Talk With The Animals

“Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee” —Job 12:7

In the movie Doctor Dolittle, Rex Harrison sang a song titled “Talk With the Animals.”  That is not so far fetched, because the Bible also tells us to talk with the animals. Job 12:7-8 says, “Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.”

You may find that strange, but Solomon didn’t.  Besides being the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon also was a great student of nature. “He spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes” (1 Kings 4:33). Solomon was a dendrologist (study of trees); zoologist (study of beasts); ornithologist (study of birds); entomologist (study of creeping things- bugs); and an ichthyologist (study of fish).

Solomon studied these things because in his wisdom he knew there is something in nature that can teach us hidden truths. The God who wrote the Bible also created the animals the way they are for a reason. As Job said, “Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?”

God had a design in mind when He made a fish, because fish teach us about winning souls to Christ (Mt. 4:19).

It is no accident that sheep are the way they are because they are like God’s people (Ps. 100:3).

Jesus said, “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Mt. 10:16). There is something about the wisdom of a serpent, and the gentleness of a dove that will teach us how to communicate with the unsaved.

God says a tiny ant can tell us how to be wise (Prov. 6:6-11).

When God wants to teach us about boldness, He will use a lion (Prov. 28:1).

Wolves tell us about the characteristics of a false prophet (Mt. 7:15).

If you want to learn something about a God-called preacher, go ask an ox (1 Cor. 9:9-10).

When God wants to describe what an unsaved man is like, He’ll use a dog lapping up his vomit. When God wants to show us what an unsaved woman is like, He points to a sow wallowing in the mire (2 Pet. 2:22).

So, when you read in your Bible about various animals, pause and study  how God wants to use this animal to teach you something about life.