Jackals which belong to the dog family are smaller than wolves and larger than foxes. In the Bible, the jackal is depicted to be an animal that inhabits desolate and abandoned homes that have been subject to divine judgment (Isaiah 34:13). The prophet Isaiah, also records that the jackals (amongst other beasts of the field and birds) will honor God, because of God’s provisions to His chosen people (you and me).
Jackals have a distinctive howl. In fact the prophet Micah, is described in Micah 1:8 as one lamenting (wailing and howling) like a jackal as he pronounces God’s impending judgment and exile on God’s people for their rebellion.
So what can we learn from the jackals?
As prophet Micah expressed, we must have an yearning and our hearts should ache, making us lament and wail and cry (howl like the jackal) for those who have not experienced salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and believing that He is the son of God, who came into the world, died as an atonement for all sin, and who was buried and rose from the dead to be alive today. We must cry (howl like the jackal) for those around us who are rebelling against God, on whom his impending judgment will be poured out. We must cry (howl as the jackal) for those souls that are not saved.
Isaiah 43:20 (NASB)
20 The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert,To give drink to My chosen people.
Micah 1:8 (NASB)
8 Because of this I must lament and wail, I must go barefoot and naked; I must make a lament like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches.
