Can Pets Glorify God? (#15 in a series)

Today, this blog is asking the question, "Can pets glorify God?" because, let's face it, glorifying God is a major theme in Heaven. In Revelation 4:8 we learn that there are four living creatures¹ whose purpose day and night is to declare, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" Additionally, in verses 10 and 11, John tells of twenty-four elders who worship saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." And although the creatures and elders are an "elohim" class of spirit-beings and our pets are not, could they coexist in heaven?  It is a legitimate area for exploration; would our pets be able to contribute to the betterment of life in heaven as they contribute to the betterment of our life on Earth?


Here is the premise:  If God planned for our pets to join us in heaven, then He would have created them with  the ability to participate in Heaven's cultural lifestyle.  So today we are going to search for evidence that they will fit right in! 

Fortunately, that is pretty easy to find in scripture:

🗸 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD ~ Psalm 145:10

🗸 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion ~ Psalm 103:22

🗸 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD ~ Psalm 150:6

🗸 The beasts of the field will glorify Me ~ Isaiah 43:20

According to Psalm 148:10, wild animals, all cattle, small creatures, and flying birds are all capable of praising the Lord. In the poetry of this psalm, the word for "cattle" is set in contrast with "wild animals" and implies all domesticated animals, not just livestock. Practically any kind of pet you may have would fit within these parameters. But if you have fish and still need more reassurance than "all His works" because the "breath" and "field" qualifications make you edgy, then back up three verses and there is 148:7 which includes great sea creatures. 

Can we agree that pets meet this basic standard of being capable of praise and bringing Glory to God?   This is an indication that they could "be at home" in Heaven.

Now with that settled, let's revisit Psalm 145 because there is a subtle distinction that we need to make.  Remember that Hebrew poetry uses a lot of parallel construction. That is the case in Psalm 145:10.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, 
and all your saints shall bless you!

The "works," which include animal creation, praise at the level of giving thanks. The "saints" which are human spirits, praise at the level of blessing and worship. Jesus died for us; this results in an amplified level of praise. The human spirit can enter into true communicative worship; the animal soul can express an emotion of appreciation. Nothing in scripture hints that they "become one of us." Animals are still animals in heaven. They still fulfill the role that they were created to fulfill. They glorify God because all God's works were created for His glory. 

The animal creation did not rebel against God and need an atoning Savior; in that sense, they do not need to get "born again."  Yet they have suffered as a result of the fall and will require some sort of restoration. These scripture declarations in the Psalms indicate that God has made provision for that. 

Roman 8:19-21, which speaks of a coming restoration of creation, can be interpreted on several levels. I believe that at least one of those levels reflects back to animals of the original creation being put under man's dominion: 
"the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God, in hope that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption"
What I am about to suggest I cannot show beyond speculation, but... 

Just as our pets are dependent upon us on Earth, they may—possibly—be dependent upon us for their future.  At some point, the question arises about the pets of non-believers; what sort of future would they have?  This can get wonky pretty fast, so I will put part of it in the footnotes.²  Romans 8:21 says that "creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay (NLT)."  Our pets' future, if they are to live in our Heavenly mansion with us, still depend upon us to accept Jesus and become sons of God.

 


Footnotes

 ¹ Four Living Creatures - The King James uses the term "four beasts," but the text of Revelation describes them as each having with six wings that are full of eyes all around and within. This is close enough to the description of the seraphim in Isaiah's vision that we can surmise that if they are not seraphim, but a separate creation that totals four creatures, then they are probably in a "heavenly class" of spiritual beings even though their bodies have some animal-like attributes. They also resemble Ezekiel's description of cherubim. The Bible was written for men on Earth and does not give a lot of detail about different classes of heavenly beings. The purpose for mentioning them here is to emphasize that praise is constant around God's throne. 
Best-selling author Randy Alcorn has called the four living creatures a "striking example of animals praising God in heaven." He says, "even though they're highly intelligent and expressive, they're still animals; that's what Scripture calls them," based on the Septuagint's use of the word zoon. I respectfully disagree. Personally, I think they are a completely separate heavenly creation, that there was no Greek word that fully describes them, and that once he actually sees them, he will change his mind! The point that I wish to make in this blog is that our pets are compatible with the call to praise God.

² Pet Adoptions in Heaven.  I don't have a "proof" answer for this. You will need to study this out on your own as it goes beyond the scope of this series. But I think the answer, whatever it is, will be somewhat analogous to what happens to aborted babies, miscarriages, and small children who die without having a parent or close relative in Heaven. I have heard people who have researched that more than I have say that these babies and children can be adopted by believers in heaven. That they grow slowly into adulthood there. That God knows if their earth-parent will make it to Heaven some day, and when that is the case, then they are cared for in a heavenly "nursery" and not adopted but kept until their parent arrives. The procession of time is different than Earth's, and it all works out.  It is an interesting story. I cannot vouch for it, but it is a comforting thought. I would not be surprised if people who could not have pets on earth for some reason, (zoning regulations, allergies, work schedules, etc.) but wanted pets could similarly adopt them in heaven.