“Do you think that our pets will be in heaven?” That is a great question given the popularity and passion of a pet culture in our Western society. There is also a great deal of sensitivity surrounding that question as well. That question cannot be limited to cats and dogs only! A larger, more impersonal question is what about all the animals since the beginning of time that are not deemed as pets? Do they only qualify for heaven if they are considered pets? What about all the marine life, for example?
Will
pets of those people who are not going to heaven be in heaven, too? If we are
raptured, will our pets go to heaven with us? If we die before our pets, will
they go to heaven when they die? What happens to our pets if they die before we
do? Will they be in heaven waiting on us? Someone might say in frustration, “I
don’t know; God will work out the logistics! All I know is that I believe our
pets will be in heaven, ok!?” It can be a touchy subject, and people will get mad at you if you tell them otherwise!
You can understand how the answer concerning whether pets are in heaven or not can spiral into silliness when Scripture is silent. Do you ever find yourself kind of blaming God for leaving us to fend for the truth of it? Now we're running on our feelings or the I-think (opinion), and our emotions have commandeered our intellect, convincing ourselves that if we feel strongly about something, it must be true; it has to be true!
Just how deep does that rabbit hole go anyway? Only Yahweh knows, but I don’t think He had left us completely in the dark in the matter. Even if He did, Yahweh has done nothing wrong; I trust in His decision-making, to remain silent or to speak, don’t you? Oh, that we would be so wise (cf. Jas 3:3-5)!
This,
my friends, is always a dangerous practice. Whenever the Scriptures are silent
on a subject, we must be careful not to go noisy and be assertive to the point
of accusing others who have a dissenting opinion as being insensitive and
uncaring! If Scripture is silent on a matter, it is not because Yahweh is ambivalent
or indifferent. We have to look at the larger context of Scripture truth and
see if there are any elements that lend support to our thinking in a matter. The
objective truth of God’s Word should be our guide, not our feelings (cf. Jdg
21:25). Allowing our emotions to run with it always opens up the proverbial can
of worms.
It would be dishonest for me to go down that track though I love my cat. What do we do when we come across issues not directly mentioned in Scripture? Well, the prudent thing to do is to look for any indirect references in the matter at hand, or we could use an already established principle from Scripture to help us deal with our question/s. We may discover that our feelings are unfounded or cannot be justified by the Word.
Then
it comes down to a simple trust in Yahweh. He is our sovereign Lord, yes? And
the Word of God is our rule of life, right? God will always do right toward us!
We cannot hold Yahweh accountable or accuse Him of unfairness or unloving; uh,
He is the Creator God who is all-powerful, yes? It is Yahweh who holds all to
accountability, not the other way around. He will tell us when it is our time
to go like He does our pets. It would be arrogant and sinful for us to think
otherwise.
What
I will say to you at this juncture is that I am not going to declare that it is
impossible for our pets to end up in heaven, but more than likely, it is not
going to happen. And I will run a few things by you for your consideration. I
will tread upon the silence carefully looking for anything that might give us a
clue supporting the idea or leading us to believe that our pets are going to
heaven.
I am not trying to be insensitive in this matter because again, I want my current and former pets in heaven with me, too, which is why I am going to some length in sharing my love of pets with you! With that said, I am still not convinced I will see my pets in glory with me. Truthfully, it does sadden me.
Oh, how I would love to say a resounding, yes, our
pets will be in heaven, too! But I am not persuaded that is going to happen.
Before you cut me off and move on, recall that inane country song, “If Heaven
ain’t a lot like Dixie I’d just as soon stay home?” You may think Dixie is
heaven compared to anywhere else in the world, but thank God that heaven is not
patterned after what a creature thinks it should be!
I
personally know people who think along those same lines, “If my pets ain’t going
to Heaven, I’d just as soon stay home!” Think of what you are saying to Yahweh!
This is egregious to the holiness of God who so loved the world He gave His
only begotten Son! Such statements are so blatantly stupid that I am quickly
coming to the conclusion that you really can’t fix stupid, only God can, and He
is not going to run roughshod over someone’s will. Theoretically, who
would trade in Jesus for their pet in eternity? I know of some! This is how
spiritual blindness thinks; it doesn’t.
I
want to be where Jesus is; don’t you? I can say with a high degree of certainty
that no animals are destined for the lake of fire, but all who follow after
Satan will be if they reject Yahweh’s offer of salvation!
Now,
I am not so naïve to believe that you will embrace my opinion on the matter because
it doesn’t say anywhere in Scripture about “pets” being in heaven; there is a whole lot of assuming going on because of our emotional investment. I will
testify that my feelings are invested in my cat, but I keep that love in
perspective; animals are not people.
Nowhere
are we commanded to love our pets, but we are definitely not allowed to abuse
them either. I think it is natural to bond with our pets and take care of them;
Yahweh knows this, but the second command which is based on the first command
takes precedence over all animals.
There
is this one illustration in Scripture of a story told by Nathan the prophet to
King David after the king had an illicit relationship with Bathsheba. See what
you make of the example given to David,
(2Sa 12:1) Then
the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: There were
two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
(2Sa 12:2) The
rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
(2Sa 12:3) But
the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought
and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate
of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was
like a daughter to him.
(2Sa 12:4) And a
traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from
his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he
took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.
(2 Sa 12:5) So
David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, As
the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!
(2 Sa 12:6) And
he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because
he had no pity.
(2 Sa 12:7) Then
Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel:
I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
(2 Sa 12:8) I
gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and
gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little,
I also would have given you much more!
(2 Sa 12:9) Why
have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You
have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be
your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
(2 Sa 12:10) Now
therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have
despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
We got a pet owner on the biblical record, folks! I think that this is our only example of a pet owner in the context of what we are talking about here. One thing is for certain, I am not going to drink out of the same cup as my cat (v.3)!
There were more repercussions from David’s disobedience to Yahweh, but it is in vv.1-5 that one little ewe lamb was embraced as a pet to this poor man. David having experienced being a shepherd of his father’s flocks while growing up, and a greater shepherd role as king, you can understand why Nathan’s story provoked David to no end in v.5-6. Yahweh through Nathan plucked all over David’s heartstrings! Judgment was around the bend. <><
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