Consider the ravens: they neither sow
nor reap, ...
they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds
them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!"
(Luke 12:22-24 )
It is a large bird, considerably larger than the crow; and its feathers
are very black, very glossy, and very beautiful. People in ancient times seem to
have liked a black color, and were especially pleased with black hair; so we
read in the Song of Solomon, where one who is beautiful is described, "His locks
are bushy, and black as a raven."
The raven drives out its young ones very early from the
nest, almost before they are able to seek their food. This may explain a verse
in the Psalms, "The Lord giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens
which cry;" and another in Job, "Who provideth for the raven his food ? when his
young ones cry unto God, wandering for lack of meat."
Our Savior speaks of this
bird in the 12th chapter of Luke, "Consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor
reap; they have neither store-house nor barn; and God feedeth them." He was
speaking to his disciples, and it was as much as to say, "If God takes care of
the ravens, he will certainly take care of you; so you need not be anxious or
afraid.
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither
storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than
the birds!" (Luke 12:22-24 RSV)
The Raven was an unlikely and unusual instrument of God's care and mercy.
Consider the Word of God concerning the Prophet Isaiah while he was fleeing
persecution...I KINGS 17:2-6.
Unusual
because only God in his grace and mercy could use such a creature in a
productive way to bring a blessing to the needy one that is beloved of God. The
Raven is unworthy of such an honorific assignment ...just like us.
Even so, God still uses the creature as an instrument of His love.
The Raven is a constant reminder of who we were, and by God's grace, who we are
now. Because of Christ each of us can say " I am an instrument in the hand of
God to be used for His glory" It is a privilege that none of us deserve. It is
solely due to the work that He has dome (and continues to do) in each of us that
makes anything good in us possible. See -Romans
8:7 Romans 5:10,11
God's Word is a balm to our short-sighted, fearful minds ...God still cares for
the Raven and his family and supplies all their needs ... and He still does.
Question... Job 38:41 “Who prepares for the raven its nourishment when its young
cry to God and wander about without food?
Answer... Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they
have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you
are than the birds!
Jesus
Christ used ravens in a lesson about setting priorities in life - obey God
first, foremost and always; then take care of worldly needs.
Martin Luther wrote: "You see,
he is making the birds our school masters and teachers. It is a great and
abiding disgrace to us that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow should become a
theologian and a preach to the wisest of men. We have as many teachers and
preachers as there are little birds in the air. Their living example is an
embarrassment to us. Everyday he feeds and nourishes innumerable little birds out of His
hand.'"
God feeds the birds but not like you feed our pet animals. He provides food but
they must gather it up (Psa. 104:27-28). Jesus was specific in naming one type
of bird -- the Raven. He said, "Consider the ravens..." (Luke 12:24). The ravens must go and collect the food that God provides (Job
38:41; Psa. 147:9).
We have faith but we must do our part. The birds show us that faith and works
can and do go together.
The central theme of Christ's
teaching is how God uses the lesser to establish the
greater. He tells us we are much better than the birds. He
condescends so low as to take thought for the needs of these
little creatures as a tender, loving Father; He looks upon
all these small details, not forgetting one, then asks us
why we should be anxious about ourselves. We know God takes
care of us because we are much better than they. If He
condescends so low as to tend to such small things, why
would He overlook the greater things?
Anxiety about anything that
is outside of our control is the sin of unbelief. We
need to focus on what we do with our time today while asking
the Lord's guidance. That is the key.
We don't need anxiety about
the future; we need to learn the lesson the Israelites
learned when they gathered manna day after day. They learned
what it meant to eat daily out of the hand of the Lord.
Those are blessed lessons. I am not a stranger to them. It
is a blessed thing when we understand what it is to look to
the Lord for His provision for today. Tomorrow we look to
His provision for tomorrow.
The Greek word from which the
word better was taken is diaphero which means
"To be of more value." The word diaphero is
translated as "better" three times in the New Testament. Our
text is one: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better [diaphero]
than they?" MAT 6:26.,
The meaning is, "Of more
value." Wherein do we have more value than those innocent
little creatures? Jesus speaks of them in terms of value in
MAT 10:29- 31, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your
Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many
sparrows."
Let's consider how Christ restored the
purpose of God in our human nature; for God to accept us in Christ, it was
necessary for Christ to be very man. He became the image of God in our human
nature. HEB 1:3 speaks of Jesus, "Who being the brightness of his glory [of the
Father], and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high."
"Consider the ravens;
for they neither sow nor reap; they have neither store-house nor barn; and God feedeth them." He was
speaking to his disciples, and it was as much as to say, "If God takes care of
the ravens, he will certainly take care of you; so you need not be anxious or
afraid.
“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
- 2Co_6:16
What a sweet title: “My people!” What a cheering revelation: “Their God!” How
much of meaning is couched in those two words, “My people!” Here is speciality.
The whole world is God’s; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s,
and he reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom he hath chosen,
whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he saith not of others-”My
people.” In this word there is the idea of proprietorship. In a special manner
the “Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” All the
nations upon earth are his; the whole world is in his power; yet are his people,
his chosen, more especially his possession; for he has done more for them than
others; he has bought them with his blood; he has brought them nigh to himself;
he has set his great heart upon them; he has loved them with an everlasting
love, a love which many waters cannot quench, and which the revolutions of time
shall never suffice in the least degree to diminish. Dear friends, can you, by
faith, see yourselves in that number? Can you look up to heaven and say, “My
Lord and my God: mine by that sweet relationship which entitles me to call thee
Father; mine by that hallowed fellowship which I delight to hold with thee when
thou art pleased to manifest thyself unto me as thou dost not unto the world?”
Canst thou read the Book of Inspiration, and find there the indentures of thy
salvation? Canst thou read thy title writ in precious blood? Canst thou, by
humble faith, lay hold of Jesus’ garments, and say, “My Christ”? If thou canst,
then God saith of thee, and of others like thee, “My people;” for, if God be
your God, and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour to
you; you are the object of his choice, accepted in his beloved Son.
The Letter versus the Spirit
[God] also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the
letter but of the Spirit. (2Co_3:6)
The "letter versus the Spirit" is another contrast between living by the old
covenant or by the new. This is another choice that determines whether we are
functioning by man's sufficiency or by God's.
A life that is being developed "of the letter" is one that is built on rules and
regulations. We cannot become a child of God by rules. We cannot develop our
lives as God's children by regulations. No list of demands (including even the
law of God itself) could ever bring us, or develop for us, a life with God. All
rules and regulations (including God's law) come without resource. They are a
list of requirements, not a supply of adequacy. They call for an observable
response. They provide no power to produce the required effect.
Consider circumcision, which was required by the law of God for the Israelites.
"And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised"
(Lev_12:3). This was to be a sign acting as a reminder to God's people that they
were His. Implementing that regulation did not inherently change the life of any
Jew. Physical, external circumcision (that is, circumcision "by the letter") did
not make a change in the heart of the one circumcised. It takes an inner working
of God to produce a true child of God (in Romans 2 language, a "true Jew"). "For
he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of
the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter." (Rom_2:28-29). God births His
children and develops their lives through a work in their hearts by the Holy
Spirit.
The kingdom of heaven is "of the Spirit." It is not about external "do's and
dont's" (such as, whether to follow the standard of God's law concerning certain
foods). "For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom_14:17). Entrance into God's family, as
well as development as God's children, does not hinge on following various
regulations. Rather, it is about the Holy Spirit supplying heavenly blessings in
the hearts of those who trust in the Lord. Life with God is always "of the
Spirit " (God's sufficiency), not "of the letter" (man's sufficiency).
Father, I admit a tendency to reduce life with You to following regulations.
Help me to live by the work of Your Spirit within my heart. Through Christ I
pray, Amen.
Nathan
("given by God".)
1. The prophet who gave David God's assurance of the perpetuity of his seed and
throne (notwithstanding temporary chastening for iniquity). God by Nathan
commended David's desire to build the temple, but reserved the accomplishment
for his son Solomon, the type of Him who should build the true temple (2 Samuel
7; 1 Chronicles 17). Nathan speaking first of himself had said, "do all that is
in thine heart" (compare 1Ki_8:18). God sometimes grants His children's requests
in a form real, but not as they had proposed. His glory proves in the end to be
their truest good, though their wishes for the time be crossed. Nathan convicted
David of his sin in the case of Uriah by the beautiful parable of the poor man's
lamb (2Sa_12:1-15; 2Sa_12:25; Psalm 51).
Nathan conveyed Jehovah's command to David, to name Solomon" Jedidiah," not as a
mere appellation, but an assurance that Jehovah loved him. Nathan was younger
than David, as he wrote with Ahijah the Shilonite and Iddo the seer" the acts of
Solomon first and last" (2Ch_9:29). To Nathan David refers as having forbidden
his building the temple on account of his having had "great wars" (2Ch_22:1-10;
2Ch_28:2). Nathan secured the succession of Solomon by advising Bathsheba to
remind David of his promise (1Ch_22:9, etc.), and to inform him of Adonijah's
plot, and by himself venturing into the king's presence to follow up Bathsheba's
statement. Nathan by David's direction with Zadok the priest brought Solomon to
Gihon on the king's own mule, and anointed him king (1Ki_1:10-38).