GOD’S WORD FOR FEBRUARY 27 ~ ~ Ecclesiastes 10:20~ ~ “Do not curse the king, even in your thought; Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; For a bird of the air may carry your voice,
And a bird in flight may tell the matter.”
Mankind has been teaching birds to talk for thousands of years. Myna birds, parrots, parakeets, crows and ravens, mocking birds, even those pesky starlings, have been known to learn to talk. Man has also been using birds to deliver messages for just as long.
But, so far, pigeons are the only birds that have been known to learn to distinguish all the letters of the alphabet, and that in just four months. Not only that, but they tend to confuse the same ones that many people tend to confuse! They even can distinguish legitimate words from groups of random letters, in effect……..read.
Pigeons apparently pay attention to detail, because for years they have been used to spot defective items on assembly lines. In fact, they have a better record than their human counterparts!!!
Making use of their attention and ability to see detail…..I’m not sure I’m ready for this one…….tests have shown that pigeons can be as accurate as trained pathologists and radiologists in reading mammograms and pathology samples!!! (More jobs lost!!!)
This attention to detail makes me wonder if Noah knew that talent of the dove, and that’s why he sent a dove out to see if there was any vegetation sticking above the subsiding waters in the drying time after the flood.
The white dove has been shown as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Possibly that started from the gospels when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, and he testified that he saw the holy spirit “descending like a dove”. This might, or might not, mean that he saw a symbolic image of a dove, but the Holy Spirit certainly isn’t in the shape of a dove in reality! He may have meant the motion was graceful like that of a dove.
The dove, with its pure white feathers, also calls to mind the purity of God, and its swift and graceful flight in the air reminds us of the many movements of the Holy Spirit in our soul, while its gentleness creates in our minds the image of the Holy Spirit hovering over creation during the first week. It is an image that has lasted throughout the centuries.
Another type of dove is in a symbolic way in Ps 68 (below). It is used to show that Israel, though they went through much turmoil and tribulation in their history, and was not necessarily known as a prosperous nation, Yahweh sees them as a beautiful golden dove, decorated as victorious in war.
“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Mt 10:16
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
He (Noah) also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground.
Matthew 3:16-17
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Psalm 68:13
“When you lie down [to rest] among the cooking stones,
You [Israel] are like the wings of a dove [of victory] overlaid with silver,
Its feathers glistening with gold [trophies taken from the enemy].”