Through the Bible With Birds and BeastsSample

“. . . Not To Mention All The Animals”

One of the biggest beasts the Bible mentions is, of course, Jonah’s “large fish,” often referred to as a whale—the fish who hosted Jonah in its belly for three days and nights while he sorted out his attitude about God’s command to preach in Nineveh. The whale is a star attraction in many a Sunday school, but it’s not the only animal in this story! It’s in the minority, which often escapes our notice as we read the tale.

Every time I read God’s conversation with Jonah outside Nineveh, it tickles me. Certainly, God sent Jonah to that sin-wracked city to preach repentance to the many thousands of lost human souls so they could avoid the destruction their sin would bring on them. But have you ever noticed God’s parting comment in the final verse of Jonah 4? He asks if He shouldn’t have compassion for so great a city because more than 120,000 people live in spiritual darkness there, “not to mention all the animals.”

Imagine God dropping in that comment about His creatures right at the end: not to mention all the animals. Our Creator was reluctant to see the city of Nineveh destroyed, primarily because of—but not only because of—His human children toward whom His compassion flowed. God was also concerned because of all the animals. That shouts to me of their importance to Him. While animals may not be the pinnacle of God’s creation, His compassion flows toward them in some measure, just as it flows toward us. If animals were of little or no value to God, He would have had no reason to mention them to Jonah or see that His comment was recorded in Scripture for us to read throughout the ages.

God cares for the wealth of creatures He made in addition to humankind. As believers, we all need to love and care about people, as God does. Yet the fact He would have compassion on the animals gives us reason enough to have compassion on them, too. He took great care intricately designing the birds and beasts, and then He took great care putting humankind in charge of stewarding them. That charge to steward them may play out in our lives in various ways, but for all of us, I think it’s meant to play out somehow.