What Does the Bible Say About Owls?

Do Screech Owls Represent an Evil Spirit?

The other day, a dear friend shared that they wondered if a spirit of strife had come into their life because they had purchased a secondhand print of screech owls. My friend explained a prominent prophet had gotten rid of the owl collection they had on top of their fridge after receiving a word of wisdom that this collection of owls represented an evil spirit.

I do believe this very reliable prophet received an important word. However, it seems to me that this prophetic word was not about owls - it was about something much more important.

Scripture:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:20 προφητείας μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε ;

Are owls representative of evil spirits? Should we be tossing out all the images of owls in our homes? 

What should we do when we receive a word like this?

My go-to action is to pray. When I prayed about this question about owls and the spirit they might represent,  I was led to several surprising discoveries in scriptural translation that seemed to support what I received in the spirit. The word this prophet received was not about owls!

Owls are Not Evil - Free Image from No Longer Here on Pixabay

Today's word from Dr. David Jeremiah emphasizes the importance of using scripture for winnowing out wheat from chaff and the revelation we receive.  This post contains what I learned about owls in the Bible, scriptures related to the importance of prophetic revelation and an excerpt from the email I was led to read from Dr. David Jeremiah.

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What Should People Do with the Revelation They Receive?

So often in today's world when people search for answers to questions, the first source they turn to is Google or Bing.

However, due to how search engines work, we may not receive true answers - but the most popular answers. Is that really what we want when seeking answers to spiritual messages?

 There are some excellent demonstrations in the Bible of what we should do when we receive what we believe is a word of revelation. 

In today's Turning Point email from Dr. David Jeremiah, he points to the example of Christ's actions when battling Satan's lies in the desert - What did Our Messiah do? He quoted scripture!

Since Satan traffics only in lies (John 8:43-44), he is more than ready to feed us bad information about God. And his lies can only lead to a bad outcome in our relationship with God. Satan tried to give Jesus bad information when they had an encounter in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Satan misrepresented God and His Word three times. But Jesus countered his lies with a correct rendering of God’s truth with three verses from Deuteronomy. - Dr. David Jeremiah Turning Point Message Thursday, November 16th,2023.

I believe that evil loves to feed us lies about all kinds of things- not just lies about Our Creator. 
In John 10:10, Our Messiah cautions us:

The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

Just before searching for explanations of the translation of the word "owl" in scripture, my eyes fell on a constellation on my pillowcase that looked like a bird with kind of a boxy body and a long neck seated on the ground.

Fantasy Constellation on My Dollarama Pillowcase

I wondered what this might mean. It certainly did not look like any owl I had ever seen.

Next, I started to search the scriptures looking for the word "owl"

So what scriptures are relevant to the word of knowledge this prophet received?

Scriptures Referring to Owls

Did you know that owls might not even actually be mentioned in the Bible?

Perhaps, like me, you might recall reading scriptures that we are told not to eat owls. 

When I searched the King James Version of the Bible, I found that this  English translation of the Bible mentioned owls  8 times. 

• Leviticus 11:16
• Leviticus 11:17
• Deuteronomy 14:15
• Deuteronomy 14:16
• Psalm 102:6
• Isaiah 34:11
• Isaiah 34:14
• Isaiah 34:15

However,  the English word "owl" was chosen to represent the Hebrew phrase 

הַ/יַּעֲנָה is not an accurate translation!

What does this Hebrew phrase mean?

Well, according to Google Translate, the answer is.

Google Translate Translating Hebrew

Yup! Google Translate tells us the answer is "The answer"! That certainly made me laugh! Reminds me of this old vaudeville sketch "Who's On First?"

Well, we all know that Google Translate is probably not the world's best authority when it comes to translating ancient languages. So, let's see what the experts have to say about the word or words translated as owl.

The Blue Letter Bible offers three translation notes connected to this ancient Hebrew phrase:

• Brown-Driver-Brigs Lexicon gives the translation of this word as "the voracious one", or ostrich.
• Gesenius' Hebrew-Chalde Lexicon also refers to this word as being an ostrich "so called from its greediness and gluttony".
• Strongs H3284 tells us that this word is pronounced yah-an-aw and means the daughter of the ostrich or perhaps a long-extinct bird.  It also states that this Hebrew phrase comes from the root word yah - en which has to do with a bird that has an answering cry.

 So this bird translated as "owl" may not even be an owl, but an ostrich or a long-extinct bird! I found this very surprising - especially since my eye had been drawn to that star formation that looked like a long-necked bird!

Scriptures that Have to Do with Collections of Figurines

On the other hand, I wonder if this prophet was being told to get rid of this set of figurines - not because they are owls, but because they had become precious to him.

Repeatedly, in the Bible, we are told not to see the things of this world as precious. Anyone who has been through a devastating loss of material possessions can understand how attachment to physical things can make us quite ill.

Some scriptures that point to the importance of not collecting things include:

• Matthew 6:19 where we are told not to _______
• Matthew 19:23  where we are told about the problem of being rich in this world.
• Matthew 19:24 - easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than ____
• Mark 10:25 - also records the proverb about the camel
• Luke 6:24 - The rich have already been rewarded.
• Luke 12:21 compares people who lay up treasures here rather than in heaven.

How do you know if your possessions have become like a precious god to you? I have been truly blessed with having had most of my belongings removed from my possession multiple times. Through these experiences, I have gradually learned to treasure possessions less and less.

Questions to Ask Ourselves About Our Possessions

1. Can I walk away from these things easily and without regret? Think about what Our Messiah told His disciples to take with them - only a walking stick!
2. How would I feel if someone were to take this item from me? Could it send me into a tailspin of mourning?  
3. How would I feel if someone were to smash this or ruin it?  Would I be shoved off my shoes of peace and respond in anger?

The Dangers of Collecting 

If we start to see things in this world as precious to us, evil can use those things against us in a variety of ways. I know, I used to like to collect things too. 

5 Ways Evil Uses Our Collections Against Us

1. Collections steal our time. When you start making a collection of things whether it is spoons, cows, eggs or owls, it starts to take up your time in a variety of ways. First, there is the time spent searching for items to add to our collection. It can even start taking up the time of family and friends as they search for elusive pieces to gift us for our collection. Then there is the time spent caring for our collection. It can take a good part of a day to keep collections clean, rearrange them, and display them. How do you think Our Creator would prefer we spend our time?
2. Collections steal our money. Even if you are like a friend of mine who collects sticks and stones - possessions take up space in our homes. Usually, we need to pay rent and utilities to maintain that space. Then too - there is money paid to insure our collections. How do you think Our Creator would prefer we spend these funds?
3. Collections steal our affections. When things become precious to us it can destroy our relationships with others. Perhaps you might recall having heard someone say that people with children are best not to call on them because the children might break some of their precious items. Oh, my - what a lonely life a person with precious collections must live.
4. Collections can be used by evil as a bargaining tool. Often people with an evil spirit on them will threaten to damage whatever we hold as precious to get us to bend to their will. Frequently they will offering to not harm this bargaining chip or let us keep that precious item if we do what they want. Evil spirits , by the way, are not known for keeping their promises.
5. Collections can steal lives. How many lives have been lost in the protection of collections? Every year we hear about someone dying in a home invasion, or the invasion of a museum or art gallery. Protecting collections costs lives. Are collections more important than the life of a person?

From a thorough examination of scripture, I believe the evidence speaks for itself. The prophet needed to get rid of this collection of figurines - not because they were screech owls - but because it was a collection. 

I do not doubt that he may have received a word to chuck them out because they represented an evil spirit - but I believe that spirit had more to do with it being a collection- rather than it being owls.

According to my research, owls are not even mentioned in the Bible let alone linked to an evil spirit, However, the collection of items is definitely ill-advised in scripture for good reason.

Sources:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:20 Texus Receptus Blue Letter Bible
• Dr. David Jeremiah Turning Point Message Thursday, November 16th,2023.
• Owls in the Bible - KJV search Blue Letter Bible
• Meaning of Yah-an-aw Blue Letter Bible

About This Author

Sister Su is grateful to God for keeping her alive. She is a Trent/Queen's Concurrent Education graduate with over 20 years of teaching experience. She writes on several blogs, has a YouTube channel and is most easily reached through Twitter @Sister_Su See her link tree for more details:@Sister_Su | Linktree

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