Exploring Biblical truths for animals
When I was a child and a family pet died, my mother would tell me that we’d see him/her again in Heaven. She’d talk about the rainbow bridge that all animals pass over, how they were no longer old or in pain, and how all the other animals were there waiting to welcome our beloved pet. I believed her, and it made sense to me as a child. When I got older and became a dog mom myself the question became more and more relevant…. do our pets actually go to Heaven? Do all animals go to Heaven? What about the ones we eat, or the ones we euthanize? After looking, praying, and listening for some time, I’ve come to the conclusion that (yet again) my mother was right: animals certainly do go to Heaven.
The subject is not directly mentioned throughout the Bible, although we do know that salvation occurs through choice. Some have argued that animals cannot find salvation because they are incapable of making the choice to devote their hearts to Christ. The logic is flawed here though: HUMANS make the choice to follow Christ and gain salvation. The Bible is written for humans. We don’t know what covenant, if any, God has made with the animal kingdom. Yes, animals have free will, but animals can only live in love and instinct. Animals cannot commit evil – even the violence that animals show toward each other is not evil, rather it is out of fear or instinct. Instinct alleviates choice; evil is based on it.
Why are animals not capable of evil? That answer is simple – animals are still in the image that God created for them. Animals never fell, as humans did when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2). Animals have no knowledge of evil, as humans do. Therefore, they don’t commit sin as humans do, so their covenant with God is different from that of humans.
In terms of love, animals seek humans to bond with, along with other animals as well. Unlikely pairs of animals have bonded (dogs and elephants, anyone? Youtube it!) and animals have saved the lives of humans time and time again. Humans were given charge over animals in Genesis, and when humans fall short of this, animals feel fear. When humans take care of animals as they should, animals feel love and loyalty.
Let’s turn now to the Bible itself. Each verse below outlines that God loves all of His creatures, depicts a Heaven where wolves and sheep graze together, and says that all flesh will see the salvation of God:
Genesis 1:20-21 “And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems, and moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good”. Genesis 1:24 goes on to say “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind”. Finally, Genesis 1:26 says “Then God said, “let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground”. What does this tell us? Humans were made in the image of God, but we know that humans fell shortly thereafter. We know that God created animals before creating man, but yet established man’s rule over the wellbeing of animals.
Genesis 6:19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.”
Genesis 9:9-10 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. Genesis 9:16 “When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Isaiah 11:6-9 “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 65:25 “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.”
Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Luke 3:6 “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Job 12:7-10 “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”
Ephesians 1:10 “As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
1 Corinthians 15:39 “For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.”
Revelation 5:13 “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!”
Proverbs 12:10 “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”
Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein”
Psalm 36:6 states “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice is like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord”
Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!