The Croc’s Mouth; an Object Lesson of God’s

Crocodiles are among the most fearsome creatures on earth.  Based on a research conducted by National Geographic crocodiles have the most powerful bites ever recorded.  This places these creatures on top of an elite group of predators that includes sharks, eagles, hyenas, lions and tigers, and various breeds of dogs.

An incredible phenomenon of these creatures of extreme brute force is how they, on one hand, can use their mouths to perform the most brutal onslaught on their prey.  Yet on the other hand these very mouths are used as instruments of tenderness and care when handling their young.  It is a picture to die for to see a seemingly gleeful young croc’s head protruding through the sharp teeth of its mother’s mouth as it is transported to a place of relative safety (for better it is to see a young croc’s head than a human’s, which would usually mean the human’s a meal).

I find the extreme capabilities of an adult croc’s mouth to be an excellent object lesson of God’s mouth, or more specifically, His voice.  Psalm 29: 4, 5 say, “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.  The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, yes the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.”  There was a time recorded when the awful manifestation of this voice drove fear in the Israelites, and they begged Moses to face God in their behalf: “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die,” (Ex 20: 19).  

This voice though, which spoke the world into existence, “For He spake and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast,” (Psalm 33: 9) is sometimes used with a gentleness that makes it almost imperceptible.  1Kings 19: 11, 12 describe God’s interaction with Elijah as not through typical power sources as the wind, or an earthquake, or even through a fire.  Instead, God spoke in a “still small voice.” to guide us to a place of safety in God’s will.  Isaiah, as if in describing this voice articulates it this way, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” Isa. 30: 21.

Father in Heaven, thank You for Your patient care, guidance and protection of our lives.  Although You are such a powerful and awesome God, whose voice controls the forces of nature, and in whose presence we’d faint and die, yet You are contented to also dwell within our hearts and to be that still small voice that controls us.  Thank you for this awesome condescension and our desire right now is to ensure that our hearts are indeed inhabitable by You.  So clean us and fill us with Your Holy Spirit we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

This reading is based on Psalm 29.  To read and/or listen to Psalm 29 and to read other related blogs, please click here.

For a brief video about crocodiles see link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xJan1Ey9G4.