Today is Simian Saturday, otherwise known as National Monkey Day. It was a day created by Michigan State University art student Casey Sorrow in 2000. The day started as a joke. Casey wrote “Monkey Day” on a friend’s calendar. When the friend saw it, they got a good laugh but then, an idea formed to make this a campus-wide celebration. They celebrated the day with other MSU students by creating monkey artwork, dressing up like monkeys, and acting like monkeys on campus.
I spent one year on a secular university campus, and I can tell you that every day was monkey day – minus the costumes.
“Hallmark Cards describes the holiday as a “day when monkey business is actually encouraged.” The Washington Post describes Monkey Day as a day to “learn something about these adorable and highly intelligent primates.”1
Monkeys are my weakness. Instagram has a number of reels with the most adorable chimps playing, eating, taking baths, and loving on their owners. That’s one of my guilty pleasures – watching those clips. Sitting at the primate enclosure at the zoo is another. I could easily fritter a day away just watching them. While I would love to have one, I imagine that they would require more maintenance than the typical dog, consuming way too much time and expense. One day, though, I want to go somewhere where I could spend the day just playing with a bunch of chimps.
I don’t know how this fascination developed in me. As long as I can remember, this was my favorite animal. As a kid – a little kid – I had the traditional stuffed teddy bear that was missing an eye. But the stuffed animal I had with me all the time was my stuffed chimp holding a plastic banana in one hand. And I’ve never lost the heart melting joy that comes from watching them.
According to Discover magazine, “Charles Darwin, the naturalist best known for his theories of natural selection, described evolution “as ‘descent with modification.’” That means humans descended from common (and now extinct) ape ancestors that lived millions of years ago, a process also referred to as “common descent.” While we share our ancestry with these animals, along the way, over millions of years, we all changed. “[We] each adapted to our own environments or specific circumstances or niches,” says Cofran. It’s believed that this human divergence from the chimpanzee lineage of apes happened between 9.3 and 6.5 million years ago.”2
There are so many errors and lies in that paragraph! If the Bible is a correct record of history – and it most certainly IS – then there is no such thing as millions of years. There is no such thing as ‘descent with modification’ because God made each species unique, and reproduction was always “after his kind.”
Genesis 1:24-28 says, “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. (25) 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. (26) And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…” Man reproduced after his kind.
Now, we have an omniscient God. Darwin’s beliefs didn’t surprise God. So, why would God go ahead and create an animal with such similarities to man, knowing that man was going to create such a blasphemous, heretical doctrine that would lead millions astray through the years?
While I cannot speak for God, I think at least part of the answer is found in Romans 1:18-25. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (19) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (20) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (21) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (23) And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (24) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (25) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
Man was presented with a choice: Worship and serve God or worship and serve His creation. Believe what the Bible says or believe the foolish inventions and imaginations of man. We learn a lot about those who will follow the pseudo-science. God says that they are fools with their foolish hearts darkened. They are not wise. They are fools. And God gave them up because of this.
A chimpanzee brings me immense pleasure. But I’ve never once thought, “Hey, this is my cousin!” Instead, I marvel at God’s craftsmanship and even at His sense of humor. I imagine the smile on God’s face as He watches these animals beside me at the zoo. I hear God’s pleasure over His creation when He declares, “And it was very good.” And I thank Him for the simple pleasures a chimp can bring.
On this Monkey Day, rejoice in the God described in Psalms 33:6-11. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. (7) He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. (8) Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. (9) For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. (10) The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. (11) The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.”
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Day
2https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/if-humans-evolved-from-apes-why-do-apes-still-exist
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