What Happens When We Die?

Jonathan Ledbetter

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What Happens When We Die?

I’m Not Going to Try to Confuse You with this Lesson

But if You End Up Confused…

Then I’d Say I’ve Done a Decent Job Explaining What the Bible Says on this Topic

Here’s Why I Say that:

The Biblical Authors aren’t Very Concerned with Answering this Question

What They are Very Concerned About is:

Living Holy Lives for God Now

Resurrection From the Dead When Jesus Returns

They Don’t Spend Much Time Talking About What Happens in Between

And When They Do Happen to Mention it…

It’s Never Fully Fleshed Out…

Which can Be a Little Confusing

So I’ll Tell You From the Start:

I Don’t Really Know the Answer to this Question

And I’m Leery of Anyone Who Says They Do with Any Certainty

I’m Not Very Dogmatic When it Comes to this Subject

As Long as Whatever You Believe has Scriptural Evidence…

And it Doesn’t Contradict the Primary Tenets of the Gospel…

I Don’t See a Reason to Try to Persuade You Otherwise

But, this Topic is an Interesting One to Study and Ponder on

Let’s Jump In:

There are 3 Common Beliefs About What Happens When We Die:

Sleep

Hades

Heaven

Sleep (“Soul Sleep”)

Sometimes in the OT and Many Times in the NT…

The Death of the Righteous is Referred to as “Sleep”

This is Likely a Euphemism for Death Because:

Death Looks Like Sleep

From a Christian Standpoint, Death is Temporary, Like Sleep

The Idea would Be Something Like this:

At the Moment of Death, You Enter into an Unconscious, Sleep-Like State

Just Like Sleeping for 8 Hours can Sometimes Feel Like Blinking…

Death would Be Like Closing Your Eyes and Then Opening Them Again at the Future Resurrection

This would Make Sense of What Samuel’s Spirit Told Saul…

When the Witch of Endor Brought Up His Spirit:

“Why have You Disturbed Me?”

You could Interpret Several Scriptures to End Up with this Viewpoint

But I Don’t Really Want to Spend Much Time on it

Hades

This is the Belief that When We Die We have a Conscious Existence in Hades

Hades (Sheol in the OT) = The Place of the Dead; Netherworld

It was Seen as a Place Underneath the Earth Where Disembodied Spirits Go

In Korah’s Rebellion, the Rebels were Swallowed By the Earth

Notice How it’s Described:

Numbers 16:28–33 (NASB95)

28 Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. 29 “If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 “But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.”

31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

Notice How Job Describes Sheol:

Job 17:13–16 (NASB95)

13 “If I look for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness; 14 If I call to the pit, ‘You are my father’; To the worm, ‘my mother and my sister’; 15 Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope? 16 “Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?”

Sheol was Seen as a Pit of Darkness and Void of Hope

To OT Authors Like David, Sheol was Synonymous with Death

Psalm 6:5 (NASB95)

5 For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?

Sheol was Seen as a Place of Purposelessness and Meaninglessness

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NASB95)

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

This is One of Those Passages that could Be Interpreted as Soul Sleep

After God Saved Hezekiah From His Fatal Sickness, Hezekiah Praised Him

Isaiah 38:17–19 (NASB95)

17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. 18 “For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. 19 “It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

Being in Sheol, the Pit of Nothingness, Means Being Dead

Being Dead was Seen as Being Separated From God’s Faithful Blessings

And it Means Being Unable to Live for and Praise God

Sheol is:

A Deep, Dark, Pit of Nothingness that No One Wants to Experience

It Makes Sense Why Death is Considered a Great Enemy of God

It’s Something No One Ever Wants to Experience

This is How the OT Describes Sheol, the Place of the Dead

And it’s Mentioned Over 60 Times

But When We Get to the NT, We Find the Word Hades Only 10 Times

And the Only Passage Where We Receive a Lot of Information About Hades is…

In the Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus

This is Only Place in the NT that Mentions Individuals Going to Hades

Some Believe the Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a Parable

I See Where They are Coming From

It’s a Story that is Told for the Purpose of Moral Teaching…

Which Perfectly Fits a Parable

Some Believe the Story is Not a Parable

I See Where They are Coming From too

It has a Few Features that are Uncharacteristic of Parables

Whether it’s a Parable or Not, it’s a Very Unique and Difficult Story

Therefore, it would Be Wise to Not Build Entire Theological Interpretations Upon this One Story

But that’s What Many People have Done

If You Don’t Know the Story, You can Read it in Luke 16:19-31

In it We See the Rich Man Die, Be Buried, and Open His Eyes in Hades

And Lazarus is Carried By Angels to Abraham’s Bosom

Hades is Described By the Rich Man as a Place of Torment and Flames

As Far as I Know, that’s the First Time Hades/Sheol is Described this Way

This is Very Different From How the OT Described Sheol

Where Lazarus is Seems to Be a Much Better Place

He is at Abraham’s Bosom

This Means that He is Reclined at the Banquet Table Beside Abraham

Notice that Jesus Never Said that Lazarus was in Hades

They were Far Away From Each Other

Wherever Lazarus is is Also Very Different Than How the OT Described Sheol

Hades and Abraham’s Bosom in this Story…

Sound Much More Like Eternal Reward & Punishment…

Than the Place of the Dead

Due to the Many Differences in this “Hades” and the “Sheol” of the OT…

I’m Inclined to Believe that this Story is a Parable to Teach a Lesson to the Pharisees…

More Than it’s a Story Detailing What Happens When We Die

It Brings Up Many More Questions Than Answers

So We Need to Be Careful When Using this Story to Answer Our Question

Nonetheless, it’s Still a Very Strong Possibility that All the Dead Go to Hades

Many Believe There is a Bad Side of Hades for the Wicked…

And a Good Side for the Righteous

This would Make Sense of a Straightforward Reading of…

What Jesus Said to the Thief on the Cross:

Luke 23:43 (NASB95)

43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Paradise May have Referred to that Good Side of Hades

But Even that Presents Some Problems

Heaven

This is the Belief that the Righteous Go to Heaven When We Die

First Off, the Word Paradise is Only Found 3 Times in the NT

Once By Jesus on the Cross

Once By Paul Referring to Heaven

2 Corinthians 12:1–4 (NASB95)

1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.

And Once By John Referring to Heaven

Revelation 2:7 (NASB95)

7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

If Paradise Refers to Heaven & the Eternal Place Where God and Humanity will Be Together…

Then it’s Possible that Jesus was Referring to Heaven, Not Hades, on the Cross

This would Mean that After Jesus’ Death/His Entrance into Hades…

He Then Overpowered Death/Hades…

And Released the Righteous Captives of Hades…

And Entered Paradise with Them in the Spirit

We Know that Jesus Holds the Keys to Death/Hades:

Revelation 1:18 (NASB95)

18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

This would Mean that the Faithful would No Longer Enter Hades Upon Death

Instead, Because Jesus has Conquered and has the Keys of Death/Hades…

His People’s Disembodied Spirits Now Go Straight to Heaven

This would Make Sense of Several Things We See in the NT:

When Jesus Returns From Heaven…

Paul Describes Him Bringing Those Who have Died in Christ with Him From Heaven

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NASB95)

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

Every Time Paul Talked About Death…

He Believed that He would Be with Jesus

And We Know for Certain that Jesus is Now in Heaven

Philippians 1:21–23 (NASB95)

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

2 Corinthians 5:1–8 (NASB95)

1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Paul Believed that When We Die, We will Be in Heaven with Jesus, Not in Hades

That Begs the Question, “When Did this Transition Happen?”

In the OT, it was Taken for Granted that When You Die You Go to Sheol/Hades

But in the NT, it Seems to Be Taken for Granted that You Go to Be with Jesus in Heaven

The Only Rational Explanation is the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven of Jesus

When Jesus Entered Paradise, He Opened it to All Who are Faithful to Him

But, Yet Again, I could Lay Out Some Problem Texts for this Belief as Well

Invitation

There’s Only One Thing I can Say with Confidence:

This is a Difficult Question that the Bible Authors…

Didn’t Seem to Think Needed a Comprehensive Answer

So that Makes Us Ask, “Why?”

Why Didn’t the Biblical Authors Answer the Extremely Important Question of:

“What Happens When We Die?”

Maybe it’s Because They Didn’t Consider it an Extremely Important Question!

The Biblical Authors weren’t Concerned with Where We Go When We Die

Their Faith Guaranteed Them that God would Take Care of Them…

In Their Disembodied State

The Question They Considered Extremely Important was:

“What will Happen When Jesus Returns?”

Here’s Something We Hear a Lot But isn’t a Bit Scriptural:

When a Person Dies, We Hear, “They’ve Gone on to Their Reward”

It Sounds Nice

And if They were Faithful to Jesus then They are in Good Hands

But They have Not Received Their Reward Yet

Hebrews 11:39–40 (NASB95)

39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

The Reward that All the Faithful will Receive:

Resurrection

Eternal Life in Transformed Glorified Bodies

New Jerusalem as Our Home

Is Going to Be Given to All of Us at the Same Time When Jesus Returns

We Also Like to Quote Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7-8…

As if He is Referring to Receiving the Reward Upon His Death

But Read a Bit Closer

2 Timothy 4:7–8 (NASB95)

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

The Reward Comes, Not When We Die, But When Jesus Returns

My Answer the Question, “What Happens When We Die?”:

I’m Not Exactly Sure

But I Know that We will Be Taken Care of By Our God and King

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