As the creation story continues, it's as though the whole world begins to teem with God's creatures. The seed-bearing plants multiply and spread. The fish, birds, and animals spread out over the whole earth, bursting with life. And it's all good.

One of the ways we can appreciate the beauty and meaning of Genesis 1 is to see how its theme is replayed throughout Scripture. In Psalm 104, for example, the psalmist seems to take exquisite delight in the ways of God's nonhuman creatures. In Job we read of God's delight (in God's own words!) in the particular ways of his creatures:

• the strong horse as it leaps and paws the air (Job 39:19-25).

• the eagle soaring above the rocky cliff, its home (Job 39:27-30).

• the mighty Leviathan (alligator or hippopotamus?) snorting and sporting in the sea (Job 40).

It's clear that the land animals, fish, birds, and other creatures are more than a mere backdrop for the creation of human beings. They each have their own beauty and character in which God (and humans) take delight. As we shall see, God gives humans "dominion" over all his other creatures, but only in the sense that we are to care for them and look out for their well-being.

In our world, in which animal husbandry has largely been replaced by industrial food production, it's good for us to reflect anew on the creation of the nonhuman living creatures and the ways in which the Bible speaks of them. Notice, for example, that when God in wrath "disorders" the world in the flood, he saves the animals and other creatures right along with Noah and his family. And it isn't just the "useful" creatures but all the species.

The Bible calls us to appreciate the animals as fellow creatures and to treat them with delight, stewardly care, and loving attention.