There are literally dozens of views and opinions about life and death – just what exactly is life (?), and what happens to our consciousness or self-awareness when we die (?). These views range from the materialist, who sees life as a random clustering of atoms which, for a brief moment in eternity produce a living creature, to the mystic, who thinks that life is either an illusion, or a passage through a multi-layered experience in which there is no death. The materialist sees life in terms of mechanics, the mystic sees life in terms of infinity in which all things are possible but nothing is provable.
Some people like to avoid the subject altogether by saying “I’ll know when I get there” or, “Its not for us to know such things”. There are also those who say, quite logically, that such things as life and death are unknowable, because (they say) the very people who enquire about it are also part of the whole machine, so to speak. It would be like a cog in a clock trying to understand the whole clock, they say. One would need to be separate from the clock in order to see it objectively, they say. There is some truth in this argument, but not enough to defeat the possibility of a cog being able to view its immediate surroundings and objectively come to some conclusions.
For example, there are some who claim to have mind-reading abilities. If this were the case, then we would expect to find that the ability to do this depended on some sort of transmission and reception, which implies some sort of power which has to be broadcast and picked up. Over short distances, this would probably not be detectable, but over distances of half a planet (as has been claimed) the transmission power would have to be immense – yet there is no noticeable or measurable energy loss in those who claim to be able to send a message over thousands of miles to someone else’s head.
The same can be said about those who claim that humans have an afterlife which consists of a semitransparent substance (ghosts). If this were true then we have many problems. First of all the belief in ‘ghosts’ contradicts the Bible, which says that God has designed humans to die once (Heb.9:27), and therefore to be resurrected only once (Matt.22:30 etc). There is also the great problem of ‘ghost clothes’ which seem to have an afterlife along with the people who wear them. ‘Ghosts’ may be real phenomena, but humans they are not.
The ‘eastern’ view of death also contradicts the Bible, because the idea that life is an endless succession of ‘levels’, or ‘realities’ of ‘existences’ (or that life is an illusion), implies that ultimately there is no final judgement. Man, it is presumed, will eventually rise, through his own efforts, to a state of perfection. Man is therefore not accountable to any Creator. There is no such thing as literal, unending death. But Jesus made it clear that this life we live now is the only chance we have to make peace with God, and that one day all the dead will rise to stand before the Great Throne of Judgement – to receive either rewards or punishments (Matt.19:28, 25:31,32, Luke 1:32, Acts 2:30)
The Bible speaks about life and death, but the difference between the Bible and all other accounts, is that the Bible makes the most sense. When it describes the origin of life and the origin of death, it places them in a consistently logical context.
One example of how this works, is the matter of moral accountability. It is universally and generally acknowledged, that some people are “good” and some people are “bad”. The common view is that Hitler was a “bad” man, who did many horrible and evil things to his fellow human beings – such as initiating a war, allowing the torture of prisoners, instituting the so-called medical ‘experiments’, ordering the building of gas chambers, overseeing the brutality towards Jews, and so forth. Along with Hitler can be included the Nazi Party, the Gestapo and a huge number of other people all connected to Hitler.
It is a common feeling, often expressed, that Hitler does not deserve mercy, that he and his clones are due some sort of punishment. The fact that people feel this way is because they have an in-built sense of right and wrong, and of justice and injustice. The belief that there must be some kind of final judgement is inherent in human nature. Logically, this sense of a necessity for judgement fits perfectly into the Bible account of Adam and Eve, who sinned and received an immediate reprimand. This satisfies our innate sense of justice. (What if God had said to Adam : “I don’t mind what you do. Go ahead and rape or kill Eve. It means nothing to me”? Our sense of justice would be forever violated – unless we ourselves were made the same way.)
Assuming therefore that the Bible is a true and accurate account, this little study will attempt to examine “Life” and “Death” from the Scriptures.
Life – what is it, and where did it come from?
“And the LORD God 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
Here we have the account of the first living human in the whole history of the universe. The Materialist would be happy, because this human was made from the same ingredients as the soil. Other philosophies would also find something to suit their way of thinking, because it seems that just by rearranging the basic materials of the planet in an ordered and intelligent way, a living organism can be constructed.
But there is one thing here which no earthbound science can explain, and that is the “breath of life” which made the dead soul – the material shape of the human – into a “living soul”.
Logically, all life on earth comes under the category of “soul”. There are living souls and there are dead souls. It is a common misconception that humans have souls, but the account in Genesis shows that humans are souls.
In Hebrew the word “soul” is “nephesh”, which we call a “living organism”. All life on earth began as a “nephesh”, and then received the “breath of life”, becoming “living souls” or, as we would say, “living organisms”. Once this first understanding of what life is has been laid, the rest of the story can be built correctly on it.
One of the most common modern church traditions says that when people die some part of them, either their “soul” or their “spirit” goes somewhere – either heaven, or hell, or purgatory. Unfortunately, this teaching is not supported by Scripture, but rather caters (in some cases) for those who like to think kindly thoughts about the dead. It is always a pleasant alternative to think that when a Christian dies, they fly spiritually to God’s presence and don’t really die at all. But such fanciful thinking actually plays into the lie which Satan told to Adam and Eve (“You shall not surely die” Gen.3:4) and does damage to many other Bible teachings, such as :
“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:” Genesis 3:22 Obviously, if Adam and Eve failed to eat of the second tree, they could not have lived for ever, so death means death, otherwise Satan was right.
When God warned (threatened) Adam with death for disobedience, He said “in the day you eat of it (the tree), you shall surely die” Gen. 2:16. The Hebrew expression is “dying you shall die” – a description which fits perfectly with ageing, sickness, deterioration and finally death. The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that all processes go towards a condition of greater probability, or increasing randomness i.e. All complex things gradually break down into less complex things. At the moment of creation, the universe and the earth were at their maximum complexity, and order, but when Adam sinned, a ‘winding down’ process began, and the effects are continuing with us today. “Death” is therefore a wider term, including the gradual breakdown of all material structures – DNA and genes accumulate errors, species die out, orbits of planets deteriorate, fuel supplies in stars are used up, comets disintegrate, gravity weakens, land masses disappear due to erosion, radioactive substances decay, and so on.
It would be unthinkable for God, having set the first principles down so clearly, to then go and contradict Himself, so what we should find from here on is a consistent teaching about life and death through the whole Bible.
When God breathed into Adam’s soul the “breath of life” He breathed the “neshamah” of life into the material shape of the creature-to-be. This same word is used elsewhere to denote the “breath of life” in a living organism.
“And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die.” Genesis 6:17
“All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” Genesis 7:22
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood:” Leviticus 17:11 This was written long before it was discovered that blood cells capture oxygen (breath) and carry this gas to the body through arteries. The statement is therefore literally true.
“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4
The word for “soul” is “nephesh” and in 754 places it means “living organism”. This means that God’s warning to Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed they would bring the sentence of “dying you shall die” upon themselves – and all creation, since it was part of their dominion was included under this sentence – and so when an organism dies, what happens is that God withdraws His “neshamah” or “breath of life” from it. Logically, this means that Christians and non-Christians, and animals are all equal in this respect.
Some people might object to the thought that Christians and animals share the same fate. This objection is dealt with more fully later on, but first let us look at Ecclesiastes 3:18 – 21 :
“I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one dies, so dies the other; yes, they have all one breath; so that a man has no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?”
From the above passage we see that :
1. Animals (beasts) are the same as humans
2. Animals and humans both die
3. Animals and humans share the same breath
4. Animals and humans both return to dust
5. Humans are not better in any way from animals in this regard
6. Animals and humans go to the same place
7. The spirit (breath) of animals and humans is undetectable.
The last part is a rhetorical question. In light of what we already know, and the context of this question, we can see that the question must be answered by words “Nobody knows where the breath goes.”
Ecclestiastes 9:1 – 6 shows that there is no communication between the living and the dead :
“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knows either love or hatred by all that is before them.
All things come alike to all: there is one event (death) to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrifices, and to him that sacrifices not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that swears, as he that fears an oath.
This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”
So obviously it is utterly futile to try to contact the dearly departed, since “the dead know not any thing” and “neither have they a portion in any thing that is done under the sun” i.e. “in the land of the living.”
This shows that Satan’s lie “You shall not surely die” has been carried on for thousands of years, in the form of seances, ghosts, poltergeists, Ouija boards, wizards, witches, mediums and so on. There are now hundreds of television programs which promote the idea that there is life after death, and the Protestant Church has also fallen into this deadly trap by suggesting that when Christians die they go to heaven. The Roman Church has gone even further, by placing Mary on the Throne beside her Son, and by elevating Saints to positions of power and influence over people’s lives.
The New Testament is completely consistent with the genesis teaching, although some Christians like to pull certain New Testament verses away from their context and make their own doctrines out of them. This is always possible, provided the foundations are forgotten. This is usually the way cults grow, and false teachings arise.
Returning to Genesis 2:7 – “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Let us go to 1 Corinthians 15:35 – 55 :
“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
You fool, that which thou sow is not made alive, except it dies (first):
And that which thou sow, you sow not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
But God gives it a body as it has pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
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, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
From the above passage, we see that :
1. Some foolish person has suggested that God will raise us from the grave in the bodies we have now – frail, weak, ageing, disintegrating vessels, fit only for the rubbish.
2. The resurrection will be graded, with each Christian being raised in a new body.
3. The bodies we are given will relate in some way to the way we have lived as Christians. This is brought out by the comparison between different tars – some are brighter than others.
4. We have inherited the doomed earthly body of Adam, so, like Adam we must also die.
5. We will receive our new, immortal bodies “at the last trump” that is, when Jesus returns. Our immortal lives begin at the resurrection, and not before then.
6. When we receive our new bodies, then will death be defeated – and not before then. Logically, if when we die we go straight to heaven, we have not really died, so the prediction that death will be defeated at the return of Christ is nonsensical.
2 Corinthians 5:1 – 10 :
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this (body) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle (tent) do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
For we walk by faith, not by sight:
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
The above passage can be put into other words, without damaging the essential meaning :
“For we know that if our present body is destroyed, we have a new future body, made by God, waiting for us in heaven. This new body was not made out of soil, as Adam’s body was. For in the body we have now, we feel incomplete, while we look forward longingly for the new body to come. But when we lose this present body, we won’t be suddenly exposed. (There are no ‘transition’ bodies. We long for the new body right now – not that we actually want to die – but that we may receive our immortal body.
It is the Spirit of God who gives us this longing, and it is God who has prepared our new bodies for us. Therefore, we are confident that, even if we die, we will always end up with God (This solves the problem of getting to God in our present body – an impossibility. To solve this, God has prepared a new body, which can withstand being in His presence).
For we walk by faith, not by sight: (that is, we live our lives believing that one day we will receive our new bodies – even though we haven’t see them yet)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from our present body, and to be present with the Lord. (Not instantly, but eventually, after we have died and ‘slept’ in the grave for a while)
So we work hard as Christians, and try to honour God in every way, because one day we must all stand before God’s Throne. Everything we do now adds up to a reward. There will be some good rewards, some not so good rewards. (These rewards include different kinds of body – some glorious, some not so glorious.)
Having see that Paul longed for his new body, and that this new body was ready for him at the time he stood before God, we go to 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 17.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (the dead saints), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep (have died) in Jesus will God bring with him. (That is bring up from the graves)
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (go ahead of) them which are asleep (dead).
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:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”.
From the above we see that :
1. All Christians will eventually die
2. Death rules until the day when Jesus returns
3. All the dead Christians will come back to life
4. Jesus will descend from heaven and the resurrected Christians will rise to meet Him.
5. Christians alive when Jesus returns will not go ahead of the Christians who are being raised.
Obviously, if the Christians are in their graves, and resurrected when Jesus comes, they cannot also be in heaven, coming with Jesus. Christians alive at the moment of the return of Christ will receive their new bodies instantly. There is equality here. No saints are treated partially – even Adam, Abraham, David, Solomon, and all the prophets, and all the great Christian leaders of the past 2000 years – will all be raised together.
The Passover was a type of the death and resurrection of Jesus. In its literal nature it predicted the reality of what Jesus literally went through, though on a deeper level. Exodus 12. The lamb was killed for the Passover, as were all the sacrifices listed in Leviticus. The Bible says that “the life is in the blood” – Lev. 17:14, 19:26, Deut.12: 16-23. In the same way Jesus poured out His blood, His life, for sinners. It would hardly do to find that the lamb was only injured, or hurt, for the Passover. The type shows the reality of the anti-type – Jesus literally died, and in this He trusted His Father to raise Him from the tomb. Because it happened this way for Jesus, why should Christians expect anything else to happen when they die?
Someone might object to this line of reasoning, and point out that at the Transfiguration, two of the Old Testament prophets were seen, apparently alive. If this was the case, surely it means that at least two men made it to heaven before the return of Christ? If this is so, then we have a direct contradiction of all that the Bible has said – an impossibility of course, since God cannot lie, neither does He contradict Himself.
Matthew 17:9 “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead”. In the account we see that the disciples were “heavy with sleep” when the “vision” ocurred. A vision is not the same as a reality. It is an illustration, or a picture, or a prophetic visual effect.
One interpretation of this “vision” is that Moses represented Old Testament believers who had died believing in God’s promises, and that Elias represented Old Testament believers who had been alive and believing – a type of Christians who will be alive and believing when Jesus returns. Elias, or Elijah, was the prophet who was parted from Elisha by a chariot, and taken up into the sky by a whirlwind. Apparently he died in mid-air – perhaps this was one way of destroying his body, which would have become a source of ‘holy relics’ if it had been buried? There are other interpretations, but the main thing is it was a “vision” and not proof of life after death.
Another objection is that of The Rich man and Lazarus, in Luke 16: 19-31. One thing which the Church of England maintains is that no parable should be used as a basis for doctrine. A quick glance at this parable will show why. IF we take this parable literally, some of the conclusions we would come to are :
1. Rich men go to hell because they are wicked,
2. Poor men go to heaven because they have a hard life,
3. People in hell can send messages to people in heaven,
4. God compensates people depending on whether they are rich or poor,
5. Angels carry dead people away when they die,
6. Abraham is a sort of god in heaven who can dispense blessings on request,
7. Abraham is really tough and shows no mercy to suppliants.
Taken as a parable, the story Jesus told is really an illustration of things pertaining to the Jewish nation and the people of the house of Israel. Taken as literally true the story destroys and contradicts several major doctrines, including the one which states that death claims us all and there we remain until the resurrection.
Another objection is based loosely on Paul’s reference to a mystical state which he calls “the third heaven”, in 2 Corinthians 12:2 – 5.
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities”.
That there is a place called “the third heaven” is not in dispute, and that someone was taken there is also accepted, but the above passage is not a basis for saying that when we die we go to heaven.
What we have here is a very humble account, by Paul, of an experience he himself had. Paul does not want to brag, or make out that he is in any way better than other Christians. He speaks in a distant way – “I knew a man” – about himself, and describes his visions as so wonderful he could not tell whether he actually went somewhere or stayed where he was. Two other believers who had similar experiences were Ezekiel (8:3) and John (Rev.1:10).
Jonah illustrates the literal death and literal resurrection of Jesus. Jonah was swallowed by the sea creature, and literally perished, but God brought Jonah back to life three days later.
Jonah 1:17 – “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”.
Jonah actually describes his imminent death in 2:3-6, where his rapid words and thoughts are all in the past tense, which shows what he went through just before he died. Because Jonah really died, Jesus also really died, to fulfil Jonah’s experience. Logically, if we assume that Jonah didn’t really die, but lay comatose inside the sea creature, then we have to believe that Jesus also did not die, but went in some conscious spirit-form to some other place and waited for the three days to run their course. If this was so, then the ‘death’ Jesus died for sinners was a sham, and Christians cannot rely on a literal resurrection from a literal death. In other words, if Jonah and Jesus did not really die, then Satan’s lie must be true, and death has lost a great deal of its ‘sting’.
The “resurrection” , according to the Oxford Dictionary, is a word which means (1.) The rising of Christ from the grave, (2.) The coming to life of the dead at the last day.
What exactly happened when Christ rose from the dead is a matter of debate, as there are several views, but the main thing about the event is that, for at least two whole days or 48 plus hours, the Son of God was totally separated from the Father. (The ‘day’ for the Jews meant a portion of a day as well.) It was not a matter of His moving about in some ‘spirit’ form, conscious and mobile as a human except without a fleshly body. God did not say to Adam and Eve “In the day you eat of that fruit, your body will die. Death means death, not ‘half-death’ or ‘quarter-death’.
In Matthew 27:50 it says “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.” In Luke 23:46 he “gave up the ghost”. Literally, this means that Jesus breathed his last, or breathed out his last breath of air. The word ‘ghost’ can also be translated “air” depending on the context. So Jesus literally gave his life – it was not the crucifixion which killed him, or the whipping, or the hunger, or the pain. At any moment Jesus could have reversed his situation and jumped from the cross, perfectly healed. It was his own deliberate choice to force the air from his lungs and then refuse to breath in again – the lamb of God, come to die for sinners, yielding his own life for you and me.
Logically, if dying on the cross meant nothing more than moving into some ‘spirit’ world, then Jesus did not, in a manner of speaking, ‘die far enough’, because that kind of death would not have been sufficient to redeem humans, who die completely and absolutely.
The resurrection was not a new idea. It is implied or promised, in different ways, through the Old testament. For example :
The first indication that God intended humans to live forever is in the unfinished sentence in Genesis :
“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever . . .” Genesis 3:22. God could have added ” . . . if he lives for ever as a rebel, he will become an immortal monster.”
But God gave Mankind a possible way to earn immortality – by keeping the Law. If humans kept the whole Law perfectly, they would be able to stay alive for ever. Of course this was, and always is, impossible, because of the inherent imperfection of human nature, so the best the Law-keeper can hope for is forgiveness – provided they offer the right sacrifices.
You shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgements: which if a man do, he shall live in them:”. Leviticus 18:5
Righteous Job believed in the resurrection : “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come”. Job 14:14
“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever”. Psalm 22:26
The resurrection is clearly foretold in Psalm 72, which is all about the coming Messiah :
“And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised”. Psalm 72:15
The resurrection could be implied in David’s words : “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD”. Psalm 118:17
Ezekiel repeated the promise of law-keeping :
“Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also you have delivered your soul”. Ezekiel 3:21
“And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgements, which if a man do, he shall even live in them”. Ezekiel 20:11
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how do you read it?
And he answering said, You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as thyself.
And he said unto him, You have answered right: this do, and you shall live. Luke
10:25-28 In this case, the man who wanted to gain immortality through obedience to the Law was convicted of failure to love his neighbour. God offers “life” to anyone who can keep His Law, the reason being that when anyone tries, they fail, and realise their need for help.
See also Rom.10:5, Gal.3:12, Neh.9:29, Hab.2:4, Rom.1:17 and Heb.10:38.
The curious case of Enoch
There are some who say that one or two believers went to heaven in Old Testament times, such as Enoch, and Elijah (2Kings 2:9), and perhaps Moses and one or two others. In the case of Enoch at least the evidence seems very clear :
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him”. Genesis 5:24
This verse, it is assumed, means that Enoch was going about his daily business one day when all of a sudden he disappeared, and arrived in God’s presence in a twinkling. Enoch was a godly man, the Bible says, therefore he was a suitable subject for heaven.
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5
The word “translate” (Greek – ‘metatithemi’ ) = means “to transfer to another place”.
What do we know about Enoch? Several clear facts :
1. He walked with God – that is, he communed regularly with God. As Adam did.
2. He was the seventh from Adam (Jude14)
3. He prophesied by faith (Heb.11:5) therefore he was Divinely instructed (Rom.10:17)
4. He ‘walked with God” for 300 years before God took him.
5. Like Elijah, Enoch also went to heaven without having to go through a resurrection (2Kings 2:1,11)
These two men are the only clear examples of humans entering heaven without having to die first, and as such they stand in stark contrast to the majority of believers who have had to go the other way. Exceptions, we know, prove the rule. Just as Jesus overcame death, when millions of others failed, so God saw fit to demonstrate His power in the lives of these two sinners.
There is a huge difference between translation and resurrection.
- Translation means taking a living human and conveying them directly to heaven, presumably replacing their mortal body with an immortal one during the process.
- Resurrection means raising a dead human and restoring them, complete with a new body. – Translation occurs before the 2nd Advent, resurrection occurs at the time of the 2nd Advent.
- Translation is for the godly only, resurrection is for all who have died, godly and ungodly.
If there were any other saints in heaven we might expect the Bible to tell us, but it does not. In fact, it says the opposite. For example king David is definitely not in heaven :
“For David is not ascended into the heavens:” Acts 2:34
And Jesus is called the “firstfruits of them that slept” :
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23. (See context also)
Notice the sequence. Christ is the firstfruits, then afterward, that is at his 2nd Advent, the believers. Everything in the right order. Jesus himself stated much the same thing, in John 5:21-29, 11:23-26. Also Heb.9:27. As I read it, there is but one general resurrection, in which all believers and unbelievers will be raised back to life, and join the people living at the time. From this vast crowd God will draw out the worthy saints and catch them up to his aerial position, then judgements will begin on those who are left.
One other objection is the vision which king Saul supposedly had of Samuel. 1Sam.28:7-19. In this account, Saul sought out a medium, to “divine” for him (v.8) by “a familiar spirit”. This was necromancy, a practise soundly condemned by God. It was and still is, based on the idea that the living can contact the dead, but as we have already seen, there is no communication between the living and the dead. Obviously necromancy and other similar practises, are either a fraud, or demonic, since it is very helpful to Satan if he can seemingly contradict God’s word. God said that sinners must die, but if ‘dying’ means moving into a ‘spirit world’ where life continues, then Satan has seemingly proven God wrong.
In the necromancer’s house the woman fearfully summoned Samuel, and said that she saw “an old man . . . and he is covered with a mantel”. Saul decided that this must be Samuel and the demonic impostor delivered a message which was already fairly obvious.
There are many discrepancies in this account. The first one is the fact that Saul did not see the vision, but assumed the “old man” must be Samuel. Also, the “old man” was wearing a mantel – what happened to the grave clothes? And if Samuel was still an “old man” what does this say about the blessings of heaven?
Another discrepancy is the fact that in 1Sam.28:6 we are told that “when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.”
Saul disobeyed God by consulting a spiritist, an action forbidden by the Law. It is hardly likely that God would allow Samuel to come to the bidding of a wicked man in a seance!
Saul perceived only what he wanted to, and went entirely on what the woman told him. The evil spirit impersonated Samuel, just as they still do today, and all it said was what was already well known – see 2Chron.18:19-22.
(There is also a subtle side-issue objection, which hinges on semantics, so, for the record here is how it works. On the one hand we read that Saul “enquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him not”, yet, on the other hand 1 Chron.10:13,14 says “He asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit . . . and enquired not of the Lord”. This looks like a contradiction, but it is not.
In the first text the word for “enquire” is shaal = to ask or consult. In the second text the word for “enquire” is darash = to seek with the whole heart. (As in Psalm 77:2 and 119:10) Saul plainly consulted the Lord, in the same way that he consulted the witch of Endor, but Saul did not seek with his whole heart in submission and humility.)
Additional notes :
A prophetic picture of creation is seen in Ezekiel 37. First the bones are clothed with flesh, then the bodies stand up, but they are still dead until the breath is put into them. Life comes from the breath of God (v.9). Dead souls become living souls when oxygen enters their blood stream.
God is called the “God of the spirits of all flesh” – Num.16:22, 27:16 and also Luke 23:46, Acts 7:59. And the “Father of spirits” in Heb.12:9. The ‘spirits’ means ‘the breaths’.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The breath of God is taken back from the soul (nephesh) resulting in the death of the soul. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it”.