Ravens

Ravens are the largest passerines; a passerine is a perching bird or songbird, as opposed to a wading/walking bird, a swimming bird, or a hunting bird. Ravens are mentioned ten times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament.

Ravens are entirely black (except a few species that have a bit of white on the neck or head). The bride in Song of Solomon describes her bridegroom’s hair as being black like a raven. “His locks are like clusters of dates and black as a raven” (Song of Solomon 5:11).

Ravens can be easily confused with crows. A close look will reveal that ravens are shaggy around the throat, compared to smoother-necked crows. Ravens also have a thick bill, for some species almost grotesquely so. The other telling feature is the shape of the tail as seen in flight. Common ravens have wedge-shaped tails (almost like a diamond) as opposed to crows’ fan-shaped tails.

Ravens also have distinct behavior. While crows often hang out in large groups, (playing follow-the-leader or engaging in mass dogfights), ravens tend to be solitary – individuals or pairs. Ravens are also known for their acrobatics; their courtship in flight is filled with swoops, rolls, and somersaults. Crows caw; while some crow species have a nasal caw, the ravens are even more painful – a gronk or croak that make it sound like the bird is about to die!

Ravens are quite widespread. They are found nearly anywhere in the Northern hemisphere, and some species live in Australia and the southern part of Africa. These very adaptable birds are dietary opportunists; they will take what they find, whether that be garbage, seeds, grains, fruits, or meat. Their preferred food is a wide variety of carrion, but they are also known to hunt.

The Bible mentions the raven’s habitat. Isaiah paints a dismal picture of the devastated landscape that will follow God’s judgment. Regarding that place of desolation, God reveals that “pelican and hedgehog will possess it, and owl and raven will dwell in it; and He will stretch over it the line of desolation and the plumb line of emptiness” (Isaiah 34:11). The raven inhabits a wide variety of habitats, and it is able to survive in the desolated wilderness.

We also read of the ravens’ diet, in particular its scavenging. Probably referring to someone who has been stoned for disrespect to his parents, the Bible states, “The eye that mocks a father and scorns a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out” (Proverbs 30:17). With its scavenging lifestyle, it should be no surprise that the raven is included in the list of unclean birds, which were not to be eaten: “Every raven in its kind” (Leviticus 11:15 and Deuteronomy 14:14).

The previous blog post dealt with God’s provision for the birds, and God chose the ravens as a particular example of this. Why did He choose ravens? Perhaps because there are so many of them. Perhaps because of the volume of food they eat; each one eats about a half pound of meat per day. Perhaps even because ravens are not the most beloved creature by man, but God cares about them.

God looks at these less-than-favorite birds, and He commits Himself to meeting their needs. “Who prepares for the raven its nourishment when its young cry to God and wander about without food?” (Job 38:41). “He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens which cry” (Psalm 147:9). “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!” (Luke 12:24).

God feeds the ravens, but there was at least one time when God used the ravens to feed someone else! During the three-year famine in Elijah’s day, God sent Elijah to take refuge beside the brook Cherith. Elijah was not able to meet his own needs. He had to rely on God. God provided water from the brook, and He provided food by using ravens as the first DoorDash! God reassured Elijah, “It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there” (1 Kings 17:4).

We don’t know the exact amount of time this provision lasted; during the three years of the famine, Elijah also spent an undisclosed length of time with a widow in Zarephath. But for however long this arrangement lasted, the provision was consistent. “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook” (1 Kings 17:6). It may not have been Elijah’s first choice to eat food delivered by unclean ravens, but God took care of him. God sometimes provides through unexpected means, and He sometimes uses things and people that we might naturally discount as worthless or undesirable.

This is not the only time that God used a raven to help His servant. When Noah was on the ark, he knew that the rain had stopped, but he did not know if the earth was still completely covered with water. Noah waited forty days before sending out a raven as a test. “Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth” (Genesis 8:7). When the raven didn’t return to the ark, Noah would have known there was some dry land. Ravens can fly for many hours at a time. With its ability to handle a wide variety of landscapes and its opportunistic feeding habits, the raven was able to survive outside the ark, even though it was not a very hospitable environment.

Ravens are fed by God, used by God, and designed by God to be a hardy and adaptable bird. What they lack in beauty and cleanliness, they make up for in intelligence and acrobatics.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.