The dove is pre-eminently the _sacred_ bird. "The dove among the
Semites had a quite peculiar sanctity." "Sacred doves that may not be
harmed are found even at Mecca." "We never read of it in the Old
Testament as an article of diet, though it is now one of the commonest
table-birds all over the East" (Smith's "Religion of the Semites," new
edition, pp. 219-294). As already noted, it was to the birds what the
lamb was to the animals--it derived its chief interest from its use in
_sacrifice_.
We find it in the purifying of the Nazarite (Num. vi. 10), in the
cleansing of the leper (Lev. xiv. 22); and, as the children will
remember, when Jesus was presented in the temple, His mother offered as
a sacrifice "a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons" (Luke ii. 24).
In the Virgin Mother's case the offering was the sacrifice of the
_poor_. For it is distinctly said in Leviticus xii. 8, "_If her means
suffice not for a lamb_, then she shall take two turtle doves or two
young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin
offering: and she shall be clean." Jesus, the Great Sacrifice, was born
in the homes of the poor. Not the vicious poor, whose poverty is the
measure of their thriftlessness; but the industrious poor, whose piety
is the measure of their honesty. "Though He was rich, yet for our sakes
He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich."
In stooping thus far He was manifesting the gentleness of the dove, and
we are summoned to copy His example. "Let this _mind_ be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus." He stooped to death, even the death of the
cross, and we are called upon to stoop to something similar--to the
great deep of self-surrender and self-sacrifice--the crucifixion and the
death of sin. This is the essence of all Christian sacrifice. We must
be crucified with Christ, and rise and live through Him. We must be
washed in His blood. We must be made great by His gentleness. We must
be like the dove and the lamb in _sacrifice_.
In character, in swiftness, and in sacrifice, imitate the dove.
*The Coney.*
"There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are
exceeding wise: ... the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they
their houses in the rocks."--Prov. xxx. 24-26.
"Little, _but exceeding wise_," that surely is a splendid diploma for
"feeble folk." If all the children in our homes would but try to gain
that "good degree," it would be a merit certificate of the highest
order, and well worthy of the best gilt frame to be had in the market.
Mr Moody, the evangelist, used to say, when speaking of college honours,
that he had no wish to be styled a B.D., a D.D., or an LL.D. He would
be content if he got W.D.--"_Well done_, good and faithful servant."
And the diploma granted to little folks in the school of the coney is
somewhat similar. They are "capped" on the day of graduation as an
L.B.E.W.--"Little, but exceeding wise."
Why, in their school, the distinction between big and little is simply
ignored. The little creature is no bigger than a rabbit, and yet,
strange to say, its nearest affinity is with the huge rhinoceros.
According to modern classification, it is placed between the elephant
and the horse. The shape of its teeth, and the form of its feet and
skull, make it a first cousin to the hippopotamus. There is little
difference between them, except in dimensions, and, as every schoolboy
knows, there is not much in a difference like that. If the huge
leviathan has nothing more to boast of than mere bulk, the little coney
can afford to sit on its rocky ledge and look down on its unwieldy
proportions with the utmost indifference. "Wisdom is better than
strength." It was the wisdom of the poor wise man that delivered the
city, and not the strength of the city walls. And it is not the bones
of the rhinoceros, but the wisdom of the coney, that will bring us true
success in life. "Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom,
and with all thy getting, get understanding."