The angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.  Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”  Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now. “The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”  ”No,” he said.  Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. (Numbers 22:26-31)

It seems to me that when we consider the proper treatment of animals we should speak of man’s responsibilities as steward rather than to speak of the rights of animals.  It’s far easier for me to ignore the rights of others than it is to ignore my personal conviction that I have God-given responsibilities toward others. Since the Bible does not really mention rights in regard to animals, I feel it’s much more important for us to consider what the Bible means when it says we are to tend the Garden.  The animals, like the remainder of the Creation, belong to God; and it is a major responsibility for me to do with them what is right in God’s eyes.

a PETA logo

Many non-Christian animal-rights activists react strongly against the biblical idea that man has a superior position in respect to the animals—thinking that such a belief leads to human arrogance and to our frequent ill treatment of the other creatures who share this earth with us. (See the Wikipedia article on PETA) But like so many other truths, it is not the belief that’s the problem; it’s what we do with that belief.    While Christianity does not con­done groundless sentimentality and the granting of personhood to animals, it does speak consistently of man’s responsibilities regarding them.  Animals are creatures of God under the care of God’s stewards—mankind .  For us to treat them as nothing or to treat them cruelly is clearly wrong.

In reality, humanity’s position of superiority should humble us; because for all our superiority, we are the ones who have sinned and continue to sin—not the animals.  It is human sin that has created the havoc in the world that the animals must occupy (Romans 8:18-21).  Thus superiority has, in sin, shown its potential to be a curse.  Only in humble confession and submission before a holy God can we truly carry out the task of stewardship—the primary responsibility that goes hand-in-hand with our endowment of authority in the created order.  As in all other relationships, prideful superiority has no place in man’s relationship to the world of animals.

I like what Francis Schaeffer said about this matter in his book Pollution and the Death of Man: The Christian View of Ecology:

We should treat each thing with integrity because this is the way God made it. . . .  The value of the things is not in themselves autonomously, but that God made them, and thus they deserve to be treated with high respect. . . .  God treats His creation with integrity: each thing in its own order, each thing the way He made it.  If God treats His creation in that way, should we not treat our fellow-creature with similar integrity?  If God treats a tree like a tree, a machine like a machine, the man like a man, shouldn’t I, as a fellow-creature do the same—treating each thing in integrity in its own order?  And for the highest reason: because I love God.  I love the One who has made it!  Loving the Lover who has made it, I have respect for the thing He has made. (pp. 54-57)

Think about Balaam in the Bible (Numbers 22).  That rebel prophet was considering disobeying God in order to obtain wealth, and on his way to hear the lucrative offer, the donkey he was riding saw an angel standing in the way with a sword in hand.  The prophet, who was thinking so much about financial profit, failed to see the messenger of God.  His mount refused to move, and when Balaam beat it, the beast spoke up and complained about its treatment (“What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” vs. 28).  The comical part of this story is that instead of falling off the donkey in surprise at the miracle of an animal that speaks, Balaam started to carry on a conversation with it!  This amazing circumstance finally shocked the prophet into hearing God and seeing the angel.  Then the angel spoke: “I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.”

Considering how so many of God’s non-human creatures often fare at the hands of people bent primarily on monetary gain, I feel that if animals could speak today, they would ask the same thing Balaam’s donkey asked, “What have I done to you [that you should treat us like this]?”  Perhaps we need some similar shock for us to see that much of our reckless treatment of animals may eventually lead to God’s opposition to us—which, as Balaam discovered,  is not an enviable position.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the
wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgments,
and His paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36)

There are a number of things I don’t understand about the natural world.  Being a child of the Age of Science, this lack of comprehension used to drive me to come up with some all-encompassing explanation for everything.  I felt that I could not rest my faith until all these imponderables were resolved and cataloged in my brain.

I have come to the point now where I believe it is presumtive to think that I should be able to have little more than a glimpse of God’s works and ways—His wondrous mysteries.  I am content to merely celebrate, study, and handle with reverent care the things He has created.

I feel it is prideful for us to believe we will ever, on this side of Glory, have all mysteries revealed to us.  It is the humble and patient Christian who is willing to wait and trust in God that He will provide us the answers—when and if He chooses.  Mankind’s attempt to understand God’s works and ways in the universe will always produce mysteries.  A mystery, after all, is nothing more than evidence that human knowledge is limited and human intelligence finite.

It seems logical for one who believes in an eternal God to also believe that the universe He created would contain some evidence of His eternality (Romans 1:20).  It should not be surprising, then, to learn that mankind’s continual attempts to incorporate into our time and space explanations of the finite physical world all the mysteries of the micro-universe and the macro-universe are often futile (i.e. quantum physics and astrophysics).  It is this fact that makes me hesitant to accept as fully correct even the explanations of Christians in the sciences who are committed to the authority of Scripture.

I don’t think anything in God’s world will ever fit perfectly into any human categories.  And it must grieve God to see His children separate from one another because of disagreements over the interpretation of mysteries they were not intended to fully understand such as the age of the cosmos, the age of the earth, and the development of life on earth.

One of the many negative results of our scientific age is that it has trained the human mind to abhor leaving a mystery a mystery.  We insist on understanding everything.  The danger in this, however, is that when we gain a little understanding, we often claim that the mystery is solved—which is at best not true, and at worst keeps us from actually learning the truth.

Further, I’ve come to believe that in Christianity there is mystery, but no mysticism.  As I understand it, mysticism describes mankind’s attempt to come to an understanding of deity indirectly through some sort of inner human intuition.  Christianity describes God’s giving mankind essential information directly through person-to-person communication.  People, however, are finite while God is infinite; therefore we will always have incomplete knowledge of Him and His works and ways.  So there will always be mysteries; but such mysteries do not obscure the basic facts God has revealed to us, nor do they excuse us from the responsibilities He has given us to care for the creation.

The Apostle Paul’s understanding of the subject of mysteries should be our own: “Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33).  I have also read God’s rebuke of Job for thinking he could explain the way God deals with the earth and mankind, and I must parrot Job’s reply: “I am unworthy — how can I reply to you?  I put my hand over my mouth . . . I will say no more”  (Job 40:4-5)

Hand-over-mouth is a gesture we ought to be more accustomed to.

(DNA model source)
(Nebulae photos from the Hubble Telescope site)

Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all the depths; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven (Psalm 148:1-13).

Randy Trudeau

Few people fail to be touched by a stunning photo of natural beauty or a gripping verbal description of natural events.  But that is not enough for our souls.  To truly grasp creation’s meaning, one must experience it. The wild highlights our finiteness, vulnerability, and our utter and complete dependence upon the creating and sustaining power of God.

John Calvin called the natural world the “theater of God’s glory,” but it is even more than a theater; it’s a cathedral.  And awareness of God’s holiness only occurs when we enter it with the right spirit.  The word “cathedral” comes from the Latin term for “chair”: cathedra.  Traditionally a cathedral is the sacred place where a church bishop has his chair of authority—his throne.  While human bishops are supposed to keep us mindful of our stewardship role in the created order, too often the trappings and traditions of man hinder our capacity to hear the “still, small voice” of God in our urban churches.

For that reason, it’s important for us to preserve and treasure the cathedral of wilderness where we see that God, the ultimate authority, is clearly on the throne and where His wordless revelation can still be clearly seen and understood (Romans 1:20).  When truly attentive people enter the wild, they immediately recognize the signs that this is holy ground—a place where to them a flaming autumn maple is no less evidence of God’s miracle-working power and presence than the burning bush was to Moses.

Also important is for us to recognize that in the wilderness sanctuary we’re not alone in the impulse to worship.  God’s other creatures worship there as well.  Yesterday, for instance, I was walking the trap line with my Odawa friend, Randy Trudeau, on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario.  It was one of those crystal mornings with a brilliant sun creating diamonds on every weed and tree twig.  As we walked, Randy spoke of how the Anishinaabe elders teach that the way everything grows upward tells us that all of creation worships its Creator.

Likewise, the prophets Isaiah and David remind us that all created things in their own nature respond to God—even trees, rivers, and mountains. (Isa. 55:12; Psa. 98:8)  This amazing truth from the Old Testament is echoed in the Revelation where all God’s creatures are seen as worshiping the One who died in order that the cosmos may be redeemed: “Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb [Jesus Christ], forever and ever!’” (Rev. 5:13)

As Randy and I walked through a frozen marsh under a sapphire sky we stopped for a moment as I sang the doxology to the tune of Old 100th: “Praise God from whom all blessing flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.” [YouTube video of this classic doxology  here]

What a joy it is to share praise of the Creator with the other creatures who have been doing in since the genesis of creation—and think that it may not be long before Revelation 5:13 is fulfilled and God’s kingdom has come and His will is done “on earth as it is in heaven.”

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine and you are but aliens and My tenants (Lev. 25:23 NIV). The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein (Ps. 24:1).

The Word of God tells us that “God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). And according to the New Testament, the same Jesus who came into this world to rescue us from ourselves is the One who first made our world and everything that is in it. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:15-16).

[Photo source: Christ is Creator]

Here is what George MacDonald wrote in reference to this reality:

“If the world is God’s, every true man and woman ought to feel at home in it. Something is wrong if the calm of the summer night does not sink into the heart, for it embodies the peace of God. Something is wrong in the man to whom the sunrise is not a divine glory, for therein is embodied the truth, the simplicity, and the might of the Maker.” [Photo: RunnerJenny]

This 19th-century writer obviously believed and understood that we live and breathe in a world that shouts the reality of God from every piece of matter and every natural event. Almost without question, the most significant difference between the worldview of the Bible and the beliefs of secular humanism is the Christian understanding that God made the earth and it belongs to Him.

What comes of this belief is significant. When we are users and occupiers of property that belongs to someone else, we rightfully consider the interests of the owner as well as our own. In fact, as tenants and stewards, our own interests are secondary to that of the owner. Our challenge in any use of the land, air, water, or living thing that belongs to God is to ask how we can use what He has made so that we will honor Him and enjoy Him through it and in it.

More than a hundred years ago, Adam Clarke saw the practical implications of God’s ownership when he wrote:

The works of the Lord are multitudinous and varied. They are so constructed as to show the most consummate wisdom in their design, and in the end for which they are formed. They are all God’s property, and should be used only in reference to the end for which they were created. All abuse and waste of God’s creatures are spoil and robbery on the property of the Creator (quoted by Spurgeon in The Treasury Of David, p.335).

“All abuse and waste of God’s creatures are spoil and robbery on the property of the Creator.” How that reality should awaken us to a fuller awareness of our high calling to care for what God cares for! Those words take me back to my late twenties when, as a frustrated squirrel hunter one fall, I shot a porcupine high in a tall oak—merely because it was there and I had an unspent shotgun shell in my gun! Porcupines are common in Michigan’s north woods, and they are virtually unprotected by game laws because they are considered nuisance animals, “vermin” like woodchucks, gophers, and chipmunks. [Photo: by Enoch Ross]

I believe that God, who notes the death of a common sparrow, watches over all that He has made. Now I realize that the shame I felt looking into the lifeless eyes of one of God’s creatures I had thoughtlessly wasted might have been a reflection of God’s own heart. But at the time, I passed it off as an unmanly emotion.

My desire now is to celebrate the wonder of God in creation and acknowledge that as the Creator’s landholders, we are to examine the Word of God and prayerfully consider how we are to occupy His territory and humbly manage His works in a manner that glorifies Him.

Consider in conclusion the thoughts of Jean Mouroux penned over sixty years ago about the significance of man as the serving master—or “creation’s priest.”

Man is linked with nature in the vital, moral, and religious orders; and with her he forms an organic whole which finds its meaning and definitive fulfillment in the glory of God.  But man alone is conscious of it.  He alone is able to present the world to God in thought and love and to glorify God through the world.  Thus he is bound up with nature, but only to rule, complete, and achieve it: he is “the animal that commands,” but commands in order to serve and do homage; and thus he is truly creation’s priest.  And fraternal nature, not unhelpful, but seeking, desiring, looks up to him who alone can fulfill her desire by giving her a soul and a voice wherewith to honor her God.

A new feature has been added to the Wonder of Creation site: It is found on the top menu bar under the term “Ambling.” 

Here WOC host, Dean Ohlman, writes an occasional journal on his outdoor adventures—bringing back one of the earlier features of the Website.  Dean also includes his photos on this page.

Take a look at Dean’s musings today: a report on his current sojourn in Northern Ontario where he is trailing
 along with a Native Odawa fur trapper.