Animal Death: Comprehending the World through Scripture

Certainly, we live in a fallen world where sin and death pervade every aspect of life. Nevertheless, we need to comprehend that world of sin and death as taught by Scripture and not based upon our personal preferences of how the world should work. I say this because I was reminded this week of a seminary professor who wrote an article against biological evolution based upon his distaste of a scene from a TV nature show which depicted a pig being eaten by a python. This professor asked the question: Is this what God intended for his creation? Naturally, his answer was in the negative. I, however, decided to dip into the Scriptures and determine how God views the animal kingdom. I was drawn to the following verses about God from Psalm 104:20-21:

“You make darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.”

I interpret from these verses that God created animals to eat and be eaten. Whether we like it or not, God is perfectly content for the animal kingdom to struggle their lives away hunting, evading, searching, defending, devouring, being eating, and dying.

Think of it this way: why did God give some animals claws and jaws to eat meat? Why did God give some animals the ability to hide and evade being caught long enough to reproduce? It’s not from Adam’s sin that skunks spray and anteaters have long tongues. God created them that way. I’m reminded of that scene in the film Master and Commander where the young shipman examines a stick bug (who uses his appearances to hide from predators) and asks the physician/naturalist whether God made them that way.

Indeed, God (and his Son) seems to have no problem with the death of animals (Genesis 3:21; John 21:9). Nevertheless, God does care for animals (Matthew 6:26; Numbers 23:27-30).

This is why we need the Scriptures to help navigate our understanding of truth and creation. Without it, we may find ourselves preferring a reality of our own liking and not one that coheres to reality.