Raven

Scripture references: Genesis 8:7; Leviticus 11:15; Deuteronomy 14:14; 1 Kings 17:4–6; Job 38:41; Psalm 147:9; Proverbs 30:17; Song of Songs 5:11; Isaiah 34:11; Luke 12:24

The first bird — Genesis 8:7 — Before the dove, Noah sends out a raven. "He sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth." The raven does not return — either because it finds carrion floating on the receding waters and feeds there, or because its behavior pattern is simply to range without returning to a fixed point. Whatever the reason, the raven gives Noah no information. The dove is sent next, and the dove's returns or non-return are what mark the stages of the flood's recession. The raven's role is to be sent first — and to deliver nothing.

Unclean but commissioned — Leviticus 11:15 — The raven is listed among the unclean birds: any raven of any kind is unclean. It is a carrion feeder and not fit for sacrifice or human consumption. Yet YHWH uses ravens as his instruments of provision in 1 Kings 17.

Elijah at the Wadi Cherith — 1 Kings 17:4–6 — When Elijah pronounces drought and then hides from Ahab, YHWH tells him: "You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." The ravens bring Elijah bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. For an undetermined period, the prophet who announced the drought is fed by birds that are themselves unclean in the Torah. YHWH commands the unclean bird; the unclean bird obeys. The mechanics of how ravens reliably deliver cooked bread and meat twice daily is not explained. The text simply says YHWH commanded them and they obeyed.

Who feeds the raven's young — Job 38:41; Psalm 147:9 — In YHWH's speech from the whirlwind, he challenges Job: "Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?" (Job 38:41). Psalm 147:9 says YHWH "gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry." The raven's young are loud, needy, and conspicuously fed — a sign of YHWH's ongoing provision in the created world. The parents allegedly abandon the young ravens early; the young cry to YHWH and he feeds them. This folklore, embedded in Scripture, makes the raven's young a symbol of helpless dependence being met by divine care.

Consider the ravens — Luke 12:24 — Jesus says to his disciples: "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!" The ravens here are not symbolic of any specific quality — they are simply the birds Jesus's listeners know go unfed by human provision and are nonetheless fed. The argument is from the lesser to the greater: if YHWH feeds creatures that cannot plant or store, he will feed his people. The raven, the unclean bird, the bird that gave Noah nothing, becomes the illustration of the Father's care.

The black of the raven — Song of Songs 5:11 — The beloved describes her lover's hair: "his locks are wavy, black as a raven." The raven's glossy black is proverbially deep and consistent — a color comparison for the darkness of hair.

Desolation — Isaiah 34:11 — Among the creatures that will inhabit the desolated Edom: "But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it." The raven as a creature of ruins and desolation appears in the prophetic judgment literature.

The raven is the bird that YHWH sent first from the ark, that gave Noah nothing, that is unclean in the Torah, and that YHWH then commanded to feed his prophet bread and meat twice a day in the wilderness. Jesus points to ravens to teach non-anxiety about provision. The Sanctum holds the raven as Canon-tier — the unexpected instrument, the creature outside the pure categories, through whom YHWH provides.