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)]

Small mammals

The bat poses a problem for Leviticus and the purity laws. It is a furry animal but it does not walk about like other small mammals. Because it has wings it is included in the list of birds of prey and is unclean [Lev 11. 18]. Bats were known to live in dark, hidden and obscure places and so when idols are to be discarded they will be thrown into holes and derelict places inhabited by rodents, moles and bats [Isaiah 2. 20].

Also in the forbidden food lists of Leviticus is the rock badger, also called the coney or hyrax, along with the hare [Lev 11. 5 – 6], the weasel, the rat and the mouse [Lev 11. 29]. Psalms tells us that the coney, sometimes called the badger, lives in the rocks [Ps 104. 18]. Proverbs says they are ‘small, yet they are exceedingly wise’ [Prov 30. 24] and describes them as ‘a people without power yet they make their homes in the rocks’ [Prov 30. 26]. Although we may sometimes call rabbits coneys, there are no rabbits in Israel.

Isaiah’s main themes are judgement, because of the corruption and wickedness of the people, and redemption, when God offers the people forgiveness if they will repent. Looking to the day of vengeance, Isaiah gives dire warnings. Only such animals as the hedgehog will be able to live then when the earth will burn. Rivers will turn to pitch and the earth will be a wasteland before the glory of the Lord returns[ Isaiah 34. 8 – 35. 2].

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