Making the most of the least of all commandments
It is said that the least of all commandments is the one about the bird’s nest. To be more specific, the scripture is in Deuteronomy 22:6 – 7:
“If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.”
Bird is the word
For most, this scripture is a moot point. When has any of us actually walked along the street and come upon a bird’s nest and think to ourselves, “Mmmm… eggs from some random bird! I think I shall eat them!”? If we’re honest with ourselves, the majority of folks (at least in “civilized” western culture) think of nature as dirty. Admit it. Would you go grab a pigeon and take it home and cook it? Gross! So we kind of feel that all birds that one finds in public are as dirty as pigeons. At least I do.
In addition, we also see birds as cute so we think differently about them, especially categorizing them as food. It would break our heart to go up to a nest with baby birds in it and shoo the mother away and take the babies home to fry up and eat like little hot wing game hens. I bet that last sentence just made you mad. See? I told you we think different.
Egg-cellent choice!
I would venture to guess that, of those of us who eat eggs, we only eat one kind of egg: chicken. When I go to the store, that’s pretty much all they have. They have different brands and varying degrees of hippie (i.e., organic, cage-free, free-range, etc.) but they don’t have a selection of eggs from different animals. You can’t get robin eggs or ostrich eggs or crocodile eggs. Sure, they may not be kosher but neither is beanie-weenie or lard and they readily sell those items. The point is, we have a limited “egg vocabulary” – we wouldn’t know what egg to eat in the wild unless we knew it was from a chicken. And I’ve never seen a wild chicken anyways so there’s another moot point. But what if we did have to feed ourselves with eggs from a nest? It couldn’t hurt to distinguish between wild “kosher” eggs and wild “non-kosher” eggs. And, trust me, they don’t come with the little circle “U” or triangle “K” or anything like that stamped on the shell.
So the first lesson deals with a bit of survival knowledge. If we go through the Great Tribulation, chances are we may not have a lot of meat with us. I do not own any cattle. None of my friends own cattle. And if they did own cattle, I doubt anyone would give up one of their cows just because I was in the mood for a hamburger. But we will need protein to survive. Eggs are a great source of protein and, in the wild, eggs may be easier to find than a cow or a goat. Chickens would be nice to take along but I don’t know if they travel well.
Mercy with eggs is an easy yoke
At the heart of the commandment is mercy. To take the mommy bird and leave the babies or unhatched babies there without their mother is just plain cruel. The motherless babies would die. But the mother bird can always lay more eggs. I understand that some may say that to take the eggs is not merciful unto itself, but would we apply that to all those chickens we take the eggs from? Don’t answer that question, vegans.
But that brings up an even deeper understanding of mercy in this scripture. The fact is, we may not have to eat the eggs. And if we don’t have to eat the eggs, we don’t have to shoo the mother away. And if we don’t have to shoo the mother away, she’ll have her babies which may grow up and lay eggs for us in the future to eat. All the while, we would be thinking about how to mercifully treat the bird and the babies.
Like other commandments, this commandment opens our eyes as to how we can apply the teaching to other aspects of our life. Looking at a bird and thinking of mercy helps us look at all life and consider mercy. So while the commandment may have some practical applications to wandering hungry folks who happen upon a bird’s nest, I feel the underlying teaching is to understand mercy and how it can nest in our hearts.
Written and illustrated by Jason Salas
Great post Jason & something to think about. In today’s world mercy is a quality that is sorely lacking. Whether to animals or fellow humans the Bible’s message of showing mercy is of great value. The only problem is getting people to read it, accept & apply it in their lives.
Love the eggs with the birdy legs sticking out the bottom, really cute.
I actually had baked pigeon in a restaurant in Hong Kong many many years ago when I visited there with the Navy. From what I remember it was quite nice.
Most of us would probably starve if there weren’t supermarkets or restaurants.
Mercy is something we could definitely use more of.
I love the story behind all of this. You really illustrate the verses well and make them easier to understand. Thank you for that, Jason.
Agree with George, you draw the comics very fitting to the verse. and yes, Bird is the Word
Thanks! Funny thing is, the verse also applies to the “young” birds along with the eggs but there’s something very odd about the image of a guy wanting to eat baby birds. He’s creepy enough as it is.