[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during November 2021]
In Genesis 6 we read the preparations for the Flood. We are told that all types of animal were to present themselves to Noah, including ‘every kind of creature that moves along the ground’. A representative of every species was present in the ark. That includes a wide range of creepy-crawlies: ants, cockroaches, dung beetles. With the chance of a free cruise, accommodation on the poop deck, all meals found and a menu ranging from aardvark to zebra – who wouldn’t want to be a dung beetle? It would certainly be a relief from the daily challenges of competing for food, tackling seemingly insurmountable obstacles and avoiding flat-footed elephants.
‘The creatures that move along the ground’ are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. In the Genesis account of creation they are included amongst those land-based animals that God described as ‘good’. By contrast, in Deuteronomy they are declared as being detestable. We know what happened to change mankind, the masterpiece of creation, into a sinful and rebellious people who persisted in their ways even after the second chance offered by the flood. Less often do we realise that there was a major impact on the rest of creation too.
Perhaps one of the most curious mentions of creatures that move along the ground is found in the Old Testament prophecy of Hosea. This book speaks of rejection, repentance and restoration, but it does so in a social context that some might consider to be somewhat delicate. You can read that for yourselves but in chapter 2 we are told that God will make a covenant on behalf of his people with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and creatures that move along the ground.
What can this mean? One suggestion is that this terminology is a reminder of the garden of Eden before the fall and how the blissful sin-free relationship with God and the rest of creation can be restored. Another interpretation is that these creatures, which have been used by God to discipline sinful people through plague and disease, will now become benign in their relationship with mankind.
In Acts 10 we find the apostle Peter at the seaside, probably feeling peckish. Whilst he waited for his fish and chips he had a vision, one of a somewhat different type of menu. Something that looked like a huge blanket lowered by ropes at its four corners settled on the ground. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. Then a voice came: “Peter — kill and eat”. When Peter objected the voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean”[1].
In Psalm 148 the creatures that move along the ground are included amongst those invoked to praise the Lord. So before you attack an ant, batter a beetle, or crush a cockroach … remember that these too are fellow choristers singing praises to our God.
Beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; his glory is above the earth and heaven. [Psalm 148 v10-13 NKJV]
[1] Acts 10 v10-15.
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
