For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. [Jeremiah 5:26 (ESV)]
Fowlers are professional bird catchers. In ancient Israel, they supplied the market with wild pigeons and doves destined for sacrifice, small birds (like quail) for food, and doves and other birds for caged pets. Since most of us get our poultry at the grocery, we’re probably unfamiliar with the fowler and his methods. To capture birds, fowlers spread nets or set traps and snares on the ground, camouflage them with natural materials, and cover them with grain. Tempted by the food, the birds leave the safety of the sky and come down to the ground where they are caught.
The fowler studies his prey’s behavior to find the best way to trap it. He wouldn’t hunt for a heron in the middle of a forest as he would for a dove, bait an eagle’s snare with seeds as he would for a sparrow, or use ground level noose traps for swifts as he might for quail. Sometimes the fowler used decoys by taking young birds from their nest and raising them by hand. Once tame, they were confined in hidden cages so that their voices would call others of their kind to the spot where they’d be trapped or killed. Knowing this about the fowler and his snares or traps, we can see why they frequently were used metaphorically in Scripture and likened to Satan. The enemy was the fowler, his schemes were the fowler’s methods and snares, and people were the silly birds with neither sense nor strength enough to escape the fowler’s snare.
When the prophet Amos asked, “Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it?” [3:5] he wasn’t speaking of sunflower seeds and sparrows; he was speaking of the bait Satan uses in his snares. Each of us is tempted by different things—it could be pride and resentment for one person and gambling and anger for another. Whether it’s selfishness, wealth, hypocrisy, appetite, indolence, lust, envy, or something else, Satan knows what appeals to each of us and his traps will be placed and baited accordingly. Like the fowler’s bait, the lure Satan uses promises pleasure but delivers disaster! After all, a few bits of millet is all the trapped quail gets before it ends up as someone’s dinner!
Just as the fowler knows, “It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it,” [Prov. 1:17], Satan’s snares don’t look like the traps they are! Few of us would deliberately step into a “den of iniquity” but things aren’t always what they seem. Like the fowler, Satan uses decoys to bring others into his snare. The influence of the pagans remaining in Canaan became a “snare and a trap” for Israel just as bad examples, friends, acquaintances, influencers, or associates can lure us into Satan’s snare.
The fowler doesn’t stand by his traps and shout out his plans and neither does Satan. Like the fowler, he uses trickery, deceit, distraction, and disguise to keep his prey from realizing the danger. We, however, are far smarter than little birds and God has not left us defenseless. Satan may be laying traps, but we don’t have to be his prey. Along with God’s word to light our way, we have God’s protection and the power of His Holy Spirit—when we’re dwelling in the “shelter of the Most High,” our “Maker’s care” will keep us “from the fowler’s snare.”
He that hath made his refuge God Shall find a most secure abode,
Shall walk all day beneath his shade, And there at night shall rest his head.
Then will I say, “My God, thy power Shall be my fortress and my tower;
I, that am formed of feeble dust, Make thine almighty arm my trust.”
Thrice happy man! thy Maker’s care Shall keep thee from the fowler’s snare;
Satan, the fowler, who betrays Unguarded souls a thousand ways. [Isaac Watts]
Devotions of the Heart 