Call of the Wild - Lesson 8 - Little & Wise

Opening thoughts …

Job 12:7, ‘But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:’


I hope we can learn something from these animals.
I believe there is more to them than just some part on the food chain.
God gave them to us as living illustrations to learn from.
And as teaching aids to help form our children.

I believe we are to admire the wisdom and power of the Creator
In the smallest and most despicable animals,
In an ant as much as in an elephant.

In this world we seem to admire body shape or style, physical beauty, or strength,
We even value these persons or think them better for such advantages.
How about if we were to judge others by their wisdom and conduct,
Their diligence and hard work,
Which are characters that deserve respect.

Your comments …





We are going to review the success of four seemingly insignificant animals.
Their success is due to their instinctive wisdom and activity,
Rather than appearance or strength.

Their success is referred to as being wise.
Some synonyms for the word wise –
Shrewd, intelligent, astute, clever, prudent, sensible & judicious.

The opposite of wise is foolish –
Some synonyms for the word foolish –
Stupid, silly, idiotic, unwise, imprudent, thoughtless & irrational.


Proverbs 30:24-28, ‘There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.’


Ant

The ants show their wisdom by preparing their food in the summer.
Seeking for it and storing it when it may be had.
Not for winter consumption, for they sleep at that time,
But for autumn and spring.

The ants may truly be called a people,
As they have houses, towns, public roads, etc.;
And show their wisdom and forethought
By preparing their meat in due season.

The ants, minute animals and very weak,
and yet they are very industrious in gathering proper food,
and have a strange level-headedness to do it in the proper time of summer,

This is so great a piece of wisdom that we may learn of them
To be wise and prepare for the future.
When the ravening lions lack, and suffer hunger,
The laborious ants have plenty,
And are unaware of what it is to want.

Proverbs 6:6-8. ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.’

What can we learn from this creature that we can apply to our lives?





Conies

I found these animals to be referred to as mountain mice,
Arabian mice, field mice or rock rabbits.
Either way they are a fragile creature
Dwelling in clefts and holes of rocks.

Weak creatures, and very apprehensive yet,
The Conies have so much wisdom as to make their houses in the rocks,
where they are well guarded,
and their feebleness makes them take shelter
in those natural fortifications.

Psalm 104:18, ‘The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.’

Where do we seek our shelter?
My question is not where should we seek our shelter.
So I will ask again.

Where do we seek our shelter?





A sense of our own deprivation and weakness should drive us to Him
As He is that higher rock for shelter and support.
That is where we need to make our home.

Proverbs 30:26, ‘The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;’

As we admit the Lord is our shelter…

What can we do to possibly stay a little closer to home?
So when we get in trouble or hurt we are where we need to be?





Locusts

The locusts have no leader,
Yet, they go forth by troops,
Some miles in circumference, when they take wing.

They are little also, and have no king,
As the bees have,
But they go forth all of them by bands, like an army in battle.

And with such good order among themselves,
It does not inconvenience them
To apparently have no leader.

Proverbs 30:27, ‘The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;‘

What can we learn from this creature and apply to our lives?





They are called God's great army,
Because when He pleases,
He gathers them together and wages war.
As He did upon Egypt

Joel 2:25, ‘And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.’

They go forth all of them gathered together.
As we are also weak this should remind us to keep together,
That we may strengthen the hand of one another.

Isn’t it a little sad that these bugs are referred to as His great army rather than us?





Spiders

This is an amazing animal,
Both in the manner of constructing its house,
Its nets, and taking its prey.

I don’t have all the numbers but you can research all the properties of the spider’s web.
About how many times stronger it is than steel, pound for pound.
And about how much more it can stretch than rubber.

The spider, as great an example of industry in our homes
As the ants are in the field.
They are very ingenious in weaving their webs
With a fineness and exactness that we cannot match.

They take hold with their hands,
And spin a fine thread out of their own bowels,
With a great deal of art.

Spiders are not only in poor men's cottages,
But also in kings' palaces,
In spite of all the care that is there taken to destroy them.

The Lord must take care of these creatures,
As we do not provide for them
As we kill every one we see.

Proverbs 30:28, ‘The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.’

What does this verse say to you?





Job 8:13-14, ‘So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.’

To forget God means that you knew Him.
So this verse is not talking about the lost world.
It is talking to us.
God can take care of us like we take care of an unwanted spider web.

What can we take away from these verses?





Closing thoughts …


We are not to despise the apparent weak things of the world;
there are those that are little upon the earth,
poor in the world and of small account,
and yet are exceedingly wise.

They are wise,
They were made wise by their Creator.
All that are wise to salvation are made wise by the grace of God.

As we learned earlier,
The opposite of wisdom is foolishness.
If we are not wise we are a fool.

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