All of God's creation will praise Him. Everything that has breath will cry out. They will praise Him for His power, His glory, and His provision. Creation knows that the God of the universe cares for it. Do we? The book of Psalms ends with this verse: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" God is sovereign over all living things. In their own way, the animals praise and obey the Lord. What does the Bible have to say about the animals and their response to God?
Jonah and the Obedience of the Fish
I recently heard the story of Jonah, as I have many times, but one thing stood out to me that I had never noticed before. Jonah 2:10 says, "So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto dry land." It struck me. The fish had to hear what the Lord said in order to obey God. The fish was immediately obedient. I wondered if there were other examples in Scripture and yes, indeed there are. The animals of this world are very obedient to God.
The Ark and the Animals in Genesis
We see examples everywhere in the Old Testament. In Genesis 7, the animals arrived at the ark that Noah built and file in two by two. Although it doesn't explicitly say it, it seems very likely that God directed them to do this.
Balaam and His Donkey's Awareness of God
In Numbers 22:28, we read about Balaam and his donkey. Balaam's disobedience to God led him to ride his donkey to Moab. The Angel of the Lord stood in his path as an adversary to stop Balaam the scriptures tell us. Now Balaam couldn't see the Angel of the Lord but we are told his donkey could see Him. The donkey desperately tried to avoid going in that direction, but Balaam kept hitting the donkey to force her. We are finally told that God opened the mouth of the donkey and allowed her to speak. She questioned Balaam as to why he was beating her. When she spoke to Balaam, his eyes were opened, allowing him to see the Angel of the Lord. The Angel told Balaam that if the donkey hadn't turned away He would have killed Balaam but let the donkey live. The donkey had an awareness of the spirit realm that you and I don't seem to have.
The Cows that Carried the Ark of the Covenant
In 1 Samuel 6:1-12, there is a story of the Philistines and the Ark of the Covenant. A plague had come upon the Philistines and to determine if it was from the Lord they were told to place the ark on a cart. In 1 Samuel 6:7, "Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them." If the cows went straight to the land of the Israelites, they would know it was the ark that had caused all the trouble. These cows will be obedient to the will of God.
Obedient Cows Directed by God
Milk cows were not normally used to haul carts, especially cows that had young ones. By taking their calves from them the cows would have been heavy with milk and quite miserable. Also, they had never been yoked and that meant they really wouldn't know how to work well as a team. All of this means that the cows would have wanted to head back to their home in the land of the Philistines. Nevertheless, the cows headed straight to Israel, mooing as they went. Only God could have directed them to do so.
The Lion that Spared the Donkey
In 1 Kings 13:23-29, we read that a disobedient prophet of God was killed by a lion. The lion stood next to his corpse and next to the donkey the prophet was riding. The lion never attacked the donkey. This was a sign to passersby that this was the judgment of God. Again, God had directed an animal to do His will and the animal obeyed.
Ravens Feeding Elijah
Also in 1 Kings 17:3-4, there is the story of Elijah and the ravens. We are told that God commanded the ravens to bring food to Elijah. The ravens, like our other examples, were obedient to God.
Elisha and the Youths of Bethel: Understanding a Difficult Story
In 2 Kings 2:23-24, there is a story that many find disturbing (I know I did) until you understand the setting. The Prophet Elisha was on his way to Bethel—a town that was the center of golden calf idol worship and not a place where Elisha was admired. As he traveled, 42 youths—think of them as modern-day gang members—met him and taunted him for his baldness. There’s also a possibility that these youths were priestly servants of the idolatrous temple in Bethel. It's worth noting that Elisha was not an old man at the time. These youths were mocking God’s prophet, and they knew it. They told him to "go up," referring to the ascension of his mentor Elijah, who had been taken up by God.
Elisha placed a curse on them, and two female bears came out of the woods and mauled them. It's important to note that the text does not say the bears killed them. Unless they wanted to stand in line and be attacked one by one, "mauling" likely refers to a generalized attack of scratching and tearing. The species of bear native to the area was a smaller species, and the females were even smaller than the males. So, the bears were obedient in dispersing this angry mob of taunting young men, not murdering a group of small children making idle threats.
Job's Lessons from Animals
Like the examples in Kings, we also see in the book of Job how animals reveal God's sovereignty. In Job 12:7-9, Job tells his friends that the beasts will teach them, the birds will tell them and the fish will explain to them that the Lord has brought these disasters upon Job. Creation itself can see God at work in Job's life. In Job 38:39-41, God speaks to Job and tells him that He is the one that satisfies the hunger of lions and provides food for the ravens.
Animals in the Psalms
The Psalms have a lot to say about the creatures God has created. In Psalm 24:1, we learn that all of the world and the living things that dwell in it are His. David tells us in Psalm 29:9* that it is the voice of the Lord that causes deer to give birth. Psalm 104:21 lets us know that the lions receive their food from God, and in verse 27, it says that all creatures are given their food by God. In Psalm 148, we are told that sea creatures praise the Lord (v. 7) and that creeping things, birds, cattle and beasts of all kinds praise the Lord (v. 10). How this exactly happens we don't know. We just know that it does.
Isaiah’s Prophetic Picture of Animals Praising God
Isaiah 43 explains how God will do a new thing for Israel. They will be freed from their captivity in Babylon. They will be provided a road back to their home where even the animals know that God has provided water for them and His people. In Isaiah 43: 20-28, God says that all the beasts will honor Him, the jackal and the ostrich, because He provides water for them in the midst of the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Animals in the New Testament
The New Testament also gives examples. In Matthew 17:27, Jesus tells the disciples to take the first fish they catch because it will have a coin in its mouth to pay the temple tax. Did the fish hear the Lord tell it to swallow a coin, or did it just happen, and the Lord knew the coin would be there? We can't know for sure but I lean towards the first explanation. In Matthew 26:34, the Lord tells Peter before the rooster will crow three times Peter will deny Him three times. And so it happened. Did the Lord command the rooster? Did the rooster hear? Perhaps. Animals praising and obeying God are found over and over in Scripture.
Creation’s Hope for Redemption and Future Glory
Romans 8:21 reminds us that all of creation, not just man, "looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay."(NLT). At that time the "wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard with the young goat...and a little child shall lead them."(Isaiah 11:6). In this new heaven and new earth all of creation will rejoice with us!
God's Creation Praises and Obeys Him: the Animals
In Matthew 10:29, we learn that God cares for his creation so much that when a sparrow falls to the ground He knows. The Bible is clear: the animals praise God. They are obedient to His words. They hear Him. Certainly not exactly as we do, but in their own way. God's creation praises and obeys Him, including the animals. Do we do as much? They know who their provider is. Do we?
"And 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, forever and ever!” Revelation 5:13
Enjoy "A Place in the Choir" by Celtic Thunder here.
*Some translations of Psalm 29:9 say, "twists the oaks and strips the forest bare", they don't mention deer giving birth. I am using the NKJV unless otherwise noted.
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