Will Animals Be Spared Punishment During Judgment?

Zephaniah 1:3
“I will sweep away both man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea—
and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”
“When I destroy all mankind
on the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD,

Contemporary English Version
people and animals, birds and fish. Everyone who is evil will crash to the ground, and I will wipe out the entire human race.

This world was created perfectly. When sin came into the world through Adam and Eve, the world changed. What was perfect became imperfect. Everything was affected not just the human beings who sinned. Everything changed.

Genesis 3:17-18
(17) To Adam he said, …“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
(18) It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

Sin was committed by Adam and Eve yet the consequence included changes in the environment. Thorns that never existed before started growing as a consequence of sin. Therefore if salvation is the reversal of sin and its consequences, that means the future God has planned for us will not have thorn bushes and trees.

Sin was not just a human problem, it was now a problem affecting everyone and everything on earth. To limit sin and its consequences and punishment to only human beings is to underestimate the impact of sin on earth. Animals and plants have not been spared by sin. Animals and plants are no longer exactly what God intended them to be, they are corrupted by sin.

Isaiah 11:7-9
(7) The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
(8) The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
(9) They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

Those who question whether God exists, sometimes point out that, how can a good God create a world where nature is red with blood in tooth and claw. A world where animals destroy each other for sustenance. How can the death of one, be the livelihood of another? How can the painful death of one be the joyful survival of another?

Prophet Isaiah tells us that in the world that God will restore, nature will not be red in tooth and claw anymore. All animals that are carnivorous and poisonous will be vegetarian and harmless. That clearly tells us that animals are no longer living per God’s order and will. They will be restored to the will of God. Therefore animals and plants, alongside human beings cannot evade the consequences of sin or punishment.

Genesis 7:23
Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

When sin had become too much and God decided to bring a flood to punish human beings, the animals and plants were not spared. Animals and plants suffered the consequence and punishment for sin. Matthew 24:37 tells us that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the end of time, during final judgment. When God destroys the world with sinners, Satan, and demons in it, He will also destroy the plants and animals that are in it. He will create a new heaven and a new earth, with a new set of plants and animals.

Genesis 9:5
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

God expresses the sanctity of life in this text. For every life taken, God will demand accountability. God will even demand accountability from animals that have taken human life. God calls all nature to accountability. If we can’t talk to animals and plants, that is our limitation and not God’s limitation. Didn’t Jesus speak to the winds and the waves? Therefore, animals and plants may not be as innocent as we imagine. God the fair judge will call them to accountability.

Romans 8:19-21
(19) For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. (20) For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope (21) that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Apostle Paul tells the church in Rome that sin affected the entire creation. The entire creation was subjected to frustration. Not by choice but as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s sins. When God saves people at the end of time, creation too will be liberated. The part of creation that must give an account, will have to give an account to God. Final punishment will affect both human beings and the entire creation.

Zephaniah the prophet cited above promises that when God comes to punish the sins of Israel, nothing and no one will be spared. Animals, birds, fish, and people will be punished. God will wipe them from the face of the earth.

Revelation 21:27
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The final judgment is not just about human beings but the entire creation. Nothing impure will get to heaven. Animals and plants are impure not necessarily by choice but as a consequence of sin, therefore, they will not be in heaven. How God calls them to account and how He judges all of them as fit for eternal destruction is only known to God. Zephaniah and other Bible writers and even the Flood story inform us that animals and plants are affected and will be wiped out during judgment.

Out of all creation, we are the ones with the ability to make a choice. We can choose to perish forever or we can choose to accept the freely given salvation. Judgment is real and it is coming. It may not look like there is a judgment coming but it is coming. May God save us during the inevitable judgment in Jesus’ name, Amen!

1. Rei Kesis YouTube Channel (subscribe, click on the notification, and share) –http://youtube.com/reikesis
2. Rei Kesis books on Amazon (Amazon will sell and deliver anywhere in the world. For those in Kenya you can buy from any ABC close to you. ABC is Adventist Book Center) –https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rei+kesis&ref=nb_sb_noss
3. Rei Kesis daily blog –https://reikesis.com/