Personally, I believe that all creation has the ability to speak in one form or another. The problem is we don’t generally understand their language. However, on two separate occasions a couple of creatures in the Bible were reported to have spoken using human language. How bazaar. The first instance was the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen.3) and the second was Balaam’s donkey (Numbers 22) on the way to the Plains of Moab. These two instances are complete opposites from one another. It seems there is almost always a voice for good and evil, light and dark, selfishness and charity.

   The characters in these two stories are equally estranged from one another, the snake a carnivore while the donkey is an herbivore. The first is a predator, a self serving loner who would willingly bite the hand that feeds it. The donkey however seems more inclined to serve and protect Balaam.

     And so we are given two separate stories of talking animals one is attempting to deceive and the other to enlighten. For some reason, Balaam’s donkey was allowed to see the Angel of the Lord standing in the path with his sword drawn and He was unwilling to go any further. In fact, the donkey saved his master’s life and was given a beating until God opened Balaam’s eyes and allowed him to see what the beast had seen.

   These may be the only two stories of “talking“ animals but the Bible is replete with metaphors and instances where creatures were used to enlighten and at times used to serve God’s purposes. Of course, my favorite example would be all the verses about eagles since I am particularly fond of them. When the prophets wrote about eagles they were depicting God’s love and care over His people, their training and their call to a higher standard. But eagles are by no means the only creatures used to enlighten us. This interaction between God, man and animals began in the Garden of Eden but continues all the way through the book of Revelation.

   The individual stories of these creatures speak to us, perhaps not in language, but on a deeper level; they speak to our soul as God reveals His attributes through the things He has created (Romans 1:20). When Jesus is called the Lamb of God, the image is more profound than the mere words. These creatures are woven together in stories that span millennia and are, even today, at work in the world around us.

   Take for instance the dove whose symbolism courses through time, across religious and cultural barriers and has become an international sign of hope and peace. Somehow this gentle bird speaks to us all even without the gift of language. From the very beginning God chose to clothe the dove in white which itself is a universal sign of innocence and purity.

   Having made its debut in the story of Noah, the dove began a journey through time as a symbol of hope and restoration. It is here these creatures first began to symbolize, and point us toward, Christ. The dove’s returned to the Ark with an olive leaf announcing to the captive on board that their new life was about to begin came to symbolize the coming Messiah. After the third release from the Ark the dove never returned instead it was the creatures aboard the Ark who went to join the dove in a new land. The link between the great flood and the baptism of Christ and believers all seem to symbolize the washing away of the old and the beginning of the new.

   But the dove’s role in history only begins here. By chapter 15 in the book of Genesis Abraham had begun to use doves as atonement for sin which only furthers the symbolism between the two. The mourning of the doves in the book of Isaiah speaks of our longing for Christ and His longing for His church. Solomon continued the use of the dove as a metaphor when he wrote the Song of Solomon.

   By the time we progress to the New Testament the symbol of the dove is already an integral part of Jewish tradition. There could be little doubt what was meant when the dove descended from heaven after Jesus’ baptism; the Prince of Peace had come. The world was about to change, sin would be washed away in a flood of forgiveness and the dawn of a new day had begun.

   Perhaps one of the most moving services I have ever seen in my life was held at a grave side. I had gone to be with a Christian friend whose father had passed. Though his death had been expected for some time it is never really easy to let go of those we love. We gathered around as the pastor spoke some kind and reassuring words. It was a traditional Christian funeral and there were quite a few in attendance. As he finished, closing with a prayer, the family gathered around the graveside. The bereaved wife and mother was handed a small box which she opened releasing a single white dove. No one said a word, but nothing needed to be said. Every head lifted as we watched this gentle creature take wing and fly, freed from the box that had held it, free to go and start its new life. I have often thought of that day and its meaning to all of us who were there and I am convinced that even without the gift of language, creation and its creatures have the ability to speak often more clearly than with words.