what happens to our little furry loved ones end times bible prophescy bible kjv to be continued enjoy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pets and the Rapture? READER QUESTION: This is a dumb question, but I sure would love your opinion. I never really thought about it before because I didnt have a dog, but now that I do, what happens to him during the rapture? I know where Im going, but whos going to take care of him? Again, I know its dumb, but thanks for taking the time. VW ANSWER: No...not a dumb question at all. Ive considered it, myself, with relationship to my cat. And since weve already mentioned the name Jack Van Impi earlier, his name also figures into this subject. Awhile back, when I was periodically tuning in to watch his late-Sunday-night TV show (on our local ABC affiliate...my air antenna does not pick up TBN well enough to see them anymore, which is just as well! I dont waste my money on cable or satellite, either), JVI and wife Rexella (sp?) were promoting a special video they had just produced; something about Pets in Heaven. From the promos it was pretty clear that the video was proclaiming that there -will-, allegedly, be pets in Heaven. But I suspect that is understood from the premise of his other false doctrine in which he proclaims that Christs eternal rule is on -this- earth. As such, the eternal Heaven where we live with Christ forever, is on -this- earth. So, naturally, since there are now animals on this earth....allegedly, there will be throughout eternity, as well. Thus, also, pets. But we already mentioned in the first item above [VW: it was in the mailing, but not this posted Q/A item :VW] that this heaven and earth will be done away, making room for the new heaven and earth. The new earth, also, will not have a sea. (Rev21:1) This earth is presently comprised of 70% sea. (How many animals live in the oceans now? They wont in the new earth.) And I cant think of any Scripture that addresses whether or not the new earth will have animals as we have become used to them on this earth. (If one of you knows of such a Scripture, will you please share it. My mind is drawing a blank.) The resurrection is for the dead in Christ. (1Th4:16) The rapture is for (speaking to Christians) ..we who are alive and remain.. (vs17) Where the change happens (1Co15:51-52), that is for man...as distinguished from the animals that had been spoken of earlier (vs39), but the discussion of the resurrection is for man, through Adams race. (vs42-49) There is no Scripture to suggest that animals sin or are saved. Yes, creation presently groans and travails (Rom8:22) due to (mans) sin, and during Christs earthly 1000-year rule, the animals will again be at peace. (Is11:7, 65:25) But Paul speaks of an O.T. principle of muzzling the oxen that would tread (thresh) the grain at harvest time, and asks the question: Is it oxen God is concerned about? Assumed answer, No. Answer verified: Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1Co9:9-10) God created all things, and then gave the dominion of it all into mans hands. What man is in charge of includes dominion over all the animals. (Gen1:26) You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet (Ps8:6); including all the animals. (vs7-8) Animals are part of creation, which: ..the form of this world is passing away since the world is something that humans use (1Co7:31) Since animals are not moral beings, and Scripture does not speak of them being sinners or saved, they are also not part of the resurrection and rapture. They are part of this earth, that is used by humans. They are not part of what God called one of Us. (Gen3:22) Thus, animals are used, and die....just as other things of the earth are used, and then discarded. Furthermore, people -eat- animals, but not each other. (Gen9:2-6) Yes, in some parts of the world they even eat dogs. And yet, while God doesnt care about oxen, nevertheless, He has placed in us a care for animals. As it says, A righteous man understands the soul of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. (Pr12:10) Beyond that, these next words are my own personal thoughts, since this question was asked... I had a cat, that was my own little buddy. He was a companion through the darkest time in my life. He would come to the garage, greeting me when I came home; and our habit was that I picked him up, and carried him into the house. He slept on the bed, curled up in my lap, and would come down the sidewalk meowing for me to come home if I was visiting with a neighbor of a summers evening. Then, as the years progressed, and it became clear that the Lords return was getting ever-closer, I expressed concern in my heart to the Lord, regarding the cat...hoping that the rapture might not happen when the cats trap-door was closed, thus, blocking him inside the house, where he would likely starve to death, before anybody of official capacity would come around to deal with the house in legal terms. If he could get outside, at least he could beg food from neighbors who would notice I wasnt around, etc. Well, along the way, he began having some health issues; so, rather than spend lots of money for vet bills on a mere -animal-, I put him down. But, while I love cats, and would like to have another, I have withheld myself...knowing the Rapture -is- soon. The Lord took care of my concern for Pitsy (yes, I know, a strange name!), and I have not added another concern, by getting another. Thats just me; thus, Ive been without a pet for several years, now. In general...as hard a thought as this is to consider...nature is cruel. While I liked my cat, how many birds did he catch (and torment) during his lifetime? And what was that experience like for the bird? This spring, more than others, I am noticing how much the neighborhood sparrows are continually fighting. If I sit on the back step with my Palm, to read the Word, I will hear a squabble over here; that dispute becomes resolved, and immediately another erupts over there; that one calms down, and another over someplace else. A few years ago Rush Limbaugh used to be on TV during the noon hour (whatever your political views may think of him), and this one particular day he was poking fun at some nature activists who had saved a baby seal from some horrendous consequence of mans pollution, or something or other....had nursed it back to health, and so with much pomp and reverence, a whole group of these (tree-hugger) people took this baby seal to the ocean (with feelings of love in their hearts as they were saving the earth), to ceremonially set it free. And almost immediately, as soon as it was in the water, some bigger sea predator animal came along and gulped it down for lunch... on-the-spot...whilst all these people were watching... horrified. That is the nature of nature. And so, as far as beloved pets are concerned, they, too, are merely animals. And when Believers are raptured, their pets will remain wherever they were at the time of rapture...and will either be taken under the wing of people who are left, or will have to fend for themselves. But be sure, that God knows, even, about that... Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father. (Mt10:29) [Top] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animals in Heaven? (re: pets and rapture #059) READER COMMENT: here are 2 verses; Isaiah 11:6 65:25 I am assuming that these 2 verses refer to heaven. READER COMMENT: concerning animals on the new earth,read Isaiah 65:17-25 READER COMMENT: I think Martin Luther believed our animals would be in Heaven. Not sure about that, thus I used the word think! Im sure I heard that somewhere! Im wondering if you could explain Isaiah 11 to me, particularly verses 6-10. These beloved pets serve us in such wonderful ways. I so want to believe that they will be rewarded for being so precious to us! VW ANSWER: Remember from our recent Bible Study Methods series about context? We dont go and hang ourselves like Judas did, because that is not the -context- of go and do thou likewise....and to do it quickly Also, remember that prophecy often crams thousands of (separated) years into single sentences. e.g. ...to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; (Is61:2) And if you read the context of that verse, vs1 is Jesus first coming; vs2 synopsizes 3 events; and vs3 and following goes on to explain the coming 1000-year reign of Christ from Jerusalem. But in that one verse, vs2, acceptable year of Jehovah: is Jesus coming to effect redemption day of vengeance: is the 70th week culminating in wrath comfort all who mourn: is the Millennium...after Israel has [mourned] for Him, as one mourns for an only son (Zec12:10) on the occasion of Christs coming to the Mount of Olives. (Zec14:4) That one verse, vs2, covers 3000 years of prophecy. So, with that concept being understood, lets take a look... Isaiah ch11 Notice: vs4--Christ will judge the poor: no poor in heaven vs4--strike the earth with rod of His mouth: thats the earth vs9--as the waters cover the sea: the New Earth has no sea (Re21:1) vs11-16--various nations are named, Assyria, Egypt, Shinar, etc: present nations...with earthly judgments vs6--a child shall lead them: if they are not married or given in marriage in Heaven (Mt22:30), there would also not be offspring This last point might raise some questions, to which I dont know the answers...when children die, do they remain as children for eternity? Somehow, I doubt it....but dont have any Scripture to prove it. But my thinking goes something along the lines of...if we fully know (1Co13:12) when we get there, that suggests understanding more than at a childs level of intellect. There is also the other related question: how old were Adam and Eve created like? Were they created into the bodies of 20-year olds? 40? etc? These are things we dont have answers for right now. However, the context of Isaiah ch11 is obviously -this- earth, related to the coming kingdom age of Christs rule. It is not Heaven. And on -this- earth there are animals. Thus, vss 6-9. Regarding Isaiah ch65: Notice the context. vs20--speaks of death: not Eternal Life, no more death (Re21:4) vs20--speaks of sinner: Heaven will not be home to sinners (Rev21:7) vs23--labor in vain: Heaven, place of rest from their labors (Re14:13) vs25--dust the serpents food: symbol of satan will not be in Heaven Now, lets understand vs17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind. This verse is like a parenthetical thought, an embedded descriptive related thought...but it is not the primary subject of the chapter. Again, notice the context: what preceeds it, and what follows? vs17 divides between what is before, and what comes after. If you read the first half of the chapter, it describes Israels failings, judgments and sorrows at their punishment. He also describes, because of Israels rebellion, the rise of the Church: His servants by another name (vs15) vs17 explains, at the end of Isaiah, what the end of Revelation does, the New heavens and earth. Isaiah, we should remember, was one of the -major- prophets. It was looked on, by the Jews, the same way the book of Revelation is revered by the Church; when as yet there was no New Testament. And just as the Church does not rightly divide Revelation, the Jews also did not properly understand Isaiah. Even the Ethiopian asks Philip, reading from Isaiah: Who is this talking about? (ac8:28,34) And then notice vs18 begins with the word but...a word used as a divider...as the chapter goes on and ends, talking about Jerusalem and the Kingdom age. It is in that context that vs25 speaks of the animals Isaiah ch65 vs1-16 Israel was rebellious, suffered the consequences. vs15 Therefore: Church grafted in for a time (Rom11:17) vs17 Future new heavens and earth with righteousness (2Pt3:13) vs18-25 -But- first, a restoration of Israel (Rom11:26-27) Thus... This still doesnt answer the question about whether or not there will be animals IN HEAVEN. These passages are about animals on -this- earth. When I asked that question in the Q/A, I already knew of these passages (knowing they spoke of this earth); and wondered if anybody would suggest them. Thus, I was not disappointed when you did. But when we understand the proper context of these passages, the question still stands...and, I dont know of any Scripture that addresses the question, one way or the other. [Top] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forever vs Perpetual/Continual READER QUESTION: I have been reading your articles for about a year now. This is my first time to write. As a pre-mil guy working to teach and convert an independent church filled with amil confused people who simply did not know there is another position I get various questions. If I teach them to understand the covenants of God to Israel and that Jesus will literally reign on Davids Throne someday I am struck with the passages where this is said to be eternal. If ..after the 1,000 year millenium period a new earth and heaven are created...it appears the Kingdom changes into an eternal and less Jewish one. Maybe I am making more of this or missing something. Those who spiritualize the text more say that this is evidence that it should not be taken literal in the beginning because it cant be in the end....as it is not an eternal reign of restoration of Israel. Does this question make sense?? VW ANSWER: This question makes perfect sense. One big reason there is confusion on this, I believe, is because of mis-translations of our English Bibles. I discovered this while doing the VW-edition. I did not make a list of every place where this affects the understanding...but it is the difference between the word/s forever/everlasting and perpetual/perpetually. Theres a lot of places that KJV says things like everlasting covenant or the reign of Christ on Davids throne forever....that actually should be rendered perpetually/continual or in perpetuity. There is the concept that Jesus proclaimed... Mt 5:18 For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled. Notice the word till. Heaven and earth -is- passing away, but till (before that happens) the Law (Scriptures) will be completely fulfilled, and nothing will remain unfulfilled. When this earth passes away, all the works that are in it get burned up (2Pt3:10) Those works include Jerusalem and Davids throne over Israel over in the -land- God promised to Abraham. When this earth is burned up, that land is also going to be burned up....thus, any promises about that land obviously have to come to an end when that happens. But if there is an end, it makes words like forever seem contradictory, doesnt it. Well....in fact, a lot of those places should say perpetually....which, then, also makes more sense regarding the promises. As long as the earth exists, and Israel on it....Gods promises to them continue. Now, since we know that these heavens and earth will be replaced by that which is new, then Jer31:35-36 (please look it up) also might be suggesting that an earthly physical nation of Israel would also cease to exist at that point, as the new heavens and earth are only occupied by the righteous. As you say... less Jewish. As you see such passages, if you compare to the VW-edition, you should get an idea.... I hope I successfully found/corrected each one that required it. That was one of the things that was a real head-scratcher (in the VW-edition project), as slightly different words are used from passage-to-passage. And hopefully, you understand the subtle difference in meaning between forever and perpetual. Guys like Jack Van Impi, when he teaches his heaven is -this- earth doctrine, goes into quite an emotional emphasis, as he says that Jesus is going to reign on -this- earth forever and ever and ever and ever (pounding the lecturn, eyes wide open, with that huge ear-to-ear smile). If you start out erroneously with the word forever, its real easy to add a whole bunch of evers after it to stress such a point. But perpetually is a bit harder to expand in such a manner. -smile- ADDENDUM: After this was answered, I pulled out my Palm to do some personal reading, and immediately came upon an example of this: A generation passes away, and a generation comes; but the earth stands perpetually (Ecc1:4) KJV says, ...abideth for ever Of course, this is one of JVIs prooftexts that our eternity is going to be spent on -this- earth, because this
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 15:08:02 +0000