All God’s Creatures

Introduction

Last year I presented a series on the trees of the Bible which ran all through the season of Trinity or Ordinary Time. This year we will engage with the members of the animal kingdom that appear in the Bible.

In this occasional series I may suggest that you to do some additional reading and investigation for yourself and I may not use the most obvious texts.

The list of animals in the account of Creation in Genesis chapter 1 is very familiar but there are other descriptions of creation in different books of the Bible and many more animals appear throughout the text. I will take a very broad approach including living creatures from smallest to largest; virus and gnat to elephant and whale; vertebrates and invertebrates; and various borderline cases. Texts are from the New Revised Standard Version, Anglicized Edition, with the Apocrypha and Deutero Canonical Books. The collection of animals included in this series is not exhaustive and the names for some creatures may differ in other translations.

Do take some time to look at our creation window: the great west rose window in St George’s.

Consider the variety and beauty of the creatures depicted there.

In the song of praise sung by the three young men, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were thrown into the burning fiery furnace we find:

The three with one voice praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace:
“Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors,
and to be praised and highly exalted for ever.
…
Bless the Lord, you whales and all that swim in the waters;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, all birds of the air;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, all wild animals and cattle;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
…
All who worship the Lord, bless the God of gods,
Sing praise to him and give thanks to him,
For his mercy endures for ever.

                                           [Prayer of Azariah. 28, 29, 57 – 59, 68 (Apocrypha)]

Insects

Back in week three (21.06.21) we found in the plagues of Egypt flies, gnats and locusts. In discussing the plagues, the journey through the wilderness, and harmony in nature, the book of Wisdom mentions a multitude of irrational creatures [Wis 11. 15]: wasps [Wis 12. 87]; the ‘bites of locusts and flies’ [Wis 16. 9]; and gnats [Wis 19. 10].

These and many other insects are mentioned throughout the Bible.

The various kinds of locust, grasshopper and cricket are listed in Leviticus as clean and fit to eat but many other insects are not [Lev 11.22]. Whether locusts were part of the diet of John Baptist is a point of much discussion [Mark 1.6].

Plagues of locusts, destroying all the vegetation, were and still are a regular occurrence in east Africa and the Middle East. Joel describes the destruction caused by locusts: ‘What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten’ [Joel 1. 4]. He interprets this catastrophe as being a warning of what will happen on the day of judgement. The only thing that the people can do is repent of their wrongdoings, mourn and pray: ‘rend your hearts and not your clothing’ [Joel 2. 3]. The destroying locusts appear at the end times when they come from the smoke and attack those ‘who do not have the seal of God on their forehead’ [Rev 9. 3 – 4].

Bees and their honey as a source of food have already been seen in the riddle set by Samson. (session 5: the Lion). The destructive nature of moths is observed in Isaiah. With God as our champion ‘who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up’ [Is 50. 9; 51. 8]. This theme is used by Jesus when speaking of earthly possessions: ‘do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume’ [Mat 6. 19].

Words of advice are found in Ecclesiastes .We discover ‘Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a foul odour’ [Ecces 10. 1] and, with regard to the busy ant, we are to ‘consider its ways, and be wise’ [Prov 6. 6]. Ants, even though they are small ‘and a people without strength, yet they provide their food in summer’ [Prov 30. 25].

While in pursuit of David, King Saul is caught asleep in a cave. David does not take advantage but asks him who the king is hunting: ‘is it a dead dog? A single flea?’ [1 Sam 24. 14; 26. 20]. The flea is a very small and insignificant animal. Another very small insect is mentioned when the scrupulousness of the scribes and Pharisees is condemned by Jesus: ‘You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel’ [Mat 23. 24].

Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
Maker of all living creatures:
fish in the sea, birds in the air,
and animals on the land.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
in all your creatures.
Amen