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Q. Do animals and pets go to heaven or are there animals in heaven right now? When God made animals and man, all things were good until man sinned. It was then that God made some animals to prey on
other animals. This leads me to believe that there will be animals in the new earth too (all plant eaters again, of course), but I'm not sure about heaven. I would appreciate any help you can give me.
(Submitted by: Victor)
A. You asked about whether there would be animals or pets in heaven. The first issue to consider is whether there would be even humans in heaven. Notice that righteous Christians were promised to inherit the earth, not heaven (Matthew 5:5). Jesus was the only man who had ascended to heaven and had returned (John 3:13) at the time He spoke to Nicodemus. Even after the resurrection of Jesus, King David had not ascended to heaven, according to Peter (Acts 2:34).
Another issue is that nature is not an end in itself, unlike what many religious and philosophical environmentalists believe. Rather, the world of plants and animals serves the purposes of the master plan of God, who created nature for His overriding purposes. Notice, for example, that when the new heavens and new earth are made that there is no longer any sea (Revelation 21:1). Presumably, then, there will be no more whales or even fish. It may be that "saving the whales" from men driving them into extinction (not to say that's a good idea!) would only give them (say) a 1,100 year or so reprieve
There will be animals in the millennium, with the carnivores made pacific (see Isaiah 11:6-9), such as lions eating straw like oxen. But they will be on earth, not in heaven. Heaven is a realm for spirit beings only, not fleshly ones that have no "spirit in man" (cf. 1Corinthians 2:11) that will preserve their forms of consciousness. Men will live with them on earth, but not in the eternal state after the new heaven and new earth are made (which is the most mysterious aspect of the Bible's revelation, I think).
Answer Given By: Eric Snow
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