Tiny Devotional for Saturday, 08-12-2023

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, what is Saturday morning without cartoons?

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
Proverbs 12:10, NASB

We must all be righteous, because we have regard for the lives of our animals, right? Even Bond super-villains have pet cats.

News flash: this verse really isn’t applied to that kind of relationship. Cats aren’t even in the Bible, unless you include lions and leopards, and dogs only appear to eat garbage (or the crumbs falling off the table).
The word translated here as ‘animal’ is בְּהֵמָה (behayma), and except in Job, where it probably refers to a hippo, it’s usually rendered as ‘beast’ or ‘cattle.’ Not pets.
So, if you want to be righteous, buy a goat/camel/cow/sheep and be nice to it.

The end.


WRONG!!!!!

This verse isn’t about animals; it’s about compassion. The righteous person has so much compassion that he even makes sure the camels have a safe place to sleep. If the camel of the wicked have a safe place to sleep, it’s because he evicted the poor people that were living there.

Is it good to care about the welfare of animals? I THINK so, but context is important, and so is motivation.

Being nice to animals doesn’t make me righteous anymore than wearing a NASA baseball cap makes me an astronaut. If I really yearn to be an astronaut, there are LOTS of things taking priority over my headgear.

The righteous WILL have regard for the life of his animal but that’s not the path to righteousness. This is:

  • Do justly
  • Love mercy
  • Walk humbly with your God.

Peace be on your household. 

Comments

  1. On Christ the Solid Rock I StandAugust 15, 2023 at 5:34 AM

    Wonderful explanation my Brother Pat, yes let's go back to the context, It's about compassion. Praise God!

    ReplyDelete

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