The Bible tells us that the dead know not anything. Which simply means those who’ve passed on and are dead, aren’t any longer aware of the stream of time. These people are no longer with us, and aren’t aware of what’s happening in the world.
Death is described in the Bible as being in a state of slumber.
Jesus calls it “sleep“.
John 11:11-14
11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗵; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱.
Our bodies and spirits, [which essentially is our minds, and thoughts,] come to rest, as the breath of life—which makes our body and soul one, and alive—returns to God who gave it, until the last day of resurrection.
Have you lost a loved one?
Do you want to know more about what happens when we die?
Read on and get your Bibles. I invite you to follow along with me, as we discover the truth of this very important topic.
Let’s begin our exploration with this question.
Are the dead aware of what is currently happening in the land of the living?
Let’s read what the Scriptures said about this.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
5 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.
6 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.
Solomon was a wise man. He’s telling us that those who’ve passed on, have ceased from existence. He said their love, hatred, and envy is gone, and their memory will soon be forgotten.
But, what happens to the soul?
Aren’t we given the breath of life from the Almighty which lives on?
Ecclesiastes 12:7
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Let’s establish what the soul and the spirit are according to the Scriptures.
In the beginning, when God made man in the Garden of Eden, the text tells us Adam was formed from the dust of the ground.
Then, God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, His breath of life. In that very moment Adam became a living soul.
Genesis 2:7
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.
Notice the verse says Adam became a living soul, essentially a living creature. After God breathed His breath of life into his nostrils, man became a living being.
God’s breath is what enabled Adam, who was but dust and ashes, to become a living soul – a living creature.
What immediately happens with our breath when we die?
It stops, then we rest.
The Bible doesn’t say the soul is a separate entity from the body.
A soul is simply a living being as we learned from Genesis 2:7.
The combination of a body and God’s breath of life, is a soul, which cannot exist without the body or the breath.
If you’re a Bible believing Christian, and you’re under the impression that there is life on earth after death, pay attention.
James 2:26 teaches us a very important principle concerning the state of the dead. It tells us that “…the body apart from the spirit is dead” (James 2:26, ESV).
Job, understanding what we actually are, said: “as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils” (Job 27:3, ESV).
We can see the idea illustrated on a candle.
Without fire, a candle simply has no light. Right?
In order to have light, both the candle and the fire are needed.
Similarly, the body is without life if the breath of God isn’t there. Our souls are not a separate entity.
Some religions teach strange ideas about what happens when we die. For instance, some believe in a purgatory, or in reincarnation, others teach of the immortality of the soul, and the afterlife. But, according to the scriptures, this isn’t true.
This is because they are teaching what the serpent told Eve in Eden.
Genesis 3:4
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Of this verse Ellen White writes:
“The only one who promised Adam life in disobedience was the great deceiver. And the declaration of the serpent to Eve in Eden—“Ye shall not surely die”—was the first sermon ever preached upon the immortality of the soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Satan, is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom and is received by the majority of mankind as readily as it was received by our first parents.”
—Ellen Gould White, The Great Controversy, pg. 533
As Bible believing Christians, it is imperative to weigh every teaching according to the scriptures, so we won’t be deceived like the rest of the so-called Christian world.
Isaiah 8:20 says:
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Again, “If they [if your spiritual teachers] do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20, NKJV).
Ellen White said:
“The law and the prophets are God’s appointed agencies for the salvation of men. Christ said, Let them give heed to these evidences. If they do not listen to the voice of God in His word, the testimony of a witness raised from the dead would not be heeded.”
Ellen Gould White, Christ Object Lessons, pg. 265
It’s imperative to understand this, that we may not be deceived. The Bible clearly says, death is like sleep. The dead do not know anything.
This information puts our minds at ease, knowing our loved ones who’ve passed away, aren’t burning in an eternal hell, nor living in heaven constantly tormented from witnessing their loved ones suffer their loss.
God is so kind. I want you to consider what I am saying right now. Imagine a mother who has passed on, watching her children suffer through life without her. Or a father witnessing the hardship his wife and children may suffer from his loss.
The scriptures tell us clearly, they are resting, peacefully in the grave. They are not suffering in pain. They are not somewhere else being tormented eternally. They are simply in a state of slumber, waiting in the grave until Jesus returns.
Ellen Gould White shared the following passage about the benefits of receiving the truth as its being presented to us in the Scriptures.
“If men had been willing to receive the truth so plainly stated in the Scriptures concerning the nature of man and the state of the dead, they would see in the claims and manifestations of spiritualism the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders. . . .Many will be confronted by the spirits of devils personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions.
We must be prepared to withstand them with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils.”
—Ellen Gould White, The Great Controversy, pg. 560.
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