God's 'The Birds'

You have heard of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, but have you heard of God's "The Birds"? Hitchcock's was fictitious. God's is not.

Hollywood's The Birds is a 1963 film about a town in California that inexplicably becomes the target of random bird attacks. The story ends ambiguously, with a few beleaguered citizens limping their way out of Bodega Bay with only their car and their lives, as the flock of birds, now firmly entrenched on the rooftops and gateposts of the city, observe their flight in triumphant silence.

On my butterfly-catching expedition with my granddaughter, she and I meandered into a clearing where there was a pond ringed with cat-o'-nine-tails. I had seen one or two red-winged blackbirds in that place before and told my companion how fortunate we were to have this sighting of the crimson-epauletted fowl.

My granddaughter ran on ahead with her net while I lagged behind and watched. Suddenly I heard squawking and saw one of the avian residents swoop near to her head and then arc up again and land in the cattails. From there the bird flew menacingly back in the opposite direction, again veering close to the child before landing in a nearby tree. The process was repeated.

I told my granddaughter that we had probably walked too close to a nesting place and angered the parents, and that we had better walk to the other side of the pond, which we did. I noticed the strange activity immediately ceased when we left. Later on, just to confirm the theory, I ventured near the thick cluster of spiky cattails, and the precision dive-bombing maneuver resumed.

On the way home my granddaughter and I talked about how the birds are God's servants. She remembered how they had been dispatched to feed Elijah when there was a famine:

"And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening …" (1 Kings 17:6).

I told her something new, that the birds are also on reserve for a dreadful day of the Lord when God will once more dispatch them, to feast on his enemies:

"Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, 'Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great … and all the birds gorges with their flesh" (Revelation 19:17-21).

My granddaughter was awed but not afraid. I have told her many times, and she believes, that God will know how to protect His children from the day of Judgment.