THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND ANIMALS
Genesis 9:2 - "The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. (God speaking to Noah. Man and the animals evidently lived in harmony before the flood.)
2 Kings 17:25 "When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people." God is in ultimate control of the creatures.
Psalm 34:10 "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." "Lions" refers to men in this case, I believe. Unbelievers may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.
Psalm 104:21 "The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God." This verse says to me that animals are aware of God as their provider.
Psalm 104:27 - "All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time." Again, this indicates that animals are aware of God and seek His help.
Psalm 145:16 KJV - "Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." "Every living thing" includes not only humans, but animals and plants. Maybe even bugs. If any genus or species of living things were eliminated, it would upset the balance of nature.
Psalm 136:25 - "He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever." So God loves every creature.
Psalm 145:21 - "My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever." Maybe in the end times those still living will hear animals not only speak but praising the name of the Lord.
Proverbs 28:1 - "The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Lions are used as a metaphor quite a bit in various ways by David.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 "Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!" I agree.
Ecclesiastes 10:20 - "Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say." Sometimes I think this is literally true. It's as if your words were carried by the wind into the ears of birds who spread your words until they are somehow heard by the person who least likely should hear them.
Isaiah 11:6-7 "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox." These will happen in the end times, though I don't know exactly when nor does anyone else. The animals will become vegetarians and most likely humans will too. But I'm sure what we eat will be good beyond description.
Isaiah 34:14 "Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the night creatures will also lie down and find for themselves places of rest."
Isaiah 35:9 "No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there," This verse leads me to believe that wild animals will be separated from humans and other creatures for a while and in a certain area. It is best to read the whole chapter of Isaiah 35.
Isaiah 65:25 - "The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 50:39 - “So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation."
Ezekiel 38:20 - "The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The fish, the birds, the beasts of the field, ground creatures and all people on earth will tremble at the Lord's presence.
Daniel 6:22 - " My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight." Daniel was in a lion's den with hungry lions.
Amos 5:19 - "It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him." This sounds like my life.
Hosea 2:18 - "In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety." God has big plans for us and the creatures.
2 Timothy 4:17 - "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth." The lion's mouth was greatly feared. Rightly so.
2 Peter 2:12 - "But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish."
God evidently has a soft spot for people and their pets. It shows up in the story of a poor man who had a pet lamb or ewe and a rich man that had many sheep. Rather than copy the whole passage, I narrowed it down into a poem. The point of the story was to chastise King David, but within the story you will see how God feels toward the poor man and his pet, as did Nathan and David. David could see the wrong in what the rich man did but didn't see how wrong it was that he got a married woman pregnant and sent her husband out to die.
Psalm 145:16 KJV - "Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." "Every living thing" includes not only humans, but animals and plants. Maybe even bugs. If any genus or species of living things were eliminated, it would upset the balance of nature.
Psalm 136:25 - "He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever." So God loves every creature.
Psalm 145:21 - "My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever." Maybe in the end times those still living will hear animals not only speak but praising the name of the Lord.
Proverbs 28:1 - "The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Lions are used as a metaphor quite a bit in various ways by David.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 "Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!" I agree.
Ecclesiastes 10:20 - "Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say." Sometimes I think this is literally true. It's as if your words were carried by the wind into the ears of birds who spread your words until they are somehow heard by the person who least likely should hear them.
Isaiah 11:6-7 "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox." These will happen in the end times, though I don't know exactly when nor does anyone else. The animals will become vegetarians and most likely humans will too. But I'm sure what we eat will be good beyond description.
Isaiah 34:14 "Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the night creatures will also lie down and find for themselves places of rest."
Isaiah 35:9 "No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there," This verse leads me to believe that wild animals will be separated from humans and other creatures for a while and in a certain area. It is best to read the whole chapter of Isaiah 35.
Isaiah 65:25 - "The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 50:39 - “So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation."
Ezekiel 38:20 - "The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The fish, the birds, the beasts of the field, ground creatures and all people on earth will tremble at the Lord's presence.
Daniel 6:22 - " My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight." Daniel was in a lion's den with hungry lions.
Amos 5:19 - "It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him." This sounds like my life.
Hosea 2:18 - "In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety." God has big plans for us and the creatures.
2 Timothy 4:17 - "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth." The lion's mouth was greatly feared. Rightly so.
2 Peter 2:12 - "But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish."
God evidently has a soft spot for people and their pets. It shows up in the story of a poor man who had a pet lamb or ewe and a rich man that had many sheep. Rather than copy the whole passage, I narrowed it down into a poem. The point of the story was to chastise King David, but within the story you will see how God feels toward the poor man and his pet, as did Nathan and David. David could see the wrong in what the rich man did but didn't see how wrong it was that he got a married woman pregnant and sent her husband out to die.
I LOVE EWE
(II Samuel 11)
David was serving as king,
Of the whole Israelite nation.
Though he had served with integrity,
He one day succumbed to temptation.
He slept with Bathsheba, another man’s wife,
Then learned she would bear his child.
David tried to cover their sin,
So they would not be reviled.
The husband’s name was Uriah,
A brave and honorable guy.
But David took no pity on him,
When he sent him out to die.
A war was going on;
Future gossip could be stilled,
If Uriah was sent to the front of the war,
Where he would surely be killed.
The Lord sent a prophet to David,
With a story meant to chastise.
The whole point of the allegory,
Was to open David’s eyes.
There were two men in a certain town —
One rich, the other poor.
The poor man had one little lamb;
The rich one had sheep galore.
The poor man had purchased the lamb.
He nurtured it while it grew.
The lamb shared his food and his cup.
He could truly say “I love ewe.”
A traveler came to the rich man’s home;
The custom was to feed a guest.
So the rich man followed the custom,
Though he did not feed him his best.
In fact, he saved his own sheep,
And took the poor man’s pet.
When he fed the lamb to the traveler,
The poor man was very upset.
After David heard the story,
He did everything but cry.
He angrily said, “As sure as God lives,
The man deserves to die!”
“He should pay for the lamb four times,”
David fumed while his clueless mouth ran.
After David pronounced his judgment,
Nathan cried, “You are that man!”
Nathan, the prophet, continued his message,
As reminders from the Lord.
Who made David king and saved him from Saul,
Both facts which David had ignored.
Nathan spelled out what David had done;
His secrets were brought to light.
The Lord sent calamity to his house;
Things would never be right.
David repented of his sin,
Which the Lord God did forgive.
But the punishment for his sin remained:
His son to be born would not live.
Compiled by Becky Wall
beckyowall.blogspot.com6/11/24
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