Holy Scripture & Animals

Prayer with the Animals - pg.2
Holy Scripture

Old Testament
Psalm 66:1-2

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.
Psalm 96:1
Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Psalm 148:7,10-13
Praise the Lord from the earth, ye serpents, and all deeps. ...wild beasts, and all cattle; reptiles, and winged birds; kings of the earth and all peoples... let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name only is exalted, his praise is above the earth and heaven...
Psalm 150:6
Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.

Job 12:7-10 (The Living Bible)
Who doesn't know that the Lord does things like that? Ask the dumbest beast - he knows that it is so; ask the birds - they will tell you; or let the earth teach you, or the fish of the sea. For the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God, and the breath of all mankind.

New Testament
Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.
Philippians 2:10-11
...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Heavenly Liturgy from the Book of Revelations - Verses 5:6-14
(I added to the text in #6 the explanations from the Orthodox Study Bible)
6. And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne (God) and of the four living creatures (cosmos) and in the midst of the elders (of the old and the new covenant - 12 sons of Jacob and 12 apostles), stood a Lamb (Christ) as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out unto all the earth.
7. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8. Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9. And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10. And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
11. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12. saying with a loud voice:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
13. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power
be to Him who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
14. Then the four living creatures said "Amen!" And the twenty four elders fell down and worshipped Him who lives forever and ever.
Orthodox Study Bible notes:
I. The four living creatures are angelic beings simiiar to those of Ezekial (Ez. 1:5,21) and Isaiah (Is. 6:2). Their number is representative of the whole world, the cosmos; thus the living creatures portray creation - beasts, men and angels - as the Kingdom of God.
II. Three doxologies are sung by successively greater choruses.
1. The elders with the most eminent angels sing a new song, more perfect than any hymn before to the Lamb (Christ), for He has inaugurated the new age (12:1,5, Is. 42:9).
2. The Church joined by the holy angels - much as the priests are followed by the choir and then by the entire Church - sends up to the Lamb a fullness of divine ascriptions in a sevenfold doxology (v.12).
3. All creation, the whole cosmos, joins in a hymn of glory addressed to the Father and to the Son. (1)

"All things are near to God." - Russian Proverb

Orthodox Prayer for & with our Fellow Creatures

pg.1 - Prayer with the Animals

Reference

Speak a word to me, Father.


Copyright © 1999, 2009 L.A. Christensen. All rights reserved.