Intro:
1. I couldnt help but thinking about Dr, Dolittle when I was studying this!
2. "If we could talk to the animals,
Just imagine it,
Chatting to a chimp in chimpanzee
Imagine talking to a tiger,
Chatting to a cheetah
What a neat achievement it would be
If we could talk to the animals,
Learn their languages,
Maybe take an animal degree,
We’d study elephant and eagle,
Buffalo and beagle,
Alligator, guinea pig and flea
We would converse in polar bear
And python
And we would curse in fluent kangaroo
If people asked us,
Can you speak rhinoceros?
We’d say, "of courseros!
Can’t you?"
If we conferred with our furry friends,
Man to animal,
Think of all the things we could discuss
If we could walk with the animals
Talk with the animals
Grunt and squeak and squawk
With the animals
And they could squeak and squawk
And speak and talk to us
3. Day Five and part of Six - Extra special creatures.
Trans:Gen. 1:20-25
I. FIRST, THEY ARE DIFFERENT.
Then God said, "Let the waters teem wth swarms of living creatures... - vv. 20,21,24
For the first time we have the word - living.
נephesh [neh-fesh] noun "soul, breath, life" "It occurs over 780 times in the Old Testament and is evenly distributed in all periods of the text with a particularly high frequency in poetic passages. The basic meaning is apparently related to the rare verbal form, nāpash. The noun refers to the essence of life, the act of breathing, taking breath." [Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words]
Plant "life" is different then animal life - "Plants, while alive in the biological sense, are not conscious and therefore not alive in the Biblical sense, nor does their death imply Biblical "death."
Animal Life is also different then human life - man’s life is Godward. And yet animal life is radically different then plant life so that man and animals can clearly communicate, at some level.
Point - for the first time we have living creatures! That’s different!
When I was a kid I loved those Frankenstein movies. The Bride of Frankenstein was a 1935 horror film, in which Dr. Frankenstein creates a mate for his monster.
After he zaps her with his bolts of lightening she begins to move - Dr. Frankenstein cries out with joy, "She’s alive! Alive!"
Of course the first time she meets Frank, he smiles and says "Friend, friend?" He touches her and she begins to scream in terror!
Well these animals won’t make a good bride for Adam, but at least they were alive and better to spend the day with a monkey then a shrub!
II. FURTHERMORE, THE THREE BASIC DEPARTMENTS.
A. Sea life.
waters teem with swarms of living creatures - evidently refers to all kinds of marine animals: invertebrates, vertebrates, reptiles. The first animals specifically mentioned as the product of this act of creation were the "great whales," or "great sea-monsters," as most translations render the Hebrew word tannin.
It is significant, however, that this same word is most frequently translated "dragon." Evidently the term includes all large sea-creatures, even the monsters of the past that are now extinct.
The frequent references to dragons in the Bible, as well as in the early records and traditions of most of the nations of antiquity, certainly cannot be shrugged off as mere fairy tales. Most probably they represent memories of dinosaurs handed down by tribal ancestors who encountered them before they became extinct.
This is not only Mosterous life, like sharks; wales; dinosaurs; but Microscopic life. Even a drop of ditch water can hold 500 million microscopic creatures so small that a teaspoonful of water would be to them what the Atlantic is to us.
B. Sky life.
let the birds fly - I’m told there are about 9,000 kinds of birds.
C. Soil life. [life that lives on the earth]
cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth - this is the The First Mention of Freeways -"creeping things."
Actually this includes a variety of animals - ox, donkey, horse, camel, sheep, snakes, worms, etc.
Trans: Phillips, "Scientists have classified millions of different species of animals, including more than 800,000 different kinds of insects, 30,000 kinds of fish, 9,000 kinds of birds, 6,000 kinds of reptiles, 3,000 kinds of amphibians, and 5,000 kinds of mammals. God is truly a God of variety."
That’s probably why Maddie like the box of animal crackers - I read that in total, 54 different animals have been represented by animal crackers since 1902.
Britannica noted, "Scientists estimate that there may be more than 10 million different kinds of animals on Earth today. About 1.3 million kinds have been identified to date, and new kinds are continually being discovered. In the seas, from the surface down to the black depths where no ray of light penetrates, on mountaintops and in deserts, in mud and in hot pools some form of animal life may exist."
III. NEXT, THEIR DISCONECT.
after their kind...after their kind...after their kind - fish stay fish; birds stay birds; and cattle stay cattle. "The first introduction of animal life was not a fragile blob of protoplasm that happened to come together in response to electrical discharges over a primeval ocean, as evolutionists believe. Rather, the waters suddenly swarmed abundantly with swarming creatures" The Genesis Record.
"All three categories of land animals were made simultaneously, as is evident from the inverted order of listing in verses 24 and 25. Once again, it is obvious that there is not the slightest correlation with the imaginary evolutionary order (that is, insects, then amphibians, then reptiles, then all mammals).
As a matter of fact, evolution places insects, amphibians, and land reptiles all before the birds that Genesis says were made the day before.
There was no evolutionary struggle for existence among these animals either, for "God saw that it was good." Neither could one kind evolve into a different kind, because God made each category "after his kind." The Genesis Record.
You cannot accept God’s Word and evolution!
In kindergarten, we’re taught that a frog turning into a prince is a fairy tale. In college, we’re taught that a frog turning into a prince is science.
Once, I was a taid pole,
Beginning to begin.
Then I was a frog with,
My tail tucked in.
Then I was a monkey
In a banyon tree.
And now, I am a professor
With a PhD!
IV. FOURTH, THEY WOULD BE A DELIGHT TO MAN.
Note: "For the first time in the Creation account, the notion of "Blessing" appears (v.22). The blessing of the creatures of the sea and sky is identical with the blessing of humanity, with the exception of the notion of "dominion" which is given only to human beings. As soon as "living beings" are created, the notion of blessing is appropriate because the blessing relates to the giving of life."
A. They would be used in Farming.
Man would be given domnion over these animals - Adam and Eve worked before the Fall and no doubt these animals helped them do that.
Today in many places of the world they depend on animals to get their work done.
One wrote, "Oxen are quite large in size. A bull might weigh close to 2,000 pounds, a full ton of power, and is capable of enduring many hours of work...Their basic qualities are dependability and perseverance. For these reasons they were highly valued in the argicultural world of the ancient near east. To any farmer, his oxen were like money in the bank. The crop would be planted and the harvest would be brought in, because his oxen always answered the call to work."
B. They would make good Friends.
1. They had No fear of man until after the flood - no animal would be dangerous; no animal would run away from them.
2. He would Name them - we will see this later.
3. They were Not like a shrub! Souls!
The word SOUL translated from NEPHESH in Hebrew and PSYCHE in Greek represents the living principle of the body, and is shared by man and the animals.
On the fifth day of creation, as God created animal life in the oceans, and birds, He designated them as having "life" (Gen. 1:20), or NEPHESH. On the sixth day, "Man became a living SOUL" (Gen. 2:7) as well. The soul consist of mind, emotions, and will, of a "consciousness."
You cannot spend the day with a tree but you can with a dog! My dog has a mind, emotions, and a will.
4. The difference between Now and then? Could they talk? When the serpent talked to Eve she didnt seem surprised. Animals have taked in the Bible. They apparently can - Balaams donkey talked.
C. They would be Facinating to watch.
"7 "But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. 8 "Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9 "Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this," Job 12:7-9 (NASB)
Phillips, "I remember watching a tiny spider run across my desk. The little fellow was no bigger in body than the period at the end of a sentence. He was going for all he was worth, trying to get away from the enormous monster who was eyeing him.
He had eight legs—just tiny wisps of hair they seemed. He had eight eyes, no doubt all staring out of his head with fright (they were too small for me to see). Think of the wonder of it, that God could pack so much creative genius into so small a space.
Inside that tiny dot of a body, that minute creature had a heart, a circulatory system. He had senses and instincts, genes and chromosomes. He could see, eat, walk. And doubtless, tiny as he seemed to me, there were creatures in his world that looked on him as an awesome monster.
We have a God who "doeth wonders." The universe is full of such wonders."
D. They would eventually be a source of Food.
I’m like the little boy who was asked by his teacher, "Johnny what is your favorate animal?" He said "Fried Chicken!" Being a PETA supporter she sent him to the principles office.
The next day she asked him, "Johnny, what it your favorite living animal?" He said, "Chicken." She said "Out of all the various kinds of animals, your favorite is chicken? Why?" He said, "I see it as potiential fried chicken!Off to the principles office he went.
The next day, teacher asked Johnny, "Who is the famous person you admire most?" He replied, "Col. Sanders!"
V. FIFTHLY, THEY WERE DISTINCT FROM MAN.
A. They were not sovereigns - not given dominion. [next time]
Some have forgotten this! Houses have been lost, business shut down, all to insure the well being of the spotten owl, certain types of fish, and other endangered animals.
Organizations like PETA think that dominion was given to the animals - not so! They seeks "total animal liberation," according to its president and co-founder, Ingrid Newkirk.
That means consuming no meat or dairy products; no aquariums, no circuses, no hunting or fishing, no fur or leather jackets; and no medical research using animals. PETA is even opposed to the use of seeing-eye dogs.
B. They do not have spirits - only man is created in the image of God.
[next time]
"God Himself "breathed into (man’s) nostrils the breath (RUACH) of life" (Gen. 2:7), thereby imparting only to mankind some measure of His own spiritual nature. It is noteworthy, that while God identified as "Spirit" (John 4:24--Greek PNEUMA), nowhere is He identified as "soul." He stands separate from mere beings, not driven by the same desires as animals and man. The spirit, then, is the recreated "image of God" (Gen. 1:27) in man, separating us from animals, while bonding us to God. This spiritual side makes possible an earthly life in tune with God and an eternal life as a son of God." — Cross-reference Explorer
VI. FINALLY, THE DEFICINT TO MEET MANS NEEDS.
When Adam was naming the animals he found no help meet...
While animals are great, they cannot take the place of human beings. You read about these people who leave their inheritance to their dog; or go and live with gorellas in the jungle; or live in the woods hugging trees; those people are not normal!
Con:
1. To tell you the truth - I still enjoy these extra special creatures! I enjoy my 3 dogs; sitting out back and watching the deer; seeing the birds soar through the air.
2. I am not alone, I read:
Americans own some 100 million cats and dogs (45 million dogs and 55 million cats). This is the highest ratio of any nation to its people. Even animal-loving Britain has a lower ratio of 1 to 3, instead of America’s 1 to 2.
Over $300 million was spent by Americans a year to buy pets. And over $2 billion a year is spent for pet food. That is more than what Americans spend on babies! There are 3,000 dog and cat food makers. The largest-selling dry or canned food item in the grocery stores is pet food—four times more than baby food sales.
Furthermore, another $2 billion a year is spent on dog accessories—like gem-studded collars, perfume, gold-plated license tags, beef-flavored toothpaste, and breath sprays. When on vacation, dogs have their own motels with wall-to-wall carpeting, brass beds and piped-in music.
One thing for sure, this planet would be much less enjoyable, if God hadnt give us these little animal, we call pets.
Johnny Palmer Jr.
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
