ELTB Bad Birds
ELTB Bad Birds of the Bible [∞]
Eat Learn This Book
Bad Birds of the Bible
Bob Jones
2ndBook c 2023 R.C. Jones Discussion
| 1 Cover
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| 2-3 Inside cover Title
blank -- Eat Learn this Book Bad Birds R.C. Jones bob@2ndBook.org Art: Doris Ong
ISBN: 2ndBook Press, West Jordan, Utah Printed by: Petersmine Ltd.
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| 4-5 Coming, Preface
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ELTH BB 6-7 [∞]
God wants everyone to know him. He teaches about himself through all things that have been created. [1] Observing the things themselves does not teach us, but we learn from his word by what he has said about the things. Looking at air does not teach us much because it is invisible. But the Hebrew word ruwach רוח means both 'spirit' and 'wind'. God tells us that the Spirit is like the wind; though it is invisible, we see the work it does. [2] The Spirit also leads us in truth. We know this by the word for wind as well. See the scroll. [3] In "Eat Learn this Book", the first book in the series, it shows that all the people and animals are actors in the Old Testament Bible are on a stage for us to learn from. [4] Eating is a symbol for learning. That's why the name of the book changes 'Eat' to 'Learn'. The birds or flying things that we are not supposed to eat represent things God doesn't want us to learn. The law was a script for the actors (the Hebrews) so that we could learn from their play.
Bad birds (flying things) The word 'name' also means 'reputation'. Adam watched the flying things that God created and gave them names based on their behaviors. [5] We sometimes give people nicknames based on their behavior. Do you think "Smiley" smiles alot? Maybe "Sandy" played at the beach a lot. The names of the flying things are used in riddles to speak of the behaviors we are to avoid. [6] The behaviors that Adam observed when naming the birds may still be present in their behaviors today. But it is more important that they tell us about the sins that Jesus bore on the cross.
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ELTB BB 8-9 [∞]
The eagle represents those who forget God. Perhaps Adam saw the lone eagle on high, looking down on all and thought to himself, "That bird thinks he is a god". When we forget God, we sometimes think we can make our own rules. King Nebuchadnezzar forgot God and thought he had built his kingdom all by himself. His hair became like eagle's feathers and his nails like eagle's claws. [1] We sometimes wake up, get dressed, go to school, play, eat dinner and go to bed without ever thinking of God. We don't want to forget that God gives us everything. He gives us each breath of life for our bodies, and he gives the Spirit for our second life. It is a good thing to give him thanks in the morning and all day long. [2] You can even give him thanks in bad times that he is there with you. [3]
Ossifrage The ossifrage eats almost only bones. It would have been quite a sight for Adam to see one its food apart and break the bones . He named the ossifrage 'divide'. There are some people who just like to cause trouble and make people fight each other. Some people even fight over the Bible. Paul warned us to avoid silly questions that just cause arguments. [4] Sometimes your teacher may say there is no such thing as a stupid question. There is. A stupid question is one that you don't really want or need an answer to, but it just causes an argument. We should avoid those people who cause trouble by teaching things different from the Bible. [5] How would we know if someone is teaching something different from the Bible? We must know the Bible for ourselves. [6]
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The Hebrew word for 'osprey' has the word 'goat' within it. The goat just thinks of himself. He grabs food, cuts in line, pushes and shoves to get his way. The goat, representing the selfish flesh. It is not of the spirit, and so should be avoided. Sometimes we act like goats and sometimes like sheep who wish to follow the Good Shepherd; Jesus. Even the apostle Paul wrestled with his flesh. [1] Don't feed the goat. Don't do the things you know are wrong. When we look at others we don't think, "I am a sheep and they are goats". We think, "They may look like a goats now, but maybe they too have sheep." Then we help each other be the sheep. [2] Here is a tough question: Why is the goat a clean animal, but the osprey is an unclean bird? Remember that the flying things teach about spiritual things, and the goat represents the teacher who ruminates or meditates on the Word of God and it produces a split hoof or a separated and holy walk. In our spirit we don't want to go back to behaving like we do in the flesh. In the flesh we strive to be holy.
Vulture Though the vulture is known for eating dead things; the Hebrew name for the vulture is 'cause to wander in ignorance'. Jesus met some religious leaders who would not accept his teaching. They also would not allow others to learn from Jesus as they tried to disrupt him while teaching. They caused others to wander in ignorance. [3] Your classmate who always interrupts the class and doesn't allow others to learn is represented by the vulture. Maybe sometimes you don't want to learn, but don't be like the vulture and prevent others from learning.
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Kites have the ability to ride the wind almost endlessly like a ... well, like a kite. They look like they are searching. Did it look to Adam as if they were futile in their search? The Hebrew name for the kite is "Where?" It is a question of the people who don't know God. [1] It is a question of our flesh. [2]. The kite represents the doubters. [3] It is OK to have questions if you are willing to learn. But one who chooses to doubt and doesn't want to learn is called a "scoffer".
Raven The word 'oreb' ערב for 'raven' means: blind, naked, mix. Which meaning matches the raven behavior that Adam saw? We can only guess. When ravens are hatched they are altricial; blind, featherless and helpless. They also form loose flocks, only congregating to roost and they play with other animals. Perhaps this is the 'mixing' that Adam saw. Blind is a metaphor for not understanding. Naked (featherless) is a symbol for the flesh or sin being exposed. There are laws for the actors in the Bible that don't allow them to mix things. They seem silly: they couln't mix seed in the field or the types of cloth they wore. They are part of the play or parable to teach that we cannot mix law and grace or holiness and love, but must wait until we see them properly mixed on the cross. God is Holy [4] and he is Love. [5] Since no man has seen the Father except the Son [6], no one can adequately explain God but the Son.
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'Owl' means 'why' and 'shovel. The shovel is used in the temple to move ashes from the altar where sacrifices were burned. Sacrifices were like a holy barbecue. People brought the food, and the priests prepared it according to the script of the play. They had to do it exactly right so that we could learn about God. Green Jello was not welcome at the temple sacrifices. Sometimes the person who brought the animal shared the meal with the priests, and sometimes just the priests ate it. No one got to eat the burnt offering. It all just turned to ash. The ashes of burnt offerings represent Christ's total devotion to his Father. Christ laid down his own life. The scoffer does not understand 'Why', nor does he want to. [1] Only God can tell us what is good and evil. He tells us what is right and wrong. If you make your own rules, you are pretending to be God. You can't know him if you think you are God. Do you think your dad would like it if you always told him he wasn't your dad and and when he asked you to do something you always said, "Why?" If you love your dad, you do what he says because you know he loves you and wants what is best for you. [2]
Night hawk Perhaps Adam saw the Night Hawk hunting when he gave him the name 'must do violence'. God hates those who love to do violence [3]. The night hawk is a symbol of those. If you just like to fight, ask God to help you love instead.
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Some cuckows build their nest on the ground in shrubs so they represent people of the flesh. Their name can mean 'shrub death'. Adam may have named them because of that. But the word also means emaciated, or wasted away. The nickname of the cuckow could be 'Bone-y'. Those who are spiritually dying are not a good source for spiritual teaching. Jesus used the word 'dead' to refer to those who are spiritually dead [1] The person who does more and more bad things is wasting away and we should not learn from them. The person who stops learning about God stops learning good things and falls backwards to do the old bad things.
Hawk There are many instances in the riddles where referring to the death of Christ is a 'bad' thing and speaking of his resurrection is the 'good' thing. An example is that of the 'shibboleth'. David's men would ask for the password as strangers passed over the mountain. If they said the word with an 's' it meant a single seed. If they said it with a 'sh' it meant a whole ear of grain. [2] A single grain needs planted ( a picture of being buried in a grave). A whole ear of grain refers to being fruitful in the harvest. Those who referred to a single grain 'sibboleth' (the death of Christ), were put to death, but those who referred to a whole ear or stream 'shibboleth' (the resurrection and fruitfulness of Christ), lived. The word 'hawk' refers to Christ's death. We should not learn from the teachers that only speak of the death of Christ, but from those who speak of his resurrection. Long ago many people died on crosses, but only Jesus rose from the dead.
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The Hebrew word for 'owl' means 'cup'. The Hebrew word for cup means 'the Son of God revealed by the cross'. The cup symbolizes the will of God for Jesus to die on the cross. That day was a great day and terrible day. It was a great day because God chose to forgive men and dwell with us. But it was a terrible day because Christ, God in flesh, suffered and died at the hands of the men he came to save. [1] Perhaps Adam saw an owl nesting in a hole in a tree and named him 'cup' since it looked like he was sitting in a cup. The cup is a mixture of judgement and love; it is unclean as the other mixtures. We are not to mix them. If we see a brother do something wrong and not get punished, we don't think "Oh, what wonderful forgiveness." We think, "It's not fair that he got away with it." If we get caught and get punished, we don't think, "I sure deserved this!" we think, "I deserve to get forgiven!". We are just all mixed up. Only Christ could explain holiness and love properly on the cross.
Cormorant The cormorant is an aquatic bird. It has webbed feet and swims under the water. It eats the fish which are swimming in the water, the same as the unclean lobster. They both snatch fish living in the water, which represents the word, and devour them. When the cormorant dives into the water it looks like it has been cast out of the heavens. Adam named the cormorant 'cast out'. Those who have been cast out are not a good source for teaching. [2] The cormorant represents those under such judgement.
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Covering you in 'darkness' is a positive from God's view, or a negative from our view. God expresses love and mercy symbolized by darkness; if we are in sin, and haven't been destroyed, we are receiving his mercy. From our view, we say that being in darkness is being in sin and presuming upon God's mercy; to us it looks like evil. The Great Owl which Adam watched hunt and live in the night represents those in the dark who should not be our teachers. [1] Those people who are like Great Owls act like God is not watching them do bad things. They pretend to themselves that God will never do anything about it. [2] God always keeps his promises and he is watching everything. We don't want to lie to ourselves that there isn't a God or that he is asleep.
Swan The swan, as a large bird, is not subject to being killed in large numbers by natural predators. Their numbers can swell until they are destructive to an environment. Those who are destructive should not be a source for our learning. [3]. Sometimes people like to break things just to break them. They are like the swans, and we should avoid them. Instead we should build things. The swan might represent those who do things to discourage you. Be encouraged by the love Christ has for you.
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| 22-23
Pelican Perhaps Adam watched a pelican scoop up his meal, and then vomit up the shell and rocks. He named it 'vomit after'. That's gross. Vomit, like spit, is a symbol of rejection. [1] Those who reject the word should not be teachers of the word. [2] The pelican represents those who reject the word of God.
Gier eagle The name contains the Hebrew root 'to love'. The birds are mated and seldom separated. This maybe part of what Adam saw, but if this was all, we would have difficulty understanding why it is an unclean bird. Love is a good thing to learn. But the gier eagle eats almost nothing but carrion or road kill. The name actually means 'not understanding love'. Though they are together in the appearance of love, they eat nothing but dead things. It is true that when we eat the bread of communion, we are learning from his death, but it is followed by the wine or 'blood of the grape' which is a symbol of his life. [3] Paul teaches that if we don't have love, our faith, generosity, and sacrifices mean nothing. [4] The one who truly loves eats the living word of God with others.
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Stork Storks are primarily carnivorous and eat reptiles, small mammals, insects, fish, amphibians and other small invertebrates. He devours almost all living things without mercy. It is perhaps this destruction of living things that Adam observed when he named the stork "not understanding holiness and mercy". Holiness and mercy are the attributes of God, so he named it "Not understanding God". The main purpose of God is to teach us that He is Holy or different and separated. [1]; He alone is God. He also teaches that He is Love. [2]
Heron When the heron hunts, it stand very still in the water looking for it's prey. When it sees something, it moves it's head back and forth to get the targeting range through the water. Perhaps Adam named it 'yearning undulation (back and forth movement)' for this behavior. Once it had that name, by word-play it became 'her anger'. Jesus said that if we were angry, we were guilty of murder. Angry words can hurt people for a very long time. But they hurt you even more. [3] . When you are angry, you allow something else to control you. You think you are real important and should be treated better. But see how easily you are controlled? You can be made to be angry simply if you are told that it is bed time. You are out of control. The one who is in control does not need to be angry. The heron also has a wild headdress that may have made it look angry to Adam.
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Lapwing The lapwing is known for the irregular pattern of beating it's wings. Flap-flap- - flap - flap, flap, flap. God commanded Moses to strike the rock for water the first time. The second time he told him to speak to it, but Moses struck it. This is a silly play on words: Moses gave the rock an irregular (or at the wrong time) beating. He forfeited the privilege of entering into the promised land. [1]
Bat As mentioned previously, the Bible does not say the bat is a bird. It says that it is a 'flying thing'. 'Bird' is a poor translation. Bats are known for their irregular flight patterns. The lapwing had an irregular wing flap and the bat flies all over the place. The name of the bat suggests one who wanders from the path or deviates from God's will. These should not be our teachers. The path represents God's plan for your life. His plan is to bless you [2] if you allow him. God wants us to learn from teachers who are steady in their faith, teaching and lives; not those who are unpredictable.
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Summary All of these birds were named by Adam because of the behaviors he observed. [1] By the riddle they become representative of behaviors we don't want for ourselves. When God looks at us, he does not see our behaviors. He sees the work of Christ and gives us a new name or reputation based on that of Jesus. [2] [3]
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| 30-31
Bible References p. 4-5 p. 6-7 p. 8-9 p. 10-11 p. 12-13 p. 14-15 p.16-17 p. 18-19 p. 20-21 p. 22-23 p. 24-25 p.26-27 p.28-29 p.30-31
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