Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Rev. Murray Adamthwaite
for Sunday 23rd August 1998

From the Pastor: Animal Lessons X

"The turtledove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration; but My people do not know the ordinance of the LORD." Jeremiah 8:7 Migratory birds never fail to fascinate observers, and the more that is known of their migrations the more amazing they appear. The swift, in its various sub-species, is known virtually the world over. It breeds in northern latitudes including the Near East, then winters in Southern Africa (!), and returns over those thousands of miles to its original home. Similarly, the thrush and many other species of small birds fly along the Palestinian corridor during the autumn en route to southern latitudes for the northern winter. The sight of migratory birds during autumn and spring are a common sight in the Syria-Palestine region. The prophet, while not a scientist in the modern sense of the term, observes that by some inbuilt, infallible instinct these birds can find their way to and from their home, and at the proper times, but the people who should know the Word of God have no instinct for it, unlike these migratory birds. Indeed, they are entirely ignorant of anything to do with the Word. Is it any different now? The liberal churches for years have had no real interest in the Scriptures, hence widespread ignorance prevails there. But is it any better with the evangelical churches? The time was when any Sunday School child could repeat the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Beatitudes, among many other texts and short passages. Alas, in many quarters that is no longer the case. Then some sections of the evangelical churches appear to place more emphasis on alleged prophetic utterances on their assemblies than of the Scriptures. As for the world at large we need only to watch "Sale of the Century", whenever a Biblical question is asked, to see Biblical illiteracy in the raw. In this climate, therefore, we who value Bible knowledge must take a lesson from the migratory bird: to "home in" on the Word as to nothing else, to say with David, "From the end of the earth I call to Thee when my heart is faint" (Psalm 61:2).