Participants:
Series Code: TCR
Program Code: TCR180004B
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00:03 Welcome back to the Creator Revealed.
00:05 We've been talking today about our wonderful Creator 00:09 and all the beautiful creatures that He formed 00:13 from the dust of the ground for our enjoyment. 00:16 Exactly, you know, the diversity of life 00:19 is truly amazing. 00:22 It is. 00:23 And anyone who isn't just blown away 00:26 not just by the diversity but the beauty of what's there, 00:29 I don't know, it seems to me 00:30 that they've lost their soul in a way. 00:34 But there is this question that we have in our minds, 00:38 as Christians, I think all people. 00:40 And that is, how do we relate to these other creatures? 00:44 What does the Bible tell us about that? 00:47 And to assist us with that, we have Dr. Jo Ann Davidson. 00:51 She is a professor of Systematic Theology 00:55 at the Seventh-day Adventist 00:57 Theological Seminary at Andrews University. 01:01 And I'm delighted that she is joining us 01:05 to discuss this really important topic. 01:08 So, Dr. Davidson, 01:10 one of the arguments that I've heard is, 01:14 God made human beings to have dominion 01:17 over the rest of the creation, 01:19 over the other animals and so on. 01:21 So we really don't have any responsibility 01:26 to be caring for these creatures. 01:30 It is just, 01:32 you know, the earth is ours to do with what we want. 01:36 And I'm wondering, 01:37 is that really a biblical position or not? 01:41 You know, that a lot of people have that position 01:43 but they haven't learnt to read the text carefully. 01:46 If you look at Genesis 1, 01:49 and God gives a definition of rulership, 01:51 even before He creates humans and animals. 01:54 On day four, He says the sun is to rule the day, 01:57 and He put it in place so it can conserve life 02:00 and bring forth life in the ground. 02:03 And so when God asked us to rule, 02:05 He's warning us to display the same benevolence 02:08 that the sun does. 02:10 Also I think, 02:12 it's tragic that though people believe in God as the Creator, 02:17 the ideas of evolution 02:19 have suddenly affected their thinking, 02:21 often without them realizing it, perhaps. 02:23 And we just think that 02:25 animals are just little lower than we are, 02:27 and we finally advanced to a higher stage, 02:29 and we're really of more value and more worth, 02:31 and that's not right either. 02:33 That's not right either. 02:35 The creation story is so beautiful 02:37 because the first three days, God creates habitats. 02:41 And then the last three days, He fills each of those habitats 02:44 in turn with the creatures that live there. 02:47 And then He gives both humans and animals 02:50 a plant-based, violent-free diet, 02:53 and then He finishes day six, rubbing His... 02:56 You can almost see Him rubbing His hands together saying, 02:57 "Oh, this is very good." 02:59 And He gives animals and humans the same diet. 03:03 And on day five interestingly, 03:06 He talks to the animals. 03:08 It says in Genesis 1:20 to 22, 03:11 God created all the great sea creatures 03:13 of the sea and the air. 03:14 And then it says, "And God blessed them saying, 03:18 "Be fruitful and multiply." 03:21 Well, who is God talking to? 03:23 There was no humans around to listen, 03:25 and He gives the same blessing, only a day later to humans. 03:28 And He puts them in a world filled with new life, 03:32 and tells them to be fruitful 03:34 and multiplied the same blessing 03:36 He'd given to day five. 03:38 And if you go to the Book of Psalms, 03:41 over and over again, dozens of times, 03:44 the psalmist praised God for the works of His hands. 03:48 The works of your hands are the works of His hands, 03:50 referring back to that passage you referred to, Tim, 03:52 about God creating the creatures 03:55 from the dust of the ground, 03:56 the works of His hands. 03:57 And He's so excited about it and praises God, 04:02 it just draws forth praise over and over again, 04:04 the works of God's hands. 04:06 In fact, there's one choir in Psalm 1:48 04:10 that speaks of humans praising God. 04:12 But before it mentions humans praising God, 04:14 it talks about the animals praising God. 04:17 And praises venting to the great Creator 04:19 from all His creatures. 04:21 It's just unfortunate 04:23 that we have such degraded hearing 04:26 that we can't hear all the praises going to God. 04:29 In fact, one scientist wrote, 04:31 "As we're destroying these different species of the earth, 04:34 we're muting God's praise, muting God's praise." 04:38 That's really kind of a poetic way, 04:41 kind of a depressing thought when you think about it. 04:47 I wonder myself, 04:49 how is God going to respond to us 04:54 if we are destroying these works of art 04:58 that He's created? 04:59 As a scientist, 05:01 I taught to think about them more as in an engineering 05:04 almost sort of sense but also the beauty, 05:07 and yeah, this praise. 05:09 What kind of specific instructions, 05:13 if any, does God give us 05:15 about how we should be treating animals, for example? 05:20 Well, if you look at the story of the flood, 05:24 it's interesting to me 05:26 that when God had to destroy sin 05:28 because it was so corrupt... 05:29 And the word there in the original language 05:32 is the strongest word 05:33 that could be used for violence and evil. 05:36 They were corrupted that God had to destroy it, 05:39 but He wanted to make a way of escape. 05:41 God never destroys sin without making a way of escape. 05:44 In this case, He had Noah build an ark. 05:46 And then He told Noah, 05:48 "Please bring the animals in 05:50 because I want to spare them too." 05:52 And so God, 05:54 as He prepares to rid the earth of violence and evil, 05:57 He has an ark for humans and animals to be preserved in. 06:02 Then after the flood when they come out of the ark, 06:04 it's Chapter 9, it's very interesting. 06:07 God gives a major covenant statement there. 06:11 And four times in that statement, He says, 06:15 "I'm making this covenant with you, and your family, 06:18 and all the animals with you in the ark." 06:21 And He lists them, He mentions them, 06:23 many of them by name. 06:24 Four times, He repeats this in one covenant statement. 06:28 And we're knowing now 06:29 as we're learning to read biblical narratives 06:30 that anytime something is repeated, 06:32 it's a key point. 06:33 The ancients didn't have underlining and italics 06:36 and bolding letters 06:38 to emphasize something important, 06:40 so instead, they would repeat it. 06:41 And in this case, God four times repeats it. 06:44 He has a covenant with all the creatures He's made, 06:47 humans and animals. 06:48 You know what? 06:50 Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. 06:51 Go ahead. I just wanna add with that. 06:54 When God gives the Ten Commandments, 06:55 the fourth commandment is the Sabbath blessing, 06:58 and He includes the animals even in the Sabbath blessing 07:00 that they deserve to rest too, they deserve to rest. 07:04 And the Old Testament laws, the Mosaic laws, 07:06 marvelous how God says. 07:08 I love some of them. 07:09 I'll repeat one of my favorite, God says, 07:11 "If you see a donkey overloaded 07:14 with a heavy load and he falls down, 07:16 you need to help that donkey back to its feet, 07:18 even though that donkey belongs to your enemy." 07:21 Yeah. 07:23 I guess the text that jumps to my mind 07:25 is the one that says that 07:27 you shouldn't muzzle the ox that treads the corn. 07:31 You know, these animals are worthy 07:37 of their wages in a way as well. 07:43 They should be allowed to enjoy the harvest 07:44 that they're reaping. 07:46 Yes. 07:47 They're ostensibly working for humans, 07:49 but they're part of the team, 07:51 and they deserve to enjoy the harvest too. 07:53 So if we sort of say, 07:56 "Well, these animals are of such great value, 08:00 and they're very much like us," 08:04 then what does that do to human beings because... 08:08 Does it degrade us to say, "Hey, you know, 08:14 we're not as special perhaps as we thought we were 08:17 or how are we supposed to think about that? 08:22 Well, you know, that's the idea of hierarchy, 08:25 thinking that the people up higher are more important, 08:27 but God has a different system, I think. 08:30 He gives us the privilege of caring for His creation. 08:35 And the animals depend on us for that, 08:37 and we should be caring for the creation 08:40 just like God Himself 08:42 doesn't say it's very, very good. 08:44 Instead of thinking that, 08:46 because we supposedly have more intelligence 08:49 that we are above them 08:52 and don't have to care for them. 08:53 But, you know, this thing of intelligence 08:55 is really significant to me 08:57 because scientists of which you are a noble one, 09:00 Dr. Tim, are coming out with many, many books now 09:03 about the intelligence of animals. 09:05 And like the last one I read, I love the title. 09:07 It said the Wise Guys of the Avian World, 09:10 Ravens and Crows. 09:12 And it talks there about 09:13 how the scientists used to think 09:14 that monkeys were closest to humans in intelligence, 09:17 but now they realize that 09:18 ravens are smarter than monkeys. 09:20 And the fact that... 09:22 And tongue in cheek, the author says, 09:24 "Now when you call someone a birdbrain, 09:26 that's a compliment, 09:27 because they're really smart." 09:29 Oh, it is amazing how smart they are. 09:31 But, Jo Ann, you will agree. 09:34 Humans are special in a way 09:35 because we were created in the image of God. 09:39 So there's a form and a function for everything. 09:43 That's right. 09:45 And when we see how God cares for the animals 09:48 as well as He cares for humans, that should give us a lesson 09:51 on how we should care for the animals. 09:54 If we're created in the image of the Creator, 09:55 we need to have the same care, 09:57 and love, and concern for them as He does. 10:00 Okay, well, thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Davidson. 10:03 It's been a privilege to hear your thoughts 10:06 and the way that you have bought out these lessons 10:09 that are contained there in God's Word. 10:12 I am absolutely convinced 10:15 that we have a duty, as Christians, 10:20 to care for the entire creation but especially 10:24 these intelligent other beings 10:28 that inhabit the earth with us. 10:30 You know, it's so funny, because you and I were talking, 10:33 I think yesterday, we were talking about 10:36 the intelligence of animals in pigs. 10:39 You know, like how intelligent a pig is. 10:42 I want a pet pig. 10:44 But, you know, 10:45 I have never lived in a household 10:47 where the true bosses of the house 10:50 would allow me to have one. 10:53 You're saying your mother and your wife won't allow it. 10:56 You know, sometimes I think they just don't understand me. 10:59 But we don't always appreciate the intelligence of an animal. 11:03 And you know, my mother always told me, 11:06 "Don't trust someone that is not good to animals." 11:10 Exactly. 11:11 That was one of the core pieces of advice I gave my daughter. 11:15 Do not date anybody who is cruel to animals 11:18 because they will be cruel to you as well. 11:21 At the same time when you see kindness to animals, 11:24 and when we ourselves 11:27 develop these amazing relationships 11:30 that we can have... 11:32 I talked about my dog, Jack, 11:34 but I still have our other dog, Jill. 11:36 You know, and the joy and the love 11:40 that we share with each other, 11:42 even though we're not the same species, 11:44 it is a beautiful thing. 11:46 And I suspect it model something 11:48 about the relationship 11:50 that we ourselves can have with God. 11:51 Amen. 11:53 And I think in many ways, it makes us, 11:55 as we are totally dependent upon God, 11:58 when you have any creature 12:00 that's totally dependent upon you, 12:02 you can't help but love them for some reason. 12:04 So it's just an idea, a model of how much God loves us. 12:10 We hope that you've been blessed today, 12:12 and you will join us next time. |
Revised 2019-03-14