Animals

BC Cartoon by Johnny Hart:

This is a study on the importance of animals in the lives of humans.

Ps 8: 6-8

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

         You have put all things under his feet,

 7 All sheep and oxen—

         Even the beasts of the field,

 8 The birds of the air,

         And the fish of the sea

    That pass through the paths of the seas.

A program just aired (Nov 2005) on public TV showing the SPCA and the Humane Society rescuing animals after Katrina hit New Orleans. This caused me to reflect, again, on my love for animals and my feelings towards my two cats. Once again, I thought back to animals I have owned in the past.

It was stated that man's feeling towards animals are simple yet overwhelming and unexplainable. Yes, I know what they mean. Who can explain why we bond so deeply with them? Is it because we fall in love with innocence? Do we love small creatures the size of human infants who, though they cannot talk, invoke strong, loving feelings?

It is incredible to think of having a creature that shares breathing and blood coursing through its veins as we do, yet a different species. The fact that they are not human leaves a mystery as to what they think and feel. So there is endless fascination watching them play, sleep, or clean their own bodies. They are often clever and humorous, especially when they mimic humans.

I have had animals that live with me day in and day out for at least 15 years now.  Maybe some people cannot comprehend that I look forward to being with these animals as much as I can, and that their effect is so profoundly soothing I would write about them. 

I find it very hard to be alone and also without my cats at the same time.  While staying in hotels in Toronto, I was happy to be alone with God while at a spiritual retreat there, but I am more in tune with Him when I have the gentle, unselfish, loving touch of an animal. Thus, if I am going to be in a hotel communing with God - let it be with my animals as well.

There is little theology written regarding the meaning of animals in the lives of humans, and the purpose God has for them. We have yet to talk about this great resource offered to us for our numerous emotional and spiritual ills.

It might be hard to defend the idea that animals ought to be so important to us.  That is why we need to look at the biblical history of animals in relation to man, and find out what God thinks. It is quite amazing.

"Ox and ass before Him bow.” "And the friendly beasts around him stood."

Christmas reminds me of the great purpose God had for animals in the birth of His son, Jesus. God had him born in a stable.

You probably never really knew how divine, how special animals are to God. If you pay close enough attention, the Bible shows just how important animals have been to God and just how divine their influence.  Notice how much detail God puts into regarding animals when he finally speaks to Job.  He asks Job if he created the sea creature Leviathan, and then goes on to describe the scales and the fiery breath (Job 41) He describes numerous other animals (job 38, 39) He seems extremely proud of them.

Job states that animals and the earth know God better than man. They know who is in charge. 

Job 12: 7-10 reads, "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you, and the birds of the air, and they will tell you, or speak to the earth and it will teach you, and the fish of the sea will explain to you.  Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind?"

Animals were present during the most significant events in the history of earth. Animals were used by God to care for man, even for His only son Jesus.  

But let's start at the beginning. They were present in the Garden of Eden, and man lived surrounded by them without fear. (Gen 2:19)  One must recognize that part of the paradise was the rich life surrounded by all types of animals.  Adam first, then both Adam and Eve were delighted and fascinated by the variety of animals - all tame.

Next, animals were present on the ark in the story of Noah (Gen 6-8) as the people on the ark passed through forty days and nights of terror, floating on pure water over the whole earth and braving the endless storm. It is important to note:  while God rescued very few humans during the flood, He made sure that Noah rescued far more animals!  I can't help but believe that the animals played a significant role in making the journey far more bearable-bringing them "down to earth" providing comfort and peace. Undoubtedly, the animals were quite peaceful about the event, as they went into a state of hibernation during the flood. 

Being forced to care for the animals during the trip might have provided a healthy diversion from Noah and his family's upset feelings. One group of historians, who researched the flood and produced a television special, stated that there were not all that many species of animals at the time and many would have gone into hibernation, so the feeding of them would have been within the reach of Noah's family. 

Animals have an amazing consistency in all circumstances and often behave as if nothing is wrong. At times animals signal man that something is wrong, as they pick up on it with a keen sensitivity - many times beyond man's ability.

The next major event is, of course, the birth of Jesus. (Luke 2)  Here is where it makes perfect sense to me that animals were involved.  Jesus was forced to stay out of the inn, but that was God's idea. 

If Jesus had been born in the inn, the spirits attracted by people would have surrounded the little baby, and in so many cases those spirits would be wicked.  The people in the inn were just ordinary folk, and many of us ordinary folk have a fair share of demons in our lives if we're not totally committed to God or "sold out" on His presence.  To protect the newborn child who was God in the flesh, God made sure that the spirits of animals surrounded him. 

The spirit, the life within an animal, is a dispensation of God Himself. An animal is a creature without a will.  God makes all the choices and the animal lives in no discord with God. Being surrounded by animals, along with Joseph and Mary (consecrated human beings) meant being surrounded by healthy spirits instead of evil spirits.  It was a protection for the mind of the little child.  TRULY, ANIMALS WERE THE MOST DIVINE PRESENCE FOR THE LITTLE BABY.

     

Most people who love animals are extremely vexed by the imperfections in man and find man intolerable.  Whether for good reasons or bad, such people feel they need to stay clear of man, but find a great compensation for their loneliness in animals.

I can vouch for the fact that the comfort is great, and that God has provided a great means of coping with estrangement from man (if that is necessary for a time) in animals. Nevertheless, it is important to guard against making animal companionship a substitute for life with other humans, or even worse, making an idolatry of animals.

Discovery channel began a new series called "I shouldn't be alive" telling amazing stories of survival against all odds. One of the episodes told the story of a man who started a conservation effort for the painted dog in the bush of Africa. He had been working in the bush for several years and was familiar with every aspect of the wilderness.

One day he was called upon to rescue an animal he hadn't had as much experience with out in the middle of nowhere using a small plane. I think it was a rhino.

A man who helped him with the painted dog effort had a bad feeling about it. They both had premonitions that they didn't follow. The man went out, against his better judgment, alone, taking the plane and circled over the area where the animal was. The plane suddenly had a problem and began spiraling to the ground.

The man survived but his legs were broken in several places. He noticed that gas was dripping from the plane so he was concerned that it would explode. He decided to crawl away from the plane, but that was slow and painful.

As he inched away he realized that his boots, tied with double bows tightly, were constricting his legs. His legs were swelling, and swelling into the boots. So he crawled to a nearby tree and propped himself up onto the tree so he could reach his boots. The tree just happened to be thorny, so he had to endure the thorns as he rubbed up against it. He managed to untie and pull off his boots through much pain, using a stick to reach the laces. From there he realized that it was far too hot to stay out under the sun.

He now needed to crawl back to the plane to find shade under the wing, in spite of the threat of it blowing up.

He began to try to crawl back, enduring lack of food and water, hallucinations, and total weakness due to loss of blood and broken bones. He had to force himself to roll over onto his stomach as it was far easier to crawl that way to the plane.

The pain of rolling over one of the broken legs was again excruciating, and he screamed. Crawling back (and here's the part about animals!) he said he could begin to hear the footfalls of animals - all ones he clearly recognized from his years of experience in the bush.

He heard the hard pounding of elephants, with their babies, and knew that if they saw him as a threat may stampede him. He knew that if they caught sight of him early enough they would walk away. If he was a surprise to them too late, they would get scared and threatened. He could do nothing but lay there and hope for them to catch sight early. They fortunately did see him early and they did walk away.

He made it to the plane, which offered some sort of refuge from wild animals, but not much. The next animal to come along was one I don’t remember.  It was sniffing. He knew that to make a loud sound banging a stick on the plane may send them away, but it was terrifying and uncertain until it did work, and they ran away.

Next, it was the king of the jungle - the lion - a pride of lions. He used the same technique and it worked, but it was a close call and terrifying.

When night fell, he had to face new challenges. At night, hyenas came by and he was more scared than ever as they are a terrifying threat. He did the same thing again, and it worked, but again - more frightening suspense.

27 hours he was out there waiting. His friend who had helped him found the painted dog operation, was out searching for him. During the night it was impossible to continue the search, but the next day the search was on again.

By that 27th hour, he was spotted. Never was there a more beautiful demonstration of a profound truth, though the movie Grizzly Man partly portrayed this as well.

This man, alone in the wilderness, found that animals were a serious threat to his very life. Animals were a source of complete terror, and completely unwelcome, even though he had loved every minute of working with them for many years.

Each animal that had come by was a new hell to endure. Each time he said in the documentary: "I heard a new footfall" and each time it was elephants, or it was hyenas - some new animal he was familiar with.

But the last time he said, "I heard a footfall and knew - it was the feet of man." And when people came it meant nothing but being totally rescued, and nurtured back to health.

This was a profound comparison, reminding us once again: nature can be harsh, unloving and dangerous. This is an important reminder to those of us who may have been tempted at times to replace people in our lives entirely with animals.  

For those who depend heavily on animals, I want to say that some day your greatest rescue will not come from animals, it will come from man. For some of you this is hard to believe. But man, made in the image of God has the knowledge of what you need. Like Adam, you will at last learn that what you need in the garden is to find the "bone of your bone and the flesh of your flesh."

Yet, there is the value of animals.

Paul the apostle went into a hermitage of being alone while learning to become God's leader and there would have been animals in his hermitage. David the shepherd spent his formative years with animals.  In my own hermitage away from many aspects of man and the culture of man, I simply would not know how to cope without a loving touch in some way.  For that I found cats.

 

In my attempt to survive my loneliness with regards to people, particularly male people, I found myself becoming more caught up in the behavior and nature of animals, and found a measure of satisfaction in their affection as well. But I would be remiss to say that it was total satisfaction.  It helped me in some ways, but in some ways it totally failed. New studies in 2004-05 show women have stated that their pets provide more affection than their men! Funny!

I am a cat lover by nature, but this love is not limited to cats by any means.  I simply find cats to be the most practical animal for my kind of a world. I adore animals in general. Contrary to popular thought, I find that cats are incredibly loving and dependent, although not the same as a dog. Their affection is priceless.

Animals are completely spotless with regards to sin.  They cannot sin. When man becomes delusional and hyper-religious, as Christians have been during certain periods of history, man sees animals as no different than man.  In the middle or dark ages, it is chronicled that animals were put on trial and executed along with humans.  If a human indulged bestiality, the animal himself was tried and if "convicted", was put to death. Enlightened and healthy minds know this is ludicrous. It might make sense to get rid of an animal that had been used this way, so that the sickness of the ordeal would be erased for the animal as well as the people involved, but I don't think this is why the animals were put to death.  The truth is, they do not sin.

We have not defined the spirit that lives within an animal. Like our spirits, it keeps them alive and leaves them when their bodies are destroyed. The affection is pure.  It is genuine.  It is devoid of insincerity and of unwelcome sexuality. It is a God idea. They can be healers. Pets supposedly cause blood pressure to go down.   

Animals have been given to man in three ways:

1) As incredibly satisfying companions

 

2) As food acceptable to God for man's nourishment, but only certain animals

3) As a sacrificial offering for sin before Jesus made the final sacrifice.

In essence, God has made animals for various needs of man. Their purpose is beautiful. 

Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal.

Psalm 36:6 (Amplified Bible)

6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

Psalm 50:10

10 For every beast of the forest is Mine,

         And the cattle on a thousand hills.

Revelation talks about God creating unique animal creatures to praise in heaven : 

Rev. 4: 6-11.

6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

      “ Holy, holy, holy,[b]

      Lord God Almighty,

      Who was and is and is to come!”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

       11 “ You are worthy, O Lord,[c]

      To receive glory and honor and power;

      For You created all things,

      And by Your will they exist[d] and were created.”