| | CHAPTER 1
Death Comes to the World
Any attempt to discover the task of the believer in the world
today must begin with Genesis I. For it was in this first chapter
of the Bible that God gave the initial decisive information
regarding the role of man in the world.
But when we look at the language of Genesis I, we are
confronted by a contradiction in statements that seems to
frustrate us at the very outset in our attempt to develop a clear
understanding regarding the question we are examining. In Genesis
1:28 God said after He had created our first parents, "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air
and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
To be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, and to have
dominion over its creatures is language that poses no apparent
difficulties. The Bible appears to teach that the earth together
with its creatures was created good and beautiful. There was no
sin, and no curse of sin. Man was placed here as the crown of
God's creation to serve as God's vice-gerund, as the Lord of His
creation. Logically, he would exercixe dominion or rule over the
lesser creatures.
But there is included in these verses the phrase "subdue it."
A contemplation of this phrase produces a whole host of questions.
If this world was created good and perfect, what was there to
subdue? One subdues something that is an antagonist or that is in
rebellion. Maybe the world, before the fall of Adam into sin,
wasn't as perfect as we always thought. And isn't it a fact that
God placed Adam and Eve in a garden? Doesn't this suggest that
the world outside the garden was wild and in need of subduing?
Moreover, didn't the angel Lucifer, and his fellow angels rebel
against God at some earlier date? Couldn't they already have
contaminated the earth in some fashion so as to necessitate the
command to Adam to subdue the earth?
These are not idle questions. For some reason, as we shall
see in later chapters of this study, the command to subdue the
earth and have dominion over its creatures was never repeated
again in the Bible. It is imperative, therefore, that we
ascertain whether theses commands related only to man before his
fall into sin, or whether they relate to all mankind throughout
history.
An understanding of the Biblical statement "subdue it" is,
therefore, exceedingly crucial if we are to understand the
believer's task today. If there was indeed rebellion in creation
before the fall of man into sin, then God's command to Adam to
subdue the earth would apply in a similar fashion to man today.
But if the earth was good, without any rebellious elements which
we commonly associate with the curse of sin, then there must be an
altogether different explanation for "subdue it" than that which
appears at first glance; and man today would, therefore, have a
somewhat different responsibility toward the world and its
creatures than Adam did before he fell into sin.
We should therefore, examine the world that existed before
man's disobedience in the Garden of Eden to discover if there was
anything there that looks like that which would result from sin's
curse on the earth.
A most obvious place to begin in our search is to examine the
question of death in the world before the fall of man. God
decreed to Adam that in the day that he disobeyed God, he would
surely die (Gen. 2:17). Death, then--at least death for
mankind--was an immediate and terrible result of sin. And since
we read in Genesis 1:30 that the animals apparently were
herbivorous--"I have given every green plant for food"--whereas
today and during known history many animals are carnivorous, we
suspect that the curse of sin (death) could have applied to
animals as well as man.
A study of the question of the timing of death's coming into
the world, therefore, should be made. If death did occur in the
animal world before man's sin, we could readily believe there were
other rebellious elements in the world at that time. We Would
then see the reasonableness of the command to Adam to subdue the
earth. On the other hand, if we could know that there was no
death in the animal world before the fall of man, we would suspect
that an altogether different solution must be found to the command
"subdue it." This solution would also have much to say about
man's task today.
May There Have Been Animal Death In Eden?
Let us first ask if the Scriptures in any way suggest that
there may have been animal death before the fall? In a number of
places the Bible speaks of animals and birds using other animals
as food. But none of these statements relates in any sense to the
pre-fall era. The only verse that could possibly be of
significance is that of Psalm 104:21, "The young lions roar for
their prey, seeking their food from God."
Some believe that this verse, which is speaking of carnivorous
animals, is set in the context of a Psalm dealing with the
creation of the world. If this is so, we have already found an
answer to the question of animal death before the fall of Adam.
But is this so? Let us look at this Psalm more carefully to
determine if this verse is pre-fall or post-fall in its
application.
It is true that verses within this Psalm speak of the initial
creation. Verse two--"who has stretched out the heavens as a
tent," verse five, "thou didst set the earth on its foundations,"
verse nineteen--"thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons," all
surely are speaking of creation. But these themes do not assure
us that the entire Psalm speaks of creation. They are often used
in other places in the Holy Canon to speak of creation but within
a non-creation context. (cf. Isa. 48:13.) Moreover, several
verses of Psalm 104 definitely do not have reference to the
creation. Verses 6 to 9 speak of the waters standing above the
mountains, followed by the raising of the mountains and the
sinking of the valleys. The promise is then enunciated that the
waters "might not again cover the earth." The word `again'
indicates that something different than the separation of the dry
land from the seas as detailed in the creation account is being
considered. For Genesis 6 to 9 tells us of the covering of all
the earth with water, and that event occurred long after creation.
These verses in Psalm 104:6-9 are, therefore, none other than a
description of the flood of Noah's day. The mountains were
covered at that time (Gen 7:19) and God faithfully promised He
would never again destroy all flesh with a flood (Gen. 9:8-17).
Other verses of this Psalm also describe things unrelated to
the creation program. Verse 26 speaks of ships, a much later
phenomenon than Genesis 1:3. And verses 27 to 30 indicated that
death comes to all who look to God for food. But "these all" who
look to the Lord must include the fish, the animals and man
himself who are the subject of the preceding verses. Since man's
death was without question a result of Adam's sin, we know that
these verses must be referring to conditions after the fall of
Adam. Finally, Genesis 1:30 clearly states that plants were given
to man and animals for food. Psalm 104:21 does not conform to
this condition and, therefore, must relate to conditions after sin
entered the world.
We see, therefore, that Psalm 104:21 must be speaking of a
situation prevailing during the lifetime of the Psalmist. Since
this appears to be the only Biblical passage which might possibly
relate to animal death before the fall, we conclude that the Bible
offers no information that would suggest there was death amongst
animals before the fall.
Does The Bible Prohibit The Idea of Pre-Fall Animal Death?
Let us now approach the Bible from another viewpoint. Does it
suggest in any way that there could not have been death among the
animals before the fall? This question must be answered
affirmatively as we shall see.
When we look at death we are surprised to see the close link
between animals and man. We know, of course, that man is
altogether different from animals in that man is created in the
image of God with a soul that lives beyond the grave. He dies
when the soul leaves the body. But we can also properly say that
he dies when the breath of life, which is also called spirit,
leaves his body. In this the animal is like man. By the same
token, in this context, we can not speak of plants dying, inasmuch
as they do not have the breath of life. In fact, the Bible very
particularly indicates that the created function of plants was to
serve as food (Gen. l:29,30).
In Psalm 104:27-29 we have an example of this relationship
between man and animals. There we read "these all...are dismayed;
when thou takest away their breath they die." The phrase "these
all" includes man and animals as the context of this Psalm shows.
Death is the lot of all men and all creatures who have the breath
of life. This same truth is given in Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 where
we read, "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the
beasts is the same; as one dies so dies the other. They all have
the same breath...who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward
and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth."
Interestingly the word "spirit" or "breath" is the Hebrew word
`ruach' whether used of man or of animals.
Since this identification of man with animals, by virtue of
the fact that each has the breath of life, extends throughout the
Bible, we can expect it to be true at the time of Adam's sin. It
begins to appear that when death came to man it also came to
animals. The spiritual aspects of this death (eternal death)
apply only to man. The physical aspects (removal of breath) would
apply to man and animals.
Man and Animals Destroyed
When we look at the major judgments of God we discover in even
more striking fashion the parallel relationship that exists
between man and animals in the area of death. These judgments
show that the weal or woe of animals is directly parallel to that
of men. The first judgment after Adam was that that of the flood
of Noah's day. Of this judgment we read, "And all flesh
died...birds, cattle, beasts and all swarming creatures,... and
every man; everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the
breath of life died," (Gen.7:21-22). A second judgment is that
upon Sodom and Gomorrah; "the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah
brimstone...and he overthrew those cities...and all the
inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground," (Gen.
19:24,25). A third judgment is that upon the Egyptians; "the Lord
smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born
of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive
who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle,"
(Ex. 12:29).
Another judgment is that upon the inhabitants of Canaan, with
the destruction of Jericho serving as a prototype; "Then they
utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and
old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword," (Joshua
6:21). This was in strict accord with the commandment of God as
recorded in the fifth book of the Pentateuch; "But in the cities
of these peoples that the Lord your God gives you for an
inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you
shall utterly destroy them"(Deut. 20"16).
Amazingly in all of these accounts, animals are destroyed with
man, even though it is man who was the cause of the judgment,
rather than the animals. This would explain the statement found
in the last verse of Jonah where we read, "should I not pity
Nineveh...in which there are...much cattle." The weal or woe of
the cattle would be in direct relationship to that of the Ninevites.
The First Judgment
But one other judgment must be considered. That is the
initial judgment, a judgment so severe that its shock waves
continue through all of time and on into eternity. Adam and Eve
sinned. God's judgment was immediate and quite fatal. They were
condemned to death. In Genesis 3, where we read of this sad
event, the animals are not specifically mentioned as sharing in
this judgment. But we have seen that all of the other judgments
upon man were shared by the animals. Therefore, since God is
consistent and orderly in His dealings with His creation, we would
expect that animals would also suffer death in parallel fashion to
man.
The Bible nowhere intimates this is not the case. In fact,
Romans 8:20 indicates the creation was "subjected to futility not
of its own will." Animals were a part of creation so they, too,
must be included with that which was brought into the bondage of
decay. Genesis 3:17 states that the ground was cursed and Romans
8 surely indicates that this is to be understood as the whole
creation including animals. Hosea 4:3 further shows us this
bondage as including animals; "Therefore, the land mourns and all
who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the
birds of the air." We must conclude, then, that animals were
subjected to death in like fashion with man, because of man's sin.
Herbivorous Animals In Eden
This concept is further strengthened when we note that in the
Garden of Eden the animals were herbivorous: "I have given you
every plant...for food, and to every beast of the earth..., I have
given every green plant for food" (Gen. 1:29,30). Note the close
relationship between animals and man. We do not know when animals
became carnivorous, but undoubtedly the results of the curse upon
creation brought about this condition. We do know that God must
have killed animals when He brought skins to cover Adam and Eve
(Gen.3:21). We know Abel killed a lamb and his offering was very
acceptable to God. But these events were after the fall. To
clarify this post-fall relationship, God told Noah in Gensis 9:3,
"every moving thing shall be food for you." Following the fall,
the plan of God was that animals were to be killed. Before the
fall, the herbivorous nature of animals accorded perfectly with
the concept of the absence of death amongst animals.
Herbivorous Animals in Eternity
If we look for a moment now at the weal of man, we shall find
additional evidence that shows how animals are related to man in
God's plan. In Genesis 9:8-17 we read that God convenanted with
man and with every living creature with the breath of life that He
would never again destroy the world with a flood. And in Exodus
ll:7 we read that the animals of the Israelites were to be spared
God's judgment of the tenth plague. No wonder Christ spoke of the
Father's concern of a sparrow.
This concern of God for animals and all creatures with the
breath of life is pictured for us all the way into eternity. When
judgment day comes, all animals will be destroyed with the
unsaved, even as they were destroyed in Sodom and Jericho. But
even as animals were saved with Noah out of the flood judgment,
and with the Israelites out of the tenth plague judgment, so, too,
out of the final judgment God gives us word pictures of weal or
blessings for animals along with man. In Hosea 2:18,19 we read,
"I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of
the field...and I will make you lie down in safety." The picture
is one of peace and security with no fear of death. An even
stronger statement is that of Isaiah 11:6-9, "the wolf shall dwell
with the lamb...and the weaned child shall put his hand on the
adder's den." That these conditions prevail in the new heaven and
earth is assured us by the testimony of Isaiah 65:17-25. There we
read, "the wolf and lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat
straw like an ox" (Isa. 65:25). The question at hand is not
whether there literally will be animals in the new heaven and
earth. Rather the truth imparted in these passages is the
revelation of the completion of the predetermined program of God.
The creation that was "subjected to futility, not of its own
will...will be set free from its bondage of decay and obtain the
glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:20,21).
For mankind this glorious liberty means that death has been
destroyed and all decay has ceased. Since the rest of creation is
to obtain glorious liberty like man, death and decay must likewise
be removed from all of creation including animals. This is the
new earth. The covenant made with all living creatures in Hosea 2
will be fulfilled. Death will have been destroyed (I Cor. 15:26).
The evidence of the fulfillment of that promise includes the word
picture of Isaiah 65 that shows that the animals are again
herbivorous. God, therefore, relates the picutre of herbivorous
animals to the concept of the absence of death. The herbivorous
animals in Eden should then give the same concept, i.e., the
absence of death.
Moreover, since the promise of the removal of death from man
as well as animals must be understood as being included within the
language of the `glorious liberty' into which the creation will be
restored, death amongst animals must be a result of the curse into
which the creation was subjected by Adam's sin. The pre-fall
animals, therefore, did not die since there was no curse upon
creation at this time.
The language of Genesis 1:31 supports this whole idea of Eden
being without death amongst animals. There we read that God saw
all that He had made and it was "very good." This had reference
to man without the ravages of decay and death. But it also had
reference to animals since they are a part of creation. Since man
with the breath of life was without death and was "very good," the
animals which likewise have the breath of life must also have been
without death in order to receive God's commendation "very good."
We, thus, see that the Bible gives much evidence that points
to the absence of death amongst animals before the fall. This,
incidentally, means that the fossil record is that of animals
which have died after Adam's sin and explusion from the garden.
Thus, the General Theory of Evolution or the idea of a so-called
"theistic evolution" must be rejected as idle speculation. For
these evolutionary theories require long periods of time during
which lower creatures lived and died while gradually evolving to
the highest being, man.
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