Are there other creatures in heaven ?

[joseie]

You are beating around the bush without answering my question.I can understand excuses such as- don’t take the literal meaning of the words,verses or what is said by God or Jesus as written, in respect of some particular verses ,but taking a stand that some thing written as happened or said by God or Jesus in certain books or part of the bible need not be taken as true, is suicidal.If the Bishops or commentators take such a stand you can safely ignore it. I go by every word of the bible,belives it to be true.Interpreting its meaning in case of ambiguity is one thing but saying that what is written is not true is another thing.

 

[Mintaka]

It’s pretty straightforward.

If you’re reading stuff like the Books of Chronicles or Kings or Maccabees, you’re reading history books. They’re not like modern history books; but the author is trying to write about what happened to Israel, like wars and murders and adulteries and the actions of kings.

But if you’re reading Song of Songs, it’s not supposed to be a historical chronicle about two young lovers with actual names and ancestries and gravesites somewhere, fighting off that dirty old man King Solomon. And it’s definitely not a factual chronicle of the beloved maiden’s physical charms, from head to toe. Noooo, it’s a story about how Israel is like a shepherd maiden and God is like her bridegroom, and how Israel sometimes faces opposition from her own kings to her exclusive espousal of God, and sometimes offends God with her slowness to come to Him, causing her to have to seek Him everywhere. (And it helps if you know that adultery = idol worship, in Jewish religious language, whereas marriage = the covenant with God.)

Is Song of Songs a lie? No.

Is Song of Songs a history book? No.

Song of Songs is a book of poetry about the love affair between Israel and God, but it doesn’t seem to be an exact allegorical retelling of any particular event or outline of history. But when you read about this couple, you read a truthful description of what the Covenant is like. It’s an emotional account of a relationship, which is one of the things poetry is good at creating.

 

[Mintaka]

Moving along, it does seem likely that there will be animals on the “new earth,” on “God’s holy mountain,” because the Bible tells us so.

OTOH, it seems likely that any animals spotted in Heaven are not actual animals, but are either symbolic identifications (ie, the Four Evangelists = the four living creatures) or shapes taken by angels.

On the gripping hand (as Larry Niven would say), Zechariah does say that the Lord has horses, and one of the angels in Maccabees rode a horse, But again, these would seem to be likely to be angels themselves.

 

[joseie]

Post no.25:
I am not talking about what is written in proverbs, psalms,Songs,parables etc.but about what is written as happened or said by God.It did not actually happen as written;it was not actually said by God.etc…well,I am not for that trap.

 

[Mintaka]

Here’s another example, which actually is found in 2 Chronicles 25:14-20.

HISTORICAL CHRONICLE:

"But after Amaziah had returned from killing the Edomites, the gods of the children of Seir [ie, the gods of the Edomites] which he had brought away from there – he set them up as his gods, and adored them, and burned incense to them.

So the Lord, being angry with Amaziah, sent him a prophet to say to him, “Why have you worshipped gods that couldn’t deliver their own people out of your hand?”

And when he spoke these things, Amaziah said to him, “Are you the king’s advisor? Shut up, lest I kill you.”

And the prophet left, saying, “I know the Lord means to kill you, because you have done this evil thing and then not listened to His advice.”

Then, taking very bad advice, King Amaziah of Judah sent a message to Israel’s king, Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, saying, “Come, let us see one another.”

HISTORICAL USE OF FABLE AND PARABLE TO MAKE A POINT:

But Joash sent back the messengers, saying, "The thistle on Mount Lebanon sent a message to the cedar on Mount Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as his wife.’ And behold, the animals that were in the forest of Lebanon passed by, and trod down the thistle.

“You have said, ‘I have overthrown Edom!’ And therefore your heart is puffed up with pride. Stay home. Why do you provoke evil against yourself, such that you should fall and Judah with you, too?”

Joash is not telling a true historical story about marriage negotiations in the kingdom of the plants. He is telling a fable or parable, a story with a moral or some kind of wisdom.

There are books in the Bible that are basically big huge parables. That doesn’t make them lies; the whole point is that the story’s moral is true, and that you need to work out the point of the story so that you’ll understand the truth in it.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

I believe that a literal Lion will lay down with a literal lamb.

Does the Garden of Eden still exist? If it does does it have animals in it?

 

[joseie]

I believe that a literal Lion will lay down with a literal lamb.

Does the Garden of Eden still exist? If it does does it have animals in it?

No! Luckly the flood destroyed every thing incuding the two famous trees.So you can’t find any trace of Eden now. What a relief!

 

[PelagiathePenit]

I hope there are mermaids and Pegasus and unicorns. Zebras, giraffes, penguins, panda bears

 

[joseie]

Ok ok…Except snakes every thing could be there. Then plants, water, fruits…in short exactly like here on earth except that there won’t be any death( also birth?) pain etc.The situation will be worse than here in that case.So let us presume that except God,angels and saved souls nothing will be there in heaven.The musical insrument, white horse etc may not have originated from heaven.
As for the new heaven and earth coming into existence after end times we are completly in dark about it’s condition .Only thing is that since it is composed of earth also there will be some earthly touch in all things expecially since unlike in heaven ,the souls assume glorified bodies also.

 

[turtle18]

Don’t forget about the dinosaurs…

And seriously, I have always wondered about the trumpet blast…who is going to be playing the trumpet? Angels don’t have bodies so that only leaves Mary to play the trumpet.

Heaven exists far beyond anything we can imagine. I believe God created animals for the earth, not for Heaven…I could be wrong…I will just have to wait an see.

 

[mikekle]

Don’t forget about the dinosaurs…

.

Who says they will not be there too? LOL, I know it sounds crazy, but its possible, if they are, they would not be vicious, ‘the lion will lay with the lamb’, will be just like Eden was, (I personally believe there was some species of dinosaurs in Eden too).

 

[Reuben_J]

Are there creatures other than God,angels,and saved human beings, in heaven ? I mean creatures without souls such as horses and teriffic creatures as mentioned in the book of Revelation.Has Satan still have a free entry to heaven as was avalable at the time of Job ?

Revelation 4:1-11

1 After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 3 And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. 4 Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. 5 From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

11 “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for thou didst create all things,
and by thy will they existed and were created.”

 

[joseie]

1.I purposely excluded snakes from the wish list since it is the first villan of both God and men.Further,snake appears to be the most hated of all creatures .

2.I thought the confusion will be over once it is conceded that there won’t be any other creatures in heaven.Since the souls are yet to be covered with their earthly bodies,there are only souls/spirits in heaven.That means nothing to be seen or touched .But sound will be there since we know that spirit make sounds.In short it will be a complete emptiness but filled with sound glorifying God.Animals plants etc. are clearly ruled out since they can’t exist in merely soul/spirit form .
3.But now comes the animals of the Revelation to upset this position! We can easily brush it aside since unlike other books of Bible ,it is only a sort hallucination and does not contain anything useful to us now.

 

[mikekle]

And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,

I think those are some type of angel, cherub?

Not sure why they are called ‘creatures’ though.

 

[Reuben_J]

I think those are some type of angel, cherub?

Not sure why they are called ‘creatures’ though.

Yes, it seems to be what many commentators would think they are, alluding to the creatures mentioned in Daniel and Ezekiel.

Creatures possibly to denote that they are created beings.

 

[Reuben_J]

3.But now comes the animals of the Revelation to upset this position! We can easily brush it aside since unlike other books of Bible ,it is only a sort hallucination and does not contain anything useful to us now.

Really? What makes you think so?

Most commentators think that the creatures mentioned in Rev 4 are not allegory or figurative — they are real, actual beings.

 

[Mintaka]

Actually, poisonous snakes are specifically mentioned in the “peaceable kingdom” verses of Isaiah. There’s the “paten” and the “sipowni.”

“And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp; and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the viper.” (Isaiah 11:8)

So basically, poisonous snakes will become cool playfellows, which is of course what a lot of snake fanciers think about them even on this earth.

Isaiah also informs us in some translations that snakes will “eat dust” instead of their current foods, just as lions will eat straw. No doubt this will be a relief to the rabbits and mice of the new Earth!

 

[boldlygo]

God made heaven for dogs.

We’re lucky because they’re going to let us live there.

……

 

[joseie]

On seeing the posts I think confusion still exists regarding the present heaven that is where Jesus,angels and saved souls live and from where Jesus will come for judgement, and the new heaven and earth coming into existence after the judgement. It is clear that the present heaven and earth will be done away with and will be replaced by the new earth and heaven which will be a physical place where people will live with glorified physical bodies free from sickness death etc.It will be similar to our present earth with all the creatures living in peace and harmony as evidenced by Isaiah11:5-9 . Needless to say,all animals will be there.

 

[Autumn_Smoke]

As far as Satan still having access to Heaven, and the example of Job: another more “modern” example can be found in the Gospels when Jesus’ is speaking to Peter about his future disowning of Him:, “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Luke chapter 22). IMHO, this is probably still the case. We belong to God first, we are his property. It seems that some of our temptations have to come through heavenly consent. (otherwise it is just our own fleshly desires which bring us temptation: James 1:14)

As to animals in Heaven, I love the verse which says, “not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God”. The Greek " aἄνευ" means “without” or “apart from” and in its interpretation, most seem to leave it as either “apart from God” or “without God”; others, depending on their own doctrine, have interpreted it as “apart from God’s will”, “apart from God’s knowledge”. Since I personally believe animals will be in heaven, I like to think “apart from God” means they will never be without Him.

My thought is yes. I think Heaven will be familiar, but amazingly better. Those who have had visions of Heaven report things that they see here - trees, mountains, cities, grass, flowers, rivers, fountains, bridges, buildings - yet indescribably beautiful, and better than earth. So, I conclude from what seems to be consistent reports, that Heaven will be like earth, but better - amazingly better. The lion shall lie down with the lamb. So, a lion does not attack. Presumably nor will mosquitoes. If a person is an etymologist on earth and LOVES insects all his life, an insect-less heaven would be a little bit of a loss. But I do not think any critters will bother us, or each other, or overpopulate an area (no locust swarms in heaven) or any other pesky thing.

I agree with this post. I have read stories of those “gifted” with seeing angels, spirits, etc. One person spoke of seeing a bird die in mid-air and although its body fell to the earth, its spirit soared to heaven.

***** Personal locution warning*****
I also like reading this site: directionforourtimes.com/heaven/#.V5YDs9IrLMw
This is a vision that “Anne, A Lay Apostle” had of Heaven (her work has the approval of Bishop Leo O’Reilly of the Diocese of Kilmore, Ireland). She claims to have been taken to heaven, and one of the things she saw was many streams of water and she asked Jesus if there were fish in the streams and he said “of course there are”. She was also taken to another place in heaven where she could hear tons of crickets chirping. And Jesus told her that this part of heaven was created for those people who enjoyed such things when they were on earth.

Heaven is so big–it probably encompasses the whole unseen, unending universe. It has room for all of God’s creation. God said his creation was good. All of God’s creatures have their own beauty, and God loves them all. Why would he want to see them cease to exist? IMHO