INTRODUCTION
In this writing, I will attempt to show how God, by his deep deep abiding love for his animal creation takes on their suffering as his own and transforms it into new life. He does so through the redeeming work of his Son and through us as agents of his image on earth.
This writing has been difficult for me because I have tried to blend my understanding of God with my personal experience. there’s the academic in me that asks, “Am I just being biased, proclaiming a hope that isn’t there in reality?”
I have decided that this is dark talk, undermining my confidence in supernatural truth. Some of the things I’m saying sound impossible. They do because I’m talking about miracles. I’m also talking about God’s animal creation, creatures whose experience with us has largely been ignored in Christian discussion. It is my hope that the discussion I’ve started through this writing will jump start a greater concern and action amongst God’s people on behalf of the animals.
BACKGROUND
This story is the result of the most excruciating experience of my life. Two years ago, 10/29/22, I was a participant in the suffering and death of a beloved stallion whom I had brought up as a baby. His death was untimely. He was only 11 years old, the prime of life for a horse. He was strong, noble, of distinguished breeding. He challenged me, reassured me, forgave me, and taught me lessons I shall never forget. I too gave back to him in the form of care, partnership, and a never-ending effort on my part to learn as much as I could to be a knowledgable and skilled partner for this great blessing that God bestowed upon me.
Yet for all his majesty, he was also sweet and innocent. That’s why his suffering is so heartbreaking and hard for me to understand. I knew he was aware of my presence during his illness, that I was there to help him by the way he looked at me, responded to my voice of reassurance. But my help was limited. What made the experience so tortuous is that there was only so much I could do for him. Looking back, it didn’t matter. Something broke inside this horse, a weakness that all of a sudden took hold. Taking him to the hospital would have been an unwise option since he wouldn’t have survived the trip. He was too sick. But he kept it from me. In the words of a vet tech to whom I recounted this story, “He was taking care of me.” Indeed, we were taking care of each other.
Below is an account of what took place and the hope of a new life without suffering, death, or disease that was revealed to me. God places hope before us even in what seems the worst of circumstances.
THE SUFFERING
There were two sufferings going on here: One was the suffering of my stallion; the other was mine — on the one hand being given the honor to be present with him during his time of need and then having to endure the big gap left behind by his departure
Since my husband died,we had a routine these last couple years. Joel Sheridan would come over four times a week to guide us through challenges and opportunities. This was my social life, my chance to be consoled and revitalized by working towards the wonderful harmony that can be achieved when riding a noble horse.. No matter what else was going on in my life, this work among the three of us left me happy, contented, and hopeful for the best yet to come.
I don’t know exactly how he died or even why. The symptoms which presented were a high fever and gastrointestinal distress. The latter may be called colic. But he didn’t lay down and thrash about as colicky horses are prone to do. He did paw, look at his sides once or twice in the beginning of the illness. Dr. Mark, my vet said that his breed, PRE, is very hard to read because they are by nature extremely stoic. They were bred for battle in ancient times, he said, and so were unlikely to exhibit severe distress or succumb to it.
Two different vets came out twice on emergency calls. He was tubed twice and given the pain killer banamine. “Tubing” is a procedure wherein a plastic tube is inserted through the horse’s nostril, down the esophagus to the stomach. Liquids are then injected into the area to stimulate the digestive process. At first, he bounced back. But by the second visit, he was deteriorating. He stopped eating and drinking. His defecation was almost nil. This was alarming. The next step would be to take him to the hospital, a trip which would cost into the thousands and which raised concerning questions as to its efficacy. It may not cure his illness, and he could in all likelihood collapse in the trailer on the way there. Besides, by the time he presented with the seriousness of his illness, it was already too late. My vet told me a story in which he lost a beloved horse after taking him to the hospital for surgery only to find out he next day and $20,000 later that his horse had died of a twisted gut despite the effort of hospital staff to save him.
In my case, the vets suspected a virus of some type which was causing the fever and hence the colic symptoms. By Friday evening, October 28, 2022, my horse was showing great distress. His respiration was way up and his temperature was by now 104.5. I was advised to hydrate him. But how if he wouldn’t drink? I already tried wetting rice bran with blended carrots in a bowl, but he wouldn’t touch it. I took him out of his corral, put him in cross-ties and began giving him blended carrots with water orally via syringe. This seemed to calm him. He knew I was giving my all for him. I went to the market to find some water melon, but it had closed by the time I got there. It was well passed 11. More blended carrots and water via syringe. By midnight, I went to bed to rest. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. dreading what was to come. I drank some tea for strength and went out to my horse.
He was breathing heavily as he turned to look at me for comfort. Still he never rolled on the ground, pawed violently, or kicked at his side. I called the vet again. It’s hard for me to remember all the events that took place between that call and what happened next. What a strong soul he was to stay standing for my sake until the very end. My beloved collapsed in front of me. I screamed. He was down and heaving. He rolled to his side. His legs thrust out in a last gasp, and he died with me seated by his head telling him how much I loved him. He gave up his spirit (John 19:30). I waited for my vet to arrive and confirm the death. I asked him, “What happened?” He couldn’t know for sure but said he presented with a rupture in the intestinal area.
WHY THE SUFFERING?
How could such a thing happen? Why did this innocent animal suffer like this? I turned to my Bible and was reminded there that all suffering was due to man’s sin and a world turned upside down by it.
In the beginning, I learned that God gave the human being dominion over his creation in the image of God ( Genesis 1:26-28). I believe this means that we were originally created to reflect his character of mercy, compassion, discipline, justice towards the creatures and take care of his creation as his agents the way he would.
Adam and Eve were the first two humans endowed with this privilege.
But God also gave them free will to obey him or not. This free will was tested in a very specific command. He told them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, Good, and Evil; for if they did, God goes on to explain, they would die. They could eat from any other tree in the Garden except this one. My view of the reason for this command is so that Adam and Eve would continue to benefit from God’s protection; that by their continual obedience to God’s will, Adam and Eve were enabled to work in harmony with Him, receiving and being nurtured by his protection, his life, his wisdom through their spiritual connection to Him. In other words, God gave this order to the human being to protect him from a knowledge of evil that the human was not created nor equipped to handle. The human was created to depend on God and his goodness.
Through this dependence, the work of man’s hands was continually blessed as was the dominion God gave man over his created beings
If man, in this case Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, he would become separated from God, a spiritual separation which would have catastrophic consequences not only for man but for the earth and the animals in it.
But indeed, that’s exactly what happened.
The human quite literally made a decision to turn his back on God and his auspices of care. The human allowed himself to be tricked and dirtied by evil essentially condemning the whole human race and all the creatures for which he was responsible to that evil. The image of God in man became corrupted . So the dominion God gave man over his creation—the power, authority, control to manage it— became corrupted as well.
The enticement for man to go astray enters the scene in Genesis chapter 3 in the form of a serpent who seduces first Eve then Adam to eat the fruit of the Tree. The serpent convinced them that nothing bad would happen to them, that they would instead be masters of their own fate; they didn’t need God. Masters of their own fate indeed; for by eating of the Tree against God’s command not to, Adam and Eve declared independence, not dependence on God. They thereby separated themselves from his holiness and ushered in the rot of a disconnection from the One who could give their life purpose,
The curse of human sin resulting from a broken connection with God is the cause of the pain, suffering, disease, violence we see not only among ourselves but also among the creatures and between ourselves and other living beings. The beginning of predation in Genesis 9 is a result of this.
The outward expression of the human being’s disconnect from God was God banishing Adam and Ece from the Garden (Genesis 3:23-24). You may ask why God would do such a thing. Isn’t God about forgiveness? Yes, God is indeed about forgiveness, but he is also pure and holy and requires purity and holiness from us to be with him. (1 Peter 1:16)
In fact I would argue that spiritual purity brought about by faith in Him is a prerequisite for forgiveness.
Supporting Bible Verss
Genesis 3:17-19 – God lays out judgment in response to man’s disobedience to God.
Psalm 106:39 – Describes spiritual infidelity. The Israelites defiled themselves by their evil deeds and love of idols.
Leviticus 18:28 – The land is defiled when man does not follow God’s commands. It will vomit them out.
Isaiah 24:5 – Describes how the earth is defiled by its people who break God’s laws and violate his statutes.
Genesis 6:13 – The earth is filled with violence because of man.
Deuteronomy 28:15-18 – Describes the harm that will come upon the Israelites for not following God’s commands. Verse 18 makes specific reference to the effect on the animals
WHY THE ANIMALS SUFFER
Romans 8:20 tells us
“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it ——————
Though The animals are innocent, they were subjected by God to the suffering, harm, or frustration of man’s sin.
But Why?
I believe so that man would be in a position as God’s agent on earth to clean up the mess he made through sin. This could only happen if the creatures man had wronged were still under his purview. It is man’s responsibility to make things right just as he made things wrong by choice.
Put in another way, man in his position of dominion, would have to take responsibility for making things right by struggling in his relationship with the animals to do so. And they would help him. We had dominion then; we have it now — at least in part. This dominion puts us in a unique position to regain the harmony with the animals previously lost through sin. In other words, man would be working his way back to the person God created him to be as a caretaker of God’s creation by rebuilding his relationship with the creatures before whom he must now humble himself.
It is part of man’s transformation. The big challenge for us in this process is to let go of the desire to be kings, to be superior to all the creatures. If we want to gain the mastery we had in the Garden of Eden, we are going to have to let go of the human tendency to think we know everything about the animals and instead learn from and about them –the intimate knowledge of the species, the roles God has given them, their physical, mental and emotional abilities to fulfill those roles.
Supporting Bible Verses
Psalm 66:11 – He has laid burdens on our backs
Ecclesiastes 1:13- What a heavy burden God has laid on men
Deuteronomy 8:3 – God humbled man so he would depend on him.
Psalm 104 – Subjection of the creatures to the dominion of human sin is not done without God’s sovereign control and provisions
Numbers 35:33 – Killing pollutes the land
Acts 3:21 –The whole creation still suffers from bondage to decay and will continue to groan until the day of redemption.
Jeremiah 12:4-How long will the land be parched and the grass in every field be withered: Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished; moreover, the people are saying ‘he will not see what happens to us.
THE HOPE
THROUGH JESUS OF NAZARETH
As the lamb of God (John 1:36), and the first born of every creature (Colossians 1:15), Jesus of Nazareth steps into their suffering. He understands it because he endured it when he was crucified. He knows what it’s like to be frail and broken and have pain because he went through it and conquered it. In so doing, he created a path for the creatures to follow him into new life. Even in the heartbreak, he’s going to step in with a new morning.
Indeed, God’s identification with the animal who suffers and triumphs can be read as a broadening of the incarnation to include and thus redeem the suffering of all creatures especially those who are victims (Webb, On God and Dogs).
For man the triumph of Jesus was to save him from sin; for the animals, it was to redeem them from the suffering caused by man.
How does this happen?
1. JESUS OF NAZARETH IDENTIFIES WITH ANIMALS AS THE FIRSTBORN OF EVERY CREATURE.(Colossian 1:15)
Jesus is pre-eminent above all creation, begotten not made ( The Nicene Creed. See Appendix). This means that he is not a creature but rather shares the same nature as the Father. Indeed, he proclaims, “I and the Father are one.”(John 10:30). So by and through him, all the creatures were made. They are his offspring, and as such bear a relationship to him.
Jesus presented himself as God in the flesh on earth to identify with material beings. But he also gave the creatures souls or nephesh by blowing his breath of life into them to connect them to him in spirit. (Genesis 1:30 for the animals; 2:7 for man ). This process is further supported in Psalm 104:30.
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead (Revelation 1:5), indicating his resurrection life after death which he extends to those who are connected to him.
2.JESUS OF NAZARETH IDENTIFIES WITH ANIMALS AS THE LAMB OF GOD. AS SUCH HE STEPS INTO THE SUFFERING OF EVERY CREATURE TO OFFER THEM NEW LIFE
In Revelation 5:6, John sees Jesus as a lamb, standing between God’s throne and four living creatures.
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).
When John referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God, he recalled the substitutional sacrifice of atonement the animals such as the lamb performed in the Old Testament, This is a role that Jesus would take on with life altering implications for all created beings. It was substitutional because only the spiritually clean, pure and holy could provide the replacement for the sinful. It was sacrificial because the blood had to be shed allowing the release of the Holy Spirit to indwell the heart of the believer (Hebrews 9:22). It was an act of atonement because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would serve to make man holy and clean him from sin. God and man could now be rejoined in holy union.
Like Jesus, the sacrificial animals would be without defect, their bones would not be broken, and the scent of the pure spirit rising above to cover human sin would provide a pleasing aroma.(2 Corinthians 2:15) However, the atonement function between the two beings, Jesus and the animals were different in crucial ways.
When God appointed animals to perform the sacrificial function, it was an external covering; theirs created a holy environment so God could meet with the people. For this reason, the sacrifice had to be performed repeatedly.
Jesus’ sacrifice was designed to clean the human being from the inside out by the release of the Holy Spirit after his death to indwell in him. As such, it only had to be performed once. As he said, “It is finished”. (John 19:30)
a.His blood would be shed like that of the Passover lambs whose blood smeared the doorposts of the Israelites to protect them from the Destroyer
The Passover Lamb is the animal God directed the Israelites to use as a sacrifice on the night God struck down the firstborn sons of every household in Egypt (Exodus 12:29). This was the final plague God issued against Pharoah and led Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery (Exodus 11:1). God instructed every household of the Israelites to select a year-old lamb without defect (Exodus 12:5 and Leviticus 22:20-21). The head of the household was to slaughter the lamb at twilight, taking care that none of its bones were broken and apply some of its blood to the tops and sides of the doorframe of the house. God said when He saw the lamb’s blood on the doorframe, he would “pass over” that house and not permit the destroyer (Exodus 12:23) to enter. Any house without the blood of the lamb on it would have the first born son struck down that night (Exodus 12:12-13).
There are two processes that are worthy of attention here. Firstly, the fact that the bones of the animal were not to be broken. This is a direct reference to the same requirement for Jesus (John19:36; Psalm 34:20). Secondly, the blood had to be shed (Hebrews 9:22). This is true for the animals and Jesus because the blood is the vessel of the soul (Leviticus 17:11). And it is the release of the soul when the blood is shed that sets the faithful apart as distinct for God.
Of note is the fact that families were required to keep the lamb in their homes approximately 4 days before the passover sacrifice. This, I believe, was to engender some remorse, some sadness on the part of the family members with regard to what the lamb was to suffer in their sted. Family members would develop a relationship, a closeness, to these animals who are intelligent beings and who feel fear and joy just like we do.
The Last Supper was a Passover Seder after which Jesus would become the new Passover lamb at his crucifixion.
b. He Was a Substitute as the ram stood in the place of Abraham’s Son Isaac. It is only the innocent and sinless creature that can be a worthy sacrificial substitute for human sin.
The first account of this substitutionary role occurs in Genesis 22 where God commands Abraham to take his son Isaac up to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
Why would God do this since elsewhere he forbids the sacrifice of humans to himself? (Jeremiah 7:31)
It was a test of Abraham’s faith and his understanding that God himself would provide the lamb for the burnt offering (Genesis 22:8).
Indeed, Isaac asked Abraham where the lamb for the burnt offering was. Abraham replied,
“God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” (Genesis 22:7-8)
Abraham furthermore reasoned that God could raise from the dead because God had said, “It is through Isaac your offspring will be blessed.” (Genesis 18:12; Hebrews 11:18).
Nevertheless, Abraham follows through, and as he begins to comply, having bound Isaac to an altar, he is stopped by the Angel of the Lord; a ram appears in the thicket and is sacrificed in Isaac’s stead.
God provided a ram to rescue Isaac from physical death. But he provided Jesus a spotless lamb (1 Peter 1:18-1) and a slain lamb (Revelation 5:6) to rescue us from spiritual death.
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THE HOPE
THROUGH JESUS IN US
“Because his original creation of humanity as his image had meant free will agency, his kingdom must of necessity include humanity in its recovery and rulership else the Edenic vision would be undermined. There could be only one solution……..God understood that only he could be trusted with perfectly accomplishing his own will. he would therefore have to become man and, in addition, he would have to inhabit the hearts of his children…….he had to indwell those who would follow him……Yahweh would send his Spirit to indwell his people.” (Heiser, p. 240, 241).
Said in another way, while the animals experience the suffering of human sin, they experience the hope of a new life by the work of Jesus in us as his agents. It is God’s hope through us.
My involvement in my horse’s suffering was a reflection of God’s involvement in the suffering of us both. I was there to extend God’s mercy to this creature so he wouldn’t be alone in his passing; he would feel my love. I was a conduit for the hope and new life that Jesus bestowed through his resurrection.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the suffering of Christ flows over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
EPILOGUE
😅HOPE IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING
I have attempted to show how God transforms suffering into hope. In this writing, the test case has been the suffering and death of my beloved stallion Sonyador. It is also about my suffering. I have tried to come to terms with both these in this writing.
In many ways, this article unpacks Romans 8:19-21. This is where God subjects the creatures to human sin and its suffering but not without hope. Suffering occurs within hope. Hope surrounds it.
“(19) For the creation waits in eager exopectation for the children of God to be revealed. (20) For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope (21) that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”
Jesus of Nazareth is the hope.
He identifies with creaturely suffering and provides for them a path to new life through his death and resurrection. He uses us as his agents to cure, comfort and encourage the creature in the midst of his suffering. This was my role. Romans 8:21 speaks of this when it refers to the creatures longingly awaiting the revelation of the sons of God.
Somewhere in this hope is the transformation of the human race from sinful to holy. That is implied in the Roman’s verse as the creatures groan for more and more human beings to acknowledge Jesus as their savior and allow the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit to transform them into a holy community.
Human dominion over creation is no longer a top down, heavy-handed, brutal authority but rather full of mutually supportive relationships inspired by the skilled mastery of the human being fueled by love and mercy. The result is that creation is subdued or calmed and in harmony with one another.
The hope in Romans 8:19-21 revisited –While the whole creation groaneth together, their groans are not dispersed in idle air but enter into the ears of Him that made them. While his creatures travail together in pain, he knoweth all their pain and is bringing them nearer and nearer to the birth which shall be accomplished in its season. he seeth the earnest expectation wherewith the whole animated creation waiteth for that final manifestation of the sons of God in which they themselves also shall be delivered.
IT’S NOT OVER GOD DOESN’T LEAVE US IN THE DUST
As it turns out, God has been right there from the moment of Sonyador’s passing up to the present to provide comfort and a way forward. Let me recount a few of these instances.
There was my neighbor Peter who was there right on the spot, offering to see that Sonyador’s body was taken safely away so I wouldn’t have to watch him leave.
There was my friend and tax advisor, Sharon, who offered to lend me her Andalusian brood mare to get me through the time of grieving. She said I could ride her and train her the rest of the year until she needed her back. I thought this was an incredibly generous offer and gave it serious consideration. My hesitation was around the fact that I would eventually have to give the mare back.. Still, Sharon’s offer gave me great hope and a reason to start thinking forward towards a new horse and a new opportunity.
Through it all, I have been praying to put the experience, skills and knowledge gained with Sonyador to good purpose with another deserving horse in a way which honors him.
My prayer was answered. There started to occur a series of miraculous coincidences I understand as synchronicity. Synchronicity is a term coined by M. Scott Peck in his book The Road Less Traveled. Simply put it means the juxtaposition of ordinary events in an extraordinary way that could only happen by supernatural means.
I started contacting local horse rescues, asking if any of them had horses of the Iberian persuasion– Andalusian, Lusitano, Lipizzaner–like Sonyador. They all said no. Letty Gutilla at Wild Sage horse rescue went so far as to say she “never gets any horses like that” but consoled me by telling me she would call me if she did. Two days later I got a call from Letty who said she just got in a stallion of the same breed and color as Sonyador. Was I still interested? I jumped on the opportunity and said yes. He was four years old, having been given up by his owners because he was too short and was blind in one eye. I found out later he had a detached retina caused by a blow to the face. In general, he had been badly handled.
Letty kept him at her ranch for a while to put on some initial training and geld him. When he was ready for adoption, his price would be $3,000. I couldn’t afford this on my own. Then another miracle came to the rescue. My dear friend and horse trainer of many years, Dave Johnston, offered to give me $4,000 towards the purchase and initial training of my new equine friend Centenario. Nario for short. I could’t believe my good fortune.
We are on our way. I am, as of this writing (two years later) putting my skills, experience and love towards the rehabilitation of this young horse—with Joel Sheridan’s help, of course.
APPENDIX
Below are topics which came up during the writing of this article, discussions of which did not lend themselves to my overall purpose. I have decided to list them in this appendix to convey my thinking on some key themes.
Animal Soul
Genesis 2:7 tells us that the man became a living soul. The Hebrew word translated “soul” is “nephesh.” According to the Bible, animals also possess nephesh. In Genesis 1:20, God made swarms of “living creatures.” The Hebrew text underlying “creatures” is nephesh. Genesis 1:30 tells us that living nephesh is in animals. (Heiser, p. 42)
Image of God
Because animals share many of the same qualities as man, including intellect, will and emotions, Heiser states that “image of God” refers to status, not attributes. (Heiser p. 40-43) Our status is that we were commissioned to rule over creation the way God rules over realms. Some attributes enable us to do that such as articulated language, hands, etc.
We also possessed the attribute of holiness which we corrupted by sin. Such an attribute would enable us to rule with mercy. I like the idea of purpose to describe our role as rulers or dominion holders. For this I look to Jesus who took on the role of servant.
Sons of God
Revelation 3:21 says as glorified believers we sit on the seat of David along with Messiah, sharing his rule.
Galations 3:26-29 notes that through Jesus we are all children of God by faith. We are the current and future sons of God–beginning with Adam, rescued in Abraham, and fulfilled in Jesus; that is heirs to David’s throne. (Heiser, p.156)
Also see John 1:12 and 1 John 3:1
The Serpent of Genesis 3
Nachash is the Hebrew word for this creature.
It’s meaning is both plain and elastic. The consonants or root letters, n-ch-sh, are used in words for serpent, divination and shiny. Changing the vowels within these consonants tips the nuance in one direction or another.When the Hebrew root letters are a noun, nachash, serpent is the meaning. By changing one of the vowels in the root letters, we get nachesh which means diviner or one who gives out divine information. Furthermore, we find in Daniel 10:6 two vowels changed within the root letters which gives us nechosheth; nechosheth means bronze or copper, both of which are shiny when polished.
All the meanings telegraph something important. They are also consistent with the imagery from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. The divine adversary dispenses divine information using it to goad Eve. He gives her an oracle (or omen): You won’t really die. God knows when you eat you will be like one of the elohim, or lesser gods. Lastly, a shining appearance conveys a divine nature.
In sum, this is not a mere animal but a supernatural entity, a malcontent or divine adversary from within the divine council. The divine council, according to Heiser, is a group of heavenly created beings who work with God to accomplish his ends. (Heiser p. 74). See Revelation 12:9, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, 2 Corinthians 11:3 for the work and fate of the serpent.
See Heiser p. 87-88 for a complete discussion of this topic.
Holiness
Holiness is about being set apart for God. It has a moral dimension related to conduct but at its essence, it’s about distinction.
Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God in the Old Testament, is so other as to be incomprehensible. Otherness is at the core of holiness.
Leviticus 19:2 states that Israel was to be set apart (holy) as Yahweh was set apart and holy.
Yahweh is complete in his perfection. His realm is the supernatural. Ours is the terrestrial, the ordinary, the profane. Humans must be invited and purified to occupy the same space.
In the Old Testament, the closer one got to Yahweh’s presence, the more holy the ground or object in his proximity. There were progressive holiness zones (Exodus 28-29). The holier the zone, the more costly the animal sacrificed to sanctify the priests when they entered into the presence of Yahweh for rituals (Leviticus 8).
See Heiser, p. 171-172, 173.
Dominion
It was God’s original design for his human children to be servant rulers over the earth under his authority. (Heiser, p. 96). God states this in Genesis 1:26 where he proclaims that the human being will rule over the creatures of the earth.
Dr. Ellen Davis of Duke University has delved into what this means as it would pertain to an agrarian society. The Hebrew word is “radah.” Radah, according to Dr. Davis in an agrarian context means “the human exercise of skilled mastery among the creatures.” This is a far cry from the top-down, heavy handed approach the idea of dominion often carries with it in modern circles and is more accurate to describe the task with which God originally gave the human being. This was to take care of the Garden and the creatures in it. This coupled with dominion in the image of God (Genesis 1:26 ) brings with it the requirement that humans must exercise skilled mastery among the creatures according to the character of God, the way he would do it.
The result of this skilled mastery is so that the animals would be subdued (Genesis 1:28), they would be calmed. A meaning of subdue is to quiet or calm. To subdue creation is to calm it.Brought about by skilled mastery, each species and each individual within the species would know his place, the rules and expectations for interaction with individuals from other species and with humans; they would know the boundaries.
Subdue
Heiser notes that “the orignal task of humanity was to make the entire earth like Eden.” This explains why God wanted humans to subdue it. It was not yet perfect like Eden. But it was “very good.” (Heiser, p. 50-51)
Don Sullivan, world renowned and skilled trainer of dogs, describes a dog who has been “subdued”; that is, one who has the gift of expert training or skilled masstery as discussed above. He says the dogs soften; they have a relaxed look in their eye. A gentleness comes over the dog under human control. He goes on,
“When you have control of their will, they soften. They have time to emit good and positive feelings. An aggressive dog has negative feelings, is stressed out, and is not enjoying his life. We want to remove all forms of aggression so the dog can be comfortable and exist with us.”
The Curse
Only the snake (v.14) and the ground (v.17) are cursed because of man in Genesis 3. Curse means to harm or to hurt. Nachash was cursed to crawl on his belly on the ground under the feet of animals. The imagery conveyed is one of being cast down. (Ezekiel 28:8, 17; isaiah 14:11, 12-15). Nachash is lower than the beasts of the field. For this reason, Heiser prefers “judgment” when it comes to God’s response to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve and the rest of creation bore God’s judgement or the consequences of man’s sin.(Heiser p. 88)
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
Additional Supporting Bible Verses
2 Corinthians 2:17-The Sons of God are commissioned by God
Exodus 3:7 – God is concerned with suffering
Revelation 21:4, 22:3 –Creation will be restored to its original new good state.
Deuteronomy 8:16 God commands the Israelites to remember His past dealings with them: He provided manna for them to test and humble them so it might go well with them.
1 Peter 4:12-19-Don’t be surprised at trials that come upon you to test you. This is where Jesus’s glory is revealed.
2:21 – You will suffer for doing good as Jesus did for us.
Philippians 1:29-God has given us the privilege to not only believe in Jesus but to suffer for him.
Psalm 22:1-31-David cries out to God in this lament and then recognizes God as his soverign strength and comforter in times of trial. Jesus quotes the begining of these verses in Mathew 27:46.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 Even though we face many troubles, are not defeated. God does not leave us, and the work of Jesus can be seen within us.
James 1:2-4-James tells his hearers to consider it joy when they face trials because it is these that test faith and produce perseverence.
Romans 5:3-5-Paul tells his hearers that suffering produces endurance and endurance character and character hope. Hope does not disappoint.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13-Paul describes the nature of love which surpasses all.
Luke 17:25 – He will suffer many things and be rejected by his generation. 9:22 – He will suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, be killed and rise on the third day.
Isaiah 53:3-12– Predicts the suffering servant and the glory that would follow. Jesus is the lamb led to slaughter, and we are the sheep who need a shepard.
Acts 26:22-23 – Paul explains that Jesus would suffer and die and as the first to rise, he would proclaim light to his own people and the Gentiles.
RECAP
I
- This is a broken world because of human sin. Suffering is a part of this brokenness.
- I, as a believer, have a duty to help mend that brokenness where I find it.
- Something broke on the inside of my horse, and I was there to help him through it. God placed me there at the exact moment when he needed me. God, in turn, equipped my stallion to bravely comfort me with his stoicism.
- As my stallion and I endured together, I knew that this was not the end but the beginning — of something different. My neighbor Marina McNutt told me that Sonyador and I were not just brought together for this one moment. But that God destined us to be part of each other’s lives from the beginning. This event was the culmination of a mutually experienced love.
- The hope that Jesus offers the innocent and the believer is eternal life and renewed purpose with God in his realm absent of suffering
“Behold I will create a new heaven and a new eart. The former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)
“The wolf and the lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like the ox? But dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.”l(Isaiah 65:25)
II
1.God’s judgment came upon the earth because of man’s sin.
2.Judgment is when God hands people over to the consequencs of seizing blessing on their own terms. Instead of abundance and life, we end up with scarcity, isolation, death. The earth will no longer provide for the creatures willingly. Now man must struggle to be its caretaker and reap its benefits.
3.God was an active player in subjecting the creatures to this judgment. Predation is an example. (Genesis 9)
Why?
4.Because as man had dominion in caring for creation, God would use man to bring about it’s healing from the sin of man. This would entail struggle,
WHAT JESUS DID AND ITS EFFECT ON US
“Pain and death are plain and inescapable facts of biological existence. The result is that we should learn to regard these “occasions” as “occasions for love” so that the worst evil could do to such love is provide it with fresh opportunities for loving.” (Andrew Linzey)
Jesus as God came to earth in human form to overcome the sin which began with Adam and Eve.Paul calls him the last Adam because he accomplished this purpose (1 Corinthians 15:45). He did this as a sacrifice. He was crucified, probably the most brutal form of torture of its time or any time. But the book of Hebrews tells us this was necessary because the blood had to be shed (Hebrews 9:22). I believe this was because the blood is the vessel of the spirit or life, and as Leviticus 17:11 tells us, it is the life that makes atonement for the creature or reconciles him with God.
Jesus, furthermore, tells us that unless he goes away, the Spirit won’t come to us (John 16:7). The Spirit is his Spirit, his Holy Spirit in his blood which must be released to indwell in the believer to bring about the cleansing, purification which allows our sins to be forgiven/taken away (Jeremiah 33:8 ). This makes us worthy for eternal life with Him, and we must be holy because He is Holy (1 Peter 1:16).
This is the process for the believer and begins to make possible the new heaven and new earth through Him — the already but not yet (Hebrews 2:8-9;John 18:36). It starts and continues the process Paul talks about in Romans 8:19-21 where the creatures, now subjected to man’s sin, groan for the sons and daughters of God to hasten the coming of God’s kingdom, the new heaven and new earth, for their sake.
So what might this transformation look like? We would
Take responsibility for what we have done and feel bad about it.
Learn to feel remorse for what we are putting the animals through as a catalyst for our own contrition, Human remorse for their suffering may not seem to help the animals directly. But it could. For someone like me who loves animals and has a heart for them, it moves me to action on their behalf whether its adopting a badly handled half blind rescued horse or signing a petition. For others who view animals as an afterthough, it might just get them to develop an awareness a greater sensitivity that will someday be of benefit to the animals.
REFERENCES
Heiser, Michael S., The Unseen Realm; Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press, Bellingham, Washington, 2015
Linsey, Andrew, Creatures of the Same God; Explorations in Animal Theology, Lantern Books, Brooklyn New York, 2009
Peck, M. Scott, The Road Less Traveled, Simon and Schuster, Canada, 1978
Ryrie, Charles Caldwell, Ryrie Study Bible, NIV, Moody Press, Chicago, 1986
Sullivan, Don, Wake Up and Smell the Poop, Kaswiit Corporation, 2012
Webb, Stephen H., On God and Dogs, Oxford University Press, New York, 1998