The Lord’s Message:  Animals are Important to Us and to God

The Lord’s Message:  Animals are Important to Us and to God
Date:  June 25, 2023
Where:  Kronsberg Park
Scripture Reference:  Genesis 6:17-22

          Genesis 1:20-28, 31, “²⁰ God said, “Let the waters swarm with living things, and let birds fly above the earth up in the dome of the sky.” ²¹ God created the great sea animals and all the tiny living things that swarm in the waters, each according to its kind, and all the winged birds, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was. ²² Then God blessed them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

²³ There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day.

²⁴ God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife.” And that’s what happened. ²⁵ God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was. ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”

²⁷ God created humanity in God’s own image,
        in the divine image God created them,
            male and female God created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and master it. Take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and everything crawling on the ground.” ³¹ God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.

There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.”  Animals were important to creation.  God created the land animals the same day that He created you and me. 

Let us pray.

Animals have covered every piece of the earth.  Animals can be found in the lowest depths of the ocean to the highest mountains.  Animals can be found in the coldest and harshest of places in the Antarctica and the Arctic to the vents of volcanoes under the sea.  Animals can be found in the darkest of caves.  Animals are found all over the earth.  Animals are as large as the blue whale to the tiniest of animals, the zooplankton.  Animals have been useful to humankind.  Animals have provided food, jobs and made laborious tasks easier for humans.  Animals have provided companionship for humans.  Service animals have been the eyes and ears for humans.  They have brought us joy and sadness when they have passed away.  We have been intrigued and mystified by them. 

In the Bible, animals are very important.  The prophet Balaam is kept from being killed by an angel of God by a talking donkey.  Jonah was saved by a large fish.  David was a shepherd taking care of sheep.  Elijah was fed by ravens.  The Son of God is born in a barn with the animals gathered all around.  Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem during Palm Sunday.  Jesus has often been described as the Lamb of God. 

The animals are important to God.  If they were not, then God would not have saved them.  God gave clear instructions to Noah to build a boat, an ark.  The purpose of this ark was not only to save Noah and his family, but the land animals.  In Genesis 6:19-20, God instructed Noah to bring inside the Ark a pair of all land animals both male and female.  Notice that these verses used the word, “kind.”  That does not mean every breed of horse.  So, there was one pair of a breed of horse that all horses, zebras, and donkey are descended from.  The same is true for all the other animals.  Scientists at the Ark Encounter estimate that there were approximately 700 pairs of animals on the ark. 

God saved the land animals.  God did not have to save the sea animals, because of the flood.  We do know from fossil records that not all of the sea animals were saved.  So, the land animals were saved in the Ark.   The sea animals that survived the flood were saved as well.  Noah and his family were saved by God. 

God did not forget about Noah and the animals in the Ark.  After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah and all the animals.  In Genesis 9:7-17, the covenant is made with humans and with “every living being among all the creatures.”  The sign of this covenant is a rainbow. 

God created the animals.  God has provided all that is necessary for animals to live and survive.  God loves the animals.  We thank God for creating a wide diversity of animals.  We thank God for providing the Ark to save the animals and us.  We thank God for His Son, Jesus Christ who gave His life to save us from our sins by dying on a cross.  Thank you, God.  Amen.

Let us join in the Prayer for All Created Things.