Good Morning Everyone,
We’re almost finished with our theme for this month, “Life in the kingdom” and one question a lot of people have regarding eternity is whether or not there are animals in heaven. So, in order to squeeze that subject in as well, I’m sending out this “devotional extra”:
Our theme for this month: “Life in the kingdom”
Our Bible verse for today: “The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” Isaiah 11:6-7
Our thought for today: “There will be animals in the eternal kingdom”
Here’s good news for all you animal lovers out there – there will be animals in heaven. In Isaiah chapter 11, and again in Isaiah chapters 65 and 66, we are reading about the eternal kingdom of God. In those places Isaiah writes about the coming of a glorious new era on the New Earth when there is peace and unity throughout all of creation. So much so, that breeds of animals that were adversaries on the old earth, now cuddle up to each other and feed together.
It makes sense, really. Animals are important to God. He created them (as we see in the early chapters of Genesis), and He preserved them (That was the reason Noah had an ark instead of just a raft). In other places throughout Scripture humans are assigned to care for animals and we are cautioned against mistreating them. So since animals are obviously important to God, it makes sense that He would include them in His eternal kingdom. Personally I’m convinced He’s at least a dog-lover. I mean who doesn’t love dogs?
The question of course is will “my” animal be in the eternal kingdom? Will my beloved Fluffy be waiting for me in heaven? I don’t think we can answer that conclusively but in his book “Heaven” Randy Alcorn has some interesting research and insights to share on the subject:
“Like humans, animals were formed from the ground. “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air” (Genesis 2:19). When God breathed a spirit into Adam’s body, made from the earth, Adam became “nephesh”, a living being or soul (Genesis 2:7). Remarkably, the same Hebrew word “nephesh” is used for animals and for people. We are specifically told that not only people, but animals have the breath of life in them (Genesis 1:30; 2:7; 6:17; 7:15,22)”
He goes on, “Am I suggesting animals have souls? Certainly they do not have human souls. Animals aren’t created in God’s image, and they aren’t equal to humans in any sense. Nonetheless, there’s a strong biblical case for animals having non-human souls. I didn’t take this seriously until I studied the usage of the Hebrew and Greek words “nephesh” and “psyche”, often translated “soul” when referring to humans. The fact that these words are often used of animals is compelling evidence that they have non-human souls. That’s what most Christians in the past believed. In their book “Beyond Death”, Gary Habermas and J.P. Moreland point out, “It wasn’t until the advent of the seventeenth-century Enlightenment … that the existence of animal souls was even questioned in Western civilization. Throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals as well as humans, have souls.”
So, does your “Fido” go to heaven? Will he be there in eternity with you? I don’t know. I hope so. But I do know there will be animals in the eternal kingdom and I’m equally certain we won’t need pooper-scoopers. It will be a perfect world, remember?
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 