by Bobby L. Graham
Some denominational writers, even some New Testament Christians, embrace the idea that we will spend eternity on a reconstituted earth, thus raising the question of whether animals will be included. Do such passages as Isaiah 65:25 and Romans 8:19-23 support such views?
Some denominational writers, even some New Testament Christians, embrace the idea that we will spend eternity on a reconstituted earth, thus raising the question of whether animals will be included. Do such passages as Isaiah 65:25 and Romans 8:19-23 support such views?
The passages cited state:
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox (Isa. 65:25).
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:19-23).
Because space does not permit a lengthy answer to this question, I refer our readers to When Will These Things Be? Questions on Eschatology (Truth Lectures 2020-2021), where the reconstituted/renovated earth theory is discussed extensively in various articles. Also, consider John A. Humphries’ The Book of Isaiah in the Truth Commentary series for excellent and more elaborate comments on the Isaiah context. What I will be able to say merely scratches the surface of this subject.
The Isaiah quotation appears in the context of the Messianic prophet’s foretelling of future glory for the people of the Messiah, as he closes his inspired writings with some concluding prophecies in chapters 63-66. Chapter 65 particularly presents Jehovah’s answer to the prayer of 63:15-64:12, which petitions deliverance from the sin and suffering of God’s people in Babylonian Captivity. God answers by looking to their actual return to physical Jerusalem and Zion, with their restoration of blessings and comforts, which the exiled people had missed. The Lord also then blended such physical ideas into spiritual parallels of the new order to be enjoyed under Jesus Christ. He called this new order “new heavens and a new earth” in 65:17 and 66:22.
Some Messianic markers highlighting the prophet’s description include the mountain of Jehovah and the elect, who shall there joyfully inherit God’s blessings under the Messiah (65:9-14; cf. 2:2). The remainder of chapter 65 describes the reversal of physical disadvantages/curses of their punishment into their spiritual-blessing counterparts under Christ. In this setting, Isaiah mentions the peaceable/tranquil coexistence of former adversaries in the Lord’s peaceable spiritual kingdom (v. 25), which is similarly described in Isaiah 2:4 as swords beaten into plowshares and nations no more learning war. He does not speak in either passage about physical nations ceasing their fighting, but those of the nations entering the spiritual kingdom and living peaceably therein under the Prince of Peace. Likewise, in Isaiah 66:18-24, the prophet continues his depiction of the new heavens and new earth as a spiritual order under Christ for the nations which come to the mountain of the Lord’s house.
As for Paul’s section in Romans 8 already quoted, there is a widespread difference over the meaning of “creation,” found four times in the quoted passage. While many believe it refers to the created natural world (vegetable and animal kingdoms), I incline toward the view that it encompasses only the human family. I do so because of (1) the purpose of the apostle to clarify the reason why Christians suffer in this passage, as indicated in his use of “for” in verse 23 (see that suffering stated in verses 16-18 and given a reason in 19-23) and (2) actions/feelings attributed to the “creation” in these verses: (a) earnest expectation of the children of God in their glorious liberty (19), (b) subjected to bondage/slavery of corruption now but later delivered into the glorious freedom of God’s children (21), (c) groaning and laboring in pain, just as the Lord’s redeemed ones do (22-23). It is possible to understand this personification as referring to the natural creation, but understanding it as the entire human creation versus the redeemed creation seems to be a more natural way to take it. This passage gives no support for the idea that animals and plants will be incorporated into the new heavens and new earth of the eternal kingdom. Instead, it anticipates the eternal glory of the redeemed.
