What is the Great Speckled Bird in the old Roy Acuff gospel song?
This is an apt description, Biblically – and Lyrically for the song, of the Word of God (referring to the meaning in the original manuscripts), and those who know that it is the work of The Holy Spirit to guide the believers in that which Christ has provided through the Cross and His Resurrection, into becoming a consecrated people known as The Church. The two become One as The Living Word becomes alive in applying scriptures to daily living circumstances and that is the work of The Holy Spirit.And this is the Christian’s work of living the Christian life, ie., believing and applyhing the Gospel of Jesus Christ rather than a gospel of tradition or written by man and depending upon The Holy Spirit to accomplish this goal within himself/herself,the believer, who also knows that he/she cannot be righteous in and of themselves. The Bible is explicit in explaining that Holy Men of God have written the words that the Holy Spirit has given them to record; thus the canonizing of that which is
Old Roy actually misinterpreted Jeremiah 12:9 when he sees the great speckled bird as a positive symbol. Jeremiah was calling out the Israelites for mingling their beliefs with those of the neighboring cultures (hence the bird is speckled and not pure). He calls upon the surrounding peoples to attack Israel. To Roy, the Bird represents his religion/Faith. Everyone attacks him for it but they can find no fault in it.
