Let me ask you a question: was Jesus a hunter? Can you picture Jesus all dressed up in camouflage with a twelve-gauge Remington pump-action in his hand, stalking his prey and killing a gentle deer for just the sport of it and then going home and consuming its flesh? This type of degenerate behavior is better suited for the Devil.

God said "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."

Another argument made by hunters is that Jesus celebrated Passover, and therefore ate lamb. He is seen eating on Passover twice. First in the Gospels of John, chapter 6, where the disciples ask Jesus, "Where will we buy enough bread?" Unleavened bread or matza is the Passover food of the vegetarian Jews of Jesus' time. The second, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, "The Last Supper" was a Passover meal; Jesus and his disciples again celebrate with bread.

When my dad was a hunter, he was walking in the woods and found a decapitated deer carcass and a dead fawn. There have been many dogs and cats 'missing' during the hunting season. Hunters kill to try to satisfy their bloodlust.

Jesus says on his Sermon on the Mount, "Have compassion, as God has compassion." There is nothing compassionate about killing an innocent animal within a few hundred yards with a semi-automatic rifle and scope.

So what does the Scripture say about hunters? There is no verse that says, "Thou shall not hunt," but there are, however, four hunters mentioned in the Bible.

The first is Nimrod. His occupation is stated in Genesis 10:9: "He was a mighty hunter." Nimrod is the son of Cush and founder of the Babylonian Empire, the empire that opposes God throughout the Scripture and is destroyed in the book of Revelation. In Micah 5:6, God's enemies are said to dwell in the land of Nimrod. Scholars such as Barnhouse, Pink, and Scofield regard Nimrod as a prototype of the anti-Christ.

The second hunter is Ishmael, Abraham's "son of the flesh" by handmaid, Hagar. Genesis 21:20 says "he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer." He is portrayed negatively by Paul in Galatians 4:30: "Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." Genesis 16 says, "And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him."

The third, Esau, "was a cunning hunter, a man of the field" and is contrasted with his brother, Jacob, in Genesis 25:27, who "was a plain man, dwelling in tents." The Bible even specifically states that Esau hunted deer in Genesis 25:28: "And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob." In Hebrews 12:16 it equates him with a "profane person": "Lest there be no fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." "I have loved you saith the Lord. Yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." (Malachi 1: 2-3) Paul restates this in Romans 9: 8-13: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." He is a model of a person without faith in God.

The last is found in Revelation 6:2. He is the rider of the white horse with the hunting bow, who is part of the destruction of the present world. Scholars also identify him as the anti-Christ. So, out of the four hunters, two are identified as the anti-Christ, and the other two are models of people who live their lives without God. Hunters are in good company.

"No one will do harm or destroy over my holy mountain, for as water fills the sea, the earth will be filled with knowledge of the Lord." Remember the verse from the Lord's Prayer, "on Earth as is in Heaven."

But above all, keep in mind, as you are about to squeeze the trigger of your rifle aimed at a deer, "As we do to the least, so we do to Him."

The signs are posted, No Hunting in Heaven.

--Shakira was featured in Peta's "Grrr" magazine as the "Rebel With a Cause." She has written many articles and is known locally for writing animal rights letters to the editor of the city newspaper. In fact, she started the first ever animal rights club at her high school. Visit her website.