Raven

The raven is a large, entirely black bird — larger than a crow, with a deep, hoarse call and a heavy beak. It is an intelligent scavenger, eating dead animals, insects, seeds, and small creatures. It is found throughout the Middle East, particularly in desert, rocky, and wilderness areas. Its coal-black colour made it unmistakable, and under Mosaic law it was considered unclean — not to be eaten by Israel. And yet the raven carries a strange dignity in the Bible: it is the bird God chooses to demonstrate his providential care for the unglamorous and the helpless.

The raven was the first creature Noah sent from the ark after the flood — it flew back and forth over the receding waters until the land was dry (Genesis 8:7). Centuries later, when the prophet Elijah had to hide in the wilderness from King Ahab, God's method of provision was startling: twice a day, ravens brought him bread and meat at the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:4–6). An unclean scavenging bird, carrying food to a prophet — God using the lowly and the overlooked. Jesus drew on this in Luke 12:24: 'Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!' Psalm 147:9 adds that God provides for the young ravens when they cry.