Learning from the Ravens

Learning from the Ravens.

“God chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise; God chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the strong; God chose what the world looks down on as common or regards as nothing in order to bring to nothing what the world considers important. (1 Corinthains 1:27-28).

Ravens are complex creatures… They are considered dirty, unpleasant, unattractive, and are rejected by most of us as inferior, an unworthy member of being included in our list of favorite birds. On the other hand, they are the most intelligent bird God ever created, with a very large brain-to-body ratio, a brain that is densely packed with a high number of brain cells. Ravens have advanced cognitive skills that are equal to a chimpanzee, an adult great ape, wolves and dogs. They can mimic human voices, make sounds that attract predators to carcasses for their own dining, and are clever enough to devise complex tricks to steal meat from competitors. Ravens are gifted by God to perform very complicated flight patterns and aerial gymnastics as well. Owners of pet ravens have said that they can do everything from pick difficult locks to solving three-dimensional puzzles. Unfortunately, ravens have been known through the centuries as being unable to care well for their young. In fact, raven parents don’t even feed their young at all until they have grown their black feathers. In the meantime, young ravens make do somehow by drinking dew and whatever else they can get their beaks on. God even told Job that He Himself needs to feed the young ravens when they cry out for food. (Job 38:41).

Ravens were “unclean.” When the Lord declared the purity laws to Moses and Aaron in Leviticus 11 regarding foods that were forbidden, the raven was included in the list, along with eagles, vultures, ospreys, buzzards, ostriches, owls, seagulls, hawks, pelicans, storks, and herons. These particular “creatures of the air” were all scavengers, birds of prey that consumed rotting flesh. They were all created by God to be what they were meant to be, but God nonetheless called these birds all kinds of derogatory names, including detestable, abhorrent, and an abomination. Biblical scholars have been puzzled why scavengers were not to be eten by his chosen people. Some say these birds probably carried disease because of what they consumed, and so the Lord declared them unclean for dietary and health reasons. Others say that anything associated with death was rejected by the God of life, which would include scavengers. Others claim that the clean and unclean restrictions were intended by God to teach his people to make distinctions, to honor the need for discernment in how they live and make choices. Still others say that some of these purity laws were meant to develop a trust in God, that the people are to follow God’s instructions whether or not they understand them. They are to assume that God has good reasons, that He knows what He is doing, and they are to trust in His intentions in all these rules.

Despite being unclean and unpopular and unappreciated, the raven was important in biblical history:

Noah sent a raven out of the ark first thing to try to determine if the flood waters had receded to his satisfaction. (Genesis 8:7). The raven left and never came back. It’s no wonder, since that lucky raven no doubt discovered all kinds of floating carcasses on which to gorge. In fact, the Greek word for raven, “korax,” comes from a root word that means to overeat, to satiate, to glut oneself with more food than needed. We get our word “ravenous” from the raven, and certainly Noah’s raven confirmed its name. The raven was the first creature to escape the ark, then, and it was smart enough to never return, remaining wherever he found an abundant food supply.

Prophet Elijah thundered into Israel as a country bumpkin from Gilead, on the other side of the tracks. (1 Kings 17-19). He was a unique character, full of spiritual audacity from the beginning of his ministry, one of the great personalities in the Hebrew Bible. Elijah enjoyed an unusual personal relationship with God. He was known around Judah and Israel for wearing a cloak made of fur and animal hair, a cloak that became famous and was given to Elisha to carry on the prophetic tradition in Elijah’s absence. He also wore a leather loincloth, a homemade piece of underwear that made him that much more a distinctive person when he walked down the street. He was a shaggy outdoorsman, a loner, and he often felt abandoned as a result. He often felt discouraged, if not depressed. Sometimes he literally ran from trouble, but often enough he ran right into the middle of it. He was unafraid to confront the evil king Ahab, for example, but then ran from Queen Jezebel. Elijah began his ministry as a prophet rather dramatically, by confidently announcing in the face of King Ahab that God will send a famine for three years. God then instructed Elijah to depart from Ahab and settle down for a while east of the Jordan River at a brook named Cherith. During this God-ordained famine in Israel, God commanded ravens to feed Elijah while stranded there in the wilderness. And miraculously, the contrary and obstinate ravens obeyed their Maker faithfully without a hitch. Ravens came to Elijah at that brook carrying bread and meat for breakfast and supper every day. Why the raven? Perhaps the ravens were the only birds smart enough to locate the food Elijah needed every day. One shudders to think what kind of meat the scavenger ravens brought, but evidently Elijah thought beggars can’t be choosers. We shouldn’t be surprised that God was directly commanding creatures to serve His will. If the Lord could send a giant fish to swallow a prophet, certainly He could command His ravens to feed another prophet as well. We don’t know how long Elijah had to depend on these ravens for food, but if it was the full three years of famine, that adds up to over 2,000 meals! For the ravens, that’s quite the commitment! (1 Kings 17:1-6).

Look at the Ravens! “And Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Stop being overly anxious. Don’t be distracted by so much worry about your life – what you’ll eat or drink; or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Think about the ravens! They neither plant nor harvest, they have neither storehouses nor barns, yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?” (Luke 12:22-24). One classic method of rabbinic teaching was called the “Kal v’Chomer (pronounced as it looks, except the c is silent).” This was a commonly used strategy of reasoning and persuasion used throughout the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Breaking down that Hebrew phrase, “kal” means “Of course, obviously Yes.” And “v’chomer” means “all the more so.” The Hebrew understanding of this teaching strategy can be described in many ways: light to heavy; lesser to greater; simple to complex; minor to major; lenient to strict. The kal v’chomer is a strictly logical process used everywhere in Jewish culture, from the courtrooms to the corner conversations to the synagogues. It is used by a speaker when he or she wants the listener to logically arrive at an inescapable conclusion. If A is obviously true, then it stands to reason that B is even more true. This process is often spoken of as the “How much more” argument. If A is commonly accepted, then how much more is it likely that B should be accepted as well? Here in this picturesque passage, in front of an immense throng of people (Luke reported “many thousands”), Jesus used a telling term for “anxiety.” He is apparently acknowledging that anxiety is a matter of degrees. It is a fact of human life that all of us experience anxiety to a degree. Everyone has at least minor league concerns from one day to the next. But Jesus used a Greek term, “merimneo,” which puts worries into the major leagues. Merimneo is a term that specifically means being overly anxious, when worry has become too much of a presence in one’s life. Merimneo has been described as being perpetually distracted with fretfulness; preoccupied with concern; to remain deeply troubled and unsettled; to operate a disquieted soul (psyche); to have one’s mind divided, unable to focus single-mindedly on trusting the Lord. Jesus is declaring here that if God cares so well for the less valuable things in nature like birds, wildflowers and grass, how much more will He care for the masterpiece of creation, human beings made in His image! So, Jesus is saying, don’t be consumed with worry about simple life-maintenance things like what you eat and what you wear. Isn’t your sacred life that has divine dignity more valuable than these other concerns that take up so much attention in the lives of pagans who have no faith in God?

The Lessons of the Raven. What can we learn from the raven? We learn that God values all His creatures, whether or not they are considered unclean or unpopular. God seems to relish the opportunity of calling on those who are rejected to do His will, to take part in caring for others, to provide what is needed. God uses the unlikely ones to participate in His mission of love for the earth. God values the unpleasant, the unattractive, the rejected, and gives them the dignity of being a part of His plans. Not only that, but Jesus used the ravens as a fascinating visual aid to teach a mass of listeners that God promises to care for them. If He can feed the ravens and all the birds, who are not made in His image, certainly He will care for the basic needs of those who are made in His image. It seems like we can learn a lot by looking at the ravens, as Jesus suggested.