Healing Well of Miriam

How many times have we recoiled in disgust at some bug or creepy crawly and wondered why in the world God put them into this world?  What purpose do they serve, other than to irritate, to frighten, or at worst, to threaten our very lives?  Flies, mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, etc. have made people miserable for centuries upon centuries.  Yet we know that each creature is part of the balance of nature, and although we cannot necessarily know its purpose in each case, we know there must be one.  For after all, nature is a very complex design, in which each detail has an intricate, essential part.  Each creature, along with its purpose for being, was conceived in the Divine Mind before coming into physical existence. 

This understanding brings us to another question.  If the world was perfect before the fall, were the creatures that “creep us out” in existence then?  If so, what was their nature?  For instance, there are creatures whose purpose in our world is to be scavengers, such as vultures, eating the carcasses of the dead.  In a world where there was no death, did they exist?  And if they did, their nature must have been far different from that we see here.  So what could it have been?  Is it possible that some creatures only existed as possibilities only to be realized if the world should fall into the zuhama reality of death and decay?        

All of these thoughts are valid, as we contemplate the world of our time and compare it to the rectified world described by the Prophets.  This is not a world filled with fantasy creatures, but rather with familiar creatures who have been elevated back to their original, true natures.

The wolf will live with the sheep and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and a calf, a lion whelp and a fatling [will walk] together, and a young child will lead them.  A cow and bear will graze, and their young will lie down together; and a lion, like cattle, will eat hay.  A suckling will play by a viper’s hole; and a newly weaned child will stretch his hand toward an adder’s lair.~ Isaiah 11:6-8

Wolf and lamb will graze as one, a lion—like cattle—will eat straw, a snake’s food will be dirt… ~Isaiah 65:25

 The Prophets’ words paint a picture of peace, with adversarial animals suddenly living harmoniously side by side.  There is something else, though.  The carnivorous animals are eating grass—grazing like cattle!  For this to happen, their anatomy has had to change, which indicates an amazing transformation of nature itself!  This is a return to their nature in the Garden of Eden, which would have been their true natural state.  It was only after collapsing into the zuhama reality that they became predatory meat-eaters.  The docile herbivores also display a change in nature, as their fear of the previous predators is dispelled.  

In Hebrew a pig is called chazir, which is connected to the word chozer, which means “return.”  This serves as a hint that the animals will return to their true natures and purpose for which they were first created.  Even a pig, which is considered so unclean that it is called “abomination,” has hope of redemption. 

I heard once from Rabbi Joel Bakst that all are redeemed, except the serpent.  A close look at the passages from Isaiah bears that out, for it reads much like the curse in Genesis:  “a snake’s food will be dirt.” 

And Hashem God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, accursed are you beyond all the cattle and beyond all bests of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life….” ~ Genesis 3:14

The very fact that the serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly in the dirt indicates that his form before that had been something else, something upright.  Isaiah describes the serpent still eating dirt and living in the ground.  So, the serpent is not redeemed from the curse on the nature of his physical existence.  However, something is different, for Isaiah says a child can play beside a viper’s nest without fear.  The change is the zuhama—the serpent’s venom—is removed, rendering him harmless.  While he is not restored to the Edenic state, and therefore technically NOT redeemed, he is no longer an object of fear and dread. 

Those are the creatures that were clearly part of the Edenic world, who will be returned to that character once again.   There are other creatures, however, that would have had no role in that perfect world—microscopic creatures that cause illness and death and decay.  In that world there was no illness, death, or decay.  So, these creatures—bacteriae, viruses, fungi—came into being with the previous world’s collapse into the state of zuhama.  While it can be argued that there is good bacteria in the gut, the Isaiah passages indicates that the physiology of the digestive system changes, so even that will not be necessary.  The Midrash says when the People of Israel lived in the wilderness, eating manna, their food was completely absorbed into the body—there was no waste.  Therefore, the gut in a rectified body would have no need for the good bacteria.  Fungi is not only a nuisance in the body, but it serves a vital role as mushrooms in forests.  The function, though, is based on death and decay in the forest.  Again, in the redeemed world, this function would be unnecessary.  How that will ultimately look, we do not yet know…but it is thrilling to imagine, knowing that these changes are promised to come.    

Going back to the flies, mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, etc…. one of the reasons they creep us out is that they carry germs that make people and animals sick.  So, in reality, they, too, are victims of the zuhama.  These creatures were a part of Creation and have another, higher, purpose.  We know that even though bees sting, they also pollinate the plants, which is a vital part of the cycle of plant life.   Perhaps other stinging  insects, such as hornets or wasps, could have had similar roles in Eden.  Once they are elevated out of the zuhama state, what will their new natures be?

Redemption will elevate each of the levels back to its former state.  So, the mineral kingdom will become like what our plant kingdom is now.  The plant kingdom will go up to what our animal kingdom is like now. The animals will go up to the human kingdom, and the humans will elevate to the celestial level of Adam and Eve.  That means the plants will be more animated…sort of like the flowers in the imagined world of Alice in Wonderland.  The animals will be able to talk.  This has been a madcap idea in stories over the centuries.  Yet, yes, this is very plausible.  Afterall, when the serpent started a conversation with Eve, she was not at all surprised.  Evidently, the animals did have some way to communicate in the Garden of Eden.  What will your pet say to you? 

As you consider each creature in our world, can you imagine what they will be like in the Redemption?