The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

170
DAY OF THE LORD
Because of Adam’s sin, the nature of the earth became corrupted,
instead of bringing up “every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food” (Gen 2:9) it started to bring up thorns and thistles.
The nature of the animals too became fallen. God created all the
animals tame and under the authority of Adam and Eve:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he
them. (Gen 1:26-27)
Man was created in God’s image of authority, that’s why we say in the
liturgy of St. Gregory, “Thou hast inscribed in me the image of Thine
Authority.”
God gave Adam the honour of naming all the creatures, and by
doing so, God has established Adam’s authority over all other
creatures, for he that names another is greater than he who receives
the name.
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field,
and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he
would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that
was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the
fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. (Gen 2:19-20)
But when Adam fell, he lost this authority over other creatures. In
Genesis 37:20 we learn that beasts can devour a man:
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit,
and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see
what will become of his dreams.
You see, even the beasts became evil after the fall of Adam. But, in
the restoration of the seed of Adam, the earth that has been cursed will
also be restored with all the creatures on it. Here is what St. Paul tells
us in Romans 8:19-23: