In our passage today we study the fifth day of creation and the first half of the sixth day of creation.
"And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.' So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.' And there was evening and there was morning---the fifth day." (Genesis 1:20-23) This is the first time we find God blessing anything He has created. He didn't bless the sun or the moon or the stars. He didn't bless the vegetables or the fruit trees. He only blesses the living creatures.
God didn't create all the animals on the same day. He created the animals that would most closely associate with humans---the land animals---on the same day He created humans. We see this as we take a look at the first half of the sixth day of creation. "And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so." (Genesis 1:24) Dogs, my favorite little creatures on earth, were made by God the same day He created human life. The Bible doesn't say whether God blessed these land animals but I assume He blessed them the same way He blessed the fish and the birds. He wanted the land animals to be fruitful and multiply just as He wanted the fish and the birds to be fruitful and multiply.
There are various churches who hold "blessing of the animals" services. One of my local churches holds a service like this once a year and I've heard a few people make remarks about how stupid they think it is. God didn't think it was stupid to bless living creatures. In my opinion, if you want to take your pets to a blessing service, there's nothing wrong with it. God though the living creatures were worth blessing. He loves and cares for the creatures He made. He knows we care about our pets and He is concerned with anything that concerns us, which is why He has good things to say about those who properly look after their animals: "The righteous care for the needs of their animals." (Proverbs 12:10a)
"God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:25) I can't help picturing God standing back and viewing His work with a smile of satisfaction on His face. Everything is ready now for the creation of mankind. Conditions are perfect to support human life on earth. This has been His ultimate goal all along. Long before He spoke light into darkness, He intended to create you and me.
Tomorrow we will study the remainder of the sixth day of creation, but for now let's stop and consider that the creation of land animals and the creation of human beings were part of the same work done on the same day. Together they represent the crowning glory of God's creation efforts. Tomorrow we will see God giving mankind dominion over the animals, but this dominion is to be taken very seriously and reverently. We will be called into account for how we have treated our fellow creatures. The Lord said that the righteous person cares for the needs of his animals; this means that the person who is cruel and neglectful is unrighteous. Our holy God has promised to judge all unrighteousness, so have no fear that God won't judge those who have been cruel and neglectful to the animal kingdom. Have no fear that God won't somehow, someday make all things right. In tomorrow's study we are going to take a look at God's redemptive plan for man, for the animal kingdom, and for the natural world itself.
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