Taking care of our world

Before God made Eve, He brought Adam the animals.

We know, of course, that among the birds and beasts no “suitable helper was found” (hence, Eve). But even so, a special relationship was established in Genesis between humankind and the animals, that of fellow creatures. God presented the animals to Adam specifically as a response to Adam’s aloneness, signifying that while animals are not our partners, God intended them to provide companionship. And it is the animals—not the trees and flowers—that Adam named. This act of naming the animals illustrates the way in which our relationship with them parallels God’s relationship with us. The rule over the animals given by God to humans (Genesis 1:28) is to be a picture of the Shepherd’s care for His sheep.