Will we meet our pet in heaven?
I remember the day our dog died after having him with us for 8 and a half year. My wife wept for days after we had a simple funeral for him in front of our yard. She kept asking me if we would see him again before Him. Meanwhile we sang "God be with you till we meet again…"
I can not recall if I had any lesson on animal life after death throughout my studies in the Seminary. But a search through the Bible tells me clearly on this. Well, the word "creation" used in Gen. are Bara, Asha and Yatzer but only men and animals are being created with the word "yatzer" while all other creations are either created through "Bara" or "Asha". God formed (yatzer) the man in Gen 2:7 and animals in . This made man and animals unique from other creations.
In Gen 2:7, we read that God breathed (naphach) into his nostrils the breath of life (nephesh) and the man became a living soul. But in Gen , the same words ‘the breath of life’ used in English is from the Hebrew word "Ruah". Interestingly, the Bible uses "Ruah" for men and every creature here indicating both man and animals have the same breath of life or "Ruah".
Further in Gen. 8:22, the verse states that every creature that moves along grounds and the birds of the air including men and animals has the same breath of life. However, it is not the breath of life from “Ruah” but the breath of life from “Nephana” (from the root Naphach) here. This, in effect, reconfirms the earlier verse in Gen. 6:17 that both men and animals do have the same breath of life in both Naphach or Ruah that make them become a living soul.
In other words, the Bible tells us that God created human being and animals in the same manner in terms of having a physical body and a breathing soul.
In Eccl. 3:19, Solomon says, "Man’s fate is like that of the animals; as one die, so dies the other. All have the same breath of life (Ruwach)." He continues in verses 21-22 that, "All go to the same place…Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" It seems animals too have the same spirit after being breathed in with the same breath of life (Ruah) as men.
Here. Solomon is saying that both man and animal will certainly face the same fate of dying. He continues to ask a question if the two will go the same place in heaven. Interestingly, he asked that if animal will go under the earth to hell. This means animal will just not die and end in the ground. There is life beyond.
Further, Ezekiel saw the spirits of the animal too when he recorded it in of his book saying: "…they also stood still and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them."
Here, Ezekiel had a vision in the heaven and he saw the spirit of the animal there. This simply answers Solomon’ query of where will the animal go after death.
Simply put, it would be true that both men and animal receive the same breath of life to become a living soul (spirit). But does this mean that both are in the same category of God’s creature. Another look at the Bible tells us "NO". No, because God created men very specially and distinctively from all of His other creations. The distinction lies in Gen 1:26, "Then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Image may come from the word "Teslem" or "Tselem" which means statue reflecting the three characteristics of God in substantive, relational and functional. Ruler equals to Vice Regent. In short, we are made to be the second hand man of God in His likeness.
Notwithstanding, this does not mean that animals will all perish after their death. With the same breath of life or Soul (Napach and Ruah) as man has, and with what Solomon pondered and Ezekiel saw, I told my wife this, Yes’, honey we will see him one day when we meet at Jesus’ feet.