Let me start off by clarifying something. I'm a devote Christian and I have no doubt that God is good and loving. So my question isn't to question His goodness but to understand what He meant.
So I was reading the Bible the other day and came across this: Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? Luke 12:24.
Sparrows and other birds do die without food in the wild. They get killed by other birds and animals too.
And here's another one from the same chapter:
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
I wonder what he meant there. Sparrows do get eaten by predators. I think here Jesus referred to sparrows because it's a relatively insignificant creature the audience would have seen. So they could understand His point better. Another small creature that comes to my mind is fish. One could argue that God feeds the fish too and not one of them is forgotten before Him. But Jesus had fish caught and eaten. He ate them too.
So exactly did He mean when Jesus said that?
For what it's worth, I'll throw this reference here as well. Lev 14:34 -
34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy(a mold on the wall in this context. You'll see that if you read the following verses) in a house of the land of your possession;
35 And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house....
In then goes on to describe how it should be prevented from spreading and whether drastic measures like demolishing the infected wall or the whole house is required. No talk about asking forgiveness from God or something. Nothing related to spiritual stuff. Yet verse 34 says "I put the plague of leprosy in a house".
Have I failed to understand any way of expression or idioms used by the Israelites? Or would you say God actually does those things? Feeding the birds, not forgetting the birds, putting mold on the walls, etc.
So I was reading the Bible the other day and came across this: Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? Luke 12:24.
Sparrows and other birds do die without food in the wild. They get killed by other birds and animals too.
And here's another one from the same chapter:
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
I wonder what he meant there. Sparrows do get eaten by predators. I think here Jesus referred to sparrows because it's a relatively insignificant creature the audience would have seen. So they could understand His point better. Another small creature that comes to my mind is fish. One could argue that God feeds the fish too and not one of them is forgotten before Him. But Jesus had fish caught and eaten. He ate them too.
So exactly did He mean when Jesus said that?
For what it's worth, I'll throw this reference here as well. Lev 14:34 -
34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy(a mold on the wall in this context. You'll see that if you read the following verses) in a house of the land of your possession;
35 And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house....
In then goes on to describe how it should be prevented from spreading and whether drastic measures like demolishing the infected wall or the whole house is required. No talk about asking forgiveness from God or something. Nothing related to spiritual stuff. Yet verse 34 says "I put the plague of leprosy in a house".
Have I failed to understand any way of expression or idioms used by the Israelites? Or would you say God actually does those things? Feeding the birds, not forgetting the birds, putting mold on the walls, etc.
