Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast
Sat, 25 March, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
Those who believe in evolution are a terribly inconsistent lot. They talk about how nature “improves” the species by killing off those that are weak and letting reproduce those that are stronger and better. By this standard, people should have no regard for animals that are going extinct, for they are not fit to live. Nor should anyone have any regard for the death of any animal (or person), for just by the fact that they died shows that they were not fit to live (survival of the fittest, you know). Yet, turn on the nature shows on TV and you hear the evolutionists bemoan the extinction of species due to the mistreatment of mankind. If they were consistent with their philosophy, and really believed evolution “improves” species they wouldn’t care what animals became extinct.
The Biblical standard stands in sharp contrast to the logical applicaton of the Darwinian philosophy.
What do we learn from this?
God has set people as caretakers of the earth. We are to have dominion over it, and to subdue it. As such, we are responsible for the animals of the world. We must care for them and manage them, for this is our God given duty.
The proverb before us today is dealing with our treatment of our own animals. The author of the proverb probably is primarily thinking of livestock, rather than pets. But a righteous, Godly person will be concerned about their animals. They have to be concerned, because it is God’s command to us to keep the earth and subdue it. The ungodly, on the other hand, will be cruel, even to their livestock. They live out the Darwinian philosophy in their treatment of their own weaker animals.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. This is His world. He has appointed us as regents under Him to subdue the world. Our only authority in the world is that which has been delegated to us by King Jesus, and as such, we are under His authority, even as we are working to bring the world into submission to our will.
