Verse 13 reads "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!”"
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”"
The person who was preaching - he wasn't the regular pastor, I think he may be an intern - said that some people say this means the animals, and he doesn't know about that but anyway - and I'm sitting there thinking, people will ignore the black and white words on the page to keep animals in a subjugated position. Because if animals are capable of praising God - and throughout the Bible animals and the rest of creation DO praise God - can they really be kept in the role of dumb creatures that can be treated however we want to? Or do creatures that were made by and praise the same God that we do have worth of their own beyond what we assign to them, worth to God, worth that means they should be treated better than they are? That maybe God cares about them too and how they're treated, for they are His creatures and He hears their praises, too?
Finally, I don't remember what the context was, but he asked the question What has God done for you today? Which I think shows a very different theology than I what I have. I've noticed the same in some of my reading, too - 'love God because He is love and goodness' is in the same vein. I don't worship God because He does anything for me or because He is love and goodness or for any similar reason; I worship God because He is God and therefore worthy. He could do absolutely nothing for me ever and be cruel and capricious - He is still God and therefore worthy of worship. We're blessed that He is good, but we don't praise Him just because He's done something for us. Which, now that I'm thinking about it, was the context - he was talking about how we can write new songs of praise based on what God has done for us recently. He doesn't have to have done something for us recently - or ever - to deserve praise. He is worthy because He Is. Thinking further as I write, I think that kind of theology can really set people up for disappointment if they go through tough times where it doesn't seem that God is doing anything for them - if they've been told to love God because He loves them, and then they don't feel like they're experiencing that, what's to keep them believing?
