By: Robert Serreyn
Question? This might seem dumb, Do animals have spirits?
Answer:
No, on both accounts.
There is NEVER a dumb question when it comes to wanting to KNOW an answer from the Word of God, the ONLY dumb question is the one that is NOT ASKED.
As much we would like to be able to see our beloved pet again someday this WILL NOT BE for animals have a SOUL (life) but not a spirit such as you and I do.
(Psalms 32:9) Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
The word UNDERSTANDING in Psalms 32:9 is the Hebrew word BIYN and means INTELLIGENCE, in other words NO SPIRIT.
Contrast that with what it says in Job 32:8:
(Job 32:8) But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
The word UNDERSTANDING is the SAME Hebrew word ( BIYN) used in Psalms 32:9 and means INTELLIGENCE or has a SPIRIT.
The SPIRIT(our intelligence) is what SEPARATES us from the animal kingdom. Certain animals SEEM to be what we call SMART or HAVE INTELLIGENCE but that is just a term we use to express how well they can be trained to do things and some animals like dogs for example can do AMAZING tricks or a parrot that SEEMS to have a LARGE vocabulary.
Animals ACT UPON their emotions and appetites by INSTINCT but no intelligence.
Animals like you and I they have a body and a soul (life) and they feel happy, sad, pain when they hurt, get angry and even dream in their sleep, but this is the ONLY LIFE they will know, when upon death they will cease to exist.
(Ecclesiastes 3:21) Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
– The Spirit of Man that Goeth Upward = ETERNAL
– The Spirit of the Beast Goeth Downward = TEMPORAL
God has given us the responsibility to be kind to the animal and by this I mean not to PURPOSELY be mean to them.
The Bible says:
(Proverbs 12:10) A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
God WANTED mankind to live eternally so he (God) COULD HAVE fellowship with thinking beings. Man’s sin made that a impossibility separating us from God, therefore Jesus Christ came to this earth, died on the cross and was resurrected to pay for our sins.
Death for the animal is the end, Death for a person is JUST the beginning of their eternal life either in Heaven or in Hell.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing to know IS Jesus Christ as savior, just simply believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross and DIED and shed his blood, was BURIED and three days later RESURRECTED from the dead to pay for your sins.
-Christ DIED for you – Romans 5:8
-Christ PAID your sins in full – 2 Corinthians 5:21,1 Peter 2:24
-BELIEVE (Trust In Completely) in Christ ALONE as the complete payment of sin for salvation – John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8,9
“For the wages(payment) of sin is death (eternal torment in hell); but the GIFT(salvation) of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord”. Romans 6:23
IT IS THAT SIMPLE – THE GOSPEL TRUTH