THE BIBLE AND ANIMALS
ANIMALS AND GOD
God created all the animals (Psalm 104).
"Then God commanded, 'Let the earth produce
all kinds of animal life; domestic and wild,
large
and small, and it
was done. So God made them all, and He was pleased with what He saw.
" Genesis 1:24, 25
All animals belong to God (Psalm 24:1).
"All the animals in the forest are Mine and
the cattle on thousands of hills. All the wild
birds
are Mine and all
living things in the fields." Psalm 50:10, 11
God cares for the animals (1 John 4:16).
"Look at the birds flying around . . . your Father in Heaven takes care of them" Matthew 6:26
"He gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call." Psalm 147:9
The Bible describes the Angels around God's throne as
having features and characteristics like those of a
lion, a bull and an
eagle (Ezekiel 1). God Himself is likened in Scripture to a lion, a
leopard, a bear
(Hosea 13:7, 8), and to an eagle (Deut. 32:11).
Jesus is described as "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29
Jesus identified Himself with all the innocent animals who had been
sacrificed for the sins of mankind and declared that His was the final
sacrifice. Jesus abolished animal sacrifices and so Christianity has
always rejected the need for further bloodshed of animals (Hebrews 9:12,
26).
"For the blood of bulls and goats can never
take away sins. For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the
world, He said to God: You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but
You have prepared a body for Me. You are not pleased with animals burnt
whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins. Then I said,
'Here I am to do Your will, O God.'" Hebrews 10:4-7
The Scriptures reveal God's anger against man's
sinfulness. God condemned the type of wholesale slaughter
of animals in
Judaism as a cover-up for their disobedience
(Psalm 40:6-10).
"I gave your ancestors no commands about
burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices, when
I brought them
out of Egypt. But I did command them to obey Me, so that I would be
their God
and they would be My people. And I told them to live as I
commanded them, so that things would
go well for them. But they did not
obey Me or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their
stubborn
and evil hearts told them to do and they became worse instead of
better." Jeremiah 7:22;24
There is only one way of salvation and that is through
the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - the
Lamb of God who
died to redeem sinful mankind (Revelation 5:12, 13). He died with the
result that no other
animals need die . . . for man's sinfulness."
Jesus is also known as "The Lion of the tribe of Judah"
(Revelation 5:5) and it is interesting to notice that He was born in a
stable among animals
rather than in an inn among sinful people (Luke
2:7), that He rode a lowly donkey in triumph into Jerusalem on that
great day of the feast
(Matthew 21:5) and that He is prophesied to
return again in glory
as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, riding on a
white horse
(Revelation 19:11).
The Holy Spirit is symbolised by a dove (John 1:32),
and He
chose to reveal Himself as like a pure and gentle bird
(Matthew
3:16) at Jesus' baptism.
The Bible records at least one occasion when God spoke
through an animal (Numbers 22:28-33). Balaam's donkey showed greater
spiritual
perception than the prophet himself did.
Obviously animals matter to God because the presence of animals
in
Nineveh is recorded as a reason for God's mercy in not
destroying that
sinful city.
"How much more then, should I have pity on
Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than
120 000 innocent
children in it, as well as many animals." Jonah 4:11
ANIMALS IN HEAVEN
A controversial question is whether it is God's plan
for animals to be in heaven or not. Many Christians believe that heaven
just would not be heaven without animals. Certainly I believe that the
Creator of millions of different species
of animals, birds, insects and
fish is a God who loves variety and prizes His creation. I cannot
believe that
Heaven will only be populated by angels and saints. From a
careful study of the Bible I have become
convinced that Heaven will be
richer in vegetation and animal life than the most paradise-like part of
earth
could ever be. Where people get the idea of harps and clouds
from, I don't know. God has a far greater plan than we can imagine.
"This plan, which God will complete when
the time is right, is to bring all creation together,
everything in
heaven and on earth, with Christ as head." Ephesians 1:10
"Wolves and sheep will live together in
peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats, calves and lion cubs
will feed together, and little children will take care of them. Cows
and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in
peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do . . . The land will be as
full
of knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water." Isaiah 11:6-9
"Search in the Lord's book of living
creatures and read what it says. Not one of these creatures
will be
missing and not one will be without its mate. The Lord has commanded it
to be so;
He Himself will bring them together. It is the Lord who will
divide the land among them and
give each of them a share. They will live
in the land age after age, and it will belong to them for
ever." Isaiah 34:16, 17
When the revealed Word of God teaches us that God's
eternal plan is for "all creation" to be brought together under Christ
then it includes all wildlife too. When God says "everything", He means
everything - animals included.
When He says that they will live for "age after age",
"forever", this means eternal life. Only one place will last
forever,
and that is Heaven.
That great book of worship in the Bible - the Psalms -
reveals that all God's creation have contact with God
(Psalm 93). All
God's creatures praise Him (Psalm 145:10). It is only mankind who needs
forgiving and
saving and teaching as to how to worship (Psalm 36 &
51), the animal kingdom worships God continually
and naturally.
"Praise Him, hills and mountains, fruit trees and forests; all animals, tame and wild, reptiles and
birds." Psalm 148:9, 10
"Be glad, earth and sky! Roar
sea and every creature in you: be glad fields and everything in you!
The
trees in the woods will shout for joy." Psalm 96:11, 12
The last book of the Bible presents the final climax of
the ages when all creation faces the Creator. First the
four living
creatures (the animal-like angels around God's throne as described in
Ezekiel) praise God, then the twenty-four elders, then the redeemed
people of God, then the angels (Revelation 4:6 - 5:12), until finally
the great scene
is described when all living beings present their
worship to Almighty God.
"And then I heard every creature in heaven,
on earth, in the world below, and in the sea - all living beings in the
universe - and they were singing: 'To Him who sits on the throne and to
the Lamb, be praise
and honour, glory and might, forever and ever'."
Revelation 5:13
In the light of these Scriptures, I firmly believe that
our loving almighty Creator intends all His creatures to \
enjoy heaven
with Him forever. The only part of creation that will be missing from
Heaven, according to the
Bible, are those sinful human beings who
neglect the great salvation that God has revealed in the Bible and
provided through Christ. So while all the animal victims of scientific
experiments will be in Heaven, the same
cannot be said for all the
hardhearted vivisectionists and ivory poachers.
ANIMALS AND MAN
Millions of wild animals die painful, lingering deaths
in vicious traps every year. Not for food - for furs! Millions more are
bred on fur farms and slaughtered for fashion.
Then the beauty industry inflicts untold agony on
almost a million animals every year for perfumes, lipsticks
and other
cosmetics. There are adequate synthetic alternatives, but such is man's
inhumanity towards animals
that the slaughter continues.
In the name of science, millions more animals suffer in laboratories worldwide every year.
In the first chapter of the Bible, God made mankind responsible for
His animals (Genesis 1-28). All animals
are God's animals (Psalm 50:10)
and we are answerable to God for our treatment, care and protection of
them.
"For all of us must appear before Christ,
to be judged by Him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according
to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life."
2 Corinthians 5:10
What does God think of men battering baby seals to
death so that some women can wear glamorous fur coats? What will God do
to scientists who burn, infect, cripple, blind, shock, radiate, starve,
asphyxiate and dissect cats, dogs, mice, monkeys, rabbits and other
innocent victims for 'research' and often just trivial curiosity? How
could we expect God to ignore the slaughter of magnificent elephants
just to provide ivory ornaments, bracelets and necklaces?
When Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God, how can we remain unmoved at the killing and skinning of
newborn karakul lambs to provide fur garments? He has provided us with
cotton and the ability to make synthetic materials like nylon. We can
shear sheep of their wool in summer. How can fashion justify the
butchering of baby lambs for their skins?
God identifies Himself with bears, lions and leopards.
What Christian can approve the killing of these majestic wild animals
for fur coats and carpets? God gave animals fur to keep them warm. He
gave us the brains to make synthetic materials from plants. Why don't we
use them more?
All animals belong to God. What gives us the right to torture them to satisfy our curiosity in the name of "science"?
We are answerable to God for our treatment of animals.
What are we going to say about trapping animals for furs, forcing them
to do unnatural acts in circuses, confining and abusing them for our
amusement? How can smokers justify the torture and killing of thousands
of dogs and monkeys in "tobacco research"?
"A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs." Proverbs 12:10
The Bible says that God has fixed a day in which He
will judge the whole world with justice (Acts 17:31). It is well to
remember that although man was created in the image of God, the whole
message of the Bible is that all mankind has fallen into sinful
rebellion against God.
"They are quick to hurt and kill; they
leave ruin and destruction wherever they go. They have not known the
path of peace, nor have they learnt to fear God . . . Everyone has
sinned and is far away from God's saving presence." Romans 3:15-17, 23
On the other hand, the Bible indicates that all animals
are acceptable in God's sight. They never degenerated into rebellion
against God. While all human beings need forgiveness and salvation, all
animals are already in a right relationship with God. We should remember
this and be
humbled.
In the light of the clear teaching of Scripture
concerning creation and mankind's responsibility for it, we should treat
animals with the love and concern of those who must give an account of
our conduct to God.
We must recognise that the welfare and protection of
animals is an essential part of our Christian responsibility. I would
challenge all Christians to make plain their opposition to such cruel
practices as vivisection. We must determine to do all in our power to
bring about the speedy abolition of all such mistreatment and tortures
of animals. See ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANISATIONS
No Christian should be a party to this evil abuse of
God's creation. I would call on all those who seek to love and obey God
to resolve never to buy or wear real fur or ivory. It is our
responsibility to carefully boycott all cosmetics which are a result of
cruelty to animals. (There are enough synthetic alternatives listed by
Beauty Without Cruelty, PO Box 23321, Claremont 7735, South Africa, Tel:
021- 671-4583.)
We must all do what we can to secure the well-being of
all animals who, with ourselves, inhabit the earth and so fulfil the
creative joy and purpose of Almighty God.
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless." Proverbs 31:8
Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
PO Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town, South Africa
www.frontline.org.za
|
