Will Our Pets Go to Heaven?

This is a picture of my cat Cagney. She died some time ago and I still miss her smiling face. She was a very gentle little soul and was as tiny as a kitten. She was about 15 when she died and yet for her entire life, she never weighed more than five pounds. Not because she was sick, but because she was small. We rescued her from Animal control and she was a welcome addition to our family.

I was thinking about her (and a few of the other pets I've had over the years) today, when I came across something interesting in Genesis. Here is the verse I found in the 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society) edition:

...all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, whatsoever was in the dry land, died.  - Genesis 7:22, JPS

A little background on this verse - this is about the time when Noah was safe in the ark with his family and all the animals. This particular verse was about all the animals who did not make it onto the ark. At first, I didn't notice anything unusual about the verse. I've read it so many times I almost glossed over it. But I have made it a habit to read my Bible along with other translations and that's when I noticed it. The part that was removed from the KJV, the ESV and the NIV (among others, but later put back into the NKJV) did not include the word "spirit." This is how it looked instead:

Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. - Genesis 7:22, NIV

In the Torah, the word "spirit" is included. But in some Christian Bibles instead of "the breath of the spirit of life" it now reads "the breath of life." That got my attention for a couple of reasons. First, I wondered why the "powers that be" would leave out the word "spirit." And second, I wondered what that meant for all my furry friends. So once again I began digging a little deeper and learned more about "the breath of life" than I thought possible.  Let's start with a few words and their Hebrew meanings:

Breath - Neshamah
Means breath or soul.
It is the animating force that gives
​ us the power to be alive.
In other words,  God's breath gives us our
​"Neshamah" or soul.

Spirit - Ruach
Can mean wind, breath, mind or spirit.
 It is the life and power of God.

When God created Adam He created him from the dust of the ground and "...breathed into his nostrils the breath (neshamah) of life; and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7, emphasis mine). Genesis 2:19 says, "Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air..." So we have established that both man and beast were formed from the ground. We are told that God breathed into Adam's nostrils "the breath (neshamah) of life" but did He do the same thing for animals? According to Genesis 7:22, it would seem He did. 

​...all in whose nostrils was the breath (neshamah) of the spirit (ruach) of life, whatsoever was in the dry land, died.  - Genesis 7:22, JPS, emphasis mine.

In Ezekiel 37:5, the Hebrew word used for breath is ruach: "Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live." 

In Genesis 7:15, ruach is again used for the word breath: "And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life."

Genesis 7:15 refers only to animals, and Ezekiel 37:5 refers only to man. Which implies that the spirit/ruach of God, is  a direct requirement for the life of both man and animals. This makes sense because God is the author and creator of all life.

So I wondered why the Hebrew word for breath, "Neshamah," was not used in these verses. It would certainly imply that God gave everything the "breath of life," the ability to live and breathe and exist. But it wasn't. Instead, the word for spirit "Ruach" was used. Why? 

Well, I'm going to throw this out into the universe and maybe we can all figure this out together. But here is what I have discovered. We know that animals "feel." Elephants will weep and grieve over the loss of a mate, child, or place. Dogs and even cats have sensed danger. Dogs mourn the loss of their companions/masters and rejoice when they return. Even lions have been known to protect the innocent against evil. God himself has used animals for his own purposes. He made a donkey talk in Numbers 22:28 and He commanded the ravens to feed Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-6. Daniel was not hurt when he was thrown into a pit of lions, but God shut their mouths (Daniel 6:22). Like the lions who protected a 12-year old girl from her abductors by guarding her, the lions in the den with Daniel knew they should not harm him.

God has given animals the ability to feel empathy, to exhibit joy and happiness, to learn, think and love. Coco the Gorilla even mourned the loss of her friend Robin Williams when she learned he had died. While humans may be able to reason on a higher level, animals are still able to sort out obstacles and reason according to their level of intelligence. It is safe to say that every animal is unique and has a personality, just as every human is unique with their own individual personalities. This suggests that God has given them souls - Neshamah. And here is where I'm stuck, because the words used in Genesis 7:22 were Neshamah for soul, and Ruach for spirit. Which could be one of two things - the phrase "the spirit of life" is akin to saying something like "that's the spirit!" or it suggests something entirely new and different and one that most scholars would decry. That not only do animals have souls, but the spirit of God resides in all animals the same as it does in all humans.

But that's impossible! Animals cannot make decisions in regards to receiving God's Holy Spirit. They are not capable of such decisions. And yet, we know animals have risked their lives (laid them down in some cases) to save a human being or even another animal. Would God ignore such a sacrifice? 

Putting this in another perspective - Hebrews 9:22 states that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Why? Because "life" is in the blood. And all life is valuable because all life comes from God. Before Jesus laid down his life as the ultimate sacrifice, it was animals who were sacrificed by the Jewish people in the Temple, in order to deal with the problem of sin. Why animals? What did they do wrong? That's the million dollar question right there, isn't it? They did nothing wrong! They died in the place of the one offering the sacrifice. It was their blood that made atonement for the sins of the people. Not only did they have to be spotless, but they were innocent - not guilty of sin.  This is why Jesus was the ultimate  sacrifice for sin in the world. He also was spotless and innocent before the Lord, having never sinned. 

But when we factor in the fact that God's animals have the "breath of the spirit of life" within them, we immediately see how holy and precious these sacrifices were to God. Those who killed the animals were unable to escape the fact that they were responsible for the death of a creature to whom God had given a soul. A creature who had within them the breath of God. Luke 3:6, which talks about John the Baptist, quotes from Isaiah that "all flesh will see the salvation of God." All flesh. 

Now some of you may say, "What about the bad animals who attack humans? Like alligators or lions or bears?" Animals who attack humans are usually reacting in self-defence. Or their hunting instincts have kicked in order to survive. We have that instinct to survive too. That is not a sin. However, just as we must give an accounting before God, animals who kill humans will also have to give an accounting before Him. Why? Because animals are subject to man. (Genesis 1:26; Genesis 9:5).

All of creation fell into sin when Adam ate the forbidden fruit, and yet it was all of creation God made His covenant with when Noah and his family came out of the ark. A promise not to destroy His creation again through a flood (Genesis 9:9-10). If God had no regard for His animals He could have left them out of this covenant. But He did not. 

So, do animals have souls? Yes! According to the Scriptures they do. Do they praise God and worship Him? Yes, according to the Scriptures they do (Revelation 5:13).

Do they need to be saved in order to enter heaven? No. Why would they need to be? The rules for animals are not the same as they are for us. It was humans who sinned in the garden and condemned all of creation. It was for humans God had to create a plan with which to save them and it is humans who refuse to trust in God's plan of salvation for them. It is humans who continue to destroy creation to the point where we'll be lucky if this world is still around in the next twenty years. Animals are unfortunately, victims of humanity.

Does God love animals? Yes. Will we see our pets in heaven? Our God loves all that He created and saw that it was all good. He loves His creation and He is full of mercy towards them. Not one sparrow falls without Him knowing it (Matthew 10:29-30). So why would He not gather them to Himself at the end of their days?

The following verses therefore give me hope that we will indeed see our pets and more in heaven:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. - Isaiah 11:6-9

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord. - Isaiah 65:25

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. - Job 12:7-10

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” - Revelation 5:13

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. - Psalm 36:6

And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. - Genesis 1:25

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. - Romans 8:19-22

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. - Luke 3:6

For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? - Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. - Ecclesiastes 12:7

​And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. - Genesis 9:5

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. - Psalm 50:10-11

For nothing will be impossible with God.- Luke 1:37