Quote:
Originally Posted by Brother Tim
There is NO QUESTION that there will be animals in the new earth. That is as plain as it can be. What is not said is that these are some kind of "resurrected" pets from our lives. God re-creates the earth and repopulates it with His creatures just as at the beginning.
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Brother Tim,
I don't know the answers to these question for sure, but what is your scriptural evidence that "God re-creates the earth and repopulates it with His creatures just as at the beginning"? How do you know that the animals that repopulate the new earth are newly created creatures and not creatures resurrected into their original form (non-carnivorous or snakes with feet, for example)?
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.
Does He mean He makes all things over again, or does He make all things new, like the new man? He also describes the Tree Of Life in the New Earth. Is it the same Tree Of Life made anew or is it a totally different Tree Of Life?
The human beings are new creatures, but they existed before the new earth. Are the animals all newly created or are they resurrected into their original form before the curse? I don't know but I plan to study it because it's interesting to me.
Isaiah 11:1-9 (describing Christ's Millennial Kingdom)
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
This scripture only proves that the animals are changed back to their pre-curse form and function during the millennium. But from this we know that it is not just in the New Earth that animals are changed. In fact, I don't think we're actually told if there are animals in the New Earth.
Another somewhat related thought is whether we are still meat-eaters in the new Earth? I don't think so since no one hurts or destroys in all His holy mountain. Will the church be meat-eaters during the tribulation? Jesus ate fish after He was resurrected.
Luke 24:41-43 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.
We know that during the Millennial Kingdom animal sacrifices will still occur. I believe that Israel, which has become sinless at the second coming of Christ, is commanded to continue some form of God's sacrificial system for the benefit of the gentiles (not the church) that inhabit the earth during this time.
Any comments are welcome.
