The spider taketh hold
with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. (Prov 30:28)
We may have little regard for the cunning spider, but if the spider is
important enough to be included in God’s Word, it must of sufficient importance
to bear meditating upon. How many people do you know, common or exalted, who
live in a king’s palace? Perhaps you know no one personally, or, at best, maybe
one. Certainly, it is to be hoped that you know at least One – the King
of Kings!
God uses the spider, as He does the lowly ant, to teach us lessons that we
larger species often fail take note of – these are lessons of great importance
for they are the lessons of life itself. Like the ant, the spider is
industrious and persevering. Christians SHOULD be of the same disposition. “Whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (Eccl
9:10) God gives us
life for a purpose, and that purpose is not to while it away on the sofa! We
are to use the life God has given us to accomplish purposeful tasks – tasks
that of which the Lord approves. We have the inspiration of the Holy Ghost as
our helpmate in all our Godly tasks. We are not to have a fickle attitude
toward those labors to which He has called us but persevering. The evidence of
our salvation is demonstrated in the way we serve. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved.” (Matt 24:13) So at least two things we learn
from God’s creative genius that He has imparted to the spider is diligence and
perseverance.
The spider does not begin to build her silken home before assessing the
foundations of her web and the traffic necessary to feed her family. She
chooses sturdy branches on either side of a well-beaten path upon which to
affix her strings of silk. It is not a haphazardly conceived structure, but
very well planned out with wisdom and cunning. I once knew a man who built a
house in my hometown on property that he discovered later that he did not own.
I read of people in parts of our great land that choose the soft slopes of
mountains upon which to build and, then, with every flood, the homes are
destroyed by mudslides. Yet, they rebuild again in the same spot. 24 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was
founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the
fall of it.” (Matt
7:24-27)
Anyone who has closely examined a spider’s web will admit the spider is an
accomplished mathematician and engineer. He divides the segments of his web in
near perfect equals. He designs the web in such a way that each strand gives
the maximum support to the whole. He most often labors under cover of darkness
as a great army moves into position for a surprise attack. His victims
did not witness the building of the web until they are caught in its intricate
strands. The garden spider uses two different types of threads – the one
called mooring cables that are not sticky, but anchor the structure that is
constructed by the silken threads into the maze that entraps creatures that fly
into it unknowingly. In a certain sense, the spider also does the devil’s work
in presenting an innocent-appearing environment into which unsuspecting youth
fall prey through neglect of care for their souls. The inner maze of threads
are coated by the spider with a super, glue-like substance which immediately
captures any insects that contacts it.
Did you know that each strand of the spider’s web is composed of about 5,000
smaller strands joined together? This adds to the strength of the web
significantly and is a brilliant engineering feat.
Another characteristic of the spider is that they are vigilant. They have a
heart for their labors, and a set of six or eight eyes that are always open to
see the prey. 27 For the
heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and
I should heal them.
(Acts 28:27)
Because the lackluster Christian has no heart for his duties to God and man, he
closes his eyes to the wretched condition of others around him, and to the
truth of God’s Word.
The spider is highly sensitive to atmospheric conditions. When rain is
approaching, he will usually retire to his ‘parlor’ and await the coming
sunshine. He loves light more than darkness. The sinner and luke-warm Christian
demonstrate just the opposite nature” “19 And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every
one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
(John 3:19-21)
Though tiny and lowly, the spider does not hesitate to approach the king’s
palace to make his abode there. Many greater beings are fearful to approach the
king’s palace, but the spider has the audacity, as a forlorn sinner, to
approach the king and makes his home with him. The sinner is often hesitate to
approach the Mercy Seat for fear that his sins are too great, but the Savior is
greater than any sins we bear; and He has the power and authority to forgive
ALL. He will welcome the worst of repentant sinners to come and make his abode
with Him. In fact, we need not move from our place, the Lord will come and live
with us if we receive Him. See what the Lord says to Zacchaeus: “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come
down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” (Luke
19:5)
It matters not if spider, ant, leviathan, or whatever other creature God has
made; if God is with you and the creature he has chosen for your rescue, any
such creature can be used of God to accomplish His desires. There are varied
accounts of the following story, but I have chosen this one which seems to be
of greatest antiquity:
“A young soldier found himself in a terrible battle during the Scottish
Reformation. The enemy was soundly defeating this young man's army. He and his
comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battle field in defeat,
running away in fear of their very lives. The enemy gave chase. This young man
ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, soon found himself cut off
from his comrades in arms.
“He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave.
Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase,
chose to hide there. After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the darkness,
desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies.
He also made a bargain with God. He promised that if God saved him, he would serve
Him for the remainder of his days.
“When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw
a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched
the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young
soldier pondered its irony. He thought, "I asked God for protection and
deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?"
“His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon
discover his hiding place and kill him.
And soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now
scouring the area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly
walked up to the cave's entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness,
hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his own
life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.
“As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he
came upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across the
opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There can't be
anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider's web to enter the
cave. Let's move on."
“Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by
becoming a preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal. He wrote:
"Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where
God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."
Have you learned any lesson from the spider, friend?
