Hello John and Doves,

 

Life here on Earth isn't just about man.  It's also very much about the animals.  This is very much apparent in the books of Genesis and Job.  In the story of Adam and Eve. And especially in the story about the Great Flood. And when God talked with Job.

 

When Adam and Eve sinned - the animals paid a price too.  I believed that the animals in the Garden of Eden could talk. Adam named them - not 'horse', 'cow', 'giraffe', but individual names, maybe something like, Raphael, Uriel, Jermiel, Ariel...  So he could talk to each of them.  And when Adam and Eve sinned and were removed from the Garden and Eve was punished with pain in birthing - the animals had to leave the Garden too; they trivial in birth also. 

 

Animals have suffered much in this world too.  They have paid a price too.

 

On Day 6 Of Creation: God made the land animals and man. 

 

When He created the animals "Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind:  cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind.  God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepth upon the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:24, 25

 

The creation of animals was Good in the eyes of God.

 

Before The Flood:

 

God was grieved in His heart that He had made man - and He was also unhappy with what had happened with the animals.  I believe this was because of the corruption of their "seed" along with man's seed - the fallen angels were mixing their seed with everyone and everything - trying to destroy God's creation.  (I believe this explains the odd half animal/half man creatures and the other "creatures" in various myths of the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, etc.  Things that God had not 'made'.)

 

God said that He was going to wipe out the human race and destroy every living thing - "man and beast, creeping things, and birds of the air."   "..For I am grieved that I have made them."  Genesis 6:7

 

BUT - God saw that Noah was worthy of saving - for "Noah walked with God."  Genesis 6:9  God saw that the earth was corrupt and full of violence..."..for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways."  Genesis 6:11

 

God had decided to save animals along with Noah and his family - as He told Noah how to make the ark and how big - very big!  God was going to save those animals whose "seed" had not been corrupted. 

 

The animals were important enough to God to save them too - right up there with Noah and his family.

 

There were two distinct groups that God planned to save...man AND animals.  If God just wanted to save Noah and his family, a much smaller ark could have been built.  But the great size of the ark was for holding the animals and keeping them safe.  And Noah was told to fill it with food for all.

 

God planned to save Noah and the animals.

 

Before God sent the Great Flood, He gave Noah a heads up as to what He was going to do and what He needed Noah to do.

 

"And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heaves that has the breath of life.  Everything on the earth will perish.  But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark...and you are to bring two of every living creature into the ark - male and female - to keep them alive with you."  Genesis 6:18

 

In filling the ark, ""They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort."  Genesis 7:14  "They came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two of every creature with the breath of life."  Genesis 7:15.  "A male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.  Then the Lord closed the door behind them."  Genesis 7:16  As for those not in the protection of the ark:  "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died."  Genesis 7:22

 

During The Flood:

 

"And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed - man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained."  Note that there were animals left outside the ark to die in the coming Flood.

 

In Genesis 8:1, during the flood, "God remembered Noah, and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him on the ark...."

 

God remembered Noah and the animals.

 

After The Flood Waters Had Abated:

 

Noah built an altar to the Lord and made animal sacrifices - burnt offerings - the Lord was pleased with this and said "in His heart, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man...And never again will I destroy every living creature as I have done."  Genesis 8:221

 

In Genesis 9:9 - 10, The Lord told Noah, "And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;  and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth."

 

God made a covenant with man and with the animals that were with him in the ark.  Never again to destroy all life by a flood.  Genesis 9:11  

 

God placed His "rainbow in the clouds" as a sign "...of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come."  Genesis 9:12, 13  So the descendants of Noah and the descendants of the animals on the ark have this covenant with God forever.

 

God said He would remember His eternal covenant every time He sees the rainbow in the clouds -  Genesis 9:15

 

This shows us how important animals are to God.  His covenant is with them also!

 

God's Special Relationship With Animals:

 

God has a special way of communicating with His animals - He told them to get to the safety of the ark and go with Noah and stay in the ark until He commanded them to leave.  God commanded ravens to bring food to Elijah when he'd fled from King Ahab (1 Kings 17:4-6) 

 

Even a sparrow cannot fall without it being in God's will.  "And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.  (Matthew 10:29)  God told Jonah that Nineveh was a city of many people He cared for "as well as many animals."  Jonah 4:11  And then there is Balaam's donkey -  it was the donkey that saved Balaam three times from the Angel of the Lord that would have killed him with his sword.   Numbers 22:31 And the donkey's mouth was opened by the Lord so it could talk to Balaam.  Numbers 22:28, 30  And in Matthew 6:26 the Father feeds the birds.

 

All of creation praises God.  "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!"  Psalm 150:6  Animals have their own special way of praising God and bringing Him The Glory!  They are His special creation and He loves them. He cares for them and He watches over them.  

 

The Book of Job:

 

And to Job, God explains His special creation of animals  - that He created them, that He is sovereign over them, that they have an appointed place in creation.  Each was made with a specific purpose and place in nature.  God convinced Job of His sovereignty with His intended purpose for His creation of animals. 

 

Through animals, God shows Job His love, His creativity, His amazing attention to detail to make each animal specific for it's purpose on earth.  That He is sovereign over them.  He commands them.  He watches over them.  He provides for them.  He created each for a specific purpose.

 

God used animals to explain His purpose to Job.  In Job 38, 39, God asks Job, "Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions ....who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?  Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?  Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?  Can you count the months they are pregnant?  Do you know the time they give birth?  They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn...Who set the wild donkey free?..I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling..Will the wild ox consent to serve you?  ..Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?  Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting...Does the hawk take flight by your understanding...Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?"  Job 39 

 

Job was made painfully aware of his wrongful thinking of God and was so humbled by this explanation that he said - "I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted....My ears have heard You, but now my eyes have seen You.  Therefore, I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes."  Job 42:5, 6

 

As we have seen in the book of Job, animals point man to God - His sovereignty.  His love.  His care.  His watchful eye.  How all are valuable to Him.  And He cares for man, made in His image, all the more!

 

Animals and the Rapture:

 

And what will become of God's much beloved animals when the Tribulation Period begins?  I must look at the first time God destroyed the earth - with water.   He took all those precious to Him - both man and beast - out of the way of the coming destruction by water.  And then He made a covenant with them to never do that again to them.   I cannot help but believe that God will also take those precious to Him - both man and beast - out of the way of the coming destruction by fire.  But as in the Flood, not all the animals will be saved.  This would explain the wild beasts in the Revelation that are under the authority of Death (the rider of the pale green horse) that help kill a fourth of the population of earth.  And the birds ' that come to feast on those who went to battle against Israel.  Revelation 19:17. 

(In my other letter to Doves today I wrote about the "wild beasts of the field and forest" being used by the rider of the pale horse, Death, to help kill some two billion human beings. Those animals will be used in the Tribulation - they have a purpose designated by God.)  

 

Also, some believe these 'animals' (wild beasts and birds of prey in the Tribulation) may be of a demonic origin - and not animals as we know them.

 

I believe, as we are made in the image of God, that we have many of the feelings God has.  I can imagine what I feel when I see a puppy or a foal or a fawn, that God feels so much more as they are His creation!  God has given us the ability for much love - love of spouse, love of child, love of neighbor, and also love of animals.  As He cares for them, we can care for them.  God gave man dominion over the fish, the birds, the livestock, the creatures on the earth. And that dominion involves respect, love, and care of them as they are special to God.

 

I believe that God will save our pets before the Tribulation.  Animals are not mentioned in the Rapture. But God did not leave them to the horror of the Flood, so I do not believe He will leave them to the horror of the coming Tribulation.  Will they experience something similar to a rapture?  A taking to Heaven?

 

Randy Alcorn, in his book "Heaven", wrote since white horses are in Heaven, why not our pets?  CS Lewis said in his book, "The Problem of Pain", "tame animals might enter the pearly gates of heaven through their relationship with humans."

 

"Jesus gives us some insight.  He said the days before the Rapture would be "just like" the days of Noah and Lot...Now, if it's "just like" Noah's day, and Noah floated away with an ark full of animals, leaving some behind...we should expect the Rapture to be similar...Therefore, we expect SOME animals to be taken/translated from the earth, along with us Believers, in order to miss God's wrath.  Then the logical choice for at least SOME of the animals would include our pets.  Interestingly, these animals would be expected to return to the earth with the humans at the end of the Tribulation, for the Reign of Jesus in the Millennium.  This is consistent with verses that show animals in the Millennium have changed back to their original non-carnivorous state during the Millennium.  "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food.  They will do no evil or harm in all My holy Mountain", says the Lord."  Isaiah 65:25
Will Our Pets Be Raptured With Us? - Compass International

 

I absolutely know that my dogs, cats, horses will be in Heaven.  I had a most unusual experience back in 2006 and a couple of other odd occurrences in the years following - that proved to me dogs and cats go to Heaven.  And I'll add horses, etc....do too!.  Many other people have had similar occurrences/stories with pets that have died.  There are just too many stories...and if only one is true.... That's all it takes.

 

And simply based upon God's love for the animals - that tells me they go to Him when they die and they will go to Him before the Tribulation.  He is their creator.  They give Him praise and glory!  They completely trust Him to take care of them.  They live and die according to His will.  He loves them more than me. 

 

If He cares enough to promise animals with a rainbow in the clouds never again will He destroy them with a flood - that shows how much He loves and cares for them and how painful it was for Him to send that flood.  I believe He will remove them before the Tribulation starts and the world is destroyed by fire.  The Tribulation will be a horrible time of suffering and death for His precious animals. What would be the purpose of that?  

 

It will be their own special 'removal' process.  A 'To God, With Love!" miracle.

 

There is plenty of room for all that God loves in Heaven!

 

Just some thoughts for now....

 

Maranatha!

 

Chance