ARE THE DEAD IN HEAVEN NOW?

Numerous verses show that the dead sleep in Hades or Sheol in Hebrew, and wait for the resurrection. After the resurrection they will appear before Jesus and they will go either to heaven or Gehenna, commonly described with the English term hell or the Greek term kolasis. Incidentally the ancient Greeks knew it. Hades was a place known to them before Christ, and the word itself is Greek. From Hades, their destination according to what the ancient Greeks knew, would be either the Elysian Fields (heaven) or Tartarus (hell or more precisely Gehenna).

What happens at death? Let’s start with Ecclesiastes 12:7 “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” In Acts 7:59 we read “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. Jesus himself while on the cross told his Father to receive his spirit “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost (Luke 23:46). Job stated in Job 1:21 “And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Several verses show that the dead are dead. They “sleep” in the ground according to the expression of the Bible and they are turned back to dust. They are not alive in heaven or hell. Believers could point to two stories as proof that believers go straight to paradise or hell. It is Jesus’ response to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43, and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. Luke 23:43 “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The latter is not to be taken literally, but it was a comfort to the thief having an agonizing death. His temporary pain would be nothing compared to the eternal life he just had earned. After all, Jesus would be risen on the third day and not on that particular day (Luke 24:7). The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable, and doesn’t indicate a real scene either now or in the afterlife.

I will sometimes use the English Standard Version of the Bible for this paragraph which retains the original Hebrew word Sheol. If the acronym ESV is not presented, it is the King James Bible. The King James Version uses the word grave. However the King James Version is the proper Bible to see the word “sleep” as it is in the original Hebrew or Greek. Sheol in the Hebrew Bible is the underworld place of gloom and darkness where the dead go, both the righteous and the wicked. The Greek equivalent to Sheol is Hades, a word used in the original Greek New Testament. The word occurs in the New Testament in Matthew 11:23, Matthew 16:18; Luke 10:15, 16:23, Acts 2:27,31, 1 Corinthians 15:55 (if you rely on the Textus Receptus of the New Testament), Revelation 1:18, 6:8, 20:13. The King James Version renders "Hades" by "hell" in all instances except 1 Corinthians 15:55, where it puts "grave" in dependence on Hosea 13:14.

The word sleep is often used of death as in 2 Samuel 7:12, 1 Kings 1:21, Job 7:21; Ps. 13:3, 90:5, Dan. 12:2, John 11:11, 1 Cor. 11:30, 15:51, 1 Thess. 4:14, 5:10 and Acts 13:36.

I present some key verses:

Psalm 13:3 “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”

Job 7:21 “And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.”

John 11:11 “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.”

1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:51 “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep… Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”

1 Thessalonians 5:10 “Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”

Job 14:12-14 shows that the dead don’t live again, until the appointed time of resurrection. It can be compared to Job 7:21. Job 14:12-14 ESV: “so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.” KJV has it as change. Job 14:14 “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” The word “change” is used in 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 “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.” Earlier in 1 Corinthians 15:42 the resurrection of the dead is confirmed “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:”

Several Old Testament verses show, the dead can’t give praise to God. The verses nullify a popular doctrine in the world of Christianity. The righteous dead are not in the presence of God. Psalm 6:5 (ESV) “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” Psalm 30:9 (ESV) “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?” Psalm 115:17 (ESV) “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence.” Isaiah 38:18 (ESV) “For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.”

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 and 10 (ESV), mostly the last verse, declare very clearly where the dead are going; “4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” In Ezekiel 37:12-14 it is confirmed that the dead don’t know anything, they will have knowledge after their resurrection.

Sheol is a temporary place. Psalm 16:10 (ESV) “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” Psalm 89:48 (ESV) “What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah”.

In Isaiah 26:19, the righteous dead are dead in the dust and will live again. They don’t go to heaven immediately after death: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”

Daniel 12:1,2 describes the day of resurrection “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” It confirms 1 Thessalonians 4:14,16, written after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Daniel 12:1,2 it is clear that the resurrection is of both of the just and the unjust. Both categories of people were lying in Hades, or Sheol in Hebrew.

In Acts 24:15 Paul is talking in the era after the resurrection of Jesus “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”. Earlier in Acts 4:1,2 “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” The apostles also preached the resurrection of the dead in Acts 17:18,32.

John 5:27-29 “And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 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.” Here in the gospel of John we see that the dead are in the graves, and they are facing in the future either the resurrection of life or the resurrection of damnation. Revelation 20:12,13 describes the resurrection of the dead and their judgment, “they were judged every man according to their works.” It continues in verses 14 and 15 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Earlier Revelation 20:4,5 describes the first resurrection of the righteous “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” The prophet Daniel was told he would rest and “stand” in the proper time. Daniel 12:13 “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Up until the time Jesus was ministering “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). Peter says of David “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day… For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand”.

In Matthew 22:23-32, Mark 12:18-27 and Luke 20:27-38, the Sadducees brought up the topic of future resurrection to Jesus. Jesus didn’t refute it. He affirmed the resurrection of the just would take place, therefore it is implied that the dead in Christ don’t go directly to heaven after death. Jesus confirms the same message in Luke 14:13,14 “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” If good people went right to heaven when they died, they would be repaid for their actions immediately after death. Martha in John 11 repeats the doctrine of resurrection on the last day, and Jesus doesn’t refute it. John 11:23-25 “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”.

Paul in Titus 2:13 says he is looking for the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, which wouldn’t make sense if he was in his presence right now. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”.

Several verses describe judgment right after the resurrection as a future event. Among them, Matthew 10:15, 12:41,42, 13:47-50, 16:27, 2 Peter 3:7, Jude 1:6. The judgment is done by Jesus (John 15:22). He will judge the world at his coming at an appointed day (Acts 17:31, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 2 Timothy 4:1). I quote Acts 17:30,31: “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” If God had appointed a day, then how everyone’s destination is determined at the time of death and they go to heaven in the presence of God as it is falsely believed?

Hebrews 6:1,2 offers a summary of the doctrine of Christ “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” Repentance and faith in God are at the center of it, and in the next verse it includes as main topics the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. The statement wouldn’t be expected if people dying would go right away to either heaven or hell.

Has Jesus with the resurrection changed things and the dead in Christ go directly to heaven after the victory of Jesus over death? A passage shows very clearly that the dead in Christ will be resurrected in the future. 1 Thessalonians 4:14,16: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him… 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 three passages, Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28-36, in the incident of transfiguration of Jesus we read “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said” (Luke 9:30-33).

Who is in heaven right now? Jesus was talking to two people. Enoch and Elijah were without a doubt taken to heaven without dying. Genesis 5:24 :”And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” In 2 Kings 2:11 we read “and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” However in the case of Moses, Deuteronomy 31:16 states “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers …” Deuteronomy 34:5,6 describes what happened to Moses “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.”

The two big questions are 1. Why Enoch was not seen talking to Jesus? And 2. If Moses was dead and buried, why he was seen talking to Jesus? In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus sends the message that someone has to rise from the dead to be heard talking by the people alive on earth. So, it can be presumed that God resurrected Moses, right? It doesn’t seem so. Peter thought that the two persons were Moses and Elijah. Jesus never said who he was talking to. Peter possibly thought that since the grave of Moses was not found, God resurrected him and took him. Moses was an outstanding historical figure and the Old Testament devotes a big part to his story. Probably no man fills believers in God with awe more than Abraham and Moses, in regard to how the Lord used them to change history. Enoch is a man of God with a very short description of him. Luke 9:33 shows that Peter didn’t know what he was talking about. He was in a state of fear and not thinking clearly. The verse that complicates the interpretation is “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias” and is found not in one, but in three gospels. There is no doubt that when people of God including the disciples thought or did something wrong, we are not always notified by the Bible about their mistake and we have to practice judgment. The elected Matthias was not the twelfth apostle, but Paul was. He was anointed directly by God (Acts 1:15-26). In Matthew 17:13 we read “Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist”, but they understood wrong. The description of Elijah or Elias in Malachi 4 and Matthew 17:11,12 does not remind John the Baptist. More on it later.

Could the gospels lie to us presenting Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus before it is mentioned that the three disciples understood them to be those two men? Then why would God emphatically tell Moses he would sleep with his fathers? If the gospels were stating “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Enoch and Elias” and right afterwards Peter said to make tabernacles “one for Moses, and one for Elias” it would be a very odd presentation. Most likely the verse “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias” is the impression the disciples had, and besides, the gospels were written by the disciples of Jesus. The person they thought was Moses, was Enoch rather than Moses.

The analysis of some Bible interpreters that Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents prophecy and Jesus wanted to show a symbolic message of the two together, is off the mark. Jesus was about to become a mediator of a new testament (Hebrews 9:15) and He taught about the status of the Law of Moses with direct quotes. He did not need to show anything symbolic (Matthew 5:17,18, 19:16-18, Luke 16:17, 10:26-28, John 14:21,23, 15:10).

Another message is derived from the passage “While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen” (Luke 9:34-36). No matter how impressive anyone is in the eyes of believers, Moses, Elijah, Mary, Paul, Peter to name a few, or even their beloved pastors or evangelists, the believers’ eyes and ears should be fixed on Jesus and his Father. It is God that will guide them in their spiritual lives. In the case of the disciples in the period of time after the ascension of Jesus and in the case of us the believers, it is God the Father that would guide us through His Spirit, the Paraclete (John 14:16,17).

Was Elijah in the prophecy of Malachi 4, John the Baptist? Malachi 4:5,6: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” The description doesn’t bring to mind John the Baptist. John was the greatest prophet according to Jesus himself in Matthew 11:11. However he was not a step ahead of the dreadful day of the Lord but his ministry was preceding the ministry of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry was good news, a joy for mankind. Indifference to what John the Baptist was doing did not result in the inhabitants of the earth to be smitten with a curse. The verse in Malachi 4 does not seem to refer to one nation, but to all mankind. John the Baptist was ministering to the nation of Israel alone. It was Jesus with his teachings that turned the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers. John also urged people to repent of their sins but it was the ministry of Jesus that send the message of what the truth is and what sin is in a more forceful manner. John the Baptist prepared the Israelites for Jesus who would come to teach and then suffer and die for men’s sins. John himself refuted the claim he was Elijah from the prophecy (John 1:21).

The book of Malachi opens the possibility of Elijah being someone in the end of days, a man who hasn’t appeared yet, but Jesus ruled out that scenario in his reply to his disciples. Matthew 17:10-13: “And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”

The fact that the disciples “understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” doesn’t mean that they certainly understood right. “They knew him not” is a description of people or a nation that is either evil and can’t relate to the truth or a nation that is blinded and can’t see that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus was apparently comparing his suffering with Elijah’s. John the Baptist falls in a very different category of suffering. Nobody forced him into his dreadful lifestyle “And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4) and he was “neither eating nor drinking” in contrast to Jesus. When John was ministering to the Israelites, nobody bothered him. He suffered with his imprisonment and was sentenced to death but it was a result of a woman having a grudge against him. The sad end of John came because of a mistake he made, the personal life of king Herod was not his business. Jesus himself stayed clear of politics during his ministry and did not comment negatively on people’s personal lives. Nobody wanted to kill John because of what he stood for, even Herod himself. The Pharisees not only were not hostile to him, but they went to be baptized by him which tell us two things; John’s ministry was widely accepted and he was not perceived as a fraud. Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to where he was baptizing to keep the pretense to the Israelites they were holy religious figures with rightful authority (Matthew 3:7). They didn’t feel threatened by him, in contrast to Jesus who was constantly exposing them for being frauds and not men of God.

On the other hand Elijah was in the same position as Jesus. Jesus was the truth. Elijah stood for the truth and the truth was a threat to the established order in Israel. In both eras, in the time of King of Israel Ahab and his wife Jezebel, and in the time of Jesus, authorities used religion as a tool to take advantage of people and submit them to their authority. Elijah as well as his fellow prophets, and Jesus were a threat for the establishment of their day. John the Baptist wasn’t, but his ministry was valuable. Jesus added “but have done unto him whatsoever they listed”. Again this is about people with ill motives against a person, and not about somebody’s revenge because of a previous insult. It is also “they”.

Did Elijah suffer and did they “have done unto him whatsoever they listed”? A fugitive doesn’t live according to his own free will but has limited options. They didn’t get their hands on him but succeeded in inflicting psychological pain on him. The aftermath of Elijah’s victory over the false prophets was lasting, and it was liberty of conscience for the people of Israel. People including the prophets of the Lord could speak their minds. Elijah, though, went back to the same situation he was before his encounter with the false prophets. He was a wanted man, and if caught, would be killed by his enemies. This is without a doubt a mentally tormenting experience. The physical adversity of having to wander far from home is not to be underestimated. What is described in 1 Kings 19 is a horrific experience that nobody in his senses would like to have even with the miracles. Elijah could be in the comfort of his house in Israel having nice meals and it would be a much better option than ravens bringing you bread and flesh. In the same chapter we see Elijah at a breaking point. It wasn’t about his life being in danger even if this is what he was saying as an expression of his pain, he simply has had enough. Jesus suffered in the hands of people who did to Him what they wished. He was tortured, condemned to death, forced to bear the cross on the way to the place called Golgotha, and finally crucified. He was the person that would “restore all things” a description once again not fitting to John.

As a final note, I urge readers to beware of Bible translations including the King James Version that translate the words Sheol or Hades as hell. It is not the same thing. The King James Version Reference Edition Thomas Nelson Publishers corrects the mistakes in marginal notes, and it’s possibly the best physical English Bible for those who can handle the archaic English language.