We have been learning for some weeks about the plants, the flowers, fruits, and seeds, which spring out of the earth in obedience to the Word of God, "Let the earth bring forth grass." (Genesis 1:11)
This week we will learn about some other kinds of plants, some of which swim in the sea, some fly in the air, and some move about over the face of the earth. "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind. ... And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind; and it was so." (Genesis 1:20-21,24)
"But," you will perhaps say, "surely these are not plants!"
Well, let us see what the Word of God says about this. In the 15th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians we read, that: "All flesh is not the same flesh; for there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. But in the 40th chapter of Isaiah we are told that "all flesh is grass." (Isaiah 40:6)
And then if you will think for a little while you will see that the animals all come from the ground, the same as the plants do that remain rooted in the soil. For just as God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass," (Genesis 1:11) so He said also, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing." (Genesis 1:24)
So the plants and the animals were all brought forth by the earth, and all came from exactly the same seed,--the Word of God,--and they all share one life, the life of God, for He is the Life, and there is no other.
And then again we have been learning how the plants which spring from the earth draw their food from it, and live by the nourishment that their roots suck up out of the ground. But we shall see that these moving plants also get all their food from the ground, for "God causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; that He may bring forth food out of the earth." (Psalm 104:14)
All the living beings in this earth are dependent on the earth from which they come to supply them with food to sustain their lives.
We have seen that in all the beauty, fragrance and usefulness of the plants, and in all the glory of the sun, moon and stars, God is revealing himself to us. But this is true of all the things that He has made. So learn all that you can about the animals, the birds, the fishes, and creeping things, for each one, even the tiniest, holds some wonderful secret of God's love and power which He has put there for you, and if you ask Him, His Holy Spirit will teach you what it is.
In another part of this paper you will find some facts about the animals, the bees, the ants, and the birds, which will show you how wonderful are the wisdom and skill which are seen in their actions. It is God's own life in them which gives them such wisdom.
• It is His life in the bird which teaches it how and where to build its nest;
• His life in the bee which teaches it where and how to gather honey and store it in the wonderful comb of wax which it makes;
• His life in the spider which teaches it how to weave its silken web and fasten it securely;
• His life in the ant which gives it such wisdom that the wisest man who lived tells us to "consider her ways, and be wise." (Proverbs 6:6)
Solomon himself learned wisdom from studying these works of God, and "he spoke of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes." (1 Kings 4:33)
Try to find out what the Word of God tells you about the different animals with which you are familiar. Read the 39th and 40th chapters of Job, and see how many animals are mentioned there, and how much we are told about them. And over all these works of His hands God gave man dominion; but how differently men often treat the animals from what God himself does, for "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." (Psalm 145:9)
We see cruel men, and sometimes thoughtless little children, illtreating God's creatures whom He has given them to love and protect. But the time is soon coming when all the suffering and sorrow that has come upon the animals through man's sin will be over; and "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain says the Lord." (Isaiah 11:9)
In the new earth which God will make, men will no longer hurt and destroy the animals, nor hunt them and use them for food; and the animals will not hurt nor destroy each other or man, but "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)--Present Truth, November 3, 1898--A children's companion to: The Everlasting Gospel, Chapter 20, "The Animal Creation".
More About Animals
We were talking last week about how we may learn to know God by studying the things that He has made. How wise, how loving, how merciful is our great Creator you will find out more and more as you think upon the wondrous works of His hands.
Here is a little picture of some of the wonderful things that His powerful Word made from the dust of the ground, when God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature." (Genesis 1:24)
The largest animal in the picture is the kangaroo. It does not go along on its four legs like most quadrupeds, but upright as you see it here, and instead of running along the ground, it takes the most astonishing long, high leaps.
So that the mother kangaroo can carry her little ones safely with her in these flying leaps, God has made a little cradle in her body, a small pouch or pocket where her babies are stowed away, safe and warm. Here they are kept by the mother until they are old enough to leave it, and even then they run to her and jump in when anything frightens them. You can see the tiny head of one of the babies peeping out from its cosy cradle.
In the next picture is a little hedgehog. You will know him by the sharp spines, or prickles, sticking out all over his body. This little creature has nothing else to defend it from the attacks of its enemies--it cannot run swiftly and get away from them, and it has no strength or skill with which to meet them. But God has covered it with this armour, and when it sees an enemy--a cat, or weasel, that is unfriendly to it--it draws in all the soft parts of its body and rolls itself up so that nothing can be seen but a ball of sharp prickles. Then anything that touches it only pricks itself without hurting the hedgehog, who waits until its enemy goes away and gives it an opportunity to escape.
In the following picture, making its way to the water, you will see a strange looking little animal that you have never seen before. But did you ever see anything at all like it? Look closely, and you will see that it has a bill exactly like a duck, and webbed feet also.
It swims in the water and feeds in the mud just like a duck, but its body is like that of a mole, and it burrows like the mole in the ground, in the river banks, and makes its nest under the ground. It is so wonderfully formed that it is as much at home in the water as a duck, and in the land as a mole. It is called the duckbilled watermole. (Or, Platypus)
This little creature's home is in Australia, and when one was first sent to Europe people thought that somebody must have made it up by fastening a duck's beak on to the body of a small animal. But they have since found that this is really the way that God made it, though they have not ceased to wonder at it.
Another time we will talk about some more of these wonderful works of God. If you will read through the 104th Psalm, you will see how He who made them is all the time caring for each one of the smallest of His creatures. He says, "I know all the fowls of the mountain, and the wild beasts of the field are mine." (Psalm 50:11)
He knows them all, He thinks of all, He feeds all, and He loves all. "Fear not, therefore," (Matthew 10:31) for Jesus tells you that you "are of much more value" to Him than all "the fowls of the mountains" or "beasts of the forest," (Psalm 104:20) so "how much more" (Matthew 7:11) will He think of you, and take loving care of you all the time.--Present Truth, November 10, 1898--This article was written a week after the one above (although not a part of the official series), so I have included it without chapter numbering so as to keep the numbering correspondence of the other articles with The Everlasting Gospel book.