Why Did God Make Ticks?

by Mike Bennett
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Topics: God, Creation

Kids ask some of the most interesting questions. Sometimes they aren’t the easiest questions to answer either! Have you ever wondered why God made ticks?

One young voice told another to stop scratching.

Poison ivy, I thought.

Then another young boy asked the harried mother, “Who made ticks?”

Who made ticks?

That question threw me in a couple of ways. Maybe my “diagnosis” had been wrong—or maybe one boy had poison ivy and another had been bitten by a tick. No wonder the mother seemed harried!

And, more importantly, I wondered how I would answer that question.

The boy asked again, “Who made ticks?”

The mom answered distractedly, “God did. God made everything.”

That’s a very good answer, I thought. But I suspect it didn’t answer the real question in the boy’s mind: Why did God make ticks? Why would a good God make a mean creature like a tick that hurts little boys and can carry terrible diseases?

It’s not a light question, since around 50,000 tickborne diseases are reported each year just in the United States. And the CDC lists at least 16 pathogens carried by ticks, including those that cause Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

So, why would God create ticks? How would I answer that?

God made everything “very good

The mother was absolutely right. The Bible records God’s claim that He created everything through Jesus Christ:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1, 3). (See more about this in our articles “Proof of God” and “Creation vs. Evolution” and related articles.)

But the Bible also tells us that the things God made were good: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

But things didn’t stay good

Many scriptures point out that not everything stayed good. Starting with Lucifer who sinned and became “corrupted” (Ezekiel 28:13-17; Isaiah 14:12-15), the whole earth has become “subjected to futility” and in “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20-21).

What exactly did this corruption and curse mean? Did thorns and thistles become more prevalent and more of a problem? Could the same thing apply to mosquitoes, fleas—and ticks? What about the dangerous wild animals? Adam named all the animals with no fear. But later mankind had to fear the wild animals.

I don’t know exactly what ticks were like before the curse or how they might have changed. But I am confident that they were a good part of God’s creation and that the current problems they cause were not God’s original intent.

God made ticks. But He didn’t make them to torment us or make us sick.

Restoration: the curse will be reversed

When the apostle Paul wrote about the creation being in “bondage to corruption,” he also added this hope: “The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:21-22).

When those birth pains of the end times are complete, Jesus Christ will return and bring “times of refreshing” and the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:19-21).

The curse will be reversed, and dangerous wild animals like wolves, leopards, lions and cobras will no longer be dangerous (Isaiah 11:6-8). “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” God said (verse 9).

Could this also apply to mosquitoes, fleas—and ticks?

I sure hope so.

For more about the promised restoration when Jesus Christ establishes the Kingdom of God on earth, download our booklet The World to Come: What It Will Be Like. 

Finding answers to your questions

I was intrigued by the little boy’s question. We all wrestle with or are curious about many things. The Bible answers many of the most important questions in life, as well as many of the smaller questions we wonder about.

Some things it answers outright, and others it hints at. And there are even some “secret things” that God reserves for Himself for now (Deuteronomy 29:29).

If you have questions, we hope this website will help you find the biblical answers you need. Use our Search function to find what you are looking for in the hundreds of articles and blog posts on Life, Hope & Truth. If you have Bible questions that aren’t covered here, please feel free to ask them using our Ask a Question form.

Your questions are important to us.

Date Posted: July 13, 2022