Of Sheep and Goats

Exodus 12:3

“Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:”

As a child growing up in northwest England, there would be some occasions when, as a special treat, Sunday lunch would be lamb. My mother would often cook a delicious roast lamb for Easter Sunday and would serve it with roast potatoes, cabbage or sprouts, roast parsnips and, best of all, mint sauce! It had, however, never occurred to any of us to eat goat, so when, years later, some African-British friends served a mild Jamaican goat curry, I was delighted to find that the meat taste was similar to lamb.

On the farm, goats and sheep behave similarly – though goats usually show a bit more intelligence. Lambs and goat-kids are equally playful, skipping on all four little hooves with a charm exceeded by no other farm babies. And, of course, the sound made by both types of animals is similar.

Creation biologists are doing a considerable amount of research into the classification of animals into baramins. Baramins are the groups of animals which have developed as species from the original animals made by God. This is not evolution because the selection of genes only occurs from a finite existing gene pool within the baramin, which is often equivalent to the evolutionary classification of family.

Consider the account of the first Passover in Exodus 12. The Hebrew word translated lamb is seh, and Strongs defines this word thus: “One of a flock, lamb, sheep, goat, young sheep, young goat.” The Bible clearly considers sheep and goats to be of the same kind.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, that You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the perfect Passover Lamb, sacrificed for our sins, that we who trust in You may be passed over on the day of judgment. Amen.

Ref: Lightner, J.K. (2006). Identification of species within the sheep-goat kind (Tsoan monoaramin), Journal of Creation 20, no. 3:61–65. Image: Adobe Stock Images, licensed to author.

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