What does the Bible say about death?

The truth about the afterlife as stated by the Bible.

Death has entered the mankind world since Adam and Eve first ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and God said, "If you eat of it, you will die". What exactly does death represent?

Psalms115:17 The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence.

Psalms146:4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.

Ecclesiastes9:5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 6Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Isiah26:14 They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And made all their memory to perish.

Some people say that these verses do not apply to us under the New Covenant because they are from Old Testament times! But we who live under the New Covenant do not need to be trapped in some kind of extra-biblical rule or false doctrine based on speculation or human thought.

So let's examine what the Bible says in the first place if it says that we Christians, living under the new covenant, will keep our spirits alive after we die, any more than Scripture affirms that death itself is an unconscious state in the first place.

When Jesus resurrected his friend Lazarus, he described him as "sleeping, but I go to wake him up". (John 11:11-14) In the latter part, he also told those who interpreted Jesus' words literally, "Surely Lazarus has died".

What state Lazarus was in at this point was clearly described in words by Jesus himself as being in a state of dead sleep, 'unconscious and asleep and at rest', as the Scriptures in Ecclesiastes and the Psalms indicate.

Lazarus is also resurrected by Jesus, but at that time Lazarus does not complain that he was alive in heaven and now he is to be alive again on earth, nor did he have any near-death experience of going to heaven in the first place. This shows that death is an unconscious state.

What about the story of the rich man and Lazarus?

This is a famous story, and this is another story stated by Jesus that is often interpreted as people going straight to death and continuing to live either in heaven or in a painful hell. However, it is important to recall that, at this point, Jesus has not yet been resurrected and raised to heaven on the third day after his death. It is quite unbiblical to say that someone who died before Jesus was raised to heaven, even though Jesus died and resurrected and did not yet triumph over death.

This is a famous story, and this is another story stated by Jesus that is often interpreted as people going straight to death and continuing to live either in heaven or in a painful hell. However, it is important to recall that, at this point, Jesus has not yet been resurrected and raised to heaven on the third day after his death.

It is quite unbiblical to say that someone who died before Jesus was raised to heaven, even though Jesus died and resurrected and did not yet triumph over death.

John3:13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 

I Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

As this scripture indicates, the redemption of all mankind was completed only after Christ's first resurrection from the dead, so those who died during the Old Testament and those who lived during Christ's time, including Lazarus and the two rich men, Lazarus whom Christ actually resurrected, have not already gone to heaven to be resurrected.

The prophets Elisha and Elijah performed miracles such as bringing back to life the son of a widower and the son of an aged widow respectively, but like Lazarus, who died and was raised from the dead, they did not have immortal bodies, but were only resurrected to earth for a limited time as sinful bodies, so to speak. This is quite different from the Christian who goes to heaven, the one who is blessed with the first resurrection, and who will be resurrected in the future in a glorified body with immortality.

However, since the Bible is a prophetic book that states things that have not yet happened as if they are happening now, it can be taken as a true story that warns of future judgement of the ruthless rich. On the other hand, the Gospel itself says: "Jesus spoke all this to the crowds in parables. Indeed, He did not want to speak without parables." -It is quite possible that he was also using parables with regard to Lazarus and the rich man, given that he says this in Matthew 13:34.

This is because the Gospels use many parables and metaphors, such as the story of the bride who never ran out of oil, the prodigal son, and the man who was forgiven but did not forgive others. First of all, Jesus spoke of the aspect that Abraham went to heaven and feasted at a banquet, but all Christians of the heavenly class have immortal bodies like the angel, and there is no flesh and blood and no food, as Jesus and Paul stated.

Luke 24:39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

I Corinthians 6:13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

I Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

People say, "No, no, no, there is food because there is a tree of life in Paradise" or "There is because it says something about slaughtering cattle", but that is just a parable. As for the fruit of the tree of life, presumably everyone will eat it, but the description of slaughtering cattle in the Gospels, originally God did not intend for the earth to be weak and strong in Paradise and as the scripture in Isaiah says, no one will eat meat.

Jesus' statement "You cannot go to heaven unless you eat my flesh and blood" was also a metaphorical expression, and various metaphors are used throughout the Bible. You can decide for yourself whether it is a true story or a parable, since we have presented so much material for you to judge. 

About the vision Jesus talked with Elijah and Moses about.

This is another point where the immortality of the spirit is often cited. It is certainly misleading, but since God is described in the Bible as "the God of the living", it can be said that the Holy Spirit makes the future events visible as if they are happening now, since Elijah and Moses will certainly receive the grace of life and be resurrected in the future, even though they are dead and sleeping. The Holy Spirit is presenting the future as if it were happening now.

The Bible expresses it in the past tense as "we were healed by the wounds in Christ", but humanity has not yet enjoyed the immortality of the glorified body by eating of the tree of life, so it is still living in the body that was and is dying.

It is characteristic of the Bible to speak of things that have not yet happened as if they had already been fulfilled, which is why it is called a prophetic book.

Therefore, in the above prophetic vision of Jesus talking with Elijah and Moses, it is only the three of them conversing, and Elijah and Moses do not appear to be introducing themselves or otherwise greeting Peter, who was by their side, as if aware of their surroundings.

Matthew 17:9 says: "Do not tell anyone what you have just seen until the Son of Man is resurrected from the dead", but the word "seen" in its original meaning is a vision. So it was revealed as a "vision", not as the resurrection of a person who lived in reality.

Therefore, this is a prophetic vision of a scene of blessing that will surely occur in the near future, foreshadowed by the Holy Spirit and necessary to nurture Peter's faith, and he himself would have had a good opportunity to strengthen his faith with the conviction of the resurrection.

Also, back and forth, Adam's first son Cain murdered Abel. In doing so, God described it as "Abel's blood screaming from the ground". In reality, Abel was in his death sleep when he was beaten to death, but the emotion with which he was beaten to death is expressed in the Bible. (Genesis 4:10)

If you also loop back to the end of the last volume at once and check Revelation 6, you will also find expressions of numerous martyred souls who were at peace, but who will seek vengeance when the time comes. The scriptures show that God is fully aware of the circumstances of the dead and the feelings of the martyred children of God.

From the case of Abel in Genesis to the book of Revelation, the state of the dead confirms that God remembers the feelings of the deceased, and we who read it can understand that beyond death, there is divine defence, and there is no need to fear the sleep of death.

The following headings provide exhaustive evidence that the souls martyred in the Apocalypse are definitely in the sleep of death and that the above expressions are figurative.

About Stephen and other martyrs

Interestingly, see what Scripture says about Stephen, the first martyr, after Jesus died and was taken up to heaven, and about the martyrdom of the saints who followed him.

Acts 7:60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

I Corinthians 15:6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

From the above scriptures it is clear that when a person dies they enter a state of sleep. Anything more than this principle, stating off the top of your head that "No, no, no, the soul is immortal in Hades just because it is asleep from an earthly perspective", is too much to ask for.

Death is a loving treatment

God only told the first humans, Adam and Eve, that they would die on the day they ate, and He did not say that they would be tormented forever in hell. It says that God is the One who cannot lie, so if Adam and Eve are suffering in hell with spiritual immortality, then God is lying.

Job the righteous asks God in Job 14:14: "When a man dies, can he live again?" Job knows what it is like when a person dies.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;

Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away, While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil. 2He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, Each one walking in his uprightness.

The wording of this passage evokes pessimistic nuances, but it indicates that if humanity continues to live in suffering and sorrow under the influence of sin, it is a disaster, and that it would be better to die out and go to sleep in peace, and receive the blessings of life in the future during Christ's millennial reign.

God took care that Adam and Eve and their descendants, who continued to sin, would not eat from the tree of life and receive glorified bodies and live forever under the influence of sin, by placing strong angels near the tree of life so that it could not be eaten. (Genesis 3:24) In fact, from the day Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he became spiritually and physically decrepit, and from God's perspective, a thousand years were like a day, as stated in 2 Peter 3:8,9, he ended his life on earth at the age of 930, approximately a thousand years later, and entered the sleep of death.

In other words, it states that one does not become spiritually immortal and continue to live. People die out under the influence of sin and then remain in a state of sleep until the Day of Judgement, the day when Christ will reign. (Revelation 20:11~)

Whether or not anyone will be entrusted with the grace of life again and given the opportunity to accept Christ is an area known only to God. The Bible states that people are often judged by God according to their human-given conscience.

Conclusion

The Bible describes death as being asleep or unconscious and unaware. Therefore, the spirits of the dead do not pervade the earth, and it is highly possible that psychic and other paranormal phenomena are actually the work of fallen angels or demonic spirits.

All people before Jesus overcame death and was taken up to heaven are simply in the sleep of death, and even after Jesus' ascension, Stephen and the martyrs are mentioned as being in the sleep of death.

It is clear that the theory of the immortality of the spirit is wrong. The Bible is said to be a prophetic book because in many cases it describes things that will happen in the future as if they happened now. Let's read it while using such insight and sense.

In the future, all people will meet God and Christ face to face in a time loop when they die. In that sense, we want to be the kind of people who can be compassionated by Jesus, saying, "Today you will be in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)