Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #21 of Genesis, chapter 1 and we are going to read Genesis 1:24-25:

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

I will stop reading there. God had said a little earlier in verse 21, “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” We have seen this statement “after their kind” or “after his kind” a few times now, so we should discuss how, in the wisdom of God, everything was made after its “own kind.” What that means is that elephants bring forth elephants and not mice. Monkeys bring forth monkeys and not squirrels. Dogs bring forth dogs. There is a wide variety of dogs, like big dogs such as Great Danes or little dogs such as Chihuahuas, but they are always dogs. Dogs are after “their kind.” This is the way God has established His creation and His creatures. They will produce creatures after their own kind and so, too, it is true of mankind; people produce people. The young that come forth from the union of a man and a woman are human beings after their own kind.

These things need to be emphasized because of the wisdom of the world, which is absolutely ridiculous. If anyone would honestly look at the theory of evolution, they would see how ridiculous it is. One of the teachings of evolution is that certain kinds of creatures may “evolve” into other kinds of creatures and what promotes this “evolving” of things are eons of time. It is like a Golden Book fantasy tale of a frog turning into a prince, until they add that all-important ingredient of elongated periods of time and then they claim it as a scientific fact. I am sorry. I do not mean to insult anyone, but it is extremely ridiculous and foolish to think that creatures turn into other kinds of creatures if given enough time. It just is not so. Man did not come from monkeys, nor did we come from fish and chickens are not related to dinosaurs. If you do an internet search, you will see articles in the Smithsonian Institute that puts forth the theory of chickens being related to dinosaurs. It is so far-fetched, but man is willing to believe anything but the truth which is that God created the heavens and the earth and He created the creatures “after their kind.” Evolution assaults the Word of God on this point when God says He created the animals to come forth “after their kind” and God is establishing the fact that this is how creatures first came into being and how they continue to come forth “after their kind.” And that is what you will see in this world. Bees give birth to bees. Insects produce insects of like kind and animals beget animals, always of the same kind. Believe me, it would be a worldwide media circus if everyone was witnessing the birth of a giraffe and what came forth was another kind of creature. It would be evidence of evolution, but it has never happened. Instead there is the deceitful lie that comes out of the mouth of man in opposition to the Word of God.

So, here we read in Genesis 1:24:25:

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Let us look at the word “cattle” and this will apply to all the references to living creatures, creeping things and beasts of the earth. The word “cattle” is Strong’s #929 and the way God uses this word is very helpful in understanding how animals can be used in the Bible. For instance, in 1Kings, chapter 4 we read of Solomon and it says in 1Kings 4:32-33:

And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And 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.

What is Solomon speaking? He is speaking proverbs. What are proverbs? They are parables. Solomon is a type and picture of Christ and his name means “peace.” Christ is the Word and without a parable He did not speak. Just as Christ spoke forth parables, Solomon spoke forth parables. These parables or proverbs that Solomon spoke are examples of how the Bible is written.

Solomon spoke of “beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.” Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men,” so we know that fish can represent men. So, too, beasts and fowl and creeping things can represent men. It says in Job 18:1-2:

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak. Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?

Bildad was one of Job’s three friends that came to speak with Job in his grief, but they accused Job because they were a picture of national Israel. Here, Bildad says, “Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?” Job is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is a significant statement. It says in Job 35:11:

Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

In a parable given by Christ the fowls of heaven came and snatched away the seed. It was explained that the fowls represent Satan who takes away the Word of God from the hearts of men. But how does Satan work? He works through his emissaries, so the “fowls of the air” picture the emissaries of Satan. The beasts of the earth are often joined together with the fowls of heaven and both can picture the emissaries of Satan. God’s elect are taught more than the beasts and are made wiser than the fowls. The beasts and fowls represent professed Christians or professed Israel of old, but the idea is that they are not “true” Israel because they were not born again. God pictures the beasts and the fowl as those that are unsaved and that is why it says in Exodos 11:5:

And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

Why did God condemn the firstborn of the beasts of Egypt? We can understand that it would apply to Pharaoh and the Egyptians because they typify the kingdom of Satan, but why the beasts? It is because the beasts also typify people that are under the power of Satan in the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, it says in Exodus 12:29:

And it came to pass, that at midnight JEHOVAH smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

Each of these groups points to God’s wrath upon the sinners. God’s plan is to destroy the sinner in the Day of Judgment and, finally, it will also include the destruction of the beasts with the final destruction of this sin-cursed earth.

When we look at this word and how it is used throughout the Bible, it is a very clear typology. We are not just “pulling it out of a hat,” so to speak, but it is based on Scripture. God makes statements like He did when He said, “Wherefore are we counted as beasts,” and we also find other clear references to this in Ecclesiastes 3:18-21:

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

In this passage it appears God is contrasting the spirit of man that goes upward (the elect) with the spirit of the beast that goes downward, which is a picture of the grave or hell, to the unsaved. God says of the sons of men: “They might see that might see that they themselves are beasts.” So, the firstborn of cattle were smitten in Egypt because they pictured the sons of men.

In Psalm 49 God specifically refers to His Word as a parable when He says in verse 4, “I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.” Then He goes on to say in Psalm 49:12:

Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

The word “like” is a familiar word because when the Lord spoke parables He would say things like, “The kingdom of heaven is like,” and then He would proceed with His parable, which is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. So, too, when God speaks of beasts, He is giving a parable when He says of man: “He is like the beasts that perish.”

If we are going to follow the Bible’s definition of its own terms, when we read of “beasts” in the Bible we should ask the question: “Is this a type and figure of men? Is this a picture of mankind and whether it is unsaved man, or not?” We know that God likens men to fish, so we should ask, “Are these creatures that are in view somehow pointing to people?” When we do that, we will come to a better understanding which we would not otherwise see.

For example, Jonah was sent to Nineveh and he was told to proclaim that in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed. The people of Nineveh reacted by believing God. It did not say that they believed Jonah, but they had a right understanding that God spoke through prophets of old. When the Gospel goes out and the Bible is proclaimed faithfully, it is a message from God. It says in Jonah 3:6-10:

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

What is amazing about this account is that the king decreed not only to the people, but he decreed that the animals were also not to eat or drink and they were also to be covered with sackcloth. This was a picture of mankind in response to the wrath of God upon sin. God intended to destroy Nineveh and when He did so He would destroy all the animals, too, but the repentance of man is linked to the animals as if the animals were also repenting. This is the spiritual aspect of what God is emphasizing: man is to repent; the beasts or unsaved people are to repent. In this case, God spared Nineveh according to His program of election because He had many people in that place and God said to Jonah in Jonah 4:10-11:

Then said JEHOVAH, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

We would never properly understand this last phrase until we realize that men are likened to beasts that perish. This is why God emphasizes that Nineveh had “much cattle” because He is directing our attention to the people of Nineveh who are His creatures as typified by the beasts.

In creating the rivers and seas and mountains and trees, not to mention the sun, moon and stars, God is using all the things He creates as types and figures. The sun, moon and stars represent the Gospel lights. Mountains can typify kingdoms. Trees can typify men. The rivers can typify the waters of the Gospel and the sea can typify people. All these things God has created are a testimony of the glory of God and showing His handiwork, including the creatures, whether they swim in the sea or walk or creep on the ground. They are all types and figures. I do not think there is anything God has made that does not spiritually teach something in the Bible. I would not dare make a statement that they do not because so many of these things do teach us spiritual truths. The outward working of God’s handiwork in the physical creation of this world is certainly a testimony of the power and glory of God, but the only way any of this can be understood is through the Word of God, the Bible.

Here in Genesis, God is creating the creatures and He is setting up various aspects of the Gospel and spiritual truth.