Birds of Pray Part 1 "The Raven."

There are three birds from the Bible that I wish to study. The first bird is the Raven. The Raven is a common enough bird Worldwide. In the Bible, it has a mixed reputation but mainly a not-so-good one. The word "Raven" in Hebrew is "Oreb" which also means black or dark.

The first mention of the Raven is in the "Ark" account:

Genesis 8:1-11

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf.

It says in verse 7 that the Raven went to and fro. It is a strongly held view that what that means is that the Raven went to and fro from the Ark. There would have been plenty of dead flesh floating on the water after the Flood. There was no other place for it to rest except on the Ark itself. However it never re-entered the Ark and unlike the Dove, Noah never welcomed it back in.

Ravens eat dead flesh. They are ferocious and greedy eaters - which is where we get the term "Ravenous" from. Ravenous means "to eat like a raven." They also attack younglings of other creatures, such as lambs, rabbits, etc. Their method of attack is to go for the eyes first. 

Ravens are clever, communicative, social, greedy, vicious, messy, selfish, and destructive birds. That's why God called them unclean in Leviticus chapter 11 along with a list of other unclean birds. These flesh-consuming birds are classed as "The birds of the air." They can gather in the air over the dead and the dying. By this, they represent Satan and his demons. (The birds of the ground eat seeds, nuts, and fruit.)  In Matthew 13 we have the Lord Jesus giving us the parables beginning with the "Parable of the sower." The first lot of seeds fell on the path. The Lord Jesus explains in verse 19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside."

But not only does the Raven represent Satan and his demons but they also represent the unsaved sinner and how God has been merciful and gracious in providing Salvation. Especially the young ravens as they are often abandoned to the elements by their parents. Obviously, Satan has no fondness for his children. We read in Psalm 147:7-11

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

Sing praises on the harp to our God,

8  Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who prepares rain for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

9  He gives to the beast its food,

And to the young ravens that cry.

10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse;

He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, 

In those who hope in His mercy.

A co-text concerning Jews that turn to Christ can be found in Joel 2:32 "And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by the LORD."

New Testament co-texts are Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 "For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Just as the young ravens cry out to God and are heard - so too an unbeliever that calls out to God will be heard and saved.

The Raven's Redemption:

To set the scene for the Ravens redemption we need to read in 1Kings 16:29-33:

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 

He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. 

Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 

It's no surprise that Ahab and Jezebel are fore-pictures of the end times. We can see from Ahab something of what the Anti-Christ will be like. But it is quite a statement to make that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 

It was at this dark time in lives of the Israeli people that a stranger would come to challenge the dark King and Queen.

1 Kgs. 17:1‭-‬6

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 

And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 

You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 

So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. 

He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 

And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

We don't know for sure if "Elijah" was his name or a title that he bore. His name means "Jehovah is my God." But he wasn't just known as Elijah but "Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead. There is some speculation amongst scholars that Elijah may have been a believing gentile of an Ishmaelite tribe. This is because Tishbite of Tishbe translates in Hebrew to mean "The Stranger of Strangers or sojourners."

He certainly follows Melchisedek in that there is no mention of his parents. He would have grown up in a wild and rough place. A tough man for a tough job. (Keep in mind that like Enoch .... he didn't die and like Moses ... he was with the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.)

So God tells this Stranger of Strangers to deliver a message to the most evil of evil kings. Ahab worshiped Baal, a god of fertility and nature. Jehovah, who really governed nature was going to withhold the rain causing drought.

This is where we see the Raven receive its Redemption. With Noah there was a lot of dead flesh because of too much water but now with Elijah there is a lot of dead flesh because of too little of water. In a dark time, when Israel has a dark King, God used a dark bird to feed his special Prophet. Amazingly, the bird that would have waited till he was a carcass brings him fresh meat and fresh bread twice daily for a long time. If God could use an unclean bird to feed a Gentile Prophet then there is no limit to what way God could use you to bring sustenance or encouragement to other Christians. Wherein we were all like the Raven in Noahs time before we were saved, we should strive to be like the Ravens of Elijah's time because we are Saved. Let us consider the Raven and pray for those, who are as yet, not Redeemed.