God’s Unmentioned Animals
An all-creatures Bible Message

God’s Unmentioned Animals
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
13 January 2019
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Isaiah 43:1-7 (2016)
Acts 8:14-24 (2015)

God’s unmentioned animals are one of the greatest problems that truly compassionate and empathetic people face when trying to tell others about God wanting us to live as peacemaking children of God who do not eat animal flesh and by-products.
 
For when we tell these things to other people, they often respond with: show me in the Bible where it says this, and we cannot do it, because the Bible doesn’t say this directly, but it nevertheless does tell us this in indirect ways, such as in the Beatitudes, where none of them bring harm to any other living being.
 
Also, in the Lord’s Prayer, the second part states that we are to live on earth as it is in heaven where there is no pain, suffering, or death; so if we are going to live this way, we cannot cause any pain or suffering or death to any other living being, including God’s unmentioned animals.
 
Now let’s take a look at Isaiah 43:1-7...

1. But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!

We should remember that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel after he wrestled with God, which is reflected in their names: Jacob means deceiver or one who grasps by the heel, for that is the way he was born; and Israel means one who wrestles with God over the ungodly things in his life, such as the exploiting and killing of animals.
 
And here Isaiah, writing for God is saying He has redeemed the nation of Israel.
 
To some extent this has happened, but far from fully, so while God reestablished the nation of Israel in 1948, He has not fulfilled this promise, because most of Israel in still living in the corrupt and evil ways of this world.
 
So what is God waiting for?
 
He is waiting for the people to return to His heavenly will and become the true peacemaking children of God He called us all to be, and in this capacity, we should be doing everything in our power to help free creation from its present corruption.

2. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.

Remember that the Hebrews did pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, but Isaiah wrote this hundreds of years later, so He must be referring to some future event or situation that they will encounter, and since all born again believers have been grafted in, it more than likely includes every true believer.
 
And passing through the fire could mean the fires of hell or the violence and corruption upon this earth that causes millions of people and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.

3. "For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
 
4. "Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

We are precious in the sight of the Lord, but we believe that exchanging people is out of character with the way God behaves.
 
Why in all of heaven and earth would God have to pay a ransom of any kind; He is in control of everything.

5. "Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
And gather you from the west.
 
6. "I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring My sons from afar,
And My daughters from the ends of the earth,

The fact that God is in control and can do all of these things is further proof to us that He would never consider paying a ransom which is what exchanging people really is; God can protect anyone or any nation He wants.
 
God may allow the earth to wallow in its own evil because of the ungodly ways of most of the human race, and He can protect one group of people from others; so if He can do this He would have no need to pay any ransom, and who would He pay it to.

7. Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made. " 
NASB

We believe that this actually refers to the people who are actually children of God, and not the people who call themselves by the name of the Lord, but reject God’s heavenly will and follow the corrupt and evil ways of this world, which means that they are really following the devil.
 
Finally, let’s look at Acts 8:14-24…

14. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
 
15. who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

If believers have not received the Holy Spirit, they are most likely not living in the heavenly will of God, and are still living in the corrupt ways of this world with all its violence and greed that causes millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.

16. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And to most of them He was not much more than a name, and not really their Lord and Savior.

17. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

Which should give them the spiritual vision and insight to know the heavenly will of God, particularly as the Lord intended for them to live, which includes living in such a way that causes them to prevent any human caused pain, suffering, and death, for they are not in heaven.

18. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
 
19. saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

This is the problem with people who cannot understand the spiritual realm, and look at everything in terms of this physical world; and this is a very similar problem to why people do such horrible things to animals and participate in the violence and warring madness that plagues this world.

20. But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
 
21. "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

And this hardness of heart is the problem with most people who believe that animals are there for them to abuse and eat or exploit and any other ways they desire.
 
Just because the Bible doesn’t specifically say not to eat animals, it is no reason to cause them to suffer and die.
 
If people would simply connect with God and seek His help in feeling the pain and suffering of the whole of His creation, and do whatever they can to stop it, they just might make themselves feel a whole lot better, and in the process bring a little more peace to this world.

22. "Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.
 
23. "For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."

This is the problem with most of the people in the world; they just don’t understand.

24. But Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
NASB

This is the first sign that Simon is beginning to understand; he is beginning to realize that Peter has a connection to God and the spiritual realm that Simon doesn’t have.
 
It is only when we make this spiritual connection that we begin to understand that God does not want any of us to exploit any animals, for God created them to enjoy the world that He created for them to enjoy and not fear.
 
Just because God’s unmentioned animals are not specifically presented is no excuse for us not to include them is our sphere of compassion and empathy for they were created with souls and spirits just like us.
 
And just because they were created physically different from us is no excuse for us to exploit them.
 
We are to care for them.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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