Animals and Angels

God is pleased with and places a high value on the animals he has created. He knows them all. “For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” (Psalms 50:10-11) God’s word also states that a righteous man respects the dominion that has been given him over the animals and is never cruel. “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” (Proverbs 12:10)

In the book of Jeremiah it asserts that animals are more able to follow their instincts than man is able to use common sense. “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 8:7)

Have you ever wondered if animals are sensitive to things around us that we cannot see? Have you ever detected a sudden silence come over animals? Could it be they have sensed an angel, hopefully good, passing by?

An example of birds being sensitive to the Holy Spirit is found in I Kings, where God instructs the ravens to feed Elisha the prophet. "And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook." (I Kings 17:4-6)

A man named Balaam was struggling within himself between God's will and his own selfish desires. When an angel stood in the road and attempted to stop him, Balaam's donkey saw the angel, but Balaam did not. An unprecedented miracle happened during this encounter. God enabled an animal to speak! Balaam's eyes were at last opened and he too was able to see the angel.
"And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
“And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou has smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou has ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me. And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak" (Numbers 22:21-35)

Verification that angels have the power to control animals is illustrated in the book of Daniel, as we read in the following scripture. It was an angel that stopped the lions from devouring Daniel. It doesn’t say how, but it only required one angel to control all the lions. "Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt." (Daniel 6:21-22)

We should also consider the animals Noah took on the ark. Noah had to have had some help. Rounding up all the different animals, some wild and dangerous would have been a tremendous job. According to the scriptures, they just walked onto the ark. Perhaps angels led them. After they were all in the ark scripture states that God shut the door. "In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in." (Genesis 6:13-16)

God promises, in the world to come, that the animals will all be at peace with each other and with man. There will be no more carnivores. Scripture reveals that God is going to make a covenant of peace with the animals. They too are waiting for that day. Can you picture a cow, bear, wolf, leopard and lamb resting together? “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.” (Isaiah 11:6-7)

“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.” (Isaiah 65:25)

Here is God’s promise, concerning the animals. “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things on the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.” (Hosea 2:18)