From: Ben Kelley
Subject: Animals in Heaven

I covered this subject a few years ago in a Bible Study, but never put it into an e-message.  The question pops up often enough, "are animals in Heaven?", that I thought it might benefit you to have some of it in print for you to research yourself and come to your own conclusion.  If you do, make sure you base it on Scripture, God's Word, and not what someone else thinks.  Your theology (the study of God and the things of God) should be based on eternal truths, not feelings, opinions, and thoughts of men.

I know the Scripture tells us there is a difference between man and animals, in that man is a special creation of spirit, soul, and body, made in the image of God.  Animals are not "made in the image of God," but, they do have thoughts, emotions, and feelings.  They also have the "breath of life," as we are told in Genesis and several times throughout the Scripture.  They are "living beings."  Now, I do not pretend to be the final authority on the subject in question, but God is, and I know His Word is the final authority, given to teach and inform us.  Therefore, let us consider what HE says.  Scripture includes many passages hinting at the fact of animals in Heaven, but I just want to expose you to a few of them here.  I also ask you to seek God's Spirit to give you understanding, as HE is the One sent by the Father to give us light.

The first passage for our consideration has been "man-handled" into all directions, by differing commentators.  They ignore parts of it, or twist them to say things that just don't work.  I take the Word of God to be just that, the Word of God!  It says what it says.  Peter addressed the tendency of men to distort hard passages in his 2nd letter, by this statement:   just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:15-18 ESV)

With that in mind, let us look at Romans 8:18-23, as recorded in the English Standard Version  (I was going to include the King James and a few others, but that got too long.  Check them yourself):  This is the middle of the famous Romans 8 chapter, in which many find great joy in just accepting what is penned there.  Paul writes there:  

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:18-23 ESV)

Note some of the  distinctions made between man and what Paul calls "the creation."  "Creation" groans and the children of God groan.  God's redeemed eagerly look forward to redemption day, and so does "creation."  We know that man was subjected to futility (death, sickness, suffering, etc.) by his own choice.  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12-13 ESV)  Our Romans 8 passage tells us "the creation" did not choose to be subjected to that, but was instead included (subjected to) in that death, sickness, and suffering, by God Himself, "in the hope that it also will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious freedom of the glory of the children of God."  Remember "Christ in you, the hope of glory."  (Colossians 1:27)  God's hope is not an ethereal desire, like some of our "hope's", but it means His settled and sure to be accomplished desire.  All of creation, outside of man, was subjected to the same sickness, suffering, and death as us, because of God's choice to do so.  As a result, creation will enter into the glorious freedom we, who receive and accept Jesus as our salvation, will enjoy in eternity.  Our suffering is our own fault, but the rest of creation did not choose it.  Eternity with God and His children will be as life was offered to be in the Garden of Eden.  There were animals, trees, rivers, etc., there.  Why then do we choose to think eternity future will not include those things?  No one doubts there will be trees and rivers in Heaven, even though there are only a few Scripture passages that say so.  There are at least as many passages that tell us of animals there, also.  Verse 23 of our Romans 8 passage also says that "not only we who are redeemed groan and eagerly look forward to our redemption, but so does "the creation!"  The word translated as "waits", means "the creation" eagerly and with an outstretched neck yearns and looks for that glorious day.  Why in the world would God say that, if it didn't mean they would enjoy it also?  HE says "creation" will be set free from the bondage of death and decay and receive the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  Does that sound like destruction? or nothingness?  Of course not!  Only those who have rejected God will not enjoy His glorious presence.  I believe, unequivocally, that eternity with God will have plants, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals.

Another passage for your consideration is found when John has been taken up to see Heaven.  He describes here what and who he saw surrounding God's throne.  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. (Rev 4:4-7 ESV)  Now, how many of you have a hard time believing redeemed men will be there?  We see the redeemed of all the ages represented by those 24 elders (Old Testament- 12 patriarchs, and New Testament- 12 disciples).  We see there are flashes of lightning resounding in peals of thunder, representing the power and majesty of God, seven burning torches representing the seven fold Spirit of God, and four living creatures surrounding the throne.  What do those 4 living creatures represent?  One has the face of man; we know men will be in Heaven.  The others have the face of: (1) a lion, representing the wild animals, (2) an ox, representing domesticated animals, and (3) an eagle, representing the birds of the air.  They are all shouting "holy" and giving all glory to God.  All of creation will sing the praises of God, excepting those who have rejected and denied Him.  "Creation", plants, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals will be there with us in Heaven.

The next passage to look at is also found in John's description of what he saw in Heaven.  Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The One sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. (Rev 19:11-14 ESV)  Now, where did John see Jesus on that white horse?  Where did he see the armies of Heaven as they followed Jesus on their white horses?  In Heaven! is the answer.  Where do you think all those horses came from?  Do you think God just "whipped them up" for this scene?  I don't.  When scripture makes plain sense just the way it's written, why do men try to make it mean something else?  He saw these thousands upon thousands of horses in Heaven!

Our 4th passage- On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, "I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, 'What are these, my lord?' The angel who talked with me said to me, 'I will show you what they are.' So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, 'These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.'  (Zechariah 1:7-10 ESV)  The prophet Zechariah saw someone identified as an angel sent by God from Heaven to patrol the earth.  What was that angel from Heaven sitting on?  A horse- since the angel came from Heaven, where does it make plain sense to assume the horses came from?  In fact, the angel referred to the horses when it said they were sent by God.  That sounds just like another solid case for animals being in Heaven!

Our 5th passage- As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. (Ezekiel 1:4-11 ESV)   And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face (Ezekiel 1:26-28 ESV)  This section of God's Word describes Heavenly beings visiting the earth.  Four of those beings had a different face looking in each direction.  These faces correspond exactly to the four living creatures we saw surrounding the throne in Heaven in our Revelation 4 passage.  Why do we keep reading passages, which are God's Word, about beings in and from Heaven that include animals, unless there are animals in Heaven??!!

 Finally, I offer you a few more such passages that describe animals being sent from Heaven for a purpose and then going back up.  You can look them up, later.  (1) In 2nd Kings 2, a chariot of fire pulled by horses sweeps down and carry the prophet Elijah to Heaven.  (2) In 2nd Kings 6, an angelic army with chariots of fire pulled by horses is seen surrounding the enemy army who had come to capture the prophet Elisha.  (3) In Acts 10, Peter sees a large sheet coming down from Heaven that is filled with all kinds of animals.

The passages cited above are not all I could list on this subject, but they should be enough to consider for now.  I'm going to close this message with a personal note.   I don't normally "have visions and dreams" that I know are from God, but I am as sure as I can be that this one was and is such a one.  We had a dog for over 15 years that I've written about before.  Bear was a large Australian Shepherd that, for some reason, loved me much and showed it by his attentions.  Beth said it looked like he was "Auggie Doggy to my Doggy Daddy." (cartoon characters from many years ago)  Bear loved to go with me everywhere he could.  He, after many years of robust health, finally got to such a point of pain and misery that he could hardly stand and walking was a very difficult thing for him to do.  We put it off for a while, but finally came to the point we couldn't stand seeing him hurt so badly, and realized it would be better for him to be "put to sleep."  I put him in my car, on pillows, so he could see out the window while lying down, and gave him a final ride for 30 minutes or so, like he had always enjoyed doing so much when he was healthy and able to stand and bark at everything we passed.  I  finally forced myself to go to the veterinarian's office and carried him in my arms, and watched as the medication given him caused him to drift away from us, as I petted and talked to him. (tears are flowing now, years later, as I type this)  As I drove away from there minutes later, I was crying so hard I could not hardly see.  I began praying aloud, "Lord, you know my heart is breaking right now.  I really need some special grace from you to get through.  Please help me!"  All of a sudden, I saw, more clearly than anything I've ever seen, a vision of a very healthy Bear, jumping up and down, over and over, while saying "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!!  More certainly than I could feel the car I was sitting in, I knew God was showing me Bear in Heaven.  HE gave me the grace I needed, and the knowledge that Bear was with Him.  Now, you can scoff and mock if you want, but I had no doubt then, and have none now, that what HE had shown me was an absolute fact.  If you say "animals don't talk", remember that Adam and Eve didn't think it strange when the serpent talked to them in the Garden of Eden, and John's four living creatures in Heaven were shouting "glory, glory, glory!" and praising God on the throne.

If you want to discount the vision God gave me, okay, but don't let that blind you to the clear statements of Scripture, many of which I have listed for you here.  Let God, Who made and owns Heaven, tell you what it is like.  I believe, with no reservations, what the evidence of His Word clearly shows us, animals are in Heaven!

I can't wait to get there, to see all HE has prepared for us!

Ben