Today we will be studying the topic, does God resurrect animals? Many vegans and non vegans are wondering about this question. Will we ever see our pets again? We will build upon the foundation formed from our previous studies, so if you have not read my previous posts please read them as each helps to explain biblical concepts which we will use to answer our present question. As we study let us pray to God that he may give us wisdom and understanding and faith, because the understanding that we may gain from studying the bible is a blessing that comes from God's spirit through his grace and love towards us. My hope is that you also endure in studying and faith notwithstanding the trials that it may bring.
Please read John 20:24-30.
Thomas was a disciple, a follower of Jesus. He knew Jesus personally and had spent many hours with him. After Jesus died and was raised back to life, other disciples besides Thomas saw him. These disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus alive again, but Thomas said he would not believe Jesus was alive unless he touched him. Jesus later visited Thomas and asked Thomas to touch him, even the wounds he received while on the cross, as described by verse 27. Jesus had these scars marking his body but was in perfect health despite them. After touching Jesus, Thomas finally believed that he was risen from the dead. The same man he knew died and was now back alive again.
Just as the disciples touched Jesus even after he was resurrected, we have a desire for our pets to be resurrected so they may enjoy life again and we may be with them again and touch them. Just as Jesus and Thomas continued the relationship they had before Jesus died, we would like our pets and ourselves to continue our relationship for eternity. Although unlike Jesus who was raised with scars, ones raised by Jesus normally do not have any scars or marks on their bodies once they are raised. Jesus is unique in this regard. His scars serve as a reminder to all that he suffered to save us from our sins and that our life is in him.
Please read John 6:40.
Note the words "I will raise him up at the last day." This is Jesus speaking. He tells us that he has the ability to raise people back to life. When they are raised back to life they have bodies and are solid and may be touched, just like how Jesus was solid and real after he was raised to life by God the Father. The bible clearly shows us that Jesus may raise people back to life, but will he also raise animals back to life in this same way?
We learned in our previous studies that all of the animals are the work of the creator's hand. It was Christ who made the bird singing from the branch, and the squirrels playing on the tree. How does God feel towards the animals he made?
Please read Psalm 145:8-10.
This Psalm speaks of God's "works" which include all of the animals which he worked to create. So these verses tell us that God is full of compassion and gives tender mercies over all his works which include the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and the cats and dogs and horses that live among us. God is good to all, full of compassion and loves the animals and people he made.
Please read Romans 5:12.
In our previous studies we learned that God originally created a world with no death nor suffering in it. In God's unfallen creation, animals would have been completely happy and would have enjoyed eternal life along with mankind. This was God's desire. But Satan rebelled against God and then tempted people to sin, or break God's law of love. When people broke God's law, death and suffering was the result. This verse tells us that death entered the world through one man, through Adam's sin in the beginning. The world then fell into disorder.
We will be studying about a place called the "new earth".
Please read Matthew 5:5.
Please read 2 Peter 3:13.
Please read Revelation 21:1.
Jesus tells us the meek shall inherit the earth, meaning this very planet we are standing on. Jesus disciples Peter and John also looked forward to a place called the new earth. People commonly use the word "heaven" to refer to a sort of perfect place. The bible teaches us that God intends our final home to be on the earth but only after it is cleansed, freed from the corruption of sin and made new. This new earth will be created after Jesus returns. People of faith have been hoping for the new earth ever since Adam and Eve sinned and the earth fell into corruption.
Please read Romans 8:18-23.
These verses from Romans 8 help us understand why animals suffer and die. Let us first note that verse 18 tells us that the sufferings of our present time are not comparable to the glory and goodness of the new earth which God will soon create after the return of Jesus. Once we are in the new earth, any pain we went through will be forgotten because it will look so small compared with the glory surrounding us. This idea of a person in heaven or the the new earth trying to remember their sorrows from before has been described as follows:
We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounded us, that we could not speak them out, and we all cried out, "Alleluia! heaven is cheap enough!" and we touched our glorious harps and made heaven's arches ring. Hvn 82.3
The next verses Romans 8:19-22 tell us that the "creature" meaning created things including animals were subjected to pain and suffering in order to obtain the hope of the new earth which will be free from sin. Sin causes pain, and is of the devil. God never intended for sin nor pain to exist. Overcoming sin involves enduring through pain and trials as may be witnessed in the life, sufferings and death of Christ. In the life of Christ, sin is shown to be exceedingly sinful as we understand the cross on which Jesus died.
Romans 8:21-22 describe the earth and animals as being in the bondage of corruption and groaning, waiting to be set free from corruption when the new earth arrives. The current time is as if the world is still being born. Like a woman laboring as a child is delivered, the pain lasts for a time but is endured because of the hope of having the child. Animals die because the whole creation is suffering from sin.
Romans 8:23 expresses how we believers also suffer as we wait in hope for the abolition of sin. We wait in sure hope of that day when we will be given new incorruptible bodies to live in the new earth.
Please read Isaiah 11:1-10.
The prophet Isaiah lived about the year 700 B.C. and his inspired writings tell us about the new earth. Isaiah 11:1 tells us of a "rod out of the stem of Jesse" using the imagery of a branch growing out of a root. Jesse is the father of the famous King David, and they are both grandfathers of Jesus as may be read in the family tree beginning at Luke 3:23. So when Isaiah tells us about the "rod out of the stem of Jesse" he is telling about Jesus who grew out of Jesse and David. Verse 10, written about 700 years before Jesus was born, foretold that the Gentiles (meaning non-Jews) would seek this rod that stood up from the root of Jesse. This prophecy was fulfilled because after Jesus was born on earth, the Gentiles from all nations and not only the Jews came to Jesus. People from all over the world believe in Jesus today, and the hope of the new earth is available to people from any country.
Isaiah 11:4 tells us how Jesus will return to earth again to end sin and create the new earth full of peace. This verse also describes the meek of the earth similar to how Jesus said "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." as we read above in Matthew 5:5.
Animals appear abundantly in Isaiah 11:6-9 as the prophet gives us a description of the new earth. The wolf dwells with the lamb, leopards and baby goats lay down in the grass together, and children lead lions. In the new earth animals are no longer seeking to eat one another but they are friends.
Please read Genesis 1:30.
The new earth is a recreation of the earth before sin existed. This verse from Genesis tells us God originally created animals to eat plants, and Isaiah 11:7 reflects this by telling us that in the new earth lions will eat grass like oxen. The new earth is a wonderful world to come where "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain" (Isaiah 11:9).
We now know that the new earth will be full of animals. But will these be animals that God has resurrected such as our pets? To find an answer we may reason from the scriptures. We will read about several principles in the bible then come to a conclusion based on them.
In our previous posts we learned how love requires free will and it cannot be "programmed". We also saw how animals are able to love. Since animals are able to love, and love requires free will, we may conclude that animals have free will. We also learned that free will means there is a risk of sin. Since animals have free will, we may also also conclude that it is possible for animals to sin. We saw that angels may sin when we studied about the rebellion of Lucifer, and we saw that humans may sin when we studied the 10 commandments, and likewise we are now concluding that animals may sin also. And this is an important piece of knowledge in answering our question, "does God resurrect animals?"
Please read Hebrews 9:27.
This verse from Hebrews tells us "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment". We learned in a previous post how God's 10 commandment law convicts us all of sin, and we may freely come to Jesus for grace and forgiveness of sins. So our lifetime may be seen as a test. While we are alive, do we choose to leave our sinful ways and be reconciled with God, or do we love a sinful way of living and choose to continue in rebellion? God desires all to be reconciled back to him through repentance and mercy during our lifetimes. Then after our testing time is up, after death, God will judge based on the choices we made whether some would continue in rebellion and sin. This is the judgement spoken of in this verse from Hebrews.
Please read Nahum 1:9.
The prophet Nahum here describes the day when God puts an end to evil, similar to what we read from the prophet Isaiah. In this verse we are told that "affliction shall not rise up the second time." This means that after God puts an end to sin and creates the new earth, sin, rebellion and strife will never arise again. The universe will be peaceful forever in harmony with God.
And now we may reach a conclusion of our reasoning. Since sin will never arise again in the new earth, we may reason that God will fill the new earth with people and animals that have already been tested and proved faithful during their lives on the old earth. To create completely new people or animals in the new earth would be to risk sin all over again. So we reason that in the new earth instead of creating completely new animals, God will resurrect animals that already lived and died in the old earth. These are the ones that have been tested and proved faithful.
In Psalm 104 we may also read a description of God resurrecting animals to fill the new earth.
Please read Psalm 104:24-31.
This psalm describes many animals in earlier verses. Then verses 25-26 tell us about "small and great beasts" within the sea such as fish, whales, dolphins, sea lions, and otters. Verse 29 describes the breath of life leaving animals as they die. Then verse 30 tells us God sends forth his spirit, the breath of life, and the animals are created again to renew the face of the earth.
Especially if you knew or know a pet that you love, then please pray with me that God will soon reunite people with pets in the new earth.
Please read Psalms 84:9-12.
A single day in the new earth will be better than a thousand days here in the fallen earth.
Lord, please help us continue in faith. Thank you for your grace, God of heaven!
Dear reader, thank you for studying with me. I hope you and your loved ones are blessed.
With love,
Josef
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