Opponents of the Bible are certainly skeptics of what happened in the Garden of Eden. And they certainly doubt that a serpent could ever have the ability to speak to Eve in order to deceive her.
But that one portion of the Scripture in Genesis, Voice of Evangelism Ministries Founder Perry Stone says, is the beginning of the truth of God’s Word and the very reason why sin came into the world.
And then there’s the story of the “talking” donkey in Numbers 22, whom God used to correct the prophet Balaam’s actions to make him obedient to God’s instruction.
With those instances, Stone says he believes it is proof that animals can sense what happened in the spirit world back then, and that they can do it now in the present.
“We have to ask ourselves, could the animal kingdom, at one time, communicate with men?” Stone asked. “Here is what the Jewish historian Josephus wrote about of the serpent in the garden, ‘All of the living creatures had one language. The serpent had an envious disposition … He (God) also deprived the serpent of speech, out of indignation at his malicious disposition towards Adam. Besides this, he inserted poison under his tongue, and made him an enemy to men.’ This implies that the animals could communicate with each other.
“Every animal communicates to its own kind, they are not just making a sound. … The human is the only one that can imitate almost any animal. However, each animal communicates to its own. But that leads us to the idea of this: Can the animal kingdom, because the animal kingdom did not actually sin—except for the serpent, who beguiled Eve and was cursed to the ground—but God did not curse all of the other animals. The animal kingdom is not under that curse.”
To prove his point about animals sensing the spirit world, Stone points toward the book of Numbers in the Old Testament and to the prophet Balaam, who had the authority with his words to bless or to curse. Balaam was sent to a mountain to put a curse on the people there. But God did not want him to go there.
Balaam tried to put a curse on the people, but couldn’t do it. That’s where a donkey, an animal, enters the picture. Numbers 22:22-27 reads:
“The anger of God was inflamed because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and His sword was drawn in His hand, so the donkey turned out of the way and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey to turn her onto the road. But the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, a wall on this side and a wall on that side. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she threw herself into the wall and crushed the foot of Balaam against the wall, and he struck her again. The angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam, and the anger of Balaam was inflamed, and he struck the donkey with a staff.”
“Here’s what’s interesting about that Scripture,” Stone says. “The donkey’s mouth was opened and it began to rebuke Balaam. If this donkey talked, it was a supernatural act of God. God allowed this to happen to rebuke the prophet. Here’s the point: Three times with what some would call a dumb animal, a donkey, saw the angel of God, three different times. … The angel had a sword in his hand, and the mouth of the donkey was opened. Go back to what Josephus said, ‘that the serpent had a voice.’
“These are mysteries, and I understand that, but I’m trying to give you plain sense of the scripture to help you understand something.”
Stone is convinced by Scripture, he says, that demonic powers can either be sensed or seen by animals. An article from National Geographic claims that in December 2004, before giant waves slammed into Sri Lanka and India coast lines, wild and domestic animals seemed to know what was about the happen and fled to safety.
Scientific American lays claim that animals, including dogs, can sense earthquakes before they hit.
To further illustrate his point, Stone says he was told the story of a boy in a yard who was saved from a poisonous snake by a dog who was trying to drag him to safety before the snake approached him.
“Every animal God created has a keen sense that God gave them,” Stone says. “God gave them [an] instinct ability that if we pay attention, we will know that some things are about to happen in in the spirit world. He doesn’t let us see, but it’s possible that He lets animals see different things in the spirit world.
“And an animal will react differently to an angel than to an evil spirit … An angel brings peace, but an evil spirit brings a very negative energy or a very cold presence … A dog will go absolutely bonkers and just bark at absolutely nothing and go crazy, and we don’t know what’s happening. But the animal does.”
Stone says it doesn’t necessarily happen every time your dog barks or your cat meows loudly, but that we should pay attention to them and we can perhaps sense the Lord that something very peaceful is happening or there is a dark presence near. {eoa}
Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
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