When Christians attend the funeral of a friend or loved one, they are usually presented images of the deceased now happy and at peace in heaven, in the presence of Jesus and loved ones who have passed before. Perhaps images are presented of the deceased person looking down from heaven on those grieving. Perhaps it is said that the deceased wants those grieving to not be sad, but happy he/she is now in a perfect body, perfect heavenly environment, and in the arms of Jesus. These are foundational teachings of our church, and not scripturally supported. Not one scripture can be presented to support these things we believe. Follow along to learn the truth…
The Resurrection of the dead on the day of judgement was taught in the early church.
The idea that there will be a resurrection of the dead is rarely taught these days, but it was a foundational teaching in the early Christian church. It was included in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, which was written in the third and fourth centuries A.D. There are many New Testament references to an expected resurrection of the dead:
“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of… resurrection of the dead,“. Hebrews 6:1-3. In other words, we have the foundation which includes the resurrection of the dead, let’s build on it.
In John 14:2-3, Jesus says “My father’s house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back to take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Many interpret this to mean many rooms have been prepared in heaven for the dead in Christ. However, Jesus was saying that the dead go to a special place with rooms prepared for them, to wait for his coming to take them to be with him in heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 points out: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” This passage shows that after Christ, we sleep in death and God ‘will bring’ those who sleep in him to him.
“I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” Acts 24:15
“Do not marvel at this: for the hour is coming in which all who are in graves will hear His voice and come forth: those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” John 5:28-29.
Knowing Pharisees believed in resurrection of the dead and Sadducees did not, Paul stated his belief to win the favor of the Pharisees when on trial: “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged.” Acts 23:6
Old Testament scripture and Qumran manuscripts both teach where the dead go after death, to await judgment.
If there is a resurrection of the dead at judgment, what happens to a person between the time of death and resurrection? Old Testament scripture teaches concerning this:
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing… Ecclesiastes 9:5.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or knowledge or wisdom in sheol, to which you are going. Ecclesiastes 9:10.
For in death there is no remembrance of you; in sheol who will give you praise? Psalm 6:5.
The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down in silence. Psalm 115:17.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2.
Referring to David, And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,… IISam. 7:12.
A New Testament reference to David is in Acts 2:29,34: “…let me speak freely unto you of the patriarch, David, that he is both dead and buried...” and “For David is not ascended into the heavens...”
Sheol is a common Old Testament word for the abode of the dead. Most scholars think this word is derived from a word meaning hollow. It is not the same word as that used for the grave. While the grave is the resting place for the body at death, sheol is the resting place of the soul, awaiting resurrection on the Day of Judgment. Shoal is considered deep in the earth, as indicated by these verses:
Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest sheol. Psalm 86:13.
But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go down into the lower parts of the earth. Psalm 63:9.
Ezekiel 32:18-31 describes Sheol when he pictures people of both great and small worldly importance destined for ‘the pit’, all laying together in a chamber room located in the ‘lower (or nether) parts of the earth’.
Much can be learned about Sheol from Qumran manuscripts
Qumran held the original library of the Temple priests after the Hasmonean revolt in 164 BC. It was at this time that temple priests of the legitimate line of Zadok fled the temple with their manuscripts and formed the Qumran community. What replaced them were Pharisee priests of Hasmonean origin. They were Syrians and people Syria conquered who displaced Israelites in Northern Israel. These people absorbed the Jewish faith of the land they occupied, but corrupted it mixing in aspects of the pagan religion they had known. It is important to note that John the Baptist lived and baptized at Qumran.
There is little description of the Garden of Eden in Bible scripture outside Genesis. However, Enoch and Esdras manuscripts speak of the Garden of Eden as being a very large underground area and indeed the definition of the Hebrew word dan is ‘enclosed garden’. It has a natural light, and the light is that created on the first day before later creation of the sun and moon on the 4th day. A mountain inside this area has a Holy of Holies where God lives when He is there to enjoy the Garden. Trees, including the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, are described. In one location there is a section of chambers watched over by angels. It is there that the spirits of the dead sleep, waiting to be raised in the day of judgment. One is dedicated to those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, one is for those who have in addition died as martyrs of the faith, one is for those slain unjustly and are crying for justice. The fourth is for those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s book of life. The chambers are secure and safe, as angels are present and Satan has no access. It is here, by the Garden of Eden, that souls rest awaiting resurrection at the day of judgment.
As an aside, there appear to be times in which those at rest can be awake. In a passage from 1Enoch 22:1-7, Enoch is led by the angel Raphael to a mountain with chambers inside, created for the souls of the dead. Enoch heard the spirit of Abel calling out for justice for his death by the hands of Cain. Those killed by others, such as Abel, are placed in a chamber to themselves.
The following verses speak of the king of Babylon: Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become as weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp has been brought down to sheol, and the noise of thy lutes; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Isaiah 14:9-11.
And then, there is Jesus’ parable of Lazareth and the rich man:
And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man died also, and was buried; and in hell (sheol) he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom (both resting in peace). And he cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame”. Luke 16:22-31.
This appears to be the day of judgment, the walls now removed leaving a great gap that cannot be passed, in preparation for the resurrection. The rich man is very anxious and tormented, feeling the fire brewing for him and knowing his fate.
We are told in 2Esdras 6:78-95 that immediately at death, when the spirit leaves the body, it will either be drawn to adore the glory of the Most High or, as was common when the spirit was alive, be focused otherwise and reject the Most High and instead wander and be in torments ever grieving and sad. For those drawn to God, in the fourth of seven steps given, they understand the rest which, being gathered in their chambers, they now enjoy with great quietness, guarded by angels, and the glory that awaits them in the last days. For those wandering, they will be allowed to continue doing so seven days, to see in regret what they are missing. Afterwards, they will be gathered together in their habitations. 2Esdras7:101 For all the steps and more detail, read more of this section of Esdras.
One need not worry that souls will be forgotten, ignored, or not rise on the day of judgment. When the angel Uriel was sent to Ezra in answer to prayer, the angel doubted a human such as Ezra could understand the answer. He tested Ezra, saying:
“Go your way to a woman with child, and ask of her when she has fulfilled her nine months, if her womb may keep the baby any longer within her”. Then I said, “No, lord, that can it not.” He said to me, “In Hades (sheol) the chambers of souls are like the womb. For just like a woman in labor hurries to escape the anguish of the labor pains, even so these places hurry to deliver those things that are committed to them from the beginning.” 2Esdras 4:41. Ezra’s answer was acceptable, so Uriel showed Ezra those things for which he asked.
It is common for people to think God’s plan for us evolved, adapting to things as they happened. They even think that with the coming of Christ, all things are made new and we no longer have to give attention to the old-including the Ten Commandments and observing the Sabbath as the day of rest. The following verse shows how God had everything laid out from the beginning.
When the Most High made the world and Adam and all who came from him, he first prepared the judgment and the things that pertain to the judgment. 2Esdras 7:1. This includes the preparation of chambers to hold souls of the deceased until the judgment.
John 3:13 says: No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. You may ask,”But what about the only two biblical characters who never died, Enoch and Elijah?”. If they are neither in heaven nor living on earth, a really good guess is that they are in the Garden of Eden. We are not used to thinking this, because the Garden of Eden was long ago and seems to have disappeared-but it hasn’t. Because of their great character and experience, many believe these two may be the Revelation 11 witnesses dressed in sackcloth who prophecy 1,260 days. Another question people may ask is, what about the passage in Luke 23:43 that concerns the thief crucified on the cross with Jesus, with Jesus saying “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”? The answer is that heaven would have been used if that was the intent. The word paradise was sometimes used for sheol, as was hades, bosom of Abraham, and prison:
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. 1Peter3:19. Scoffield comments in the Scofield Reference Bible that Paradise is a place of great joy and bliss, but this bliss is not complete until the spirit is united with a glorified body at the resurrection. Paul said this:
Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. Ephesians 4:9.
But now is Christ risen from the dead and become first fruits of them that slept. 1Corinthians 15:20
…even so in Christ shall all be made alive; but every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 1 Corinthians 15:22b. His coming is his second coming, on the day of judgment.
Therefore, on the day of crucifixion when Jesus said he would be with the thief in paradise, he was talking about the chamber within the earth where the dead sleep. Jesus is the only one to have ever died and risen to heaven, but he went to sheol first, the experience described as being similar to Jonah’s in the belly of the whale. He did not go to heaven until after he appeared to Mary at the tomb, as related in John 20:16,17: Jesus said unto unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to the father. But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.
Many are recorded in scripture to have been raised from their sleep for special and temporary purposes to suit God. This includes Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, and the dead seen walking the streets after Christ’s crucifixion. Though God brought them back, having the power to do so, witches and mediums cannot bring forth spirits of the dead or communicate with them. Saul wanted the witch of Endor to bring up Samuel’s spirit, but a lying demon spirit that is not dead responded as Samuel slept in sheol. The demon spirit spoke, but had to obey God in what he said. Perhaps God sent the spirit for this task.
Perhaps by reading and studying this article, you can satisfy yourself as to where people go when they die. After meditating on the scripture given, you should see fewer inconsistencies that would breed questions and doubt. You should find your faith on a more solid foundation. If you have not yet fully committed your life to Christ, and are not sure what is waiting for you on the Day of Judgment, it is hoped that you will invite Him into your life. Then enjoy that relationship by having it based on the solid foundation of his Word.
