Do pets / animals go to heaven? Do pets / animals have souls?

In Ecc. 3:21 we hear also of the "spirit of the beast," for the beast has soul and spirit suited to its nature. The soul is the seat of will for every living creature; the spirit is its capacity. But for the beast all goes "downward to the earth," not body only, but soul and spirit, having not only a will but also a faculty of its own. But as to man, his spirit (and so of course soul) "goes upward; "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Other animals when produced breathed the breath of life; man was formed externally, as clay by the potter, but did not breathe, till God gave him distinctly and immediately His own breath. Thus did he alone on earth become a living soul, the body mortal, the soul never said so to be, but what is said implying the contrary. Hence is man alone of earthly beings responsible to God. Thus the seat of his individuality and responsibility is in his soul, though the spirit, his inner capacity, goes along with it, greatly enhancing that responsibility; and the body is the outer man, a vessel for serving God or Satan, as the inner man directs.

The beast on the other hand is, and has, a soul. In the margin of Gen. 1:30 you may read as to the lower creatures, "everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul." The animal life is one of sense, emotion, instinct, often very wonderful, and in its results sometimes apparently superior to reason itself. But even this shows the difference. If there is no defect, there is no improvement. A bird builds its nest from the first just as it builds its last. The economy of a bee-hive or an ant-hill, with all its marvels of architecture and political combination, never alters in the least. They fill the place God has given them without exhibiting any traces of a fall, of an imperfect condition such as man's work so constantly exhibits: incapable of a place with God such as could admit of a fall at all. Yet these are souls — "living souls" — not immortal, of course, nor human souls, but not merely perfect organisms either; not merely material machines, or automata. Materialism is as far as possible from getting any countenance from Scripture.

It is not merely that all the rest of the animal kingdom were put under man here below, but he alone had his life direct from above. "Jehovah Elohim breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." No other animal became a living soul thus. Man, and man alone, enjoyed the breath of Jehovah Elohim. Such is the true source of the immortality of the soul; this is the reason why man alone stands in direct moral responsibility to God, and must give account of the things done in the body to that God who thus gave him his soul and spirit. In the case of a beast, though possessed of a spirit, it goes downward and not to God, because God never breathed into it. The living principle of a beast, in other words, perishes, because it is a mere question of what is connected by God's will with its material organisation. Therefore an irrational animal when it dies perishes, but in man's case there is a soul and a spirit which abide distinct in origin from the body, having a far more intimate connection with God Himself. Accordingly therefore, the soul partakes of an immortality which the mere body, alive here below in its own nature, does not possess. This was a physical question of the will of God, but that was a thing which indelibly and intrinsically belonged to the soul and spirit. Therefore it is that the body of man will be raised up in the resurrection to be reunited to that soul and spirit, and so every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

It is not merely that all the rest of the animal kingdom were put under man here below, but he alone had his life direct from above. "The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." No other animal became a living soul thus. Man and man alone enjoyed the breath of the Lord God. Such is the true source of the immortality of the soul; and this is the reason why man alone stands in direct moral responsibility to God, and must give account of the things done in the body to that God who thus gave his soul and spirit. In the case of a beast, though he has a spirit, it goes downward, not to God, because God never breathed so into it. The living principle of a beast, I mean, perishes, because it is a mere question of what is connected by God's will with its material organization. Therefore an irrational animal, when it dies, perishes; but in man's case there is a soul and spirit, which abide distinct in origin from the body, having a far more intimate connection with God Himself. Accordingly, therefore, the soul partakes of an immortality which the mere body, alive here below in its own nature, does not possess. This was a question of the will of God, but that was a thing which indelibly and intrinsically belonged to the soul and spirit; and therefore it is that the body of man will be raised up in the resurrection to be reunited to that soul and spirit, and so every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Man is different from every other moving thing. God made him in His own image, so that Man's spirit lives forever, and never dies. A dog or a cow has no spirit that lives forever. Your body is like a house in which your spirit lives. If you get sick and die, it is as if your house is destroyed. Then you must move to another place. If your spirit leaves your body, where will it go? Your body can be buried in the grave, but not your spirit. Where will it go? There are two places; one is Heaven, the other is Hell. The Lord Jesus is the Door to Heaven; He says Himself: "I am the door, by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved." (John 10:9)

How vivid the picture revelation even then drew, when only the first man stands before us, not as now the Second man in Christ risen and glorified! The world was not so old in wickedness when the wise king reigned and preached; nor was it of heathen only he spoke, but of the favoured people too. Alas! Christendom has only brought in more subtilty in impiety and unrighteousness for all professors who are not born anew. Outwardly, and this is what he speaks of here, the same end of death awaits men and beasts. It is avowedly but what is under the sun. The veil is not removed. Yet he takes care to raise the question: who knows the spirit of the sons of men that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth? If man knows not with certainty, and hence is prone to vain discussion, God not only knows but has revealed fully by and in our Lord Jesus, Who brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel. If man is bad, and he surely is, God is good beyond all creature measure; and as this was always true, so it is now proved perfectly in Christ.

Verses 16-22. The thought of judgment expressed in verse 15 is now more fully taken up. It seems as if a ray of light now breaks in. There must be from the side of God's judgment. Under the sun he saw in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there also. Then he said in his heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked." He draws the conclusion that the present injustice must be dealt with by God. But here he stops short. He may surmise, but certainly he has not. Instead of advancing in his searchings as a natural man he comes back to his old wail of vanity. "I said in mine heart, it is because of the sons of men that God may prove them, and that they may see they themselves are but as beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beasts: for all is vanity." It shows that as far as life beyond the present is concerned all is darkness for man. He may have "eternity set in his heart", but he has no light. Death comes alike to man and beast; they die and are gone, hence the conclusion, "man hath no pre-eminence above the beast." But man has, as the revelation of God teacheth. But here we do not listen to God's revelation but to the searchings and observations of man only. The natural man knows, "all" men and beasts "go to one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." Then there is just a faint suggestion of something which might be beyond the grave. The correct rendering of verse 21 is, "who knoweth whether the spirit of man goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast goeth downward to the earth?" Man and beast share the same being, draw breath in the same way, spring from the dust, return to the dust, but who can give assurance that the spirit of man really goeth upward? Who knoweth if this is really true. Who has come back and told us the truth about it? Who knoweth? Such is still the cry of the natural man with all his boasted discoveries and research. Finally he reacheth the same goal as Koheleth--all is vanity. Oh! blessed truth as given by revelation and above all in the person of our Lord and His precious gospel! Man indeed has the pre-eminence and is not like the beast that perisheth. Redeemed by Him who became man, to die for our sins, not only the spirit of the redeemed goeth upward but in its time the body will leave the dust and be changed like unto the glorious body of Him, who as glorified man sits at the right hand of God.

It is well to remark here, that the subject of this book is not the judgment of the secrets of all hearts in the great day, but the government of God with respect to men on the earth. This is the case, moreover, with all the prophets. We may observe, also, that God reveals Himself in this book as God the Creator — Elohim. We know that even the creatures still groan under the effects of our sin; and they share also the kindness and the compassion of God. His tender mercies are over them. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him. The day will come when the curse shall be removed, and they shall enjoy the liberty of the glory of the children of God, set free from bondage and corruption. If God becomes our Father, He takes also the character of Jehovah, who will judge Israel, and who will accomplish His promises and His purposes with respect to them in spite of the whole world. He never ceases to be the Creator God. He does not lay aside one of His characters in order to assume another, any more than He confounds them together; for they reveal His nature, and what He is.

What the apostle says is this: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. Now here he evidently is entirely occupied with the effect of sin in bringing man under death, as the beginning of death declares. Neither in Genesis nor in Romans is anything said of the beasts. In both, men alone are spoken of as the specific subject. In Genesis, and to that the apostle refers, it is a sentence previously pronounced on man. When man was created, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, a thing never said of beasts. Death was pronounced in case of failure. As far as any other testimonies go, the New Testament rather speaks of beasts, as indeed does the Old, as perishing beings — "The beasts that perish." Ps. 49. Peter says, "Natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed." 2 Peter 2:12. Now I grant this does not positively prove anything, because the psalmist and apostle may refer to their present condition. But it shews how little ground there is for the objection. For with a holy wisdom, the word of God does not answer our curiosity, but leaves beasts as they are before our eyes. We are told, indeed, that the creature has got into misery and ruin by our fall, and, as a system, will not be restored till we are manifested in glory; and this is true even of our bodies. This was morally important for us to know, that we might be humbled by the sense of the way in which we had dragged down subordinate creation with us — encouraged by the thought that our glory would be the occasion of the restoration of the blessing. But no further curiosity is indulged.*

The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, as well as the fowls of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The subsequent prophetic word and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.