Do Animals go to Heaven? Scripture is not specific on what happens to animals when they die. A couple years ago I was speaking to a lady who said she did not believe in God because she was told animals didn't go to heaven and she didn't accept a god that wouldn't let her seven cats be with her there. I had to admit that I didn’t know any scripture that specified what the fate of animals were and had to go back to God’s Word to find out.
During the creation account it says that God breathed the breath of life into man (Genesis 2:7), yet it doesn't say this about animals. But it does say this:
Genesis 6:17
"Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
Genesis 7:15
So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
Genesis 7
21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;
22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
In each of these cases it is made clear that the animals (the ones that went two by two) do indeed have the breath of life in them as does man. Also, in Gen 1:24, the Hebrew of the word used for 'creature' is “nepish” which means soul. Then there is this:
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22 18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
This says man and animals have the same fate, the same breath, and go to the same place. This is not speaking specifically of the first death as verse 21 speaks specifically of man and animals spirit going up (heaven) or down (hell). So it would seem that animals do have the breath of life, a soul and spirit and that their fate is the same as ours which is to rise upward or go down.
Then, Romans 8:19-22 shows that ALL of creation groans and waits for the day "that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. "
Romans 8:19 - The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Romans 8:20 - For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
Romans 8:21 - that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Romans 8:22 - We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
These verses speak not simply of man but of creation as a whole. “(T)he creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom…” This would include animals. And as a final thought, angles of the apocalypse and Jesus Himself ride horses FROM Heaven in Revelation. So there has to be at least five horses in Heaven, why would He forbid entrance to the rest?
In His service... Arthur Smith
Do Animals go to Heaven? Scripture is not specific on what happens to animals when they die. A couple years ago I was speaking to a lady who said she did not believe in God because she was told animals didn't go to heaven and she didn't accept a god that wouldn't let her seven cats be with her there. I had to admit that I didn’t know any scripture that specified what the fate of animals were and had to go back to God’s Word to find out.
During the creation account it says that God breathed the breath of life into man (Genesis 2:7), yet it doesn't say this about animals. But it does say this:
Genesis 6:17
"Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
Genesis 7:15
So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
Genesis 7
21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;
22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
In each of these cases it is made clear that the animals (the ones that went two by two) do indeed have the breath of life in them as does man. Also, in Gen 1:24, the Hebrew of the word used for 'creature' is “nepish” which means soul. Then there is this:
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22 18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
This says man and animals have the same fate, the same breath, and go to the same place. This is not speaking specifically of the first death as verse 21 speaks specifically of man and animals spirit going up (heaven) or down (hell). So it would seem that animals do have the breath of life, a soul and spirit and that their fate is the same as ours which is to rise upward or go down.
Then, Romans 8:19-22 shows that ALL of creation groans and waits for the day "that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. "
Romans 8:19 - The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Romans 8:20 - For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
Romans 8:21 - that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Romans 8:22 - We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
These verses speak not simply of man but of creation as a whole. “(T)he creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom…” This would include animals. And as a final thought, angles of the apocalypse and Jesus Himself ride horses FROM Heaven in Revelation. So there has to be at least five horses in Heaven, why would He forbid entrance to the rest?
In His service... Arthur Smith
