ANIMALS WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD

GOD’S COVENANT IS WITH ANIMALS AS WELL AS WITH MAN

–  Mary A. LaClair

I’ve gotten so much activity on my DO DOGS GO TO HEAVEN article that I decided to see what others had posted on the same topic. Some think animals will not come before the judgment seat of Christ and therefore will not, or could not, pass into heaven, being without Christ.

I intend to dispel that theory by using Scripture itself, this time in Genesis chapter nine. Other Scripture references have already been noted in the article DO DOGS GO TO HEAVEN, which may be found by clicking this link.

I’ve read Scripture for over thirty years and the full impact of Genesis 9:1-17 seemed to elude me all those years; however, when reading these verses in the past I wasn’t concerned about connecting animals with Heaven. Now I see what I missed before.  

We all are probably so familiar with the Genesis account of the rainbow that we think we know what’s there. As a result, we skim it so quickly that we miss the rest, even when it’s not hidden. Could it be because we don’t really want to see more than just what applies to us as humans? I’ve had another one of those times when ‘the lights come on’, and I’d like to share that moment with you. Here is the Genesis account of the rainbow. If we read it with animals in mind, new things necessarily come to light. The emphasis within and following are mine.

Gen 9:1-17

9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you–the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you–every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring  clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”  (from New International Version)*       

What do you see in verses 5; 9-10; 12; 15; 17 concerning animals?

In verse five, does it not say that He will require a reckoning of every animal as well as man, if they kill a man?

In verses 9-10 and 17 does it not say that He establishes His covenant with every living creature – not just man – and in verse 5 that He will demand an accounting from every animal for the lifeblood of a human?  Will animals such animals  face judgment? We are told here, that, yes, they will. What do these verses say about animals as well as man? It would seem we are all in this together and that God has covenant even with the animals and all living creatures of every kind on earth.

For those people who have thought that animals have no need for Jesus Christ and therefore won’t be in heaven because only those with Christ will enter: animals will be judged; and animals DO praise God, and therefore WILL be there:

“Even the wild animals will honor me: jackels and ostriches will praise me when I make rivers flow in the desert to give water to my chosen people.”  Isaiah 43:20 NLT

What have you learned about animals from these verses?   

For more information on this topic see the article DO DOGS GO TO HEAVEN as listed in the right column.  Also see: WILL MY HORSE BE IN HEAVEN?

Added more recently on this site WWW.LookListenThink.wordpress.com is link to an article from a British Veterinarian about not trusting dogs or pets with babies/children, we think it is worth the read and it may be found herein titled GOOD DOGS GONE BAD.

https://looklistenthink.wordpress.com/category/animals/dogs/good-dogs-gone-bad/

The article on KILLING MICE IN MOUSETRAPS   might also be of interest as it establishes a balance and should be of interest as it relates to verse 2 of chapter 9 of Genesis, as seen above.  

As an aside: while the verses about the rainbow are before us, let’s briefly reflect on it also:  When I used to see a rainbow, I thought that God was reminding us that He wouldn’t again destroy the whole earth by flood. This could lead to complacency.

Now, however, when I see a rainbow I think that God is getting fed up with mankind so  that He tells us He is reminding Himself. And this should stir us out of complacency and move within us a desire not to anger a righteous God. I think that the Christmas tsunami in Thailand (2004); Katrina Hurricane in New Orleans immediately followed by Rita only weeks later (2005); the earthquake and great tsunami in Japan (2011); Hurricane Irene in NE-US (2011); and SuperStorm Sandy in NE-US (2012) immediately followed by a snowstorm before power was restored, are evidence that God is losing patience with mankind, and destroying part of the world by water; but, that He is reminding Himself that He said that He wouldn’t ever do it again to the whole world as before. See article JAPAN – A WARNING at this link.

I see much food for thought here, for both God’s love for man, in that He judges even animals who would harm us – and His anger with mankind for disregarding His rules, to the point that He toys with the idea of total destruction again, rather than put up with us.   

Let us try to get on His love side – and stay there!

Romans 8:19-22

^19” For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰ Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, ²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.   ²² For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”    New Living Translation  emphasis mine.

P.S.  I’d like to refer readers to another site about dogs and animals in heaven – a lovely story in Guidepost’s Angels on Earth magazine on-line – it i a warm story, and the comments from their readers which follow their article are most interesting.