This is the 7th blog in my Heaven Revealed series. After being asked about Heaven on several occasions it inspired me to dig deeper into the scriptures to find out the answers to questions that I may have thought about as a child, but hadn’t considered until recently asked. This week we are going to explore what scripture says about animals (or our pets) being with us in Heaven.
“Don’t worry you will see them in Heaven again one day. ” we have told our children about pet’s they have lost. But, will they? Let’s take a look.
From creation (Genesis) we see that God creates all the animals to inhabit the Earth. Not only that, He gives them Adam and Eve to help take care of them. And who did the Lord instruct Noah to take with him (and his family) on the ark when God flooded the Earth to rid it from wickedness?
The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Genesis 7:1-3
That’s right! Animals. They are an important part of God’s creation.
It’s clear that animals hold a very special place in God’s heart. When “The Lord, who stretched out the heavens, who laid the foundation of the earth, and who formed the human spirit within a person” (Zechariah 12:1) was forming His creation Genesis 1:30 says, “And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
The birds and creatures He created had “the breath of life”. This is important because later in Genesis 2:7 it says, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
This is not to say animals are equal to man. We are the only ones who God created in His image with a soul, but God breathed “the breath of life” into both man and animal when He created this Universe. Luke 3:6 in several translations says, “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” All flesh (KJV, ESV) or everyone (HCSB) will see God’s salvation. Do animals count as flesh?
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord. Isaiah 65:25
I have a strong feeling there will be animals in Heaven. That doesn’t mean it is those that existed here and then go to Heaven. Honestly, I think that is just something we won’t know for sure until we arrive, but I cling to this truth about Heaven when I wonder: there will be no sadness, we will have all we need and be filled with never-ending joy.
“Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion, comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden, her moonscape into the garden of God, A place filled with exuberance and laughter, thankful voices and melodic songs. Isaiah 51:3 (MSG)
The Whisper of God Blog 