Will
death still exist in the millennium and throughout eternity for animals and
plants? Will meat be eaten even though
Revelation says there will be no more death?
Revelation 20:14; 21:4
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their (man’s) 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.
Yes, because in context these verses are
only referring to human death. Animal
death will continue throughout eternity.
The shed blood of their sacrifice will continue to point to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Plant death was happening
even before the Adam fell and will also continue.
Animal
sacrifices will continue throughout the millennium as we see in Zechariah:
Zechariah 14:20-21
In that day shall there be upon
the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's
house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem
and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice
shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be
no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
They
won’t have to hunt animals to kill them.
There won’t even be enmity between animals.
Isaiah 11:6
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.
Not only are animals used by man as
beasts of burden but they were created by God for food to be received with
thanksgiving. God created animals for us.
1 Timothy 4:4
For every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received
with thanksgiving:
There are verses in Ezekiel 40 – 48 that
show that the people of Israel will be eating sacrifices. I’m not completely
sure if it will continue in the new earth.
Some verses look like they’re pointing to that. You can make a case for it. That’s why I lean towards that view because
of what the sacrifices represent—an eternal
memorial to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world.
Isaiah 66:22-24
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will
make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and
your name remain.
In context he’s talking to Israel.
And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to
another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship
before me, saith the LORD.
New moons and Sabbaths are associated with Israel’s
feast days. There will be eternal worship of the Lord.
The Lake of Fire (the second death) is eternal; it goes
on forever.
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of
the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all
flesh.
This
is talking about the souls of all lost people continually being consumed by
fire; and they feel it. People on earth
will be looking at people who are suffering the second death. Death is separation.
If
Death is thrown into the Lake of Fire, then how can an animal die? Death refers only to humans in this
context. The number one focus is mankind…the
creature created in God’s image.
Plants
will still die. Even before the Fall,
Adam and Eve and the animals were eating plants. Plants will be eaten in the millennium and
the new heaven and new earth.
The
Lord talks about plants dying:
John 12:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Paul uses the same terminology
regarding Christ’s physical death:
Romans 6:9-10
Knowing that Christ being
raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For
in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
God.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures:
Paul talks about our spiritual
deadness and being made alive through Christ:
Romans 6:7, 8, 11
For he that is dead is
freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
When
death entered into the world through Adam it wasn’t only human death, but the focus
was on human death.
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned:
Animals
don’t sin but they still die. They
didn’t die until Adam sinned. I think
that the first animal death was the one that God killed to clothe Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:21
Unto Adam also and to his wife
did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
In
the Kingdom, the Jew’s diet is going to continue. They will eat fish and lamb and those animals
will have to die. God changed the
program after the Flood to allow man to eat animals and that change will
continue throughout eternity.
The
reason I don’t think they’ll return to the diet of Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden is because the Lord Jesus Christ ate fish in his resurrection body. This is significant. He was eating and he called some of his
disciples to this feast with him. This
is a picture of Israel’s program in the Kingdom.
John 21: 1, 2, 9, 12
After these things Jesus shewed
himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise
shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus,
and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his
disciples….As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals
there, and fish laid thereon, and bread…Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine.
And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the
Lord.
Luke 24:42-43
And they gave him a piece of a
broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat
before them.
The
Lord Jesus ate fish after his resurrection.
That’s huge! When the animals are
sacrificed during the millennium and beyond, man will actually be eating the
meat as prescribed by the Law. And
remember, they will still be under the Law.
And it’s possible that the Body of Christ which will have the same type
of resurrection body as the Lord Jesus will also eat meat throughout eternity.
Luke 22:18
For I say unto you, I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Christ will again drink wine at wedding
supper of the Lamb, and I don’t see that stopping after the millennium. There will be feasts, celebrations and
worship throughout the millennium and they will continue forever.
By the way, we don’t learn about the millennium—which is only
the first installment of the Kingdom—until the book of Revelation. The prophets and Jewish epistles were all talking about the Kingdom that would go
on forever.
+++
…Ttranscribed excerpt from an informal
Q&A session at NCGF on 10/26/2011.
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