Part Fourteen:   Will Insects, Frogs, and Snakes Inhabit the New Earth Alongside Pets and Wild Animals?

After sharing my belief in a Bible study that pets and other animals will inhabit Heaven, someone asked me if mosquitos would also be there? It was a good question and not the first time I’ve been asked if simple creatures will be in Heaven? Where does God draw the line? Will just pets be in Heaven? Will only mammals be resurrected? What about birds and reptiles? And the most unlikely candidates of all, what about the trillions of insects, spiders, and bugs that have already lived and died on Earth? Will they be on the New Earth?                     (Continued after photo below)

Let me say from the start; I don’t know! I can’t make a compelling biblical case for whether or not less sentient creatures will inhabit the New Earth as I’ve done for pets and other sentient animals. C.S. Lewis rejects the idea. He believes “higher” animals will inhabit Heaven (and pets are the example he gives), but non-sentient creatures won’t. Personally, I think there are reasons to believe they may, and below are a few things for readers to ponder.

First, we need to understand that the assumption only sentient animals will inhabit the New Earth is based entirely on human conjecture—not on what may or may not be God’s decision. Only God knows if the lower classifications of animals will dwell there. Doubters need to understand that the fate of insects, spiders, fish, amphibians, and other barely sentient creatures is not determined by people’s opinions but by God. He can certainly grant even the simplest animals eternal life in the age to come.

Second, the only qualification for animals to survive physical death is that they have a soul. The Bible doesn’t restrict what kinds of animals possess souls; it only teaches that animals have souls (see parts five and six). “All living animals have souls if they have organic life,” explains theologian and scholar J. P. Moreland, “regardless of the degree to which they are conscious”  (The Soul: How We Know It’s Real and Why It Matters, 142).

Since possessing a soul is essential for life after death, including resurrection, and all animals have souls, I see no biblical reason why all earthly animals, including non-sentient creatures, wouldn’t inhabit Heaven—whether resurrected or recreated. The prophet Hosea speaks of a future covenant that God will make with restored Israel in the Messianic Age (the new Heaven and a New Earth; Isa. 65:17-25). It will include “beasts of the field” and “birds of the sky” and “the creeping things of the ground” (Hos. 2:18). Animals creeping on the ground are primarily reptiles, amphibians, insects, and bugs!

My last response to the assumption that less complex creatures will not dwell on the New Earth is this: God may grant non-sentient animals eternal life for His good pleasure—and for the pleasure they will bring His people. It’s hard to imagine a redeemed and restored New Earth without butterflies and ladybugs gracing flowers; frogs croaking from ponds while damselflies hovering above them; lizards basking on sun-soaked rocks; and the countless other simple creatures that add beauty and harmony to nature and delight humans of all ages.

Next week’s blog post will conclude this series. I’ll answer the question, “Will pets and wild animals inhabiting New Earth Bring Glory to God?”  This is the most compelling reason why God’s people can be confident that our pets and other animals will join us in the New Earth.