![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Ecclesiastes_3_21.jpg)
| “Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” |
| —Ecclesiastes 3:21 |
I confess that I am not an “animal person.” I do have great respect for people who love animals. I see the joy that these folks derive from the relationship they have with their pets. Okay, maybe their cats always remain a little bit aloof—at least that’s what I’ve been told.
When I was six-years-old, I was attacked by a rabid dog and had to undergo the rather painful rabies shots into my stomach. This created in me a fear of animals in general and of dogs in particular.
Yet, over the years, I have come to appreciate the way that many people respond to their dogs. Recently, I even had a very positive experience with a dog at the home of one of my friends. This rather large dog seemed to sense that inside I was a “teddy bear.” He came up beside me and leaned against me as if to say, “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. You and I are both just big guys.”
Many people seem to believe that we humans are no different, and certainly no better, than animals. I believe that a very careful reading of Genesis 1 and 2 should put that idea to rest. But, I’m certainly not going to beat people up who feel such a kinship to animals.
In the ruminations of his old age, King Solomon asked some questions that he intended to answer later in his writings. But, these questions resonate with the question that I have asked in the title of this blog post: “But, are we like the animals?” Notice what Solomon wrote, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 3:18-21:
I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
In a later blog post, we will see how Solomon answers this last question. For now, let me give you a bit of a spoiler: “Yes, we can know if the human spirit rises upward and the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth.”
How?
In their natural state, animals respond to their genetic programming. They act as they do because God created them to act in that way. Humans, on the other hand, have the ability to make choices in a thoughtful and reasoned way that does not exist in animals. Part of the choice humans made was a choice to disobey the one instruction that God gave first man and first woman: “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:17)
The redemptive act of Jesus was God’s gift to His human creations. Why? Because only humans needed redemption. If this is true, why did Solomon ask the question? He did so in order to be able to examine whether life on this earth was futile apart from a relationship with God.
As we begin a new day, let’s examine our own lives. Do we truly have relevance apart from our relationship with God through His Son, Jesus? The answer to that question is a good barometer of our spiritual condition and one that we should take quite seriously.
