ANIMALS - All The Bible Teaches About

It is clear from the text that our lives have been interconnected with the lives of animals from the very start of creation, and that they can show us new ways of understanding God. How do birds function in these texts? How are they used as symbols? Do you think, based on the Biblical text, that God would be bothered by this? Jenny Phillips writes resources for outdoor ministries and churches.

What role does the Holy Spirit play in the lives of believers? Images of water pervade the Gospel stories, symbolizing chaos, rebirth, and new life. Jesus was baptized in water, walked on water, and turned water into wine. These and other narratives are grounded in the stories and experiences of the ancient Israelites, who used ideas about water to better understand their God. Jesus and Animals Audience: Looking at the Text Read some of the texts referencing birds: Help us share God's Word where needed most.

Sign up to receive regular email updates from the Bible Resource Center. Animals fill a crucial part of the symbiotic relationship between all of creation.

Animals are a living display of the natural beauty God has built into creation. Some deny that animals are capable of reasoning. They prefer to credit instinct for their decision making skills. I believe this is simply not accurate. Animals are smarter than they need to be.

I have witnessed my dogs on many occasions trying to communicate with me. They make up for their lack of language by finding other ways through their reasoning abilities to communicate their will. In the Bible, God reveals animal intelligence through the unusual encounter of Balaam with his donkey Num. In that incident, the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way and moved aside.

Furthermore, we have all seen animals use tools to get food.

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Also, we have all seen animals run from danger. It must understand something about life in order to seek to protect itself. We credit reason for human responses to avoiding danger.

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The incident of Balaam and his donkey brings into focus another insight about animals. It reveals that it is possible for animals to see angels Num. The text does not say the Angel of the Lord revealed his presence to the donkey. It tells us simply that the donkey saw the Angel. Humans see angels when the angels want to reveal themselves.

The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord without his self-revelation. We could understand it if the Angel said he wanted the donkey to help Balaam avoid the fate he had planned for him. But the text does not say that. A plain reading of the text suggests that the donkey was actually frustrating the plan of the Angel. This conclusion gains further support when we see that the Lord had to empower the donkey to speak v.

If Moses recognized the need to tell the reader the Lord empowered the donkey to speak, he could just as easily have said the Lord enabled the donkey to see the Angel of the Lord. While we should not attempt to develop a major doctrine around this single event, it still raises significant questions about our understanding of the relationship of animals to the spiritual world. The psalmist was lighthearted when he described the joy animals feel.

King David used this word to describe his celebration as the ark of God was being brought to Jerusalem 2 Samuel 6: The psalmist said this beast of the sea can also be ecstatic.

10 Weird Animal Stories of the Bible

The book of Job supplies additional insight. There, God, himself, described the joy animals experience. We have all seen animals playing. The testimony of Scripture and our own experience remind us that animals are more than automatons driven by instinct. They are beings with the capacity for joy. Animals appear to lack the capacity for moral reflection.

Bible teaching used to argue in favour of animal rights

They simply do what they do. Scripture supports this understanding. It was humans who ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not animals Gen. This observation of animal innocence is not only important for our understanding of animals. It also helps us understand our sense of justice. When we ask why we are offended by cruelty to animals, we recognize we are reacting to an innate sense within us that is repulsed by wanton violations of their innocence and vulnerability. This recognition helps us understand some of our motivations for our criminal justice system. When we punish acts of aggression against our fellow humans, we are responding to violations of their innocence and vulnerability.

Such violations should be punished. Our sense of justice demands it. Furthermore, we learn about divine justice from animals.

Jesus and Animals | Resources | American Bible Society

Scripture teaches that rebellion against God is sin. In other words, God requires justice. Either the guilty person or an acceptable substitute must answer for human sin. God created the sacrificial system in Israel to help his people understand this reality. He commanded that this system regularly kill innocent animals in order to satisfy the demands of his divine justice Lev. The innocent animals would bear the sin of the people. Animal sacrifices set in motion the plan for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for us all. John the Baptist said this very clearly in John 1: He knew that Jesus was the key to salvation.

Only through Jesus could our sin finally be atoned for. Here are verses 7,9 and Animals were also used in specific instances in the Bible by God for various purposes. One instance is Jonah and the giant fish. In the book of Jonah, Jonah refuses to go to Nineveh to preach the word that God had given him. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Another instance is Balaam and his donkey in Numbers Animals are used as symbolism in the Bible in numerous places. Here are a few examples:. Animals have many key roles in the Bible and these are just a few examples of many.

May you increase in learning like I did in writing this article! I am always amazed at what God teaches me when reading through the Bible and hopefully you are learning a lot too! May God bless you as you continue to live a life worthy of the calling! Read more about animals here: Do Animals or Pets Go to Heaven? Would you like to get the daily question in your FB messenger? Just click the button below to get started. Derek Hill is a father of two beautiful children.