In this unique study, we are going to examine "symbolic creatures" - living creatures comprising both animals and plants - and see what the Holy Spirit has to say through each one.
Be assured of this one thing - your knowledge of the Word will be greatly enhanced through this study.
1. A Silly Dove Without Heart
Hosea 7:11 says - "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart..."
Normally, the dove is represented as being meek, harmless, and chaste. She makes her nest in a rock...feeds upon pure grain...is fruitful...and loves to be by sweet springs and rivers of water. Also, she has a lovely eye that is fixed upon her mate... loves to keep company together...and mourns when she loses sight of him.
In this particular verse of Scripture, you will note that the Prophet Hosea compared "Ephraim" or Israel - not to a dove - but to "a silly dove without heart..." By doing so, he was painting an entirely different picture here.
By adding the descriptive words - "silly" and "without heart" - he was describing one that is easily deceived, snared, and taken...without understanding...lives without any kind of thought ...has no real knowledge of the truth...lacks a decided heart...neglects God's calls...and is unmoved by calamity or sufferings.
When it is frightened, it has not the courage to stay in the dove house - staying safe under the careful protection of its owner. Instead, it flutters and hovers - exposing itself to new and greater dangers. When it is pursued by a bird of prey, instead of throwing itself into the nearest recess for safety, it trusts to its own powers - the rapidity of its flight.
This was a perfect picture of "Ephraim" - "a silly dove without heart..." Israel lie between the two great rival empires - Egypt and Assyria. Whenever she was in trouble, she was betrayed by her own foolishness by fleeing in alarm from her "nest" - turning to one or the other of these nations to help her. Time and time again, she was warned that foreign alliances would be her ruin, yet she rushed into them.
Imagine that! She strove to make these rival nations her allies and friends. Consequently, she was constantly falling into snares - sometimes of the Egyptian, at other times of the Assyrian. Ultimately, she was betrayed by Egypt (a delusive promiser) and ruined by Assyria (a powerful oppressor).
Without realizing it (due to her own foolishness), in her danger and perplexity, she made straight for the fowler's nest. Instead of taking shelter under the wing of the Almighty - Who was a God near at hand and not afar off - she stretched her wings toward Egypt or Assyria. Instead of trusting God, she rested her hope of defence on negotiations with one of these two God-hating nations.
In what way are you like "Ephraim" - "a silly dove without heart"?
Is there an "Egypt" or an "Assyria" in your life?
In times of trouble, do you flee in alarm from your "resting place" - Jesus, the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, etc. - only to fall into a "snare" with some "delusive promiser" or some "powerful oppressor"?
Have you - in any way, shape, or form - made an "alliance" with those who are "enemies" of God?
Do you realize that they will either betray you or ruin you?
Don't be "a silly dove without heart" like "Ephraim." Or you will meet with her end!
2. A Fox
Luke 13:31-32 says -"The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto Him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And He said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected."
"...Go ye, and tell that fox..." Here we have Jesus using the bitterest and most contemptuous name ever given by Himself to any of the sons of men.
What did He mean by this depiction for Herod? We will find the answer to that question by first looking at the nature of a fox.
A fox is a crafty and subtle creature. He never goes straight but by crooked windings invades and seizes his prey by night when all are secure. Not only that, he is also cruel and blood-thirsty - a great destroyer of innocent creatures like the hares, conies, hens, geese, and lambs.
Here are some examples of his craft. In order to take fish, he wanders by the shore, dips his tail in the water, whereby the little fish immediately entangle themselves in it and so are taken. In the summer time, he uses his wile to destroy wasps. He hides himself, but lays his tail out. The wasps fly to his tail. When there is an abundance of them, he runs to the wall or some tree and strikes his tail against the hard surface - destroying them all. If he wants food and cannot find it, he will lie on the ground, upon his back, with his legs spread out, and feign dead. Birds flying by, seeing him in this posture, light on him, thinking that he is dead - only to be taken by him and destroyed.
Jesus saw right through Herod and his treacherous plots with which he privately contrived to entrap Him. He saw right through this "fox" who confided in human craft and believed that he could do anything against the majesty and counsel of God.
Jesus remembered Herod's craft and subtilty with the wise men - pretending to come and worship Jesus as a babe when he had it in his heart to utterly destroy this One born -"King of the Jews." (Matthew 2:2) He also remembered Herod's barbarous slaughter that he made in the town of Bethlehem of the poor, harmless, and innocent babies.
Knowing the nature of the "fox," how wary you should be of any and all "foxes" in your life which are out to "spoil your vine" (Song of Solomon 2:15) or draw your affection away from the Lord Jesus.
3. The Eagle
Isaiah 40:31 says -"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles..."
The "eagle" is the chief among the fowls of the air. It not only has a quick and clear sight but has a very strong sight whereby it is able to look fully upon the sun shining in its strength. It is a very swift creature - having long wings by means of which it is able to swiftly mount up on high - soaring above the air and out of sight. It is unweary in its flight - fainting not though it flies high. It flies highest when it sees the world least. Having a high spirit, it aims at high things.
The Prophet Isaiah meant for the "eagle" to represent the saint of God. Like the "eagle," he is to be the chief - the chief among men...the excellent... the one who is "more excellent than his neighbor." (Proverbs 12:26) Because he is born of God, he is of a more noble extraction. He is very clear and quick-sighted - seeing evil in the least sin and discerning what the end of the wicked will be.
When under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the saint of God is very swift in his motions. He "soars aloft" - seeking those things which are above and finding that earth and earthly things (profits, honors, and pleasures of the world) do not satisfy. In fact, nothing satisfies but being elevated above the world in communion with God and having a nearness to His throne.
We can see from this analogy that it is God's will that you - as a Born-Again Christian - live a heavenly life. He wants you to be strong so that you will live above the world. He wants your strength to be continually renewed so that no circumstance can exhaust it.
It is God's great desire to teach you to use your "wings." He longs to teach you to "mount on eagle's wings." The way He does that is by using trying providence, sickness, loss, tribulation, and temptation. This is called - "stirring up the nest." When He sees the "wings" are not being used, He will "stir up the nest" - so to speak. Whenever necessary, He will come underneath you and carry you.
As already implied, eagle's wings are connected with strength. When the eagle grows old, he renews his feathers, and with them, his youth. He plunges himself into the sea and casts off his old feathers. Coming out of the water, new ones then begin to emerge - bringing forth new strength and vigor.
This is the picture of the believer in Jesus who "waits upon the LORD" - "plunging" himself into the "water" of the Word. During this time, he "casts off the old man" and "puts on more of the new man" which "after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24) His strength is renewed to stand in opposition to moral and spiritual evil and all that is erroneaous and contrary to the will and mind of God.
There is an account of an eagle in Switzerland that was once chained to a rock. A twenty (20) or thirty (30) foot chain attached to its legs held it fast to an iron bolt in a rock. Here was the "King of birds" - meant to soar into the heavens - chained down to the earth.
Unfortunately, this depicts the life of many believers who are allowing business, the cares of this world, and their own flesh to chain them to this world and keep them from "rising up" into "new heights" in God.
4. Great Beasts
Daniel 7:17 says -"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth."
The Prophet Daniel referred to "four kings" or four dynasties, empires, or kingdoms that would succeed one another on the earth.
The characteristic of these kingdoms would be animal rather than human. The Biblical Illustrator offers an explanation for this - "There is no true humanity where there is no divinity."
Hence, these kingdoms would be symbolized by "beasts" of prey - noted for their strength, cruelty, and treachery. They would take by violence and use with cruelty.
The first "beast" represented the Babylonian empire - symbolized by the lion that had eagle's wings. The second "beast" represented the Medo-Persian empire - symbolized by the bear because it was powerful and destructive. The third "beast" represented the Greek or Macedonian empire - symbolized by the leopard because it was fierce and remarkable for its swiftness and agility. And the final "beast" represented the Roman empire - symbolized by a "beast" that was without a name and was "exceeding dreadful" and"devoured and broke in pieces."
What can we learn from this?
Earthly power - in and of itself - supported by earthly and worldly means and views - degenerates into brutality. And the tendency of this brutality - unless stopped - is to increase. (Consider the Roman empire. Out of the four empires, it turns out to be the worst of all.)
Although these nations of people (depicted by the four "beasts") were growing in culture and civilization, it was only a superficial thing. It merely veneered the utter rottenness and cruelty found beneath in the hearts of men.
Evil is stopped only by one power - the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the only hope for the restoration of man to humanity - his turning from being a "beast" to a caring human being.
5. Grass & The Flower Of Grass
1 Peter 1:24 says -"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass..."
"Flesh" is often put for man in his mere earthly nature. It is put for man who is frail and short-lived like the tender herb. Every human being is transient. There is no stability in anything that man does or produces. Hence, he resembles "grass" that soon fades and withers. He looks beautiful for a while but then becomes weak, is cut down by death, and then withers away.
What about man in his utmost glory? He is still a withering, dying creature. His wit, wisdom, learning, beauty, strength, vigor, wealth, and honor are but "as the flower of grass" - most short-lived. Everything wherein men pride themselves...that which is in esteem with men...or renders them glorious, admired, or illustrious to one another is fading and transitory.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes made this comment - "Learn hence, that man, when most flourishing, with all the ornaments of wit and wealth, beauty and honor, is fading, and near to withering."
Hence, above all else, recognize and lay hold of the contrast between the weakness and transitoriness of man and the power and eternal duration of God's Word.
The "silly dove," the "fox," the "eagle," the "great beasts," and the "grass" are all speaking a message today.
Which is speaking the loudest to you?
May God Bless His Word,
Connie
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. (Isaiah 54:17)
© COPYRIGHT Connie Giordano - All Rights Reserved