Animals
What's good about the serpent? This most feared and despised creature strikes terror in the hearts of many. Yet, in the Bible, it's used in a mighty way -- to personify evil ("that old serpent, the devil" - Revelation 12:9) and to picture redemption. Did you know that snake venom is actually a "tangled up" glob of protein? Dr. Carl Baugh of the Creation Evidences Museum in Glen Rose, TX has discovered through his patented "biosphere" that copperhead venom can be "straightened out" and actually made nutritious! Another device is called a "snake detoxification unit" or a "zapper" which runs on a 9-volt battery and emits an electrical shock which "corrects" the venom! Does the Bible have much to say about the serpent?
For sure. Satan used this animal in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1), while God used it to implement punishment to His people (Numbers 21). Later, He used the brazen serpent of Moses as an illustration of His work of redemption (John 3:14)! The serpent is an awesome tool to use in sharing the message of the Gospel!
The lion is called "king of beasts" or "king of the jungle." While it does not live in the jungle, other big cats do like tigers or jaguars. In the Bible, Jesus is called the "Lion of the Tribe of Juda" (Revelation 5:5) and Satan is described as "walking about as a roaring lion" (1 Peter 5:8). God even used the leopard to illustrate His impending judgment upon Israel (Hosea 13:7). Does a lion roar when it is sneaking up on its prey? No. Perhaps we catch a glimpse of the spiritual realm by examing two reasons why the lion roars:
First, the lion roars to call its pride members. Jesus told the Pharisees of His day, "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do...." (John 8:44). Certainly, all of us were born as sinners (Romans 3:23) into the kingdom of Satan. As sinners, we do the bidding of our spiritual father, Satan.
Second, the lion roars to announce that a certain area is his territory. Satan is the "prince and power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). However, "the earth is the LORD's" (Psalm 24:1), not Satan's. Satan no doubt wants us to think that he is in charge, but he isn't. God is. In truth, the big cat is one of God's awesome earthly "teaching tools"!
Are reptiles (including crocodilians) related to birds? This in an idea that modern science promotes! While some fossils (e.g. Archaeopteryx, which was a bird) are used to promote the belief that dinosaurs exist today as birds, there is much evidence to the contrary. One evidence was pointed out in an online article on Science Daily, entitled "Discovery Raises New Doubts About Dino-Bird Link" (June, 2009). In the article, it was stated that
"Researchers at Oregon State University have made a fundamental new discovery about how birds breathe and have a lung capacity that allows for flight--and the finding means it's unlikely that birds descended from an known theropod dinosaurs."
"...what was just discovered, however, is that it's this fixed position of bird bones...keeps their air-sac lung from collapsing when the bird inhales."
How could a theropod (walking) dinosaur EVER change its lung structure to that of a modern bird which has its lungs attached to its THIGH? It's clear that birds are NOT related to reptiles, nor did they evolve from dinosaurs. The One Who made the birds in the beginning, gave (most of) them the capacity to fly. The dinosaur-to-bird idea is a HUGE LIE that is widely promoted even to children on after-school TV programs like Dinosaur Train!
Could humans and apes be related? Scientists would have us believe that chimpanzees are our closest ancestors. But do these scientists ever highlight great differences between humans and apes? For example, the ape/monkey's spine enters at the back (base) of the skull (perfect for "knuckle-walking") while the human spine attaches at the base of the skull--the perfect location for walking upright. How could eons of time and random chance ever allow an "ape-like" ancestor to change the location of its spine? There are other differences in design features that could be discussed (hand structure, chromosomes, tail), but, suffice it to say, humans and the ape-kind are vastly different! The belief that similarity equals relationship is based upon a HUGE LIE that--as men view each other as animals--has produced great evils in society such as the Holocaust or the modern abortion movement. Adolph Hitler's racist ideas concerning the Jews come from an evolutionary world view, and the modern abortion movement hails back to faked drawings by embryologist Ernst Haeckel who used alleged similarity to "prove" relationship of humans to animals. Such lies have been, and are, devastating to the world views of people even today as racist beliefs continue. What MUST be shared is that God made mankind DIFFERENT from the animals, with a moral consciousness to know right and wrong and to seek his Maker.