Dominion OR Wild Beasts
A certain thought has been bugging me for a couple of days now. It was triggered by the passage in Isaiah 11 where God says that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. and the leopard shall lie down with the kid etc. (verse 6). My thought has centered around what the original nature of beasts was and HOW did it degenerate. How did the beasts (some of them) become fierce. I don't think there is an open reference to that. In man's case, through reproduction we pass down the sin that is indwelled in us. But in the case of beasts, there is no reference to them disobeying God other than Satan and snake. In the book of Romans we read that all creature has been subjected to bondage awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:18 - 23). Is it possible that because of our sin, the animals lost their ability to speak as well (the snake spoke in the garden and Eve thought nothing much about it). Still I ask myself HOW. It may not seem much to you but it is intriging me.
For visitors: you will realize that because of sin man's nature fell into ruin. We get angry and put the blame on others (look at Adam and Eve), we are afraid (they hid) experience pain and misery (they were kicked out of the state of bliss) we labour (the curse) we age, we die (that's how the book of Genesis ends: a coffin in Egypt).
I want to stop for a second and refer you to Genesis chapter 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeing thing that creepeth upon the earth. (P.S. I put "man" and "them" in bold for a reason. Male and female created he them, the Bible says, but that's another study altogether).
Back to the subject of man's dominion and the wild beasts. What dominion do we have over animals today? Not much I guess. Try taming a lion or a shark for example. No sooner do you leave a wild beast to its nature, it'll devour you in no time. That is no dominion folks. Man's dominion is GONE.
In Isaiah, we read that when the Prince of Righteousness comes back to rule the earth (nothing ethereal here, nothing wishy washy, this is a real description of things yet to come on this earth) animals will have a peaceful nature. There has never been a time, yet, when wild animals fit the description. But it will come. The creation is awaiting the Eternal Son, the Son of God, Son of Man to restore all creation. This is the same Lord Jesus Christ "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things... (Acts 3:21) and when HE is come, Isaiah 11:4 says he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth (for those who don't believe the Word of God: wake up).
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
But surely the Noahide Covenant gives man a degree of domminion that still remains.
Every Blessing in Christ
The serpent spoke, and Balaam's ass also; and what is most telling is that it recalled the past, and had a sense of judgment, dare I say good and evil?
I've recently thought that as nature is freed at the manifestation of the Sons of God, animals should regain their speech in the millenium along with their peace, but I then recalled that there will once more be animal sacrifices during the millenium. It is hard to imagine how conscious speaking animals could be sacrificed...
that leaves the new heaven and earth after the millenium...
In any case, it is a real concern that some would interpret the creation as a long period of time of creation in which the death and destruction was a part of God's "very good" creation. I recommend the careful analysis of this issue found in the booklet, Why is there Death and Suffering? found online here: http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/death_suffering.asp The book Refuting Compromise by the one author, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, is a good defense, biblically and scientifically, to those who would ascribe to God's creative plan and process, the kind of death and destruction found in the fossil record. (Both a bio of this brilliantly gifted scientist and a description of that book are found by searching the same site.)
The teaching of the scriptures that God created the world perfect and that He will restore this perfection to a large degree in the millennial reign of Christ is the only worldview that can make sense of a good God, but with suffering, including calamities of nature, all around us.