Category: FUN FACTS & INFORMATION

David rehearses his exploits with a bear while guarding his father’s flock of sheep to prove that he could stand up to Goliath.
1 Samuel 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
1 Samuel 17:36-37 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

2 Samuel 17:8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

Elisha, who was bald, was being mocked “Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.” His response to them:
2 Kings 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

A fool in his folly can cause more harm than a bear:
Proverbs 17:12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

As is a wicked ruler:
Proverbs 28:15 As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.

Isaiah writes about the kingdom time (1000 years) promised to the nation Israel when their Messiah (the Lord Jesus) will rule over them (and the whole world). During this time peace will reign that all the animals will dwell together without fear. An example is in:
Isaiah 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Later he writes, our iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Isaiah 59:11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

Read Lamentations 3 as the writer describes his condition without God.
Lamentations 3:10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

Prophecy of a coming kingdom.
Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Hosea 13:8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

Amos 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

⇛ return to Animals

Job 20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.

Isaiah 30:6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
Isaiah 59:5 They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

John the Baptist:
Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
The Lord Jesus:
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Acts 28:3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
Fulfillment of Mark 16:18

⇛ return to Animals
⇛ also see Adder, Asp, Serpent

Whales, of course were created on the 5th day along with every living creature, except land animals and man.
Genesis 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

The next mention of whale is in Job:
Job 7:12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?

The next mention of whale is in Exekiel:
Ezekiel 32:2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

The next mention should have been in Jonah:
Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
But the translators called it a great fish which is probably the correct translation as whales have very small throats.

But in Matthew it is called a WHALE:
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Whale, Great Fish doesn’t really matter. What matters is: 1st the Lord Jesus verifies that the story of Jonah is true. And 2nd He used it as an illustration of His death, burial and resurrection. (⇛ see Three Days)

⇛ return to Animals

The Lord is speaking to Job out of a whirlwind (40:6), And basically says “who do you think you are?”

Job 40:15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

The Lord then goes on to describe the Behemoth so we know it’s a real creature: Job 40:16-24 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

Many believe that this is description of what we now know as a dinosaur.

Remember, until 1842, no one had heard of the word ‘dinosaur’. But when acclaimed anatomist Richard Owen grouped three pre-historic animals with curious features in common, he changed the way the world thought about fossil reptiles.

⇛ return to Animals

Skins of Badgers were used to adorn the Tabernacle.
See Exodus 25:5, Exodus 26:14, Exodus 35:7, 23, Exodus 36:19,34, Numbers 4:6,8,10-12,14,25

Badger Skin was apparently wrong as translators seem to have been misled by the similarity in sound of the Hebrew tachash_ and the Latin _taxus , “a badger.” The revisers have correctly substituted “seal skins.”

The Arabs of the Sinaitic peninsula apply the name tucash to the seals and dugongs which are common in the Red Sea, and the skins of which are largely used as leather and for sandals.

In Ezekiel 16 The Lord God reminded the nation of Israel about His loving care He had for them (read the whole Chapter). In vs 16 He speaks of Badgers (seal) skin for shoes.

Ezekiel 16:10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

⇛ return to Animals

Appears 76 times in the Bible: 69 – Old Testament 7 – New Testament

Peter warns of false prophets 2 Peter 2 uses Balaam as one example:
2 Peter 2:16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

Peter is referring to the Story in Numbers 22:21-34 where Balaam’s dumb ass was given a voice to speak. (vs 28) And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

The Lord Jesus instructed his disciples to fetch him a colt to ride on to fulfill the prophecy of his arrival into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9 …behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass).
Matthew 21:2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
Matthew 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
Matthew 21:7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
John also recorded the event (John 12:12-15)
John 12:14-15 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.

After the a leader of Israel chastised the Lord for healing on the Sabbath he responded:
Luke 13:15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
And again answering the lawyers and Pharises:
Luke 14:5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

⇛ return to Animals
⇛ also see Colt, Mule

Isaiah writes about the kingdom time (1000 years) promised to the nation Israel when their Messiah (the Lord Jesus) will rule over them (and the whole world). During this time peace will reign that man and animals will dwell together without fear. An example is in:

Isaiah 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

Read all of Isaiah 11.

⇛ return to Animals
⇛ also see Adder, Serpent, Viper

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

As indicated in the Proverb Ants are very hard, busy workers. Observing an ant hill or colony one will see they all are very busy building, collecting food and protecting the homestead. As opposed to the sluggard, a lazy, idle, sleepy, slow-moving person.

And as suggested observation (and copying) the ways of the ant will make one wise (and perhaps wealthy).
On the other hand, if one continues to act as a sluggard, life will not turn out very well.
Proverbs 6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Proverbs 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Proverbs 26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

One of the 4 little things on earth that are exceedingly wise:
Proverbs 30:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

⇛ return to Insects-Bugs
⇛ also see Grasshopper, Locust, Spider

The dietary laws are listed in detail in Leviticus 11 and repeated in Deuteronomy 14 along with the unclean animals and reason for not eating them.

Leviticus 11:4-8 The camel, the coney, the hare, the swine.
Leviticus 11:10-12 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
Leviticus 11:13-20 the fowls, the eagle, the ossifrage, the osprey, the vulture, and the kite, every raven, the owl, the night hawk, the cuckow, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the swan, the pelican, the gier eagle, the stork, the heron, the lapwing, the bat and all fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.
Leviticus 11:29-30 The weasel, the rat, the mouse, the tortoise, the ferret, the chameleon, the lizard, the snail, the mole.
Leviticus 11:41-43 And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination. Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.
Deuteronomy 14:7-8 The camel, the hare, the coney, the swine.
Deuteronomy 14:12-19 The eagle, the ossifrage, the ospray, the glede, the kite, the vulture after his kind, and every raven, the owl, the night hawk, the cuckow, the hawk, the little owl, the great owl, the swan, the pelican, the gier eagle, and the cormorant, the stork, the heron, the lapwing, the bat. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
Be sure to read both chapters to see all the Law.
The men the Lord Jesus picked to be his disciples were all Jews and keepers of the LAW. They would never have thought about eating any of these animals. But the Lord Jesus fulfilled the Law, removing all the ordinances.
However Peter had a problem understanding this even though the Lord spoke to him in a vision:
Acts 10:10-17 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean …

The Apostle Paul made this very clear:
Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Paul did agree to 4 rules presented to him.
Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Restated in:
Acts 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Today, other than the 4 rules, we can eat anything that appeals to us.

⇛ return to Animals
⇛ also see Boar, Pig, Swine

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The Lord God continues to put Job in his place (read all of Job 40-41).
Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
The Lord continues to question Job and describe Leviathan:
Canst thou put an hook into his nose?
bore his jaw through with a thorn?
Will he make many supplications unto thee?
will he speak soft words unto thee?
Will he make a covenant with thee?
wilt thou take him for a servant forever?
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?
wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
Shall the companions make a banquet of him?
shall they part him among the merchants?
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons?
his head with fish spears?

It would appear that Leviathan is a massive sea-monster who’s impervious to human weapons, breathes fire, and emits smoke from his nostrils.

Psalm 74:13-14 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psalm 104:24-27 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.

Could this be a reference to Satan?
Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

⇛ return to Animals
⇛ also see Dragon