He Cares for the Animals
A righteous man regards the life of his animal.
(Proverbs 12:10 NKJV)
God loves animals. He created them, He populated the Garden of Eden with them, and He instructed Adam to take care of them. Throughout the Bible, God’s concern for animals is shown.
After the flood, He made a covenant, not only with Noah, but with the animals as well.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:8-12 NIV).
In Deuteronomy 25:4, He instructs the Israelites not to muzzle the ox while it is threshing: “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” In other kinds of labor, oxen were muzzled. But here God instructs the farmer not to do that. It is only right the animal be allowed to eat some of the fruit of its labors. God shows not only His care for the animal here, but also uses it as a teaching symbol for people to be kind to their servants and laborers. He instructed the people to, not only rest themselves, but to let their animals rest as well: “Six days you shall do your work, and the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest” (Exodus 23:12 NKJV).
In Jonah, He regarded the life of the animals. “And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:11 NKJV).
A Christian should take care of God’s creatures if he calls himself a Christian. Righteousness includes taking care of animals, be it your own animal, some poor creature being abused or ill-treated, or a wild one. These are God’s creatures, and we will be held accountable for how we take care of them on His behalf. I seriously question someone who calls themselves a Christian but ill-treats His creatures.
For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine (Psalm 50:10-11 NIV).
He regards every creature as valuable. He even hears when a single raven calls out for food.
He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry (Psalm 147:9 NLT).
Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29 CEV).
In Habakkuk, God called down judgement on those who destroyed trees and animals and killed humans.
“You cut down the forests of Lebanon—now you will be cut down! You terrified the wild animals you caught in your traps—now terror will strike you because of all your murdering and violence in cities everywhere” (Habakkuk 2:17 TLB).
A friend recently found a turtle lying in the road, injured and bleeding. I am going to give the person who hit it and then drove on the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was not aware he had run into the poor thing. My friend demonstrated the true heart of God. She scooped it up, wept tears over its pain, and took it to an animal clinic for medical care.
(I cannot give you a scripture that irrefutably proves that animals go to heaven, but there are many Christian authors who believe they do, including C.S. Lewis, Randy Alcorn, James Herriot, and dozens of others, as well as many Christian pastors and theologians. Needless to say, I believe animals go to heaven. Feel free to argue with me. I will point out you were wrong when we are in heaven and my animals are sitting at my feet.)
