July 2005 - Vol 1, Issue 3

In this issue...
-- "God, Man and Animals" - Part II

"God, Man and Animals" - Part II
By Dr. John C. Whitcomb

We return this month to our survey of God's dealings with His creation - specifically, man and animals. Last month we considered the Biblical teaching of creationism in contrast to the folly of evolutionism. We considered God's Curse of the creation following the Fall of man, and also thought of the future blessing that will come upon the entire world when creation is restored to its pre-fall condition in the coming Millennial Kingdom.

We begin this month by looking back to the condition of the animals in Noah's Ark.

The Animals in the Ark

In addition to the miracle of the original Curse, there is a second miraculous event that must be considered here. During the year of the Genesis Flood, the curse on animals was suspended. The two lions that entered the Ark were no threat to Noah and his family, nor to the other animals with them. And they remained harmless throughout the entire year of the Flood - even though they were still lions!

The key word here is "remembered." "God remembered Noah, and every living thing, ...in the ark" (Gen. 8:1). This verb, with God as the subject, means that God took special care, and provided every need. (The same word was used by the believing thief on the cross next to Jesus: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom" [Luke 23:42]). Since all people in the world were now believers - all others outside the Ark were dead - the curse on animals was suspended, as it will be when the Millennial Kingdom comes, because all who enter that Kingdom will be believers (Isa. 11:9; Jer. 31:34; Matt. 13:36-43; 25:31-34). Thus, the Bible teaches us that there is a highly significant connection between the function of animals and the relationship of mankind to God.

Animals were created for human beings. They are among God's spectacular gifts to us. Men are not animals - and never were! Only people have the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26; 9:6). Nevertheless, we learn from the animal kingdom something of the wisdom and power of our Lord Jesus Christ (by Whom "all things were made" and without Whom "was not anything made that was made" [John 1:3; cf. Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2]). It was by His mere spoken Word that they were created (Gen.1:20,24; Ps. 33:6-9), and it is by His continuing power that they continue to exist (Job 12:7-10; 34:14-15; Ps. 104:29; Col. 1:17).

When the Kingdom comes to earth, astounding changes will take place in all animals. Each mammal, bird, and reptile that survives the global catastrophes (the "great tribulation" spoken of by our Lord in Matt. 24:21) that precede Christ's Second Coming will remain on the earth, free at last from the original Curse: "For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature [creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:19-21).

However, this will not be true for human beings. Survivors of the Great Tribulation will not all enter the Kingdom. As our Lord explained to Nicodemus, only those who have experienced new birth through genuine faith in Him - like Abraham whose faith was "counted ...for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6; cf. Rom. 3:25; 4:9-12) - can enter into His spiritual Kingdom (John 3:3-5, 16; cf. Col. 1:13); and only those who belong to His spiritual Kingdom will enter His earthly Kingdom (Ezek. 20:33-38; Dan. 12:12; Mal. 4:1-3; Matt. 13:36-43; 24:36-41; 25:31-34). And then, at last, just like the world before the Curse, and the world during the Flood, men and animals will be in harmony with each other again.

Animals in the Ark and in the Kingdom

Isaiah's great prophecy of harmless animals during the Kingdom which Christ our Lord will establish at His Second Coming (11:6-9) is quite shocking to the average scientifically-trained person. Some Christians (i.e., amillennialists) have even denied that there ever will be such a kingdom on earth, and therefore tend to "spiritualize" the passage (i.e., Luther, Calvin, and many Reformed theologians through the centuries), insisting that lions, for example, must refer to bloodthirsty men.

But the Bible does not allow such treatments of the inspired text. As Alva J. McClain, a leading premillennial theologian of the twentieth century (and my instructor in theology from 1948 to 1951), observed: "This great prophecy [of Isa. 11:6-9] has often been treated with both incredulity and ridicule. But those who accept as inspired the Genesis account of man's original state in Eden (Gen. 2:19) will have no difficulty in believing that God is able to restore these conditions in the coming Kingdom of His Son" (The Greatness of the Kingdom [Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1959], p. 239).

In our next issue, we will conclude our study of this subject by thinking further of the prophetic view of the future of animals.

To Be Continued...