Do you enjoy going to the zoo? If so, today is National Zoo Lovers Day! You can put me in the category of a happy celebrant of the occasion. The National Day Calendar offers up a few zoo facts that are interesting:
- The Vienna Zoo is the oldest existing zoo and was opened to the public in 1765.
- The United State’s first zoo open to the public, Central Park Zoo, opened in 1864 in New York.
- Philadelphia Zoo holds the oldest zoo charter, formed in 1859. It officially opened to the public in 1874.
- There are 350 zoos in the United States
- Approximately 175 million people visit a zoo each year.
- More than 3.2 million people visit the San Diego Zoo each year.1
I am writing this devotional on March 14. On March 20th, we have tickets to go to Paws
and Claws in Bremen, Ohio. We are doing their VIP Encounter where we get to be hands-on with “a sloth, fennec fox, binturong, otters, and more! From playful otters and curious coatimundis to our friendly kangaroos, foxes, and even our warthog, you’ll be face-to-face with some of the most fascinating animals on the farm—plus a few that aren’t usually on public display!”2 I can hardly wait!
My love for the zoo has grown through the years. I could spend a day just watching the primates. Years ago, we went to the Kalamazoo Zoo. Here, you get to feed giraffes. Their long purple-ish tongues wrap around the food in your hand along with your hand.
I can only imagine what a thrill it must have been for Adam in the pre-sin world. Genesis 2:19-20 says, “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (20) And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.”
There was no enmity between the animals themselves and humanity. A lion was as comfortable and content with Adam as it was with the most docile of all the animals. There was no fear of being attacked. No predator vs. prey. Adam lived in a zoo where there were no walls, barriers, or boundaries.
Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” In his commentary on Genesis, Kyle Yates writes, “When the Lord looked upon the completed result of His creative acts, he expressed peculiar delight and extreme satisfaction. Everything in the universe, from the biggest star to the smallest blade of grass, brought joy to his heart. It was a beautiful symphony. The Creator’s satisfaction is here expressed in terse yet vivid language.”3
But Adam sinned and ruined this perfect zoo and everything else!
How do we know that Adam’s sin affected every portion of the earth, including the animals? We come to this conclusion by coming in the back door of prophecy. During the Millennial Kingdom, many aspects of the curse will be reversed. Isaiah 11:6-9 says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (7) And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (8) And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. (9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
Imagine that day! Do you realize that at the bare minimum, we are about 7 years away from the Lord’s earthly reign and the establishment of the Kingdom? If Jesus raptures us out of here today, that means a seven-year tribulation period will follow here on the earth, after which Jesus comes back, the Battle of Armageddon is fought, and the Millennial Kingdom is introduced.
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)
1https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-zoo-lovers-day-april-8
2https://pandcencounters.com/animal-encounters/vip-experience/
3Kyle M. Yates, Genesis, in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, Chicago, Moody Press, 1962, p. 4)
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
