Have
you ever attempted to answer that painful question from
your child? Or have you even wondered, yourself, if
your departed, beloved pet is in Heaven? Some people
scorn the idea that animals have a soul, and that their
spirit lives on after death. I have done a lot of reading and thinking on this subject, and hopefully gained
some insight into this age-old question. Here are
some of my thoughts and beliefs.** (Please
note any disclaimers at the bottom of this page.)
"In
the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth." After His wonderful work of Creation, when it was done, God said, "It is
GOOD." We know that animals were created perfect, just like Adam and Eve.
They didn't sin – like Adam and Eve did, but they still reaped the punishment of mankind's sin.
At first, they all ate grains and fruits, and didn't eat meat and kill each other until after the Fall of Man.
That changed everything! I believe that all animals go to Heaven, because they are not capable of making a conscious decision to sin
– like mankind. I think they will be restored to their previous state, as they were at the beginning of Creation.
In fact, scriptures say as much – "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". When the Garden of Eden was originally created, along with all the animals and Adam and Eve, they were all friends, and there were no dangerous animals.
All of them were Adam and Eve's pets – even "dangerous", now-man-eating beasts!
And they all came and played with Adam and Eve! When God created the world, there WAS no such thing as Death!
He had originally intended for ALL the animals to live forever in the Garden, too, along with Adam and Eve and their offspring!
Mary
Buddemeyer-Porter,the author of "Will I See Fido in Heaven?", also talked about Noah's
Ark. She pointed out that God thought enough of the animals to make special arrangements for them, too, to be saved from the flood waters!
God was concerned that his beloved animals SURVIVE that catastrophic
Flood! And also, when they all left the Ark, God made his Covenant (of the promise of changing seasons and to not destroy the earth again by water) with not just Noah and his family, but with the animals, too!
It says that – right in Genesis!
He made his covenant with "all living things":
Genesis, Chapter 9, vs. 9-17: (King James Version)
(9)
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
(10) And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the
earth.
(11) And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
(12) And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you
and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
(13) I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
(14) And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
(15) And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you
and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
(16) And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it,
that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the
earth.
(17) And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established
between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
It kind of makes you wonder if the original, unknown author of the
"Rainbow Bridge" poem didn't have a specific purpose for calling it just that
–"Rainbow Bridge"!
And THOSE are just a FEW biblical passages that supports the "notion" that animals are, in fact, special to God, too!
I always thought it was interesting to reflect upon the idea that God made the animals FIRST.....even before He made man!
Now, I'm not trying to get "all weird" on the subject and suggest that animals are more important to God than man.
NOT AT ALL! Mankind is STILL the "Apple of God's Eye"
– created in His precious image!
I'm just saying that creating animals was one of the first things on God's mind, in the Beginning!
So they definitely didn't take a "back seat" where God was concerned!
I have also been
reading, in some books, where the original Hebrew and Greek translations did not make any
exception between mankind and animals, when they spoke of "the breath of life", when it was talking about the Creation!
And also, the word "soul" was ONLY translated, in some instances, to point to mankind, AFTER the translation to the King James
Version of the Bible! And, with all due respect, many a biblical scholar has admitted that the King James
Version did, indeed, contain many translation "flaws", and did not always convey the original meanings of the Hebrew and Greek translations!
In fact, the Hebrew word for "soul" is "nephesh". Did you know that in the ORIGINAL Hebrew translation
– the one that Moses, himself, actually penned (the first 5 books of the Bible), the word "nephesh" ("soul") was used when talking about both animals AND
mankind! ONLY in later translations, was the "distinction" somehow allowed to creep in to the original meaning!
God did NOT say that animals don't have a soul.
Moses, himself, used the word "nephesh" ("soul") when referring to the spirits of the animals, too!
The REAL distinction between animals and mankind (and there IS a distinction!), is that mankind was CREATED IN THE ACTUAL IMAGE OF GOD!!!!
And animals were not. What does this image of God mean?
We really don't know for sure. Perhaps it means the superior ability to "reason", to talk, to comprehend certain things.
We simply don't know for sure. But one thing I am sure of – when God created this world, it was PERFECT!
The Garden of Eden! A true paradise! And IT HAD BOTH MANKIND AND ANIMALS!
Animals were PART OF GOD'S PLAN FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!
BEFORE sin and death entered the world! The "beasts" were all friendly with mankind and one another.
They all ate grass and grains – not each other.
That didn't happen until AFTER the Fall of Man. Then.....sin entered the world!
And everything changed! The unimaginable had happened to God's holy and perfect creation!
But God, in His incredible loving and caring kindness said, "NO!
I will NOT let Satan win! He will NOT succeed in totally destroying my beautiful works and Creation!"
And He sent his Son! To be the Perfect Sacrifice and
Atonement! To make it all RIGHT again! To CORRECT the TERRIBLE effects sin wreaked on His beloved Creation!
And one day soon, God will once again TAKE BACK TOTAL CONTROL of the universe!
And the devil WILL be cast FOREVER in the Lake of Fire for all eternity!
And we will have a "new heaven and a new earth". And "God will dwell with man on earth forever"!
Did you know that? Were you like me when I was growing up?
Did you think that we just all died and then went to Heaven forever?
And that, even when the End of the World came, that we would still all live in Heaven?
That's NOT what the Bible says! It says, "Then I saw a NEW Jerusalem
– a NEW Heaven coming down to EARTH!
And I saw God dwelling with man FOREVERMORE on earth!"
If you don't believe me, look it up – please! There is just SO much our churches have simply "glossed over" or don't mention as much as they should!
But it's all there – right in the Bible! Here are the
scriptural verses that support these statements:
Revelation, Chapter
21, vs. 1-3: (The Living Bible)
(1) Then I saw a new earth (with no oceans!) and a new sky, for the present earth and sky had disappeared.
(2) And I, John, saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. It was a glorious sight, beautiful as a bride at her wedding.
(3) I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, "Look, the home of God is now among men, and he will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among them.
So.....what is God's eternal plans for us and for this universe and earth?
To "make all things NEW" again, and RESTORE his holy and perfect paradise of Eden!
It will be the same as it was before – In the Beginning!
And WHAT was there "In the Beginning"? Mankind AND ANIMALS!!!!!
Now.....if God had wanted to put animals in the FIRST "paradise" of Eden, and wanted to include them there FOREVER (remember, there WAS no death at that time!), then WHY would he not COMPLETELY restore that perfect paradise when He RE-CREATES his beautiful "NEW Jerusalem"??!!!
His NEW perfect Eden? It WOULDN'T be really fully and completely RESTORED....WITHOUT the animals that he had placed there in the FIRST place?
Don't you see? Do you begin to understand what *I* believe about all of this?
To me, it's SO clear. It makes perfect sense! God WILL restore everything "as it was in the Beginning"!
Animals, mankind, and all! Our earth, itself, will be changed!
It will be brand new! It will be like the earth was when it was first created.
No more will the very "ground be cursed for thy sake".
No more will our atmosphere be polluted, and our waterways!
And there will be no more oceans! No more will the animals prey on each other and eat each other!
No more will we be fearful of dangerous beasts! The Bible SAYS so!
Isaiah, Chapter
11, vs. 6-7: (King James Version) **
(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.
(7) And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Also....one last thing....in case you still aren't fully convinced....when Jesus Christ returns in all of His Triumphant Glory, on the Last Day, He WILL BE RIDING
ON A WHITE HORSE!!!!!
FROM HEAVEN!!!!! And he will be leading a Heavenly
Army all riding on white horses!
Revelation, Chapter
19, vs. 11-16: (King James Version)
(11) And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
(12) His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
(13) And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
(14) And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
(15) And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
(16) And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Jesus, His Heavenly Armies, AND the horses all ORIGINATE from Heaven....from "the Eastern Sky"!!!
Personally, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT GREAT AND WONDERFUL DAY!!!!
I
hope, after reading these words, that they have managed to
bring you some comfort. I simply wanted to try and ease your
mind – to make you understand – to give you hope!
YES!! There WILL be animals in Heaven! In the New Heaven and New Earth, that will be a perfect RE-CREATION of the FIRST paradise!
God saved His precious animals once before, during the Great Flood, when He could have simply said, "Oh!
I don't care!
I'll simply wash them all away! Why should I care to save them?"
But He DIDN'T!!! He cared enough to save them THEN and include them in His "everlasting" covenant with Noah, and He will care enough to save them ETERNALLY.
They were once part of His "Good" creation. And they will REMAIN so!
The Word of God PROMISES it!!!
Psalm 84:3 Even the sparrows and swallows
are welcome to come and nest among your altars and there have their young, O Lord of heaven's armies, my King and my God! (The Living Bible)
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and
one of them shall not fall on the ground without your
Father. (King James Version)
** NOTE: After creating this page in
late Spring of 2003, a year later I received a
thoughtful and kind email from a viewer who correctly
pointed out to me that I had inadvertently perpetuated a
long-standing misconception of the "Bible's
most famous non-existent scripture: 'And the lion
shall lie down with the lamb'." After
realizing he was absolutely right, I corrected that
misconception with the above correct quote of
Isaiah 11: 6
– 7.
My viewer also noted that
"It would also be beneficial to support the
following assertion with scripture:
"They didn't sin
– like Adam and Eve did, but they still
reaped the punishment of mankind's sin. At first,
they all ate grains and fruits, and didn't eat meat and
kill each other until after the Fall of Man."
My personal thought on this is that Isaiah 11: 7
strongly implies this by the words "...and the lion shall eat straw like the ox."
This seems to suggest that the lion will revert
to eating straw, instead of meat, as he did before sin
entered the world by the Fall of Man. However, I
cannot prove that "revert" (go back to)
is the correct interpretation, either. It is
simply my interpretation, based upon so many
other scriptural verses that give us a glimpse into that
once-again, perfect paradise –"when
all things are made new".
Lastly,
my viewer pointed out, "I basically agree
with many of the points you make regarding animals in
Heaven, but we must be absolutely clear that the Bible
does not explicitly say that they will be there.
At best, we can only infer that they will be. (I
also believe they will be, but my beliefs won't make it
so.)" Once again, he is
correct. The Bible does not explicitly say
animals will be in Heaven. So, when I state "the
Bible SAYS so!" in certain above
paragraphs, I must also emphatically state that the
Bible does not, in fact, specifically state
"There will be animals in Heaven".
The correct statement should be "the Bible SAYS
so!" to me. These are only my
thoughts and beliefs....derived by my perceptions
and personal interpretations of scriptures.
I would like to thank my
viewer for being so perceptive and insightful on this
topic, as well as being appreciative and complimentary
of this site.
