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Does life seem to be becoming more and more confusing with images abounding of half human, half animal depictions everywhere you look?
Just the other day as I drove to work and pulled up behind a bus at the traffic lights, I saw right in front of my face a huge image of a man and a rooster merged together with the caption ”We are all animals”. Upon checking this out further, I discovered that the man is a well-known cricketer and someone with influence, especially to children and young people, who aspire to be just like their sporting heroes. This irritated me and, at the same time, caused disappointment, annoyance, dismay, a touch of anger, and a huge dose of wanting to set things right. The sad thing is many will be influenced by this false advertising and believe it. Lies and deception abound in this world and we know who is the author of this wickedness, Satan himself (John 8:44).
It reminds me of the time back in the 70s when I was being taught about evolution in high school. The teacher brought out a large colourful display chart showing the transition of a small ape — a chimp — with side-on views in various stages of growth, eventually turning into a large ape, with the final image of an unclothed adult man. You too may also remember the almost life size chart. There were several stages of supposed development. Unfortunately I fell for it, “hook, line and sinker”. It looked believable to my young, impressionable mind. Seeing the apes' gradual transitional growth in size, while in a standing position as they were depicted in walking stances, their shapes so similar to a human, were very convincing to me. I wanted to believe it and made a link in my mind from the smallest ape to the largest ape easily. From there it was not such a huge jump to that of a human.
Instilled by parents over my formative years, I held the opinion that teachers were trustworthy and honest and would not willingly lead anyone astray, or so I thought. It never occurred to me that they would lie to their students. I expected that everything which came out of their mouths was taught to help us. How wrong I was. They had been deceived just like I had been, as they carried on the deception. Teachers, sporting identities, famous musicians and singers, movie stars, dancers, television personalities, and others whom young people try to emulate and follow, indeed carry a lot of power in the way they live their lives and by what they endorse, all of which strongly influence youth then and now. Why is this so?
The world is under the sway of the wicked one
Simply put, deception abounds because of the devil (1 John 5:19). He cannot create and cannot live under God’s direction and perfect love. Filled with insanity, jealous hate, rage, and envy, he sets out to destroy humanity so that they will not want a deep and lasting relationship with God, their Creator. He twists, contorts, and influences the thinking of humans, playing on their weaknesses and vulnerability. You can read all about the devil who was once known as Lucifer in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. What does God have to say? God wants us to appreciate the animals He has created and provided to us for help, companionship, food, drink, warmth, and all those other things such as pulling sleds, riding horses over distances, going into dangerous territory, guarding property, assisting farmers with rounding up sheep, sniffing for drugs, chasing criminals, being the eyes and ears of the blind and deaf, and the list could go on and on. Most people love their animals and look after them well just as God advised we should (Proverbs 12:10) and there is nothing wrong with that. However there is a balance.
It would seem as if the devil is trying to unbalance people to be at either one end of the spectrum — cruel and without mercy — while at the other end of the scale — to treat their pets as “fur babies” lifting their place to equal that of a human. Some people dress their pets in specially made clothing and carry them around in bags. Noticing on social media, there are quite a few people who think it is funny to put ears, snouts, whiskers, and various other parts of animals on their image to resemble a cat, rabbit, dog, or whatever they feel like. The term “Zoomorphism” describes this activity correctly. This is just another subtle form of the devil ridiculing people to God. Most have no idea of the deception, blindly believing it is just harmless fun.
If the devil could be heard to speak, these words come to mind: “Here are your beloved children; just look at them and see how stupid and foolish they are. I can make them think that to love an animal just as much as a human is the right thing to do. I can even get some of them to think animals are better and more loving than humans. Furthermore I will get them to think it is wrong to eat them, refuse to drink their milk, or eat their eggs. While billions starve worldwide, those with access to all that you have provided to nourish and hydrate them, will learn to reject it all because they think they are doing the right thing. We know they are not but I can deceive them into thinking wrong thoughts. And, to make things even more fun and interesting for myself and the rest of the demons (fallen angels) those who do eat and drink animal products, well I will cause them to become ill and suffer with pain because I can make sure the crops grown are interfered with from spraying of poisonous chemicals and genetically modified foodstuffs”. How wicked and evil the devil is, and he will stop at nothing to destroy humanity. We are only alive by the grace of God’s sacrifice and protection.
The devil craves and enjoys power and desperately desires worship. He wants to be God and replace Him in every single human’s mind. He is so deranged that he believes he can do a much better job than God. The fact remains God tells us in Genesis 1:25 that He made animals after their own kind. With humans, God informs us in Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. It is clear from this passage that men and women, humans, are created to look like God. Not animals. God says we have dominion over the animals. We are their caretakers and we rule over them. We get to say what and when they eat, how they live and how they die. Of course if we listen to God then we will be good caretakers by providing food, shelter, warmth and comfort to ensure they are looked after in good health. We will care about them as good stewards, but not to elevate and treat them like humans. That is the balanced approach we should be following.
Living in the End Times of this Present Evil Age
The widespread deception from the devil is allowed for now but the time is coming when all of these false ways will cease. Upon Christ’s return to the earth, when His Kingdom will be ushered in, then the whole of humanity will finally get to fully understand God’s perfect ways and they will all learn to love His ways forever and ever (Micah 4:1-5, Isaiah 2:2-4). The devil will be destroyed and will no longer deceive. There will be peace on earth at last when everyone will live in harmony eternally. What a wonderful time that will be!
Until then, beloved brethren, we sigh and cry (Ezekiel 9:4), and ache, even hunger for the Truth to abound. It is frustrating but we know, if God allows it for now, then we must also, as we know our Father is perfect in all His ways and cannot lie (Titus 1:2). God made the animals to help us now and they will also be there in the Kingdom when we will be able to communicate with them. They will no longer be wild or hostile (Isaiah 11:6-9). Everything including man and beast will be able to live without interference from the forces of evil.
It is hard to imagine a time so blissfully joyous as this but we believe and know it will happen as God has recorded the details of the New Jerusalem within the Bible in Revelation 21 and 22. Until such a time as this, we live in this world but we are to remain separate from it, as stated in 2 Corinthians 6:17-18.