The Household of the Ant


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I was recently reading through the book of Proverbs and was, as always, intrigued by the references made to the ant.   As a child, I often lay upon the ground and watched ants as they worked busily.  I loved to watch them on their self-made super highways traveling from job site to ant mound and back again, often in as many as six lanes, three headed out and three headed in. Considering how frequently we battle them here, I was curious as to why the Bible mentioned them at all.  Well with good reason, as it turns out.  Here's what I read and what I learned in research.

Solomon mentions the ant in Proverbs 6:6-8  Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy fellow!  Learn from their ways and be wise!  For though they have no king to make them work, yet they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.  (TLB)  Other versions say, "having no king, or overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in summer and gathers her food in the harvest."

And Agur, in Proverbs 30:24-25:  There are four things that are small but unusually wise:  The ants are not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer. (NASB)



This week, after reading these references I did a quick study on ants, nothing very in depth but enough to show me still more the great knowledge that Solomon had as a naturalist and how well he had studied the ant.

Ants are social creatures.  Their lives are built on community.  They are industrious indeed and work tirelessly to feed and build the colony.  Ants are farmers and shepherds.  They have 'herd ants' that they shepherd onto plants infested with aphids and they harvest a by product the aphids produce on those plants.  There are even ants whose job is to move aphids from one plant to another so that the harvest can continue.  While ants do have a queen in their mound they are just naturally workers.  The males are drones whose sole job is to feed the queen and insure she lays eggs.  The females are the ones that keep the colony going.  Truly these creatures are fascinating...more so outdoors than within my house mind you!

Proverbs 6 is referring to the lazy fellow, a common enough reference throughout the Bible but especially in Proverbs, now that we're more aware of ants, we might interpret that to read 'woman' or 'female', as well.  I cannot ever be accused of being always busy but I do try to be industrious and get busy doing the work I see that needs to be done.  I find this verse certainly makes a statement for being self-motivated.  John is not much of one for the cracking of a whip over my head, lol.  However, if you read further references to the 'lazy fellow' in Proverbs you'll soon realize that the 'lazy fellow' will never be the one who prospers in any sense of the word.  I think that goes for the 'lazy woman' as well, don't you?

I also find that these verses, along with the description of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 pretty much can go hand in hand with that description.

It was only a short study on ants and just these two verses that spurred it on, but I thought you might be interested to learn about the humble ants as I did.

6 comments:

Lana said...

I wonder how many hours I whiled away watching ants when I was a kid.

I cannot work constanty all day like an ant but there is a rhythm to my days of work and rest and I get it all done most days.

Anonymous said...

If you were trying to make me feel any better about the ants in my back yard, you failed, miserably! LOL. Gramma D

Anonymous said...

Another analogy? ?? When ants want to do something they don't give up. They just keep on keeping on. If one way doesn't make it happen they try another way. They all have their own job and don't try to be something they are not. :) Ok that is all i've got!! They have always fascinated me too. Sarah

Karla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karla said...

I have always been fascinated by the lives of ants ever since the childhood fable of the ant and the grasshopper.

I have been struggled to be ant-like this year and have not really been so successful but life is changing again so I'm giving myself grace.

My mom passed away 2 weeks ago and with everything surrounding her home-going, the week spent at the hospital, the week preparing her funeral and then right after the funeral one of our dogs had a seizure and has been paralyzed on the back legs for the past week, I have felt like simply getting out of bed has been an accomplishment.

Mind you, I'm not depressed, or truly even sad, just very, very tired and so very read to find "normal" again.

And thanks to Sarah's additional comment, I'm reminding myself to keep trying and just be me.

Lana said...

Karla, I am so sorry to hear about your Mom. Giving yourself grace is wise. Day by day things will get better. Hugs.

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