Symbolism of Owls, etc

I have a question, wondering how you would respond to it. It may be that men would not consider it an issue but I do think females who 'create' will..

Ungodly society will take from nature pictures that will stand as a symbol of their beliefs, philosophy.

For example, the owl. You will find owls everywhere. They are cute. You will find designs of owl that can be used in embroidery; there are figures of owls used in interior decorating.

I checked into the symbol of the owl:
http://www.universeofsymbolism.com/symbolic-owl-meaning.html

I find this disturbing. God made the owl - long time before many ever perverted its image. I love owls - they are neat birds. Same to rainbows...

Years ago the New Agers and others used the rainbow - not seen much today.

Hey! people! God made the rainbow and its meaning there is beautiful! How can ungodly people usurp the beauty of God's creation and use it to symbolize their perversion? How should one respond to it? Do I have to abandon the uses of these images because man has perverted them?

What say?

EDITED

Men have peverted hunks of firewood for thousands of years by carving out idols. Doesn't mean we have to give up firewood.

We have owl salt and pepper shakers and at least two owls sitting on shelves. We too just think they are cool birds. I don't think about any symbolism at all.

If people want to pervert innocent things like owls and rainbows it is their problem, not mine.

Hey! people! God made the rainbow and its meaning there is beautiful! How can ungodly people usurp the beauty of God's creation and use it to symbolize their perversion? How should one respond to it? Do I have to abandon the uses of these images because man has perverted them?

Paul talked about eating food that was offered to idols. The food was perverted so to speak by its being set aside as an offering to a pagan god. Paul said that he had absolutely no problem eating the food, especially if he was hungry, because he saw it simply as a meal. The idol meant absolutely nothing to him, so the food had no significance other than to fill his belly. But he said that if there was any way his eating the food might cause his weaker brother to stumble, that he would refrain. See 1 Cor. 8.

I think the principle is the same.

Have you considered the references in the Word? The Lord may be dealing with a philosophy deep within you and bringing it to light. Why don't you share what the Lord shows you about them in the prophets?

Jeremy, the LORD has not really been giving me a clear answer other then what has been posted here.

In my heart I am so disgusted with sinful society who will usurp God's beautiful creation and use them as symbols of their idolatry.

I love owls. They are awesome birds. I remember dad catching one and placing him on a corn crib, feeding it dead chicks...beautiful bird. I was in awe of it then and still am, but never would it be an object of worship or a symbol of anything good or bad besides.

Am not sure what the prophets say about it...do you have a reference in mind, Jeremy? What is it?

Frogs are in the same vein. I know people who worship through collections of these, too.

And toads.

There are a few meanings we should consider.

Psalm 102: The owl is a symbol of loneliness.

Isaiah 13: a sign of sorrow from judgement.

Isaiah 34: A sign of a place given to wild beasts, judgement wherein the land is no longer life giving. The owl is an unclean bird, so it is listed here with others like the raven and thorns which represent the removal of God's blessing.

Isaiah 43: The owl is a sign of the wilderness where there is no abundance but the beasts praise for His Provision.

Jeremiah 50: A representation of forsakenness due to God's judgement such that man is no longer allowed to dwell in a land.

Micah 1: Their sound is used as a reference to wailing in mourning.

These are the references in the KJV and though there are references to it being unclean to eat and as a symbol of abandonment by God, the owl itself contains no power and by itself has no meaning or symbolism. If you examine the passages, each time God explicitly expresses the meaning for that situation.

There is a tendency in interpretation that will apply the same meaning in every situation for every symbol. As students of the Word, we need to be careful about this because Christ's fulfillment of prophecy showed us that it's understanding is hidden until the Spirit reveals the full meaning and fulfillment.

Does it mean we should not regard the impression given by a sighting as false? By no means, the Lord still speaks through providential circumstances, dreams and visions. Seeing an owl may be a blessing of the Lord or it may be sign from the Lord that judgement is coming on a place.

We need to be careful that we don't only hold a natural view which may influenced by our culture and upbringing. On a farm, owls are beneficial for pest control so there is an admiration for a God given provision that enhances our perception of their beauty. There are other more ingrained aspects of modern culture that has to do with the pursuit of knowledge that the cataloging of species resulting in beautiful illustrations devoid of the real nature of these animals. A wolf may beautiful in a picture or prancing behind the fence of an attraction but in the field with your sheep who are your substance and livelihood, they are menacing, cruel and opportunistic beasts who come to steal ,kill and destroy. Owls kill small rodents but what if the rodents were killed off and all remained were your chicks and they started to eat those. Your view of the owl would suddenly shift from admiration to disdain. A fox is beautiful when spotted in the woods but not in your chicken coop.

Jeremy, I appreciate you sharing these verses. I had no idea the OT talked so much about owls. Gives me a lot to think about...appreciate that.

After I posted I still kept thinking about this issue because it just plain troubled me, or bugged me.

Then I recalled an incident a few years ago of a customer that stopped by our business. They were from out-of-town on the way home from attending the Mardi-Gras in New Orleans. The lady was so excited about all the strings of beads she got and ended up giving me several. They were nice; I thought I could use them in crafting, somewhere.

But I was troubled about using them because of their source. I talked to my husband and he thought I should throw them away! I thought they were too nice for that and told him so - that did not matter to him. I went on FB and posted this question: do I keep them or throw them away? The responses were very interesting. Most said throw them! The one who said to keep them was a friend of mine!

I discarded them.

This incident taught me now that in the case of the owl, the rainbow, the color red, etc. are made by God. And he called it good. It is original form it glorified God and still does in nature.

In the case of these beads they were made by man to be used at an event characterized by sin, debauchery. Anyone who has ever seen these beads will recognize them. If I use them in some craft someone may recognize its source and wonder at my spirituality - could offend them.

To me now the issue is clear, I understand - I think. Thanks for helping me.

Sandra

You can usually tell where someone is at by the jewelry they have on or even their cloths eg (Palestinian scarf) even before they open their mouth to speak. Or if you are invited to their house, they seem to have certain objects eg (Owls etc). They seem to be drawn to these things, in what the World would call subconsciously. But I say there is definitely a spiritual element to the whole thing.

Sandra, you mentioned the color red, which reminded me of something I had read from the writings of Richard Wurmbrand about the color red. Whether he is right or wrong I do not know. But I will share it with you anyway.

Blessings Steve

Behold, a great, fiery red dragon" (Revelation 12:3). Why is this dragon, whose intent is to devour the Christ child, colored red?

Sin is also associated with red. It would seem that to speak about the color of sin would have as much sense as speaking about the melody of a fruit, but God says, "Let us reason together...Though [your sins] are red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). So sin is red and righteousness is white.

It was no accident that Communism and Nazism, the two great anti-Christian movements of our age, both chose red flags. Not only did they fulfill a prophecy, but the choice also derived from a source deep within the experience of mankind.

The French psychologist Alfred Binet related an experiment with a hysterical woman whose body was paralyzed on one side. When a dynamometer was placed in her right hand, she could squeeze it to register only 12 kg. If she was shown a red disk, the pressure of her squeeze was immediately doubled ("Researches about the alterations of conscience with hysterical persons," Philosophical Magazine, vol. 17, 1889, France).

Goethe, who developed a theory of light, also attributed dynamic character to the color red, which he distinguished as being an active colour. Every color is a suffering of light, because colors are produced by light breaking through a prism. Red is its greatest suffering.

All primitive people have a predilection for red, and so do little children.

White is not actually a color, but the fullness of light, light which has not passed through a prism. The righteous will stand before Christ, the Lamb of God, clothed in white (Revelation 7:9). In contrast to the color of the dragon, white is the color of quietness, of contemplation, the good part chosen by Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:42).

The servants of the red dragon delight in the sight of blood. Persecutors have shed rivers of martyrs' blood. The righteous, on the other hand, are givers of life. In a world dominated or terrorized by the red dragon, in a world where love is scarce and relationships are icy, the righteous bring the warmth of love.

After I wrote what I did about owls I decided my life does not depend upon owls, its use in my home decorating. They are just cute and as such there are other things I can use, other birds... think I will discard it. I will still love owls but never will I want to be a stumbling block to anyone just because of a frivolous thing.

Steve, interesting thing you shared about the color red. When I was a child one would hear sermons about using this color in clothing, but that was many years ago - most people today never heard a sermon that included this warning. But you know what? while I love that color in flowers, in birds or nature I still cannot wear any clothing that is solid red. There is something within me that prevents me from buying any clothing that is solid red.

We know red is the color harlotry has used to symbolize their craft - "red light district".

Steve, do you wear red?

G'day Sandra,

I do not wear red but in saying that I do not think many men do either. Men will buy a loud red car instead. Behind both is the desire to be looked at and be the center of attention. As believers our desire is to bring Jesus to be the center of attention. But as you said the color in nature is beautiful.

Blessings Steve

Men do love red cars, don't they! And sportier the better.

Personally, I do not judge anyone for wearing red or driving a sports car. But I do question a person's humility who has a penchant for driving expensive vehicles. I always get the sense they must have a huge ego and wonder how easy it is to live with them?

Just my thoughts.

Sandra

quote:

"Or if you are invited to their house, they seem to have certain objects eg (Owls etc). They seem to be drawn to these things, in what the World would call subconsciously. But I say there is definitely a spiritual element to the whole thing."

This is a bunch of BS, for lack of a better term.

Why in the world would you take owl decorations out of your house if you like them? Who in their right mind would say that a little owl statue "stumbles" them?

Ridiculous.

There are other more important things to worry about. Gee whiz.

Backup your position.

Red is the color of action. I think people are always drawn toward it. It is no accident that Target stores are done in gobs of red, it is there to make people get more excited and spend more money. Focus group tested, I am told.

It is also the color of the Blood, for what that is worth. I wear red a lot, and my little cross flag pin on the collar looks good on the red field. I think part of why I like wearing red is because I am old and look pretty drab in blah colors!

Hmmm. Wonder how my wife would react if I brought home some red owl decorative pieces and set them around the house??

Interesting that when I ordered shirts for a customer this morning, I had them throw in a red one for me. I will put the ministry logo on it and wear it to preach in! That should hold some attention maybe?

I think I am going to get a red owl. When people from church come over for life group they'll be swooning. But I'll have smelling salts ready.

TMK,

Why do you mock? Do you know what that speaks of you?

Quote: Personally, I do not judge anyone for wearing red or driving a sports car. But I do question a person's humility who has a penchant for driving expensive vehicles. I always get the sense they must have a huge ego and wonder how easy it is to live with them?

Could also be the very opposite as well - for example they don't think very highly of themselves and the car is the something they use to boost there 'image', make them feel good...