larshaukeland

Animals with TEETH!

By Stacia Byers, Steve Cardno and Dan Lietha

Consider the lion … . Its powerful jaws are well equipped for biting into its prey, and its stomach readily welcomes the fresh meat. But wait … the Bible says that God gave all plants to all the animals to eat in the very beginning (Genesis 1:29, 30) and that He declared His finished creation ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). So, why does the lion appear to be so well designed to Catch and digest a diet of meat? Why are snakes programmed to attack and kill animals? Why do some frogs have bright colours to warn attackers to stay away from their poison glands?

If God created everything ‘very good’ originally, then why do so many animals appear designed to attack other animals, or to defend themselves from attacks?

God’s perfect, complete universe changed when Adam disobeyed God by choosing to eat the fruit from thr Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil. This sin affected the entire creation (Romans 8:22)—including the animal kingdom.

Some Christians believe that the harmful structures (such as sharp teeth or claws) had a different function before Adam disobeyed. For example, giant pandas use their sharp teeth and claws to eat mainly bamboo, so maybe the lion originally used his teeth to chomp on vegetables. Even in modern times, one lioness was totally vegetarian throughout her lifetime (Creation 22(2):22–23, 2000). Or, perhaps, the original ‘very good’ structures have been changed by mutations over time.

Others believe that many of the animals were ‘redesigned’ after the Fall. For example, the serpent changed with the Curse God placed on it (Genesis 3:14), and plants began to grow thorns (3:18), so perhaps God also changed some of the features in other animals. Perhaps, because He foreknew the Fall, God programmed the genes with information for these structures. This information was ‘switched on’ at the Fall.

So, how did the animals change? The Bible simply doesn’t give us enough information to say for sure—it may be that some of the above ideas apply for some animals, not for others in some way. Scripture is clear, however, that the ‘bad things’ we see in today’s world didn’t have a place in God’s original, perfect creation, and won’t have a place in the future, restored world (Acts 3:21, Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:25).

God didn’t make things ‘bad’

It’s important to remember that the ‘bad things’ are not something we should blame God for. They are the result of sin—Adam’s and ours (because we are descendants of Adam, and each of us chooses to sin as well). In fact, God provided a way for us to be free from the penalty of sin (eternal separation
from Him) by sending Jesus Christ to die in the place of all those who receive His free gift of eternal life.

The Bible tells us that God will create a new Heaven and a new Earth, where there will be no more death, pain or other ‘bad things’.