A Theological Insight of "The Hunter Story"
A Theological Insight of “The Hunter’s Story”
In the deer hunting community, the month of November is known as “Rut-vember”; those first few weeks of the month when you are most likely to see deer in daylight (and when most deer get hit by cars!). In pagan lore, it is almost universally understood that when a man or group of hunters are successful, there is some form of cosmic coincidence that made it all possible. Native American and Inuit culture, for example, believe the animals “present themselves” for harvest. The ancients asserted such things as, “The stars or celestial bodies were aligned” or ascribe success to ancestral intervention. The spirit of the American frontier lives on today with sentiments such as, “I was just at the right place at the right time.” Ask any hunter about a successful encounter in the woods and the reply is almost always universally the same: there’s a story to it with personal meaning far beyond the historical events themselves. It is always an intricate culmination of preparation, time, effort, and the right split-second that usually leaves the person speechless in the moment, and only in hindsight, upon careful reflection, are all the pieces artistically woven together.
I could give you countless examples of personal anecdotes like this, but what’s far more interesting is how this all ties together theologically. Since there is such a universal experience for hunters across all times and places, there must be some truth to it. Consider Isaac’s question on one of the hills in the land of Moriah when he asks his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Gen 22:7b-8a). Abraham in that moment confessed and believed that God would provide the animal for harvest/the offering at just the right moment.
The concept of “right moment” is designated as a separate word in the original language of the New Testament. Whereas chronos is sequential time, hence the word chronology in English, kairos is the circumstantially coincidental time that English has a hard time describing. We understand the concept as something like “the timing was just right.”
The most common thread of experience for hunters in all times and places is that they were just at the right place at the right time. As someone once famously said, “Success is when preparation meets opportunity.” You can sit on stand for a hundred hours without seeing the game you’re pursuing, but then it all comes together in the twinkling of an eye.
Animals have always been biblically understood as God’s gifts. We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth (Gen 1:1). The works of God in creation include the land, animals, and all that we have. While we may be landowners or animal keepers (as pets or on farms), ultimately God “owns” them all. We are given to be stewards for a time.
When a man is hunting, while he relies on his skills and knowledge of the land and the animal itself, the biggest aspect of a successful hunt is completely out of his control. A man cannot force the animals to walk by him or come to his calls. The creatures simply go about their daily lives.
So, how do we explain the “hunter’s experience” when words cannot describe how “timing is everything” without repeating more cliches? Psalm 50:10-11 records the word of the Lord saying, “For every beast of the field is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.” The animals are His. He knows their movements. He knows their habits. He knows when and where they will move next. He knows what man can only guess at. All the scouting in the world does not guarantee success. Instead, God provides at His right moment.
If the hunter hopes to be successful, he should pray that the Lord Who owns the beasts of the field and knows all the birds of the hills, would send by one of them. And then, when all the preparation meets an opportunity, and success is reached, he can boldly confess that the Lord provided for Himself the animal for the harvest. It’s far more enchanting to credit chance, it’s far more romantic to ascribe it to ancestral mediation, but it’s not proper for Christians to speak this way. Instead, confess Christ! Give Him the praise and thanksgiving. A blessed “Rut-vember” to you all!
In Christ,
Pastor Hromowyk