1872 Fundamental Beliefs. #19 Death

Transcription

1 1872 Fundamental Beliefs #19 Death!1

2 The the grave, whither we all tend, expressed by the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades, is a place of darkness in which there is no work, device, wisdom, nor knowledge. Eccl. 9:10 2

3 Death and Resurrection #26 The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people.... (Ps. 146:3, 4; Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10; John 11:11 14; Rom. 6:23; 16; 1 Thess. 4:13 15.) 3

4 The the grave, whither we all tend, expressed by the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades, is a place of darkness in which there is no work, device, wisdom, nor knowledge. The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people. 4

5 Death is not complete annihilation; it is only a state of temporary unconsciousness while the person awaits the resurrection. The Bible repeatedly calls this intermediate state a sleep. Referring to their deaths, the Old Testament describes David, Solomon, and the other kings of Israel and Judah as sleeping with their forefathers (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 14:20, 31; 15:8; 2 Chron. 21:1; 26:23; etc.) Job called death a sleep (Job 14:10 12), as did David (Ps. 13:3), Jeremiah (Jer. 51: 39, 57), and Daniel (Daniel 12:2). 5

6 The New Testament uses the same imagery. In describing the condition of Jairus daughter, who was dead, Christ said that she was sleeping (Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39). He referred to Lazarus (John 11:11 14) in the same way. Matthew wrote of the saints who had fallen asleep (Matt. 27:52, Luke wrote that Stephen fell asleep (Acts 7:60), and both Paul and Peter called death a sleep (1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:13 17; 2 Peter 3:40). 6

7 The Old Testament calls the place where people go at death sheol (Hebrew), and the New Testament hades. In the Scripture, sheol most often simply means the grave. The meaning of hades is similar to that of sheol. All the dead go to this place (Ps. 89:48), both the righteous and the wicked. Jacob said, I shall go down into the grave [sheol] (Gen. 37:35). When the earth opened its mouth to swallow the wicked Korah and his company, they went down alive into the pit [sheol] (Num. 16:30). 7

8 Though the body returns to dust, the spirit returns to God. Solomon said that at death the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7). This is true of all, both the righteous and the wicked. James 2:26 The body without the spirit is dead. 8

9 The word spirit appears to many as a rather vague term. The problem is compounded by the translators of the King James Version using ghost ninety-eight times for the same word translated spirit. Let us first look at the term spirit in the Old Testament. The word spirit almost always comes from the Hebrew ruwach. Ruwach is defined in Strong s Concordance as: wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions). Besides spirit, some other translations of ruwach are: air, anger, blast, breath, cool, courage, mind, quarter, side, tempest, wind, whirlwind. (Allen Stump, The Foundation of Our Faith, p. 141) 9

10 The majority of cases involving ruwach relate it to breath or life. A word closely related to ruwach that s translated breath is neshamah. Neshamah is used in Genesis 2:7 where we read: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (neshamah) of life; and man became a living soul. Neshamah is also twice translated spirit and souls once. Neshamah is used interchangeably with ruwach. Notice the parallelism: (Ibid., p. 142) 10

11 By the blast (neshamah) of God they perish, and by the breath (ruwach) of his nostrils are they consumed. (Job 4:9) All the while my breath (neshamah) is in me, and the spirit (ruwach) of God is in my nostrils. (Job 27:3) The Spirit (ruwach) of God hath made me, and the breath (neshamah) of the Almighty hath given me life. (Job 33:4) (Ibid.) 11

12 Other parallel usages shows these terms to be synonymous: the breath (neshamah) of life (Genesis 2:7) and the breath (ruwach) of life (Genesis 6:17). These verses show spirit to be living, active, and full of life. (Ibid.) 12

13 Psalm 18:5 hell (sheol) In the KJV she ol is translated grave 31 times, hell 31 times, and pit 6 times.... she ol is used as a figurative expression denoting the place where men go at death (Gen. 37:35; 1 Sam. 2:6; Job 7:9; 14:13; Ps. 49:14, 15). 13

14 She ol is described as having bars (Job 17:16), and gates (Isa. 38:10). It is said to be deep, in contrast with heaven, which is high (Deut. 32:22; Job 11:8; Ps. 86:13; 139:8). She ol is nowhere described as a place of punishment after death. That concept was later attached to gehenna (Mark 9:43 48), not to hades, the Greek word that properly translates she ol, with one exception (Luke 16:23). 14

15 hadēs Gr. hadēs, from two Greek words, a, not, and idein, to see, literally unseen, meaning the realm, or abode, of the dead. In Jewish usage she ol is the temporary abode of all the dead, both righteous and wicked.... The NT usage of hadēs is the same as that of the OT she ol. It is important to distinguish between the hell of hadēs and that of Gehenna, Gr. geenan, the hell of fire (see on Matt. 5:22). In the LXX hadēs is the usual translation for the Heb. she ol, grave. The word hadēs appears on many ancient tombstones in Asia Minor, as the grave of such and such a person. 15

16 The NT distinguishes between hádēs and géenna the former is the temporary grave, the latter the final destruction of the wicked. 16

17 17

18 18

19 1 Thessalonians 4:

20 What happens at death? Ecclesiastes 12:7 the dust will return to the as it was, and the will return to God who gave it. Spirit is Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the of life. 20

21 From Bible Readings for the Home (1914) The Bible represents death as a. (John 11:11) Where do the dead sleep? In the of the. (Daniel 12:2) What did Job say death was like? Man s thoughts and when his sons come to honor, he it. David says the dead praise God and in death there is remembrance of God. 21

22 At Pentecost, Peter said that had not ascended to heaven. (Acts 2:34) And David said he would behold God s face when he became with his. (Psalm 17:15) When will those who have fallen asleep in Jesus be awakened? When the Lord himself shall from. (1 Thessalonians 4:16) 22

23 Genesis 35:18 as her soul was departing (soul same as Gen 2:7) Luke 16:19 rich man and Lazarus Luke 23:43 today thou shalt be with me in paradise John 11:26 believeth in me shall never die 1 Peter 3:18, 19 preached to spirits in prison Revelation 6:9, 10 souls crying under the altar 23

24 1 Corinthians 16:18 my spirit means me (7BC 575) Galatians 6:18 your spirit means you (Ibid.) 2 Timothy 4:22 thy spirit means you; Philippians 4:23; Hebrews 12:9, etc. (Ibid.) Accordingly these spirits can be considered living human beings. In fact, the first part of v. 20 apparently identifies them as people living on the earth immediately prior to the Flood. They were as certainly real, living human beings as were the eight souls of v. 20. (Ibid.) 24

25 Matthew 22:31 32: Have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. Jesus words clearly imply that the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were even at that point in Jesus day still alive, in some way. 25

26 It is often overlooked that Jesus was talking about the resurrection when He spoke these words. He did not mean that Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob were alive then, but they would be alive in the resurrection because He was the God who could give life to the dead. Here s the full text which clarifies the matter: But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Verses 31, 32. The topic under discussion was the resurrection, not the state of the dead. He alluded to those patriarchs only in their relation to the resurrection an assurance that they would have a part in it. Romans 4:17 makes it clear that God quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Don't miss the point that, concerning the raising of the dead, God speaks of their resurrected life as though it were already accomplished. (Joe Crews, Answers To Difficult Bible Texts, pp. 30, 31; wp-content/uploads/2016/11/answers-to-difficult-bible-passages.pdf) 26

27 Perhaps Jesus classic statement in this regard was when He received the news of His friend Lazarus death. Told by his sister Martha of her brother s demise Jesus comforted and answered her by stating, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies. 27

28 2 Corinthians 5:8 Absent from the body and present with the Lord 28

29 In verses 1-8, Paul is contrasting the present mortal state with the future immortal life in heaven. Paul speaks of being clothed with our house which is from heaven Verse 2. He longs that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Verse 4. But the key to the entire discourse lies in the description of a third condition. After desiring to be clothed with immortality, Paul States that being clothed we shall not be found naked. Verse 3. Putting it yet another way, he said, Not for that we would be unclothed. Verse 4. Clearly the naked or unclothed state was neither mortality nor immortality, but death and the grave. Paul realized that one did not pass instantly from being clothed with this tabernacle into being clothed with our house from heaven. Death and the grave came in between, and he referred to this as being unclothed and naked. In another text Paul spelled out exactly when that change from mortality would take place. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, 53, he wrote, The trumpet shall sound... and this mortal must put on immortality. That will be when Jesus comes. (Crews, p. 52) 29

30 In 2 Cor. 12:2 4, Paul described a man fourteen years before his writing, who had been caught up to the third heaven. Philippians 1:23 to depart and be with Christ 30

31 It means that in the whole being the body, the mind, as well as the soul the image of God is to be restored. (Ed 16.1) [She is using soul to mean spirit.] As the perfection of His character is dwelt upon, the mind is renewed, and the soul is re-created in the image of God. (Ed 18.1) Nor was this likeness manifest in the physical nature only. Every faculty of mind and soul reflected the Creator s glory. Endowed with high mental and spiritual gifts... (Ed 20.2) [soul again equated with spirit] The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. (ED 125) 31