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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
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