Why are the wild animals mentioned in Rev 6:8

[barry]

It is a part of God's judgments which are also mentioned in Ezekiel 14:21
“For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘So it will be when I send my four punishments*+—sword, famine, vicious wild animal, and pestilence+—against Jerusalem to cut off man and animal from it.+
There are several references to these kind of judgments. Revelation lists these when talking about the 4 horsemen.
Also other scriptures refer to such type of judgments, eg when Israel was given the law, they were warned if they would no follow it, they would suffer the consequences.
Leviticus 26:14-33
Here are some parts of the above, which are mentioning pestilence, wild animals, famine, sword...

• I will punish you with distress, with tuberculosis and burning fever, making your eyes fail and your life* waste away
• I will send disease into your midst,+ and you will be given into the hand of an enemy
• I will send the wild animals of the field among you,+ and they will bereave you of children+ and annihilate your domestic animals and reduce your numbers, and your roads will be deserted
• I will bring an avenging sword upon you for breaking the covenant
• When I destroy your supply* of bread,*+ ten women will be able to bake your bread in only one oven and then ration your bread by weight;+ and you will eat but you will not be satisfied

In line with what Robert mentioned, the verse from Ezekiel is referenced to Jeremiah 15:2,3

And if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah says:​

“Whoever is for deadly plague, to deadly plague!​

Whoever is for the sword, to the sword!+​

Whoever is for the famine, to the famine!​

And whoever is for the captivity, to the captivity!”​

“‘And I will appoint over them four calamities,’*+ declares Jehovah, ‘the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy​

​

 

[SusanB]

Rev 6:8

These [four horsemen] were given authority over a quarter of the earth to kill with the sword, with famines, with plagues, and with the wild animals of the earth.

I was reading this verse in the 2001 translation today and it struck me. Why would Jehovah put that part with the wild animals in that verse. Will our furry friends turn on us to that degree? Today there is the rare report of a Tiger, lion, bear, etc attacking and killing someone. But for it to actually be highlighted in the Bible am I correct to assume it will become a full on animal caused bloodbath?

The cross references are Jeremiah 15:2,3 and Ezekiel 14:21.

Jeremiah 15:2-3: “And if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “Whoever is for deadly plague, to deadly plague! Whoever is for the sword, to the sword! Whoever is for the famine, to the famine! And whoever is for the captivity, to the captivity!”’ 3 “‘And I will appoint over them four calamities,’ declares Jehovah, ‘the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy”.

Ezekiel 14:21: “For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘So it will be when I send my four punishments—sword, famine, vicious wild animal, and pestilence—against Jerusalem to cut off man and animal from it”.

The four horsemen will be riding during the Great Tribulation. No doubt even dogs will be hungry and uncared for when their owners are dead. Animals become feral fairly quickly. Also, during the Great Tribulation could Zoo animals get loose? Actually its scary to think about.

 

[kirmmy]

No doubt even dogs will be hungry and uncared for when their owners are dead. Animals become feral fairly quickly.

Say it ain't so. My furry friends are going to attack? They're pretty much my only friends around here and you're saying they're going to want "a piece of me". Those little curs! They aren't going to be getting any Milk Bones if they keep that up.-

 

[SusanB]

Say it ain't so. My furry friends are going to attack? They're pretty much my only friends around here and you're saying they're going to want "a piece of me". Those little curs! They aren't going to be getting any Milk Bones if they keep that up.-

A popular and common dog here in Hawaii is the pitbull. Most are quite docile but then again they are regularly fed. When I used to jog while living in a rural area in California, I’d have to take a golf club with me because there were packs of feral dogs around.

 

[jay]

A popular and common dog here in Hawaii is the pitbull. Most are quite docile but then again they are regularly fed. When I used to jog while living in a rural area in California, I’d have to take a golf club with me because there were packs of feral dogs around.

Driven did you ever get a good wack in? Fore, there goes an ear.

 

[SusanB]

Driven did you ever get a good wack in? Fore, there goes an ear.

They never attacked me but I felt like they were eyeballing me!

 

[BillyRay]

Keep a machete nearby. Seriously. I love dogs and cats but if I see a pack headed my way I won't hesitate. At work there are two large German Shepherds that come by now and then hunting for our cats. They aren't hungry. They just want to kill something and yet still they roam the streets. They do not respond to humans. Luckily the cats have places to climb for safety. They got one small cat two years ago.

Most of the hunters I grew up with (not the brothers I’ve hunted with the last 35+ years) would shoot feral animals on sight. Not the neighbors dog running loose. But feral dogs that ran the woods we’re always dispatched. Sometimes they ran with coyotes. I was told that they were shot because they had no fear of man having been previously domesticated. They were a relative rarity.

 

[LuisMerino9412]

Rev 6:8

These [four horsemen] were given authority over a quarter of the earth to kill with the sword, with famines, with plagues, and with the wild animals of the earth.

I was reading this verse in the 2001 translation today and it struck me. Why would Jehovah put that part with the wild animals in that verse. Will our furry friends turn on us to that degree? Today there is the rare report of a Tiger, lion, bear, etc attacking and killing someone. But for it to actually be highlighted in the Bible am I correct to assume it will become a full on animal caused bloodbath?

I think it refers to the governments that are represented like wild beasts in the Bible with the Martial Law and all the horrible things that they will do in order to front the chaos then. It might also represent people who will behave like that. But I don't think they represent literal animals because the book of Revelation is symbolic. So, they must not represent literal animals.

 

[LuisMerino9412]

It is interesting that already people in financial distress are letting their pets go because they can no longer feed them. With house cats that's not a problem, but dogs are pack animals and in big cities if packs of dogs start roaming the streets it would be a huge problem. Millions of households have dogs. Put millions of dogs on the street. Yikes! Packs of ravenous dogs would be a feature of civilization's breakdown. Still, I do not think that is what Revelation is talking about. The governments are likened to wild beasts and as things break down they are going to become more and more vicious.

Great, exactly. That's what I think lol haha