What has God got against animals?

[Tellyontellyon]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good!
So what went wrong?
He wiped out most of the animals during the flood, then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!
Then Jesus... I guess his sacrifice made it so we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore... but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...
I mean.. really!
Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.
I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?
Why so much blood and sacrifice?

 

[Occams Barber]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good!
So what went wrong?
He wiped out most of the animals during the flood, then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!
Then Jesus... I guess his sacrifice made it so we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore... but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...
I mean.. really!
Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.
I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?
Why so much blood and sacrifice?

And then there's God sacrificing his own Son for reasons I've never understood.

OB

 

[d taylor]

All flesh was corrupted, satans plan affected not only man but the animal world too. This more than likely where the dinosaurs came from.

And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

God chose when Adam ate of the fruit the method of redemption, was to be blood. So what ever God decided, man must obey.

That is when Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness, they used fig leaves which did not account for their sin. But God made the first sacrificed, killing an animal of His creation to make a covering for Adam and Eve. Only God can provide the covering (solution) for mans sin. That is shown by Gods rejection of Adam and Eve using fig leaves. The leaves just simply did not meet God's standard He required to pay for mans sin.


That was also why Cain offering was rejected, it was bloodless.

 

[returntosender]

Charles Stanley says there will be no animals in heaven because they have no souls. That is the only thing I disagree with him on or I hope he is wrong.

 

[disciple Clint]

Charles Stanley says there will be no animals in heaven because they have no souls. That is the only thing I disagree with him on or I hope he is wrong.

He is wrong all living things have a soul, humans have a human soul, animals an animal soul and plants a plant soul.

 

[Tolworth John]

Why so much blood and sacrifice?

Because it drove home just how serious sin is.

Prior to Jesus it took the live and blood of an animal, not just any animal, but the best that one had to get atonement for sin.

Untill you understand just how terrible sin is you cannot understand the importance of sacrifice.

 

[Andrewn]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good! So what went wrong? He wiped out most of the animals during the flood,

Collateral damage.

then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!

Not only Jews, but people all over the sacrificed animals. Being a Buddhist, you should ask yourself this question.

When tradition trumps reason

And then there's God sacrificing his own Son for reasons I've never understood.

Jesus being God, one can say that God really sacrificed himself. I understand this as a "global reset." The Bible calls it "new creation."

 

[Mark Quayle]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good!
So what went wrong?
He wiped out most of the animals during the flood, then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!
Then Jesus... I guess his sacrifice made it so we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore... but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...
I mean.. really!
Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.
I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?
Why so much blood and sacrifice?

FWIW, blood sacrifice was not meant to be a sweet, happy, thing.

As for God killing, what is really the difference between one death and old age natural death? God does both. Yes, he is that much above us.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good!
So what went wrong?
He wiped out most of the animals during the flood, then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!
Then Jesus... I guess his sacrifice made it so we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore... but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...
I mean.. really!
Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.
I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?
Why so much blood and sacrifice?

As someone on this forum put it; it's not that **** happens, it's that **** matters

Recognizing the fragility of life is part of what gives it meaning.

 

[Bond-servant of Christ]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good!
So what went wrong?
He wiped out most of the animals during the flood, then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!
Then Jesus... I guess his sacrifice made it so we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore... but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...
I mean.. really!
Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.
I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?
Why so much blood and sacrifice?

Lets get one thing straight here. The God of the Holy Bible IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, Who the Bible says, "Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases" (Psalm 115:3). After Job had suffered great loss of almost everything in his life, including his children, and many live-stock (There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east, Book of Job, chapter 1, verses 2-3), all of which the Lord God allowed the devil to do to Job. Instead of listening to his very foolish wife, and "curse God and die"; Job said, "“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away"(verse 21)!

Psalm 24:1 declares, "The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him"

The Lord God Almighty, CAN and DOES as He pleases, because of the fact, that the entire universe belongs to Him!

If, as He did, chose in His Infinite Wisdom, to destroy a complete tribe of the people of Korah, by opening up the earth and swallowing them, as recorded in the Book of Numbers 16:32. There is NO ONE who can dare ask of the Lord God, "why did you do this"? Or, "what right have you"? because the answer is always the same, "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:20-21). It is God's Prerogative as THE Sovereign, to Act according to His Perfect Wisdom and Counsel.

As King Nebuchadnezzar discovered in the Book of Daniel, after he was humiliated by God Almighty, that he said:

"And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
(Daniel 4:34-35)

So, NO ONE has any right to ask of the Lord God of the Holy Bible, The ONLY TRUE LIVING GOD, why do you do or allow things to happen! As Amos 3:6 says, "Is a trumpet blown in a city, And do people not tremble? Is there affliction in a city, And Jehovah hath not done it?

 

[DavidPT]

Charles Stanley says there will be no animals in heaven because they have no souls. That is the only thing I disagree with him on or I hope he is wrong.

I don't seem to recall reading in the Bible anywhere where animals will also be resurrected and given new bodies. A soul needs a body, right?

 

[Bond-servant of Christ]

Charles Stanley says there will be no animals in heaven because they have no souls. That is the only thing I disagree with him on or I hope he is wrong.

The Blood of Jesus Christ ONLY saved human beings, NO animals are part of His Atoning Death on the Cross! There is ZERO Biblical evidence that says that any animals will be "resurrected". The Bible is very clear that at the death of humans, "and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). And all humans will be resurrected, those who are truly "born again" will go to heaven to be with the Lord forever; and those who are "lost", damned forever to eternal suffering.

 

[Bond-servant of Christ]

I don't seem to recall reading in the Bible anywhere where animals will also be resurrected and given new bodies. A soul needs a body, right?

quite right! These is too much mumbo-jumbo being taught by some Christians!

 

[Dkh587]

Charles Stanley says there will be no animals in heaven because they have no souls. That is the only thing I disagree with him on or I hope he is wrong.

Humans and animals don’t “have” a soul, we ARE souls, or living beings.

What distinguishes us from animals is that we are made in the image and likeness of God, yet we are still living beings(souls) like animals.

 

[Bond-servant of Christ]

Humans and animals don’t “have” a soul, we ARE souls, or living beings

not so. humans are "body, soul and spirit"

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB)

 

[DavidPT]

quite right! These is too much mumbo-jumbo being taught by some Christians!

Then there are good animals and bad animals, where the latter can actually kill someone and have done so. Do all the good animals go to heaven, and all the bad animals go to hell?

 

[Bond-servant of Christ]

Then there are good animals and bad animals, where the latter can actually kill someone and have done so. Do all the good animals go to heaven, and all the bad animals go to hell?

well, according to some, all animals will be in heaven. I assume this also includes the dog that mauls to death a little baby!

 

[section9+1]

I never thought he had anything against animals. Doesn't sound like animals have souls. As to them being in heaven. I don't know. Maybe they will be, but will it necessarily be any that lived here first?

 

[Pavel Mosko]

God created all the animals, and he made them before humans... and he saw that they were Good!
So what went wrong?
He wiped out most of the animals during the flood, then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy? Good grief!
Then Jesus... I guess his sacrifice made it so we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore... but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...
I mean.. really!
Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.
I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?
Why so much blood and sacrifice?

Are you a vegetarian Telly? Do you see animals as people who once had bad Karma and now have a lower reincarnation this time around?


Their is concern for animals in the Bible etc.


Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion
4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”


Animals are however not on our level. In the Bible they exist as a kind of theatrical backdrop for various things like allegorizing sin, the effects of sin, the need for atonement and redemption etc.

 

[John Helpher]

So what went wrong?

The choices we make.

He wiped out most of the animals during the flood,

Animals are important, but humans are more important. That does not equate to a disparagement of animals, but rather it is a simple acknowledgement of God's preferences. Animals are given in to the care of humanity. It makes sense that Noah would care for them and that scenario should be a powerful testimony to the responsibility that the creator has put onto us to care for animals.

then the animal sacrifice thing? Why does killing innocent animals make God happy?

You misunderstand the point of sacrifice. Originally, people were meant to take the animal into their home and care for it before the sacrifice, so that when the time for sacrifice came, the people would feel some genuine remorse that their behavior resulted in the suffering and death of another creature which they were supposed to take care of.

That probably happened in some cases, but, unfortunately, the people stopped appreciating the gravity of killing another creature for their own problems. Instead, they began to view it as just a ritual. The animals were just a tool to absolve themselves; that was not the intention behind the sacrifice.

Have you ever experienced a situation where you've taken something good for granted?

but then there was the thing with the pigs... was it pigs?...

I heard a fairly reasonable explanation that the pig farmers were not supposed to be farming pigs as, at that time, they were still in the OT. Jesus brought the NT, where there is no moral law against eating anything. The rules against eating pigs were never meant to be moral laws in the first place; they were health rules, but once again the people distorted the issue.

It is possible that Jesus was sending a message about that. It's also possible that Jesus was trying to illustrate that humans are more important than material wealth (which is what the pigs represented at that time). He was dealing with a demon possessed man whom everyone had forsaken as a lost cause.

Wasn't there a better way to get rid of demons.

Maybe, but remember the point of humanity is to learn and grow. Everything the creator does is for a purpose. It takes sincerity to accept that there are times when this will result in allowing people to make choices which he knows will hurt them or to make hard decisions for the sake of teaching a lesson.

I like animals and when I look into the eyes of an animal I see a living, knowing, feeling being, a being with soul... Are humans so mistaken when they feel a connection with and love for animals when God doesn't seem to care for them?

Humans are designed to like animals, and animals are designed to be likable, but sometimes we get it wrong. I understand your strong feeling, but I think your frustration is misplaced. I'll leave you with a powerful comment from C.S. Lewis who wrote and essay about vivisection in the 30's and 40's, a process whereby a living animal is dissected without anesthesia or any pain killer of any kind. Scientists had argued that such a horrifying procedure should be tolerable since we humans are superior to animals, but Lewis, a staunch Christian, had another perspective:

--------
The only rational line for the Christian vivisectionist to take is to say that the superiority of man over beast is a real objective fact, guaranteed by Revelation, and that the propriety of sacrificing beast to man is a logical consequence. We are ‘worth more than many sparrows’,1 and in saying this we are not merely expressing a natural preference for our own species simply because it is our own but conforming to a hierarchical order created by God and really present in the universe whether any one acknowledges it or not.

The position may not be satisfactory. We may fail to see how a benevolent Deity could wish us to draw such conclusions from the hierarchical order He has created. We may find it difficult to formulate a human right of tormenting beasts in terms which would not equally imply an angelic right of tormenting men. And we may feel that though objective superiority is rightly claimed for man, yet that very superiority ought partly to consist in not behaving like a vivisector: that we ought to prove ourselves better than the beasts precisely by the fact of acknowledging duties to them which they do not acknowledge to us. But on all these questions different opinions can be honestly held.

If on grounds of our real, divinely ordained, superiority a Christian pathologist thinks it right to vivisect, and does so with scrupulous care to avoid the least dram or scruple of unnecessary pain, in a trembling awe at the responsibility which he assumes, and with a vivid sense of the high mode in which human life must be lived if it is to justify the sacrifices made for it, then (whether we agree with him or not) we can respect his point of view
--------

If you're interested in reading the whole essage you can find it in a collection of essays called, "God in the Dock". He also has some interesting thoughts on the pain that animals experience.