Dogs and Cats Living Together

During our recent visit to see family in the Midwest, my sister introduced Karen and me to a cute little video game she has been playing called Pet Rescue. In it, you try to “rescue” various animals by removing blocks of different colors from underneath them. As the blocks vanish, the pets drop to the ground and “escape.” The levels get a lot more complicated than that, but you get the idea. We downloaded it to our Kindle Fire, and have enjoyed playing it in between other activities.

While playing a round of the game, I thought about the question of pets being rescued – or in other words, saved. We often make great efforts to save animals from physical dangers (such as from hot cars, house fires, diseases, and abuse), but the question is often asked whether animals are saved from the ultimate danger, death itself. In other words, will animals (especially the pets we love) have eternal life? Will all dogs (and cats!) go to heaven? And if so, what about my pet frogs or your pet tarantula?

Lots of people have weighed in on the question, either in the affirmative or in the negative. A quick on-line search yielded over 6.7 million hits, enough to make me question whether I have anything new to add to the discussion. But, after carefully reading all 6.7 million articles (yeah, right) I will toss in some comments on where I am in the debate, mainly because it’s been on my mind, and because over the years a number of people have asked my opinion about this. Besides, I think it’s worth talking about. Animals – especially our pets – are important to us, and for some people, their love for their pets makes it hard to imagine heaven without them.

So here goes . . .

First of all, we have to recognize that in eternity, the glorious Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be all we need.

First of all, we have to recognize that in eternity, the glorious Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be all we need. To be in his presence, surrounded by his glory and filled with his love and peace, we will not need anyone or anything else: Paul writes in Philippians 3:8-9, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him . . .” God is sufficient for all our wants and needs, and will be so forever. Our focus will be on him, worshiping and praising him and not missing anything from this life that seemed so important to us while we were here. That doesn’t mean there won’t be animals there; it just means we won’t need for them to be, and if they’re not we’ll be just fine without them.

That said, I do believe that there will be animals in eternity, in the new heavens and new earth proclaimed in Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22, and Revelation 21:1. While I cannot say this “cat”agorically or “dog”matically, I do have a scriptural basis for my understanding:

1. Genesis 1 states that God created all life, including the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all the land animals. They were designed purposefully and made to reproduce after their own kinds. Scripture also tells us that God is a God of the living (Luke 20:38), which at least opens the possibility that these creatures of his making may one day live again. Otherwise, did God create them to be forever extinct?
2. There are numerous passages that speak of animals in God’s kingdom living at peace with each other and with mankind. Isaiah 11:6 says, “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.” Similarly, Isaiah 65:25 says, “‘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.” While I understand such passages to be figures of speech that convey symbolically the spiritual truth that all will be at peace and reconciled in God, the use of animals as the proof of that coming time of peace may be more than just symbolic. One cannot prove that they are only symbolic. And then there’s the white horse which Christ will ride . . . (Rev. 19:11-14)
   
3. Why do animals even die at all? We understand that they die for the same reason we humans do: it is part of the curse which God placed on all creation on account of mankind’s sin in Genesis 3. Paul says in Romans 5 that death entered into the world through the sin of Adam. While he is speaking primarily of human death, he also speaks of all creation under the same curse: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:19-22). But when you get to Revelation 22 and its picture of the new heaven and earth, you read that the curse has been removed (verse 3). With the removal of the curse there are no longer any tears or death or pain. So if all creation is freed from the curse of sin and its effects, why not the animals too?
4. Animals are a testimony to God’s wisdom, intelligence, and power. Paul writes in Romans 1:20, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” If all creation show the divine nature and power of God and glorify him now, then why should the glory of God be less revealed in eternity? Animals, especially, are wondrous examples of God’s creative genius, created for Christ’s glory (Colossians 1) as much as were the stars and planets. In fact, when God dealt with an uppity man named Job who questioned God’s actions, God defended his own divine sovereignty by citing two of the mighty animals which he had created. In Job 40:15-19, the Lord said, “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you . . . He is the first of the works of God;” and in Job 41 he described a sea creature named Leviathan – another testimony to God’s power. I hope to see those two creatures – and more – in heaven and to marvel at the One who created them!
5. The Bible does not deny the presence of animals in heaven, which would end the discussion right there if it did. On the other hand, it does speak of non-human creatures there: cherubim, seraphim, angels, and the “four living creatures” (Revelation 4:6-9 and six other chapters). So, there is a place and a purpose there for other creatures besides us human beings.
6. Animals are not moral agents. They cannot sin and will not be assigned to eternal punishment as will the devil, his angels, and those humans not written in the Book of Life. Their use in Old Testament sacrifices was due to their sinless, innocent blood being shed for the sake of the guilty; all as a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus Christ for the sake of guilty mankind. The only judgment on animals was in the Flood as a result of mankind’s unrestrained wickedness, and afterwards, when God pronounced capital punishment on men and animals who killed a human; and that was because man was created in God’s image (Genesis 9:5-6). My point here is that nothing in God’s righteousness or justice requires him to destroy all animal life forever.
7. Finally, our resurrection will be a physical, bodily raising. Though our bodies will be changed to be spiritual in some way, we will inhabit a new physical reality, and not float around like ghosts for eternity. There will be a place for animals in the new earth, where they and we can enjoy each other in the ways that God intended when he created us. Interestingly, Martin Luther was once asked by a child whether her dog would be allowed in Heaven. He gently patted the dog’s head and said, “Be comforted, little dog, you too in the Resurrection shall have a tail of gold.”

Again, the presence of animals in heaven is my opinion, and though I think I’m right, I will have no animosity (animalosity?) against those who believe otherwise. We’ll find out together one day, as we sit talking with our pets on our laps or at our feet, enjoying the wonders of heaven and the new earth together.

We’ll find out together one day, as we sit talking with our pets on our laps or at our feet, enjoying the wonders of heaven and the new earth together.

Of course, even if I’m right, there are plenty of unanswered questions that remain: will the animals be our exact same pets, or just other animals like them? Will animals all be plant-eaters, or will they need food at all? What about flies, mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas (or will they all be sent to hell to torment the devil)? What about T-rex? Oh well, we’ll just have to wait and see . . . maybe it will be like the famous line from Ghostbusters (1984) when the heroes spoke of the coming disaster of “biblical proportions”: “Old Testament, real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes . . . The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together . . . mass hysteria!”

Dogs and cats living together? Come to think of it, my sister already has one of each living with her in her home, so maybe the time is almost here!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Job 38 – 41