THE COMPLEX BIRD IN BLACK
BY:
ELISABETH C. TUNSTALL
INTRODUCTION
Ravens do not have the best reputation to say the least. In many cultures they are considered a bad omen that predicts illness or even death. This is often attributed to their black appearance, croaking sound and perhaps their diet that includes decaying flesh! However, this is the world’s ideology.
RAVEN FACTS
The raven is quiet a complex and interesting creature. They are found in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and can live in diverse environments ranging from urban areas and forests to high deserts and tundra. Ravens are considered the largest allblack bird in the world, weighing up to 4 lbs with a wingspan that can reach up to 4.9 feet.
RAVEN FACTS
It is also the largest species of songbird, with research revealing up to 116 vocalizations. However, the most common sound you may hear is a croak that may rise in pitch.
RAVEN FACTS
They are omnivorous and will feed on everything from small mammals to nesting birds, eggs and berries. They will also eat carrion, scavenge from other predators and even from human landfills.
INTELLIGENT BIRDS
Ravens are considered to be highly intelligent. They are considered to be one of the smartest of birds in fact. They can mimic other animals, humans and manmade sounds like a toilet flushing or a car starting. Ravens use their beaks much like hands to show and offer items such as stones or twigs. Perhaps one of the most impressive facts about ravens is that they have what is called “episodic memory” much like humans. This means they can remember human faces and other characteristics, particularly in association with an emotion or event.
ACROBATS OF THE SKY
Ravens are acrobatic fliers, known for their rolls and somersaults in the sky. It is even said that a raven flew upside down for more than half a mile in the air.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
What does the Bible say about the raven? Let us review….
The raven is used to describe Christ’s hair. “His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven,” (Songs of Solomon 5: 11).
Hair as you know covers your head, which encloses the mind. With the raven being so intelligent, it is indicative of Christ’s omnipotent wisdom.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
Genesis 8: 6-12
After the flood, Noah sent a raven out to survey the earth.
The raven did not come back but instead “went to and fro” until the waters of the earth dried.
The raven was sent BEFORE the dove. We know that the dove represents the Holy Spirit. This led me to think of the time of the apostles and the first coming of Christ.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
Jesus, like a raven, was sent to the apostles FIRST and taught them the gospel. Then after His death and resurrection there was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, like the dove, that followed.
John 16: 7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
IN THE SCRIPTURES
There is one biblical lesson I would like to draw your attention to and that is the story of Elijah.
Lets read in I Kings 1: 1-6.
As we can see, Elijah prophesied of a drought that would occur in
Israel during the reign of King
Ahab, a very infamous and wicked king.
The Lord commanded Elijah to hide himself by the brook of Cherith before or east of Jordan.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
The Lord further told Elijah that ravens would come and feed him bread and meat day and night and that he was to drink water from the brook.
What I found interesting is that the birds gave him food both DAY and NIGHT. He didn’t seem to have a surplus but just enough to eat for the day and for the evening.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
Just as Elijah was living through a physical drought, we are living through a spiritual drought.
The truth is scarce and almost completely hidden in this world with the exception of a tiny few that our privy to HIS word.
Amos 8: 11, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”
IN THE SCRIPTURES
For those that have the word of God, we have just enough to sustain and nourish us during these perilous times. This spiritual food heals us, beginning on the inside, repairing our hearts, minds and souls.
Only when we are healed on the inside, can we be healed on the outside.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
Isaiah 58: 11, "And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
IN THE SCRIPTURES
Christ is our food and drink. He is the bread of life and living waters flow from his side. In the context of this lesson, the ravens are like Jesus bringing to us our spiritual food, when we read the scriptures day and night. It is no secret, how important it is to study the Bible. But let us read a few scriptures for review.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
2 Timothy 2: 15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Matthew 4: 4, “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Matthew 5: 6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
IN CONCLUSION
So we can see the raven like the eagle represents Christ and a portion of his work that he does for his children. The raven is not some mythological bird as the world would have us think. It is an amazing creature of God that has been referenced in the Bible to help us better understand the word of truth. May God be with you all. Amen.
THE DOVE
DOCILE CREATURE OF THE SKIES
