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Continuing our discussion from part three, and returning to the Garden of Eden, not only was the animal kingdom affected by The Fall, but we are even informed that the plant kingdom suffered as well. This was due to the sad fact that the Lord also cursed the ground, and caused thorns and thistles to grow, as we can determine by the following two verses:

"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;"


Notice that at this point, the Lord is still indicating that man will only eat herbs, and not meat. The only difference after The Fall is that man would now have to grow them for himself in an unyielding soil. One school of thought also suggests that through their act of disobedience, the Lord was forced to kill His own creation in order to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, as we see by the following verse:

"Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."


It could be that the Lord did this for shock value to show Adam and Eve exactly how serious their sin was. Imagine; they had never seen anything killed before. The horror of having to wear the coat or skin of another animal must have really shaken them up. Perhaps this is similar to when the Lord would later put a mark on Cain after he had slain his brother, Abel. Adam and Eve would be constantly reminded of their transgression, and of how they had upset God's entire plan. Not only that, but because of the extended life span in those days, they would watch as their descendants grew up suffering and toiling because of their mistake.

So, as we can see, all of creation was affected, and not just humankind. The web of life was forever altered. From that point forward, death, violence and wickedness entered the world, as was manifested some time later beginning with the story of Cain and Abel. As I briefly mentioned in part three, a few short chapters later in Genesis chapter six, we are told that Satan launched a second major attack against the Lord's creation. During that incident, the rebellious angelic sons of Gods, known as the Watchers, led by Azazel, Semjase, and others, descended to the Earth on Mount Hermon, and engaged in sexual intercourse with human women.

As a result of this angelic rebellion, the situation became even worse, being as an evil, violent race of hybrid giants -- known as the Nephilim, or Fallen Ones -- were spawned from these illicit unions of beings of flesh and beings of spirit. For a more in-depth look at this subject, please refer to my two series "Nephilim: The Giants of Genesis" and "The Book of Enoch: Truth or Heresy?", which you will find listed at the end of this same series. To continue, as we know from the Biblical record, the Lord finally repented Himself of having even created humankind, as we see by the following two verses:

"And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."


Allow me to point out that in the previous two verses, the word "repented" is derived from the Hebrew word "nacham", one of the meanings of which is to be sorry, or to regret something. In short, God regretted creating humankind due to their continual wicked deeds. Thus, as I point out in articles such as "Noah's Ark and the Genesis Flood", as well as in "Genesis Flood: The Urantia Book Exposed Again!", in the terrible flood which occurred during the days of the Patriarch Noah, we witness the total destruction of all land-based and air-breathing creatures. That is to say, except for those animals which were rescued by Noah and his family.

One thing I have pointed out in a number of my articles, is the fact that the entire Bible is interconnected like a big jigsaw puzzle. Being as the Bible is the Word of God, you might wish to refer to it more as a crossword puzzle. After all, the Bible is the Word, and its main message is indeed the Cross of Salvation. We just have to follow the hints in order to figure out where each of the words goes, so that we can make some sense out of it all. As we prayerfully connect one word, or one verse, with another, everything begins to slowly fall into place. In this way, we discover that there are central themes which are carried throughout the entire Bible from beginning to end.

Having now clearly established the common creation of man and animal, the downfall of both through the sin of Adam and Eve, and their subsequent destruction, let us move up to the Book of Ecclesiastes where we find other verses which share the same theme regarding creation. It is my observation that many people do not read the following verses correctly. They usually pick out just the last verse, and ignore the verses which come before it, so as to supposedly validate their own personal interpretation. Not only that, but they fail to recognize that the final verse has a question mark at the end of it, rather than a period. In my view, the writer is not really making a statement of fact. He is speaking in a rhetorical sense:

"I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?"


Notice, first of all, that he says that both man and beast follow the same fate. That is, we all die and return to the ground. Death is inevitable for all of us. But then he tells us "yea, they have all one breath." We all share the same spirit or life force from God. We each have a spirit. When that spirit or spark of Divine Energy departs from each of us, whether we be man or beast, we die. But then notice what he says: ". . . man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity." What does he mean by that? Well, I believe it may mean he is saying, just as I pointed out earlier, that we are no better than the beasts of the Earth. We all suffer the same fate. To think otherwise is vanity. It is vain for us to think that we are better than God's other creations. He made us all, so why should they be considered any less than we? After all, we all die and return to the ground.

As I said earlier, perhaps this is partially what led to the downfall of Adam and Eve. Beginning with Adam first, they realized that they lacked certain of the abilities of some of the other creatures in the Garden. They could not fly up into the sky. They couldn't swim under water. They couldn't run as fast as a deer. And some of those animals sure had beautiful colors! So in their own pride, maybe Adam and Eve exalted themselves in their hearts above everything else to heal their own hurt. That is to say, to heal their wounded pride.

While it is true that the Lord had given them dominion over the rest of creation -- that is, to take care of it -- they were not satisfied. They wanted more, and Satan knew it. So, he looked for the weakest chink in their armour, and he found it. It was the same thing which had caused his own downfall: his pride and vanity in wanting more, and his dissatisfaction with the job and responsibilities that God had given him to do. So Satan used these very same things and attacked Adam and Eve in their thoughts. Perhaps the conversation went something like the following:

"Hey guys, I know you aren't satisfied with just being the keepers of God's creation. You can't even do everything that they can do. So, being as I am your good buddy, I will let you both in on a little secret: God lied to you! Yep . . . He sure did; because He doesn't want you to be as powerful as He is. You see that tree over that? Yeah, that one you've eyeballing for a while now. Hey, don't worry. I know you've been hanging around this part of the Garden for a reason. So listen "friends", if you really want the power of the gods, just take a bite out of that fruit and wallah! You will be just like Him! All-powerful! You'll be the absolute tops in creation! I guarantee it!"

As I point out in a number of other articles, that is what is meant by not being ignorant of Satan's devices. That is to say, the lies and doubts which the Devil speaks to our minds which cause us to question God and finally rebel against Him. The writer of Ecclesiastes, who is commonly believed to be King Solomon, then repeats himself by saying that we all die and return to the Earth. And then he pops his heavy question. It isn't so much of a question as it is a challenge to those who are reading his words: "How do you know that our spirits go up -- to heaven -- while the spirits of animals go down to the Earth?"

In essence, I believe that Solomon is rebuking humanity for their haughtiness, and thinking that we are somehow better, or that we deserve a better fate than the animal kingdom. Remember, King Solomon had been around for a while. Being so rich and famous, he must have entertained a lot of people of stature from foreign lands. The Lord had likewise granted him the gift of wisdom far above his peers. He knew what resided in the vain hearts of man. Let me remind you again of what the Prophet Jeremiah wrote regarding this very same issue:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"


So, it appears that Solomon was aware of some deep spiritual truths which he tried to share through his writings. Moving up to the New Testament, we find some additional Scriptures which deal with the creation of man and animals, The Fall, the effect of The Fall on man and beast, and the final hope of both. In his Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul writes the following:

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."


My friends, that is pretty heavy stuff! It appears that Paul is making a clear distinction between human life and animal life in these verses. Notice that he says the creature -- which I suspect really means animals -- is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. You can interpret this in two ways. First, just like us, the animal kingdom is waiting for the restoration of all things, so that like us, they can finally be delivered from the corruption -- or the physical decay -- which follows death, and thus be clothed in immortal bodies.

It is also possible that the term "sons of God" refers to us -- that is to say, God's saved children on Earth. In other words, they -- meaning the creatures -- know that when we are delivered and transformed, they will likewise be delivered as well. Paul makes this very clear when he says "also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption". In other words, "in addition to humankind." In short, I believe that Paul may be trying to help his readers to understand that he's talking about salvation and deliverance for two separate parties here: humankind and animal kind. This is further confirmed when he uses the phrase "And not only they, but ourselves also."

Please notice what Paul says right before that regarding how the animal kingdom has been placed in subjection due to the vanity of man: "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope . . ." As we know from the verses in Genesis, the Lord gave Adam and Eve dominion over the plant and animal kingdoms. The animals did not ask for this. It was not their idea. As this verse states, in spite of the vanity which God already knew existed in the hearts of Adam and Eve, He did it hoping that Adam and Eve would be good keepers over the plant and animal kingdoms and do the right thing. God hoped that they would maintain the correct attitude toward their fellow creatures and take proper care of them.

I am even wondering if perhaps God didn't purposely do this to try to appease their vanity, just like when we sometimes spoil our children with certain things. As I noted earlier, after seeing all of those wonderful animals, Adam and Eve must have become aware of their own physical shortcomings. So perhaps they felt somewhat intimidated, and a little humiliated. Thus, in their pride and vanity -- which God obviously foresaw even before He had created them -- maybe they asked the Lord to place them in charge of the rest of creation. The Lord knew from the beginning how things would turn out, so this could be why we find Him counseling with His Father -- or whoever else was present -- and saying:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."


As I explained earlier, this subjection to humanity became even more drastic after the Genesis Flood when the Lord made it permissible to eat meat. Since that time, all of creation has groaned in the spirit waiting for their deliverance from the atrocities committed by humankind. So as I said before, the Apostle Paul appears to be making it clear that he is talking about the salvation of both man and animals when he writes "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also." Exactly what is it that both we and all animal life are waiting for? As Paul continues to say, "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."

As we learned a few paragraphs earlier, King Solomon wrote that the vanity of life is that we all live, die and decay in the ground. The Apostle Paul takes this thought even a step further when he writes that if this life is all there is, and if there is no hope of resurrection, transformation and eternal life, then truly, we are one miserable lot who live without hope, as we see by the following set of verses:

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."


"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:"


"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."


In short, what we are discussing here is what some people refer to as "Universal Reconciliation". The Bible indicates that God's plan of Restoration and Salvation will not be complete until everything He has created on Earth, both human and animal, has been reconciled to Himself as much as possible. In fact, not just here on Earth in the physical plane, but in the spiritual plane as well. Furthermore, if God created life on other planets -- a possibility which I amply discuss in articles such as the series called "Alien Life, Extrasolar Planets and Universal Atonement" -- then there as well. Anything short of that, and God will have failed to some degree in His plan and purpose, which is the following:

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."


"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent . . . All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."


Of course, as I point out in the article entitled "Free Will and Personal Choice", we must also remember that we are all free moral agents. As such, we must each choose Salvation of our own free accord through faith in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when we are drawn to Jesus by the Father.

To wrap up this series, let us now consider the totality of the verses I have shared with you in this series, and apply them to our current time. As we continue to march through the first half of the twenty-first century, if there is one thing of which we can be certain, it is that humankind has not been a faithful steward over the rest of creation which has been placed in subjection to him. As I pointed out at the beginning of the series, not only have we consistently destroyed ourselves through our many wars, but we have also polluted, and continue to pollute and destroy, what is left of our very fragile environment. We have polluted skies, polluted oceans, polluted streams, rivers and lakes, and polluted land.

Furthermore we have literally thousands of manmade devices such as satellites and other junk orbiting in our upper atmosphere. We have left junk on the Moon and other worlds beyond. We have a weakening ozone layer. We have acid rain which is destroying our forests. We have had countless oil spills in our oceans. We have worldwide air pollution due to a variety of motor vehicles and other devices which utilize fossil fuels, even though it has been said that free energy could be made available to all. The Gulf War oilfield fires also left their mark on our environment. We have toxic fluids and radioactive materials stored or dumped all over the world, some in our oceans, as well as some on and in the land. We continue to destroy our forests -- particularly the tropical rain forests -- at an alarming rate due to the expansion of farmlands, and our need for paper and other wood products. Meanwhile, the Earth's population continues to grow each year.

All of the negative activity we conduct is not only affecting humankind, but it is also radically affecting both the plant and animal kingdoms. Many environments -- terrestrial as well as aquatic -- have been destroyed, or at least drastically altered, forcing many animal species to seek new habitats. In many areas, the food chain has been broken, threatening some species with possible extinction. We have over hunted certain animals for sport, for trophies, for financial gain, for food, or because they are a nuisance like the buffalo, the elephant, the wolf, the rhinoceros, the fur seal, the whale, and the tuna, to name a few.

In the process of capturing food from the oceans of the world, thousands of other valuable species -- such as the dolphin -- are needlessly caught in our nets and destroyed. Many other animals are maimed or killed due to our aquatic pleasure craft conflicting with their environment, like the Florida Manatee which now faces almost certain extinction in the foreseeable future. So as the Apostle Paul wrote, "the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."

The animal kingdom truly groans and waits to be delivered from the corrupt, destructive, egotistical ways of humankind, because we have not taken proper care of them as the Lord commanded us to do. In thinking about these things, I am reminded of a serious warning that is found in the Book of Revelation. It states the following:

"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; AND SHOULDEST DESTROY THEM WHICH DESTROY THE EARTH."


However, we can also take comfort in the fact that the Bible informs us that one of these days, the Lord will offer full redemption and restoration to us, meaning a new resurrected body. Considering that He knows how much we love and cherish our pets, whatever they happen to be, His restoration plan will hopefully include our beloved pets in Heaven as well. In that day, all of creation will finally be brought back into perfect harmony and restitution with God, and with each other, and then we will all praise the Lord together. All of creation, both physical and spiritual, will be brought back into subjection to Him who is all in all, by the hand of His Son, Jesus Christ. And then, even Jesus Christ will submit Himself unto His Father's will. For as we are told in the Holy Scriptures:

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."


"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."


". . . the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."


"For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."


"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"


"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;"


"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."


"For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."


"Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him."


"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."


"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."


"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Alien Life, Extrasolar Planets and Universal Atonement
Child of the Lamb, or Child of the Goat?
Free Will and Personal Choice
Genesis Flood: The Urantia Book Exposed Again!
Is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?
Leviathan: An Ancient Dragon of the Sea?
Nephilim: The Giants of Genesis
New Jerusalem: Heavenly City and Mountain of the Lord's House
Noah's Ark and the Genesis Flood
Satan: His Origin, Purpose and Future
Satan: King of Tyrus, King of Empires
Science and Technology: The Forbidden Knowledge?
Sex, a Bowl of Soup, and the Nature of Angels
The Book of Enoch: Truth or Heresy?
The Lamb of God Was a Goat!
This Little Light, Glory of the Lord and Our Bright Future
Under the Cloud: UFOs and the Holy Bible
What About the Poor?
When Was Satan Cast Out of Heaven?

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