Bible Question:
Do animals go to heaven? Do our pets go to heaven?
Bible Answer:
Many people want to know, “Do all dogs go to heaven?” and “Do animals go to heaven?” This article will answer both questions. You are going to discover that God cares for our animals more than we do. But will our animals or pets go to heaven? The Bible has some important things to say about animals!
God Cares for Every Animal
Perhaps the two most important passages in the Bible about animals are Genesis 1:20-25 and Psalm 50:10-11. In Genesis 1:20-25 we are told that God created all the animals. He created the fish, birds and every land animal. Then He declared all of them to be good.
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:20-25 (NASB)
This means that God is pleased with them. Then in Psalm 5:10-11 we are told that God says He owns all of the animals.
“For every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.”
Psalm 50:10-11 (NASB)
In Deuteronomy 25:4 God demonstrates His love and care for the animals when He tells us to allow an animal to eat while it is working the field. We are not to be abusive to them. We are to love them as God loves them. 1 Corinthians 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:17-18 repeat Deuteronomy 25:4. Why would God allow the verse to be repeated? First, He teaches us a principle and then applies that principle even to humans. God is concerned about oxen!
You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. Deuteronomy 25:4 (NASB)
A favorite verse of many Christians is Proverbs 12:10. In this verse God commands us to be compassionate to our animals and not cruel.
A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast,
But the compassion of the wicked is cruel. Proverbs 12:10 (NASB)
Other passages that reveal God loves and cares for the animals of the world are Psalm 36:6; Psalm 104:24-25 and Matthew 6:26. Matthew 6:30 says that God even clothes the flowers. Therefore, only wicked people are cruel to animals. Children are often cruel to insects and animals. They should always be trained to respect, care for and love their pets and all animals. We should never abuse the animals God has given to us, since they are His property.
Do Animals Go to Heaven?
Now that we know God loves and cares about the animals, we can answer the question, “Do animals go to heaven?” The Bible teaches us that Man was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:22; 5:1). Genesis 3:22 hints that only humans know the difference between good and evil. Humans are not like the animals (1 Corinthians 15:38-40).
Scripture says that only men and women have spirits (1 Corinthians 15:45-46), and it is men and women who go to heaven (John 3:16) or hell (John 3:17-18). The Bible teaches that man has a body, spirit and soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Bible never says that animals have spirits. Thus when they die, animals cease to exist. Animals do not go to heaven. But scripture has made it clear that men and women will live eternally either in heaven or in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14-15). Therefore while our God loves and cares for animals while they are alive, they do not go to heaven, nor do they go to hell. But men and women who do not believe in Christ will to hell. For those who have chosen to reject Christ will pay the ultimate penalty! Those who believe in Christ will go to heaven.
Conclusion:
Scripture does not give us answers to all of our questions. God has created mankind in His image. He created humans in His image (Genesis 1:26; 2:7). Since the Bible does not say there are animals in heaven, we do not know if there will be animals in heaven. Based upon the testimony of Scripture it appears that there will not be any animals in heaven. Animals do not have spirits.
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