Where are the dead? Let us start this study off at the beginning, when man was created in the Garden of Eden, “And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7. At this point in time you should be able notice that without the breath of life man was merely dust, yet with the breath of life man now becomes a living soul, able to think and act, turned from lifeless to living. We need to find out more about this breath of life, in Job it talks about as being the Spirit of God (Job 27:3); this is an accurate description of the breath of life, as it is God’s Spirit which is breathed into us. What happens to the breath of life, Spirit of God, when we die? There are a few verses which answer this question, and are enclosed in the following, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ecclesiastes 12:7; Psalm 146:4. In these two verses are contained truths which we so desperately need to know and understand, for when we die the breath of life, which we received at birth, is taken back by God. Now that we have identified what happens to the breath of life when we die, what happens to our bodies now that there is no breath? This is explained in the following, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:20. Here we see explained that without the breath of life our bodies revert back to what they were made from, for we were formed out of the dust of the ground and we return to dust when we die. In Psalm 146:4 it says that at death our thoughts perish, what does this mean? This verse has a twofold meaning; first of all it refers to the fact that since the breath of life has been taken back by God at death, then we cannot think, for we are dust. We will now look at a few verses that convey this same thought, as it is written, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing … for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished;” “For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. Here we see written that as a result of the breath of life being taken from us at death we are unable to think or do anything, for we now don’t have that one vital thing which brings us to life. Secondly at death we are not conscious, for we are asleep, as Jesus said about Lazarus in the following verse, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” Here Jesus refers to the death of Lazarus, as is revealed in the following, “Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” John 11:11, 13, 14. These verses unveil to our understanding what will happen to us at death; to the person who dies it is merely a sleep. Next we will answer some erroneous theories which are reported concerning the dead. One theory is that the dead can communicate with the living through so called mediums at séances. One thing we have learnt in this study is that “the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. This leads us to ask the question, who is communicating with these people who conduct these meetings? For an explanation we will refer to the example given in the Bible of the Children of Israel, which says, “And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.” Numbers 25:1-3. We find a further explanation of this verse in Psalm 106:28, where it tells us that Israel ate sacrifices which were made unto the dead. We find further proof as to who they were sacrificing to later on in Verse 37, where it says that they sacrificed unto devils. When you sacrifice something unto someone who is asleep due to the fact that they are dead, then you are paying homage unto Satan and his host. This is true concerning anyone who tries to communicate with the dead, all they are doing is opening up a channel by which they can communicate with Satan and his host. Another theory concerning when people die is that they go straight to heaven, this is false in every degree. Everyone that dies returns to dust only the breath of life, which is received at birth from God, is taken back by God at death, and we know what Christ has said concerning Lazarus when he was dead that he was merely asleep (John 11:11—14). One thing we should all have a look into is the fact that the dead do actually rise, but only at Christ’s Second Advent and after the thousand years. This fact is talked about in the following verses, “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” John 5:29; Acts 24:15. We will study into these two verses in order to fully understand its true meaning. Let us see when the righteous dead are raised which is discussed in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, which says, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,” In this verse we can see that the dead are talked of as being asleep. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” In these verses we see brought to view “the resurrection of life;” John 5:29, this is when the followers of God, who have been accounted worthy, are raised to meet the Lord in the air at Christ’s Second Advent, along with the righteous living (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17). The ones raised are proof that Christ’s death upon the cross was not in vain and they are symbols of His victory over Satan. Now we come to the resurrection of the wicked, which is discussed in Revelation 20:5, and it tells us that, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” This verse brings to light “the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:29. This is when the wicked are raised to receive the punishment which Christ and the saints have decided on, whilst in heaven, during the thousand years (Revelation 20:4, 6; Daniel 7:22). They will receive, from Christ and God, the appropriate punishment for the sins which they have wilfully and unrepentantly committed. This is a summary of what I have gained from this study; I have discovered that we are formed from the dust of the earth, into us is breathed the breath of life and we become a living soul. This breath of life is the substance which turns us from being lifeless into a living person. It is this breath of life which is taken back by God when we die and our bodies return to dust from whence we were created. Without this breath of life we are unable to think or function as we would have done before. Christ called death a sleep when He was talking about Lazarus who had died. The question as to whom mediums contact, when communicating with the dead, is that they talk with the Devil and his angels. The dead sleep in the earth until Christ returns for His sleeping saints or until after the thousand years are finished when the wicked are raised, and they don’t just go straight to heaven when they die. Now you, reader, need to put down, in your words, what new things you have learnt from this study? What do you now understand about the difference between the living and the dead?
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 11:30:39 +0000
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