leaving nothing behind for the hungry people of Israel. The land was laid waste wherever their path took them.