Genesis 1:24-25 “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
This now brings us to God’s creation of the animals of the earth. As recorded for us in the above quoted passage of scripture, on the sixth day God created the living creatures of the earth. The creation account in Genesis tells us that God also created Adam and Eve on the sixth day. But similarly to prior creation days, the sixth day creation event was also split into two stages, i.e. God’s creation of the living creatures in the first stage and then His creation of man in the second stage. And so, we will begin our examination of day six by looking at the first stage of this creation event. A more accurate translation of the word “cattle” in the passage quoted above would be “animal” or “dumb beast”. The word translated “creeping things” can also be translated “reptile”. And a more accurate translation of the word “beast” is “living thing”. And so, this passage of scripture identifies three distinct categories of living creatures i.e. animals, reptiles and living things. Most translations of this passage broadly speaking, list the three categories as, “domestic” animals, “creeping” animals and “wild” animals. That rendering of this passage is misleading however, because it presumes that God created certain animals as “domestic” and others as “wild”. That is not the case however, for God created all animals to live in their natural environment, which is what the term “wild” means. It was mankind (not God) that “domesticated” certain wild animals for his own benefit, because God gave Adam dominion over all animals. And so, the various breeds of domestic animals that we see in the earth today, i.e. dogs, cattle, sheep, etc, are all manmade derivatives of their “wild” predecessors that God originally created. We will discuss the first two categories of living creatures, i.e. animals and reptiles and then examine the third category, i.e. living things. Among the oldest animal fossils discovered thus far are a species called Dimetrodon, and they began to appear on the earth approximately 295 million years ago[1]. The oldest reptile fossil discovered thus far is called a Hylonomus, and they began to appear on the earth approximately 312 million years ago[2]. But as we will see in the timeline of the earth’s history, all of these animals and reptiles eventually became extinct, and God replaced them with new species, culminating with the animal and reptile species that we see in the earth today.
Job 40:15-24 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made with you; He eats grass like an ox. (16) See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles. (17) He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. (18) His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron. (19) He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword. (20) Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. (21) He lies under the lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. (22) The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him. (23) Indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed; He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, (24) though he takes it in his eyes, or one pierces his nose with a snare.”
The above passage of scripture is another record of the discourse that God had with Job when God challenged him to explain how God had created the earth and all things in it. In this discourse God describes one of the land animals that He created, which God called “Behemoth”. Although some have foolishly stated that God is describing either a hippopotamus or an elephant in this passage, neither of those two animals come anywhere close to resembling the creature described in this passage, for example neither of them have tails like “cedars”. And so, mankind has never seen an animal like this and the reason for that is because the creature that best fits the one described; first began to roam the earth approximately 154 million years ago, and is known today as “Brachiosaurus”[3]. These creatures became extinct 145 million years ago; nevertheless their fossilized remains have been discovered in various locations in the earth. As we have already mentioned, the reason that God described this creature and the previous one we have listed, was for our benefit, so that He could show us that He is the one who created them. And so as I have already mentioned, God began His creation of animals on day six of creation, but continued to replace each era of species until the end of day six, when He created the final era of animal life that we see on the earth today.
This now brings us to the third category of living creatures that God created on day six, i.e. the category of “living things”. During this period God created various species of living things which mankind today refer to as Hominids. The most notable of the Hominid species are known as Neanderthals, which lived on the earth between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago[4]. They form part of the primate species also known as the great apes. They lived in small family groups and most of their fossil remains have been found in caves, hence the derived term of “cavemen”. God endows all of His creations with a certain degree of intelligence (Job 39:17), which enables them to function at the level that God intended for them. This is the reason why certain animals can be trained by humans to perform certain tasks that they would not normally perform in their natural habitat. But there is a limit to their intelligence and they can therefore not progress beyond the limit set by God. Neanderthals were no different, for God gave them a certain degree of intelligence which for example, enabled them to make certain stone tools for hunting, etc. But even modern apes on the earth today have the intelligence to use certain tools, i.e. chimpanzees use sticks to extract termites from termite mounds and certain monkeys use stones to crack open crabs, etc[5]. With regards to Neanderthals however, evolutionists would try suggesting that they also used fire, wore clothing of animal skins, and developed their own language. Although there is no credible evidence to support any of these claims, nevertheless they still propagate these theories because it fits their false narrative of mankind not being created in the image of God but rather evolving from apes. As already mentioned, Neanderthals went extinct roughly 40,000 years ago, just before God created man.
Michael E.B. Maher
[1] Wikipedia
[2] Wikipedia
[3] Wikipedia
[4] Wikipedia
[5] Wikipedia
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