Tag: birds

The Birds

Posted on by jovial_cynic

After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.
Genesis 8:6-7 (NIV)

I’ve mentioned the three land animals being a symbol of all people: wild animals, livestock, and creeping things.

I don’t think birds are people at all in the story. We already associate doves with the spirit of God, but ravens? Perhaps they represent something else entirely.

And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Job 2:2 (NIV)

The Name of the Creeping Things

Posted on by jovial_cynic
In Genesis 3, we’re going to be introduced to the Serpent. He’s a “creeping thing,” unlike “wild animals” or “livestock.” All three are listed specifically in the creation account of Genesis 1.But when Adam names in the animals in Genesis 2, notice what’s missing. It’s the “creeping things” of Gen 1:24-25.

Why?

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
Genesis 2:19-20 (NASB)

I’m not sure, but perhaps it’s tied to this:

Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.
Exodus 23:13 (NASB)

The creeping things point to the serpent of Genesis 3. The serpent points to all the false gods.