The Bible in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe: Talking Animals
Welcome to Part II of “God in Narnia,” The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe rendition! If you missed the first part of “Lion,” then you can catch it here. And if you missed Part I, II, or III of The Magician’s Nephew, you can catch those as well. Enjoy!
““Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak….Be talking beasts...”
“Hail, Aslan. We hear and obey. We are awake. We love. We think. We speak. We know.” …
“Creatures, I give you yourselves,” said the strong, happy voice of Aslan. “I give to you for ever this land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself. The Dumb [Non-Talking] Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts. For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. Do not so.””
Now I realise that this passage is from The Magician's Nephew and not The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but go with me. Even though, chronologically, The Magician's Nephew is the first in the Series, Lion was the first Narnian Chronicle published. This is our first introduction to these lovely (most) talking animals. And how wonderful! Some think as Susan Pevensie did (in the movie),
““He’s a Beaver! He shouldn’t be saying anything!””
Mr. Beaver in the Wood beckoning to The Pevensies
But if their Creator created them with the ability, who are we to disbelieve it? And on that note, I’m going to make a very potentially astounding statement: animals, in their original state, could talk! Travel with me to the Book of Genesis if you will.
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’””
Now stop right there. After the serpent spoke, Eve didn’t freak out. She didn’t run away. She even didn’t call to Adam--wherever he was--for help. She simply continued the conversation. Any other time in Scripture a person is caught off guard or startled by someone talking to them, the Text shows it.
We also see a quick glimpse of talking animals in the second Book of the Bible.
“Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”
And he said, “No.”
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.””
What an interesting discourse--with a DONKEY!! Now I will not be so foolish as to state that animals talk today (in our world) although, if the Angel of the Lord opened the she-donkey’s mouth for Balaam’s sake, then the Lord can certainly do it again for ours! But as aforementioned, I do believe that animals could talk in the Garden of Eden. And as humanity fell from grace, so the animals lost their ability to talk in a way humans could understand as a result of sin. And by this logic, animals will be able to talk again in the New Heaven and New Earth! How terribly exciting!
Aslan and His Camp gathering near the Stone Table in preparation for war with the Witch
But let’s really think about it: if animals that are violent in our fallen world were not violent in Eden, then wouldn’t it follow that they had other natural attributes lost in the Fall as well?
Or we could examine Adam. The description of Eden the Bible provides us with is so much more than a simple Garden. I don’t know about you, but I’ve NEVER seen or heard tell of a garden so large it contained not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR rivers flowing through it!
“Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.”
Talk about Garden! That’s a land! Now after that description, we see this:
“Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. ”
And we also have Adam’s God-commissioned mandate:
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””
Now you tell me, how is Adam supposed to manage this unbelievably massive Garden? I know we’re not discussing Adam’s pre-Fall god-like powers (and really, they’re not god-like, they’re simply the powers man was endowed with before the Fall, much of which was reduced when the percentages of our brain that we can actually access was reduced); however, our discussion of the animals’ pre-Fall condition does intersect with Adam’s. Perhaps Adam could fly, walk on water, who knows? And equally, I believe, Adam could communicate with the animals. And I don’t mean monkey sign language or other exercises learned by rote. I mean really truly talk.
Aslan giving the first Talking Animals their charge in The Magician's Nephew
““Mr. Lion, how fares the lionesses?”
“Oh they’re fine Adam, three cubs born today!”
“Leviathan, what are the goings on of the World under the Sea?”
“We have messengers just in from new seas, previously undiscovered!”
“Ziz and Eagles, what have you discovered in your many flights?”
“All that we see under God’s sun from our great heights, Adam, is good.””
Like a military commander or CEO, he gathers his groups together, sees about them, then sends them back to live and do as they should. Why would this be viewed as ridiculous? Who knows how long this went on? And I’m not the only one who believes this “outrageous” phenomenon.
Bishop Tudor Bismark has alluded to it on more than one occasion.
There are those who even say Jewish belief/tradition supports this.
No, animals may not be able to talk in our regular life, but I will say this: if your dog, cat, steed, or other animal starts talking to you--in real life or a dream, consider these three things:
1) What does that animal represent throughout Scripture, nature, literature, lore, tradition, etc.?
Here are some animal examples:
SERPENTS: deception, lies, forked tongues, long “tales,” venomous, divination, demonic attachments, fangs, etc.
BIRDS: spirits; doves--spirit of God/Holy Spirit; ravens--Odin (false Norse god), Occult, witchcraft, uncleanness, etc.
LAMBS/SHEEP: people, collective thinking, innocence, etc.
WOLVES: predators, deceivers (i.e. wolf in sheep’s clothing), stalkers, carnivorous, etc.
DOGS: loyal (i.e. man’s best friend), guardians; filthy, wild, ravenous, etc. (See also “Wolves”)
LIONS: King of the Jungle, Jesus (i.e. Aslan), protector; Satan, deception, false leader/ruler, etc.
BEARS: predators, stalkers, dangerous, etc.
CROCODILES/ALLIGATORS: long, sharp teeth; strong, dangerous mouths; powerful “tales;” deception (i.e. crocodile tears); Leviathan and/or other water spirits; etc. (See also “Serpents”)
*Note: Just learning about the general Animal Kingdom will provide you with immense knowledge on the nature of animals respectively.
You get the idea. So if a snake starts talking to you, don’t even bother entertaining it. Cast the devil outta that thang!!! But if it’s simply a dove or some kindly such animal--and you have no misgivings in your spirit--then no need to worry, just listen.
Edmund, Lucy, Aslan, Peter, and Susan in the BBC Narnia mini-series
2) What is the animal saying?
What the animal says is very important. This is why:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
I know this may all sound quite ridiculous, but if the Angel of the Lord could open up the mouth of a donkey, don’t you think a fallen angel of Satan could open up the mouth of one too (or at least give the illusion)? They lost none of their powers in the Fall, only their authority. And dreams are fair game for any and all sorts of seemingly crazy, non-sensicality. Yes, I just made the word up. Kinda.
A spirit, be it in a person, animal, or completely disembodied--should it speak to you--*must* confess Christ as Lord and everything else the Apostle John mentions. It *must* align with the Word of God in order to be of God. And let me pause here to address familiar spirits.
I had no intention of addressing familiars in this post, but just a few days ago, I had a very telling Facebook conversation with a witch. She considers herself a Christian, yet has chosen to embrace the “Old Ways” meaning for her, the ancient worship of the Celts. These are her words, not mine:
“I have a familiar..my woodland animal..it picked me..not me picking it..and it is the Owl. I do not worship the owl..but I admire the owl.”
Friends, from all of my Facebook interactions with this woman (we are mutual members of Celtic [history] groups on Facebook), she seems to be a very kind, lovely person. The kind of person who could be your next door neighbor and borrow sugar and eggs from. Yet she considers herself a “solitary witch” (she’s not part of a coven) and worships as such. And she’s not even in Transylvania or even the UK, she lives in Florida, USA. (Then again, if you’re familiar with Florida, you know it’s one of the cesspools of witchcraft in our nation. In my opinion, New Orleans was greater or just as great.)
Now if you don’t know anything about the Bible, that’s one thing. But even without biblical knowledge, how would an animal “picking” you and talking to you, overtly or by telepathy, be viewed as normal?? It most certainly is not!! Not anymore!! But we as know, Satan doesn’t play by the rules. But just for kicks, let’s see what the Bible actually says about familiar spirits.
“Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them...”
“And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.”
“A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.”
And I’ll give you a recent, anti-Narnia literary example of familiars that is being fed to our children:
“Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jodan College, with her daemon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle-a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears. And as she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle. Philip Pullman’s award-winning The Golden Compass is a masterwork of storytelling and suspense, critically acclaimed and hailed as a modern fantasy classic.”
This is what our children are reading these days!! Thankfully, the movie starring Nicole Kidman flopped and the remaining two movies were never made. Crisis averted. On the silver screen anyway.
Beloved, if spirits come to you in the form of animals, beware!! An angel of the Lord may open the mouth of an animal as in the Book of Exodus, but God’s unfallen angels DO NOT possess the bodies of anyone, namely animals! You don’t find it once in Scripture. We don’t put people to death anymore for witchcraft since we’re under grace and the New Covenant, but save yourself a world of trouble, a generational curse on your descendants, and an afterlife in Hell and cast the devil outta that thang!!!
Mr. & Mrs. Beaver having dinner in their dam with The Pevensies
3) Is the animal actually moving it’s lips?
Again, I realise this may seem like a futile question, but it’s not. That donkey opened it’s mouth and spoke to Balaam. And since I’ve never met (to my knowledge) a familiar spirit [in the form of an animal] so I don’t know if they actually move their lips or communicate by telepathy or both. But if it’s the latter, plead the Blood of Jesus and cast the devil outta that thang!!
You think I’m playin’?? Read this:
“So this missionary went to the woman’s little hut near a riverbank. She walked up the pole ladder, stepped over a log in the doorway, and entered the darkened room. Seated on the floor with the woman and her husband, the missionary taught them about salvation in Christ. Her eyes focused on the log in the doorway. Its color and markings were remarkable and it seemed to join with other logs around the tiny room. Suddenly she realized the log was a giant snake. It surrounded the room. She was seated in the snake’s coil!
“Why do you have this snake in your house?” the missionary asked. Lowering her voice, the woman replied, “Mama, it tells me things.”
“What kind of things?” queried the missionary.
“Oh, Mama, it tells me who is sick, and who is going to die, and things like that.”
“Well, if you want Jesus to come into your life, you must get rid of this snake because it belongs to Satan. You cannot follow both Jesus and satan.”
“Oh, no, Mama! This snake is my friend, I cannot get rid of it!” the woman cried.
The woman’s husband spoke up, “Mama,” he said, “if you can convince her to get rid of this snake, I’ll receive your Jesus too.”
After much arguing back and forth, the woman finally allowed her husband to haul the snake outside. He took it to the riverbank, cut it in pieces, and threw it into the river.”
Yes, this woman had an oversized snake TALKING to her. The woman and her husband did eventually become true Christians, but only after revealing the woman had another divining, talking, object in the house: a dead, molded-over baby in a box. Yes, you read that correctly: a dead, molded-over baby in a box. Lawd Jesus!! But Jesus did become her Lord and Saviour and freed her from the hold of divination and witchcraft brought about by these familiars which “chose” her.
Even John Paul Jackson, a minister especially gifted with deliverance ministry in this department, tells a story of a woman who began to know things. He asked her when it first started to happen and she replied that it was when A SNAKE CRAWLED INTO HER BED. And she let it!! The snake represented divination, but thankfully, that woman too was freed by the name, blood, and power of Jesus.
If any animal or any human being for that matter is speaking to you by telepathy, cast the devil outta that thang!!!
The Great Lion Himself, Aslan
I truly meant for this to be a sort of light and fluffy post, full of fun biblical truth, but as often happens, God directed my pen in a very different direction. Animals are WONDERFUL! Familiar spirits are not. Learn to try the spirits and discern between the truth of God and lies of the enemy. Until next time...
