God made animals. Genesis 1:20-25 describes creatures of the water, air, and land.
1:20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens."
1:21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
1:23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
1:24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.
1:25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God saved animals. Genesis 6:20 says they were "to be kept alive" in the ark during the flood.
6:20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive.
God cares about animals. Jonah 4:11 shows this care. "But Ninevah has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" (NIV)
4:11 And should not I pity Nin'eveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
Man should care. Proverbs 27:23 "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds …" (NIV)
27:23 Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds;
God wants animals unharmed. Isaiah 65:25 declares "The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox … They will neither harm nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord." (NIV)
65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD."
Yet, only man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) with the power of free choice (Joshua 24:15). Thus Biblically, man is the only part of creation to which salvation can be offered to be accepted or rejected.
1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
24:15 And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
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