|
Do pets have a spirit?
Will dogs go to heaven?
Will cats, horses, parakeets etc.. be saved?
Not just dogs, but cats, horses and other animals
too! Call me silly, but this is something that I think about often. The bible
refers to dogs (or dog) 40 times in the bible. Although, throughout the
entire old testament, the word dog is never related with anything good, Strong's
"Hebrew" concordance translates the word "dog" to relate more to a persons
character than to the animal.
Root meaning: "Yelp",
to "attack" or a "male prostitute". However, in the new
testament, Strong's "Greek" concordance translates the
word dog (or dogs) to mean exactly what we
perceive it to mean. "A Dog or puppy!" And it is found 9
times in the new testament.
We have two Jack
Russell Terriers, Genie and Jake. They are not only a
constant source of entertainment and joy, they are
members of the family and I love them. The thought of
them not waiting for us when we go to heaven is
unthinkable to say the least. My wife also has a cat
that she is more than fond of. (a painful thought for
her also)
At least cats are not painted in such a bad light in the
bible.
Matter of fact, they
are not mentioned at all. At least not common house cats
as we know then today. However, the bible does refer to
lions 128 times and leopards 8 times. I heard Pat
Robertson say one time, that he hopes there are horses
in heaven, as he is very fond of them. (he probably
owns some)
We have a cockatiel
named Cramer, who loves to be petted and is the best
watch dog I've ever had. If a car so much as turns
around in our driveway, (some distance from the
house) Cramer starts screeching! (whistling loudly)
That in turn alerts the dogs who go nuts barking. (It's
amazing because, He
can't see the car, the curtains are closed)
The truth is, I don't know
if dogs will go to heaven. (However, according to
scripture, it looks pretty positive) What I do know
is heaven will be wonderful and God cares about us. We
can only trust him that it will work out. This is what
Solomon wrote:
Ecclesiastes
3:19
For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts
is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed,
they all have the same breath and there is no
advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go
to the same place. All came from the dust and all
return to the dust.
Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knows that the breath
of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast
descends downward to the earth?
This is very
interesting! According to Solomon, the wisest man ever
to have lived, he acknowledges that pets
"have a spirit".
The last verse is a question, not a statement! In the
King James version,
"breath"
is translated as
"spirit".
Psalms 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise
the LORD!
Dogs and other pets breath don't they? Who knows? Some
day we may actually see our pets praising the Lord.
(you never know) All I can say is, if Solomon, the
wisest man who ever lived didn't know if pets go to
heaven, then I don't claim to know either. But I can
tell you, it looks pretty good!
The bottom line is,
Solomon acknowledged that pets have a spirit.
(Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and his
wisdom was given to him by God) Solomon essentially
said: no one knows if the spirit of beasts goes
downward. Since the spirit lives on after death, it has
to go somewhere.
I wouldn't believe for
a moment that the spirit of animals would automatically
go to hell. (would you?) I think this is all great news
for us pet lovers. Personally, I'm planning on seeing
them there.
God Bless You
Dan Douglass
|
