“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. . . . And God saw that it was good.“(Genesis 1:24-25)
Were there spiders in the Garden of Eden? Did Adam and Eve wake up in that unfallen world and ever see spiderwebs glistening with dew? Were arachnids crawling and spinning webs from the trees of that paradise?
Maybe the very suggestion of spiders in paradise gives you the creeps. We usually picture Eden teeming with birds, cute, fuzzy animals, and beautiful trees and flowers—but spiders? They must be part of the later curse on creation, right? I certainly wouldn’t want any of those eight-legged creepers in my paradise!
I can’t give a definitive answer to these questions. But Genesis does tell us that with the animal kingdom, God also created everything that creeps on the ground (Gen 1:24). According to Old Testament scholar Gordon Wenham, the Hebrew word for “creeping things” (remeś) “refers to mice, reptiles, insects, and any other little creatures that keep close to the ground.”[1] It’s a broad, general word that very well could include spiders too. And after creating the animals and these creeping things, God saw that it was good (Gen 1:25).
Thus, Genesis 1:24-25 points to the creation of insects and maybe even arachnids. God created bugs. And it was good. God created ants, crickets, worms, and all the rest, and they joined the song of creation, praising the Creator. Unlike today, they must have lived in perfect harmony with the trees and other plant life (no worrying about aphids damaging apple trees in that garden!). And if there were spiderwebs in Eden, they may have had a different purpose than they do now. Regardless, Genesis points to the existence of creeping, crawling things in the Garden, maybe even spiders.
When we admire God’s creation, we often focus on sunsets, stars, mountains, and waterfalls. We focus on the obvious, marvelous strokes God has painted on the canvas of this world. But the small details also declare his glory. As Seth Lewis reminds us, God’s creation “is a message. It is the art gallery of reality, speaking as loudly as possible in the language of colours, textures, ancient stones and living scenes.”[2]
Even today, in our fallen world, the creeping things relay a message from our Creator. The goodness of the original creation still echoes in this fallen world. Crickets and cicadas sing a melody that exalts the Creator. The ants instruct us in the wisdom of God. And yes, perhaps even spiders have something to contribute to the praise of God and the edification of God’s people.
These thoughts about spiders and “creeping things” started when I tried to take down some spiderwebs outside our church building with a leaf blower. With the blower at full strength, pointed directly at a large, intricate web, I could not blow it free. It was strong, resilient, and also beautiful.
The design of a spider’s web is surely not the result of random chance. It also hardly seems like a mere result of God’s judgment on this world. Like stars and waterfalls, spiders and their webs testify to the creativity of God. They point to his power and his beauty.
In the words of the well-known hymn: “This is my Father’s world: The birds their carols raise, The morning light, the lily white, Declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair.” Even in a spider’s web.
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