WILL THERE BE ANIMALS IN HEAVEN?
Scripture says a great deal about animals, portraying them as Earth’s second most important inhabitants.
Isaiah 11:6-9 speaks of the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion together, and a child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand into the viper’s nest.
If animals are not important to God , why did God save animals during the flood?
In God’s covenant with Noah included birds, the livestock, the wild animals, and every living creature on Earth.
God showed us the importance of animals when he sent ravens to feed Elijah.
Remember the talking donkey? God sent an angel to stop Balaam from doing evil, and the great fish that swallowed Jonah.
The Bible does not give any explicit teaching on whether pets/animals have “souls” or whether pets/animals will be in heaven.
However, we can use general biblical principles to develop some clarity on the subject.
The Bible states that both man (Genesis 2:7) and animals (Genesis 1:30; 6:17; 7:15, 22) have the “breath of life”; that is, both man and animals are living beings. The primary difference between human beings and animals is that humanity is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), while animals are not.
Another factor to consider regarding whether pets will be heaven is that animals are a part of God’s creative process in Genesis. God created the animals and said they were good (Genesis 1:25).
Therefore, there is no reason why there could not be pets / animals on the new earth (Revelation 21:1).
There will most definitely be animals during the millennial kingdom (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25). It is impossible to say definitively whether some of these animals might be the pets we had while here on earth.
We do know that God is just and that when we get to heaven we will find ourselves in complete agreement with His decision on this issue, whatever it may be.
