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Isaiah 1:3 – Are We Better than a Dumb Dog?
Isaiah 1:3 – Are We Better than a Dumb Dog?
Animal metaphors are a common occurrence in most cultures. We can be “busy as a bee”, “quiet as a mouse”, “cunning as a fox”, “stubborn as a mule”, “quick as a hare”, “dumb as an ox”, or “wise as an owl”. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a satirical warning. Aesop used animals in fables to teach valuable morals. “Keep the change you filthy animal” is a fun quote from “Home Alone”. Animals have been used as a source of inspiration and derision since early…well I don’t know…maybe the garden of Eden?
What I do know is God compared Israel to animals, and the animals came out looking better!
- “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” (Isaiah 1:3, NASB 2020)
Most of us are not on farms, so we might recognize comparisons to dogs more readily. “Lazy as a dog” and living “A dog’s life” are usually said with a slight smile. Calling a grown man a “dog” is not a compliment, unless it involves sports. Probably one of the most common characteristics of a dog is loyalty based on unconditional love.
- “A dog loves its owner, and a dog trusts its master will fill the dog-bowl, But the church does not know, My people do not understand.”
Are we as loyal to God, and therefore by extension, to one another as a dog is to its owner? If we are not, isn’t it deplorable that a “dumb dog” is more loyal than someone in the image of God? Oh, and if you take offense to the phrase “dumb dog,” I how offensive is disloyalty when claiming to be made in God’s image?
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