When Heaven is referenced it speaks of creatures. Animals however are mentioned found in the thousand year reign. The lion shall lay down with the lamb. A small child shall play with an adder, etc. All fear and hatred between man and even wild animals shall be destroyed! Wonder if the new Earth will also have animals?! Even having no seas, I think we will still experience marine life! TR What does it mean that there will no longer be any sea? There are a few different interruptions on this ... “Randy Alcorn quotes Charles Spurgeon who asserts that this must have a spiritual meaning. The sea separates nations and to the ancients it was fearsome. It represented danger and death. So in the world to come there will be no division or danger like the sea represented.” The earth right now is covered with mostly water because of the flood judgement so when the new earth is restored it won’t look the same as we see it now. But there hast to be some large bodies of water or pools to house the dolphins and whales. The river that flows from the Throne of God hast to go somewhere or does the river water keep re-circling and loops around? :unsure: I’m sure there will be lakes, ponds and fountains to make the ducks and swans happy. What good is a garden if there are no birds, animals and critters in the midst? God created animal life before man and He call everything He created good. Why would He leave the animals out of the eternal state? Why would He just give man stewardship over the animals for a little while and not for eternity? God says He will restore ALL things. Animals were already in the Garden when God formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathe life into Adam. Animals were there in the ark. They were there in the stable when the Virgin Mary gave birth. Animals are in heaven and will be in the Millennium Kingdom. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ye have not, because ye ask not. I take these promises literally. All believers who are pet owners and desire for their furry best pal to be with them in Heaven will be granted their hearts desire. Again, pets are good gifts from the Lord and the Lord loves to give gifts to His children so I claim that promise. Matthew 7:11 God has a garden up in heaven and I think He made the earth a replica of heavens gardens. For all we know the Garden of Eden could have even of had golden streets. There were gem stone rocks ... Genesis 2:10-14 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. Ezekiel 28:13-15 talks about Lucifer being in Eden the garden of God. Was this garden in heaven or the one on earth? :unsure: Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. All good gifts are from above ~ and our Lord promises to give us the desires of our hearts ~~ Will animals take on immortality?! Or will their lives simply be extended for a thousand years? Was not animal sacrifice a huge part of worship? Again we are simply not told their fate! My simple statement was that scripture does not illucidate or guarentee personal pets will be in Heaven. As many as are pet lovers in this life doesn't constitute a preferred reality! And if personal pets are a part of Heaven, great! Pets or not, Heaven is so we can be with Jesus! TR Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. Are pets part of the household? Yes. They are covered under the blood of Jesus. Just like the first Passover in Goshen when the Blood was applied to the door post of each home ... their first born pets were also safe and secure. Genesis 9:15-17 God made a covenant between Noah, his family and every living creature of all flesh. The rainbow symbol is the promise of His everlasting covenant. Is the rainbow symbol seen in heaven? Yes, its around the Throne of God. Revelation 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. Great verses! Jesus plus nothing for salvation. Jesus plus nothing in Heaven! TR First of all, thank you Yohanan, Donna, Watchman35, Arthur, TR, and Geri for your prayers and support. I really appreciate it! Secondly, it was not my intention to be maudlin and seek sympathy and prayers. The sole focus of my hurtful heart that spilled out of me was to encourage others that have (or will) experience this type of sorrow. Geri: Yes, my avatar is her picture. I may need to change that now that she is gone. TR: I understand that God's Word is very non-specific when it speaks about our family pets being in Heaven, but as Donna and Geri point out, it is insinuated in many portions of scripture. As for me and my house, we would rather have the happy HOPE that our pets are in a better place than to think otherwise. Thank you all, Humbly where the bible is silent, does not mean that God has no opinion or plan, He just has not shared that information with us. we know there are creatures around his throne. It would be a wonderful "surprise!" to go home to heaven and all our beloved pets are at home. We won't know until we get there whether this is so, but I will hope along with other pet owners that it is so until proven otherwise. i like to think that God has pets. have a look in Revelation where the Lord breaks the seals. who says "come". the Lord could have said it Himself, but the living creature says come. Look where the creatures are, around and in the center of the throne. lol, it puts a picture in my mind of God's pets, around Him when He is sitting on the throne and on His lap or sitting next to Him on His throne chair ("in the midst") Rev 4:5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. Rev 6:1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” Rev 6:3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” and so on, really, look who says "Come". LOL like a dog that has been trained to bark, or a bird taught to say words. can you imagine God training the creatures to say "come" when Jesus breaks seals? I wonder what He rewarded them with when He was teaching them? thats how under control this all is, God has His pet creatures get to say "Come" when it is time. :mdrmdr: God has names for the creatures too. Yeah, yeah, He does God is into naming Genesis 2:19 Isaiah 40:26 John 10:3 Look at the seals being opened again in Revelation 6, it isn't the same creature saying come. God has numbered them, each to speak "come" when it is their turn! 4 creatures, in turn, opening the first four seals. Rev 6:1, 3, 5, 7 Rev 4:8-10; 5:11-14 they are taught more than one word to say! God gave them the gift of speech to be able to glorify God and enjoy Him forever And this creature carries for the Lord Rev 15:7 , granted it is in more glorified form than a StBernard carrying brandy :mdrmdr: B-)
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?
pets included ~ :yes:
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
