It is well known that these treasured verses speak of how every human being is fully known by God and wholly significant to Him. If He is attune to each of the myriad tiny creatures we call birds, and tracks their flights through life, how much more does He watch our every step.
But what is the significance of the sparrow? Why was that particular bird chosen over all the others in God's creation? From reading these verses we see that during the time period when Christ was teaching, sparrows were worth next to nothing materially, since two of them were being sold for such a small sum. I have read that sparrows are considered to be very common birds--in appearance and plentitude. They have no striking or fanciful colorations, only humble shades of brown and gray. They are not difficult to come across--if you spot one you won't gasp in shock, and you won't find them on an endangered species list.
You see, God is watching even the humblest of His creatures. His eye is on every bird--not just the ones that some might consider to be the superstars of the bird world, due to their material worth, their fancy feathers, or their rarity. It seems this particular bird was chosen because it magnifies the object lesson these verses
teach: God doesn't measure worth in the same way the world sometimes does, and we are all unimaginably precious to Him!
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Relevant Verses:
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" ~1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)~
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have not compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands."
~Isaiah 49:15-16a (NKJV)~
"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." ~Isaiah 53:2 (NIV)~
"But many who have the highest place now will have the lowest place in the future. And many who have the lowest place now will have the highest place in the future." ~Matthew 19:30 (NCV)~
"For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."
~1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (RSV)~
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
~1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)~
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Quotation:
"God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love." ~Saint Augustine~
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Click on the following links to find interesting facts about sparrows and the Bible:
~ChristStory Bestiary: Sparrow: The Least
*This is a site which is devoted to animals in the Bible. It's a Christian site, but information about sparrows from apocryphal writings and from Greek mythology is also included; the Biblical facts are good, though.
*This is a site which is devoted to animals in the Bible. It's a Christian site, but information about sparrows from apocryphal writings and from Greek mythology is also included; the Biblical facts are good, though.
In this entry, I don't think the argument concerning Psalm 102:7 is convincing; compare it to ChristStory Bestiary's treatment of the verse.
~Facts about sparrows (Passer Domesticus) on wikipedia.com
~Facts about sparrows (Passer Domesticus) on wikipedia.com
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