#477

Attack Of The Animals

Alfred Hitchcock Would Love This

Anyone who lived during the 1950s and 60s remembers a movie by the famous director Alfred Hitchcock called The Birds. It premiered in 1963 and was very successful film having won 5 academy awards and bringing in 11.4 million dollars in the box office. Interestingly it was kind of a good year for bird films since the films Bye Bye Birdie and to Kill a Mockingbird came then. Anyway, if you didn’t know about the movie, here is a brief description of it from IMDB.com:

A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.

As Hitchcock thrillers go, it was very good at setting a dark, scary mood and actually made audiences afraid of birds when they left theaters. Of course it didn’t help when the movie promoters wired speakers to play bird sounds when people left the theaters. However, the film industry knows that movies of the animal kingdom turning on people are popular and so they just keep pushing them out. But there are some who actually see this scenario playing out in Bible prophecy. And while there is one verse in the book of Revelation specifically mentioning it, the theme of God using the animal kingdom to judge people isn’t a new one.

Big Pointy Teeth

I will send hunger and wild animals against you, and they will take away your children. Disease and death will pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’” (Ezekiel 5:17, NLV)

We see in this verse that God does indeed send animals to judge people and nations. But there are more verses:

Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest! (Isa 56:9, NIV)

“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. (Jer 15:3, NIV)

Now these members of the animal kingdom can ruin crops as well, but we know that God will send locusts to judge, too:

What the chewing locust has left, the flying locust has eaten. What the flying locust has left, the jumping locust has eaten. And what the jumping locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten. (Joel 1:4, NLV)

Israel was warned that God would send locusts since it was mentioned as a punishment earlier:

You will become a people who are hated, who are made fun of, and a shame among the people where the Lord will send you. 38 “You will sow much seed in the field, but gather little, for the locust will eat it. (Deut 28:37-38, NLV)

Rebellion is the reason, at least in this verse:

Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; A leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many; Their backslidings have increased." (Jer 5:6, NKJV)

The word “transgressions” can also be translated as “rebellion.” So perhaps we need to follow that logic all the way to the end of the Bible.

Deadly Horses

I looked and saw a light colored horse. The one who sat on it had the name of Death. Hell followed close behind him. They were given the right and the power to kill one-fourth part of everything on the earth. They were to kill with the sword and by people having no food and by sickness and by the wild animals of the earth. (Rev 6:8, NLV)

The previous verses mostly talked about people who lived a long time before, but in this portion of the book of Revelation we see a scene that has yet to happen. I didn’t make the connection to the animal kingdom with horses being seen as part of judgment, but the infamous four horses of the apocalypse is right there for us to see. However John the Revelator actually saw the events of the Tribulation right before him and he didn’t need special words to describe what was happening. The horse mentioned in this context is the pale green one as we look at the context of Revelation 6:8:

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Rev 6:7-8, NIV)

Death is what this horse and horseman brings. The manner of this is described as swords, famine, plague and even the wild beast of the earth. Another word for “plague” is pandemic which we know all too well now. Are these bacterial or viral plagues? There are so many theories about that term from unearthing long dormant plagues by the ground being overturned by war, to man-made biological weapons designed to kill. And then there are wild beast attacks which actually could be great deal of virus’ that jump from animals to man. They could all be related in some way or act individually to wipe out a quarter of those left behind. This would be the largest single loss of life in world history. Not a pretty sight is it? However, are we seeing more of this playing out in front of us now?

Pandemics And Animals

Some commentators connect the dots between famine and plagues and the wild beasts by pointing out that Covid-19 came from bats. Then there was the monkey pox scare. Previously there was mad cow disease and even bird flu which interestingly is in the news again. In an article that first came out in 2005 in thetrumpet.com we read more about this possible interpretation of Revelation 6:8:

Despite valiant efforts to cull diseased and nearby poultry (some 100 million birds were destroyed), the bird flu has now spread to wild birds and ducks and has also infected pigs, cats and other mammals. Since ducks and some migratory birds can carry the virus without being affected and don’t show any symptoms, “hope of stamping out this largest avian flu outbreak in history has dimmed” (ScientificAmerican.com, January 10).

Remembering that this scare is nearly 20 years old, the information could be ripped from today’s headlines:

So far, those who have died from the bird flu have been infected through poultry or other animals. According to most experts, however, it is highly probable that the bird flu virus will mix with a human flu virus by exchanging genetic material and mutate into a new strain that is transmissible between humans. This exchange could happen inside an infectious animal that is susceptible to both the human flu and bird flu, like the pig. Or it could occur in a child with human flu whose healthy-looking pet duck gives him the bird flu virus. Either way, as Dr. Klaus Stohr, global influenza program coordinator for the World Health Organization (who), states, “We have never been as close to pandemic as we are now; that’s the generic assessment of all the experts and also the assessment of the who” (Herald Sun, Melbourne, Sept. 24, 2004).

The author would be astounded at how prescient his article was for us just in the last 4 years:

It’s not a matter of if it strikes, but of how soon and how bad it will be once it is easily transmissible between humans. Compared to sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which has been successfully contained for now, the bird flu is much more contagious, has a short incubation period and can be transmitted prior to the onset of symptoms. Moreover, sars killed only about 10 percent of its victims, whereas about 75 percent of those infected with the bird flu have died. And the disease does not respect the healthy. Most of the victims were children and young adults in previously good health.

They Thought It Would Be Bad Then

Again, knowing what we know now things would get even worse that they predicted, but here is the danger was couched then:

The who forecasts a death toll from the bird flu of up to 7 million people in a best-case scenario and significantly more if the new flu bug is very potent. Tommy Thompson, outgoing U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, has said it could kill 30 to 70 million people. The low end of that estimate is equivalent to virtually the whole population of Canada! University of Minnesota infectious-disease epidemiologist Michael Osterholm prognosticates that “[e]ven with moderate transmission and fatality rates, this could do in less than a year what hiv took 30 years to do” (Forbes, January 31). That really puts the potential devastation of the bird flu in context!

Of course they brought up vaccines which might make some of us a tad upset at the way the vaccine for Covid was rushed out:

What about a vaccine? some might ask. Like all vaccines, it must be custom-made to the virus. Since no one knows yet what the bird flu virus will look like once it adapts to human transmission, a vaccine cannot be manufactured in advance. Furthermore, the normal method of making human flu vaccines is to grow the virus inside embryonated chicken eggs, from which the vaccine is produced. Since the bird flu is lethal to chickens, it would kill the chick embryos before the virus could grow. For this reason, a genetically engineered vaccine would need to be prepared, which is even more time-consuming than the traditional method. Millions could be infected before a vaccine became available. According to Osterholm, “We have yawned at influenza year after year. We are going to have a rude awakening” (ibid.).

What? Me Worry?

With a wink and a nod to Alfred E Neuman fans, the answer to all this talk about the bird flu now is the same as we needed 4 years ago and even longer really. It is summed up nicely by an article in gotquestions.org:

The appearance of pandemic diseases may or may not be tied to God’s specific judgment of sin. It could also simply be the result of living in a fallen world. Since no one knows the time of Jesus’ return, we must be careful about saying global pandemics are proof that we are living in the end times. For those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior, disease should be a reminder that life on this earth is tenuous and can be lost at any moment.

As bad as pandemics are, hell will be worse. The Christian, however, has the assurance of salvation and the hope of eternity because of the blood of Christ shed on the cross for us (Isaiah 53:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:28).

How should Christians respond to pandemic diseases? First, do not panic. God is in control. The Bible says the equivalent of "do not fear" over 300 times. Second, be wise. Take reasonable steps to avoid exposure to the disease and to protect and provide for your family. Third, look for opportunities for ministry. Often when people are fearful for their lives, they are more willing to have conversations about eternity. Be bold and compassionate in your sharing of the Gospel, always speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

I might add another verse and that is from Paul’s advice to his protégé Timothy:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:7, NKJV)

Fear is a spirit and as such can be rebuked. Right now there so many reasons to cower in fear at the prospect of so many things like wars, economic uncertainty, and even rioting in our streets, not just animals turning on us. God is rightly telling us to not be dominated by fear, but to take what He’s given us to replace it, power, love, and a sound mind. That’s sage advice for any generation and even more so for the perilous times we live in.