Does God Like Spiders?
I admit it. The title is deliberate. Spiders are something that most people don’t care for. I have not always liked spiders, even though I found them fascinating. But just because we don’t like them does not mean that they are not important and that God does not like them. This applies to a lot of small creatures, not just spiders.
Sometimes I know we feel that if we don’t like something in nature, it is of less value. Certainly spiders are not beautiful … or are they? Do you think God believes they are ugly and creepy? Probably not. After all, when God created “every living thing”, as it says in Genesis, He “saw that it was good.”
The Bible doesn’t talk much about spiders. They are not even mentioned in the book, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. In the King James Version Proverbs 30:28 says, “The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in Kings’ palaces.” In other versions, spider is translated as lizard, but I think the point is still valid. A spider can be taken up with your hands, yet it is also found everywhere, including Kings’ palaces. That’s not so bad for a little creature that has no “riches” or “power.”
Spiders are like so many small creatures that we pay little attention to until they “bother us.” Yet, spiders are one of the most highly adapted predators on earth. They live nearly everywhere and you would be surprised at how many live in any small area of nature. They are a critical part of the balance of nature. When you get to know a little about them, you discover that they make up to seven different kinds of silk and that some of this silk is stronger than steel or Kevlar, plus it gives!
If we are to truly appreciate one of God’s greatest gifts and care for his Creation, then I believe we need to appreciate all of it. Not everyone will like spiders and a lot of other little “creepy-crawlies”, but that does not make them less worthy in God’s eyes. Respect for God’s world cannot stop at just respecting the things we like.
The first photo is a little crab spider, a little hunter on a green eyes flower in Florida. The second is an orbweaver, a trapper from Southern California.
— Rob