Do Furry Friends Wait For Us

Do Furry Friends Wait For Us

Are There Animals In Heaven?

There is place of which nearly everyone believes exist, a place of which the beloved John wrote about. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away..." (Revelation 21:1) Jesus spoke about the present heaven, the place where God resides and a place where there is much joy. (Luke 15:7)

How we feel about heaven, God and Jesus Christ determines how sensitive we are to the Holy Spirit. A heartfelt approach to studying the Biblical truth of heaven will set the focus of our thoughts and fill our hearts with anticipation. Understanding the truths of heaven not only breeds anticipation for the future, it lays down a foundation for us to find comfort when loved ones pass on. Heaven is a place of reunion. (2 Samuel 12:23) When Christians make it to heaven, they will receive a grand welcome. There will be beloved pets in heaven? Let’s look with anticipation what the Bible does tell us.

Animals Have A Soul

The great Greek interrupter of the New Testament, Spiros Zodhiates writes, “All animals have souls. The soul comprehends the spark of life. It also determines the condition of character and the capacity for sensation or feeling. Without the soul, the flesh is dead, inanimate.” (Sickness Why? Healing How? – Page 3 - Spiros Zodhiates,Th.D)

There are a couple passages of Scripture we should grasp as we gain some understanding about God’s creation. “And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” (Genesis 1:30) .” Genesis 2:7 says, “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Some Bibles translate “living creation” as “living soul.”

In an article titled, Do Animals Have Souls? What the Bible Says we read, “The Bible speaks about the soul right away. The translation “living soul” is two Hebrew words (?????? ?ayyah ?????? nep_eš) referring to personality or desire of the soul. The Hebrew word for life in Genesis 1:30 is a word referring to all kinds animals and is parallel with birds of the air. (Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). In The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (p. 331). AMG Publishers. / Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems, Inc.) Now the Hebrew word for “soul” (???? nep_eš) is a feminine noun meaning breath, the inner being with its thoughts and emotions. It encompasses the whole person and is also applied to animals. (Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). In The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (p. 746). AMG Publishers.

In keeping with the theme of this message, just as people’s souls are the life of their thoughts and emotions so it is with animals. Just as you can see in people different personalities, any serious trainer or caretaker of animals can tell you each one has its own personality. When the soul leaves a person or animal their flesh is dead. Here is a truth known by those who walk with the Lord, God is the Author of life and the eternal Creator of everything. To be direct animals have a living soul just like people do.

The Bible records a power truth of the fact animals have a soul which has personality, expressions of feeling in life and loyalty. It is under a preoccupy Balaam’s Donkey. (Numbers 22:22-41) It is recorded history of Balaam, a “wicked prophet” for he knew God but walked in disobedience. During one of his times of living out his sinful nature Balaam was riding His donkey. The Bible says, “But God’s anger was kindled, …and the angel of the Lord took his stand as an adversary.” (Numbers 22:22) There are three recorded accounts of the donkey seeing the angle of the Lord on which the donkey took action to avoid him. (Number 22:23-27) On all three occasions, Balaam beat his donkey.

In Numbers we read of an amazing fact animals have a soul as referred to in this teaching. The Bible says, “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’” (Numbers 22:28) Balaam tells his donkey if he had a sword, he would have killed it. The Biblical account records the donkey saying, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” (Number 22:30) The Bible says, Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.”