What Happens to Man’s Spirit, Soul, and Body

Immediately After Death?

By Harry A. Peyton

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PREFACE (3)

INTRODUCTION (5)

CHAPTER 1 LUCIFER’S MYSTERY BABYLONIAN DOCTRINE OF TORMENT

OF THE SOUL IN HADES/SHEOL IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH (7)

CHAPTER 2 MAN IS COMPOSED OF A SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY (9)

CHAPTER 3 WHAT HAPPENS TO MAN'S BODY AND SPIRIT AFTER HE DIES? (11)

Man's Physical Body Always Goes To Qeber\Mnemeion After Death (12)

Man’s Spirit Always Returns To God (13)

CHAPTER 4 WHAT HAPPENS TO MAN’S PERSONAL SOUL AFTER HE DIES? 14

Gehenna Or The Lake Of Fire, Not Hades\Sheol, Is Where The Lost Will Be Punished (17)

Man’s Personal Soul Always Goes To Sheol\Hades After Death 18

Jesus’ Soul Went To Sheol\Hades At Death Not To Hell Or The Grave

Jacob's Soul Went To Sheol\Hades At Death

Job’s Soul Went To Sheol\Hades At Death

David’s Soul Went To Hades\Sheol At Death

The Souls Of All Human Beings Goes To Sheol\Hades At Death

Where Do The Souls Of The Righteous And Wicked Dwell In Sheol\Hades? (22)

Righteous Souls Dwell In Upper Sheol\Hades, Lost And Wicked Souls Dwell In Lower Sheol\Hades

Are The Souls Of The Righteous And Wicked Asleep Or Awake In Sheol\Hades? (23)

Ancient Jews Taught Soul Sleep

The Prophet Job Taught Soul Sleep

The Prophet David Taught Soul Sleep

King Solomon Taught Soul Sleep

King Hezekiah Taught Soul Sleep

Jesus Taught Soul Sleep

The Apostle Paul Taught Soul Sleep

The Physician Luke Taught Soul Sleep

The Apostle Peter Taught Soul Sleep

The Bible In Many Places Teaches Soul Sleep

Justin Martyr, Titian, And Theophilus Taught Soul Sleep

John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Martin Luther and Other Reformers Taught Soul Sleep

Has God Ever Awaken Any Of The Souls In Sheol Or Hades From Their Sleep? (34)

Isaiah’s Teaching

Luke’s Teaching

CHAPTER 5 THE SPIRIT OF MAN, NOT THE SOUL,

GOES IMMEDIATELY TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH (46)

APPENDIX (50)

Every Scripture Containing The Greek Word Hades And Hebrew Word Sheol Is Presented In One Or More English Translations, The Beza’s 1598 Textus Receptus Greek New Testament, The Jewish Old Testament (The Greek Septuagint And The Hebrew Masoretic Text):

Definition Of Hades (51)

The Hades Passages (52)

Definition Of Sheol (54)

The Sheol Passages (54)

BIBLIOGRAPHY (69)

ENDNOTES (71)

Copyright May 30, 1996 by Harry A. Peyton under the title of “The Doctrines Of Christ.”

A Note from the Author: Since Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, gives His Salvation and His Word to all freely (Rev 22:17, Mt 10:7-8), this book, and all other books, written by Harry A. Peyton are given without charge, and can be accessed through the Internet at the following address: http://www.DoctrinesOfChrist.com. Therefore, fell free to copy it in digital or written form, and share it with others. Since this book is copyrighted, the author forbids any alteration of its contents, and the reproduction of it in any form for Marketing Purposes. This book may be placed on anyone’s web page, as long as my website address is attached to it.

The author believes that the Word of God is infallible in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE it was written in, and all translations of the Bible regardless of how good they may be are NOT. Since the author has implicit faith in the infallibility of the Word of God, the author has formed his beliefs firmly on the truth of the Bible. This author uses the ancient ANTIOCHIAN LITERAL-HISTORICAL METHOD OF INTERPRETING THE BIBLE, which was used by early Christian Prophets and Apostles of the Bible.

I definitely believe that the ancient Alexandrian Allegorical Method of spiritualizing scripture, which was made popular by the ancient Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus (13 BC – 50 AD) and later used by the Ante-Nicene Catholic Priests, especially Origen and his student Clement of Alexandria (200 AD), is an abomination to our Lord. Therefore, all scriptures will be interpreted in a literal exegetical fashion, unless the language used and the context demands a spiritual interpretation.

All CAPITALIZATION and ITALICIZATION in QUOTES used in this book is always MINE. All Biblical quotes used in this book will be in dark red, and from the New King James version of the Bible, unless another version is stated as the reference. The vast majority of all translations of the Bible, as well as Hebrew and Greek Lexical definitions and grammar, will come from BibleWorks computer software program version 7.0. The author in most places will quote verses from the Bible instead of commenting on a verse and giving a reference; for He believes that the written Word of God’s has greater power to inspire and enlighten a heart to understand and act upon truth, than the elegant oratory or writings of any man.

If this book has been a blessing to my beloved readers, and they would like to send an offering to the author, feel free to do so. If anyone wishes to send any biblical or historical materials to the author, my address is: 148 Little Creek Hills Rd.: Alto, NM 88312: Phone # 575-336-2800: Email address: DoctrineOfChrist@Hotmail.com.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to acknowledge my Lord, Jesus Christ, whose love, grace, and inspiration made this book possible. May He use this work for the propagation of His Gospel; so many souls may be able to enter into His great Kingdom. I would also like to thank Sister Bridget Joseph for her invaluable assistance in editing this book. I deeply appreciate her labor of love.

PREFACE

This book contains both a scriptural and a historical study of the after-life of man’s spirit and soul after death. It gives biblical answers to the following questions: Is their life after death? If so, how long will it last? What part of man’s makeup will experience this life? Will it be a life full of happiness or sadness? What happens to man’s physical body, his soul, and his spirit after death? What nature of man, his soul or his spirit, goes immediately to heaven in a conscious state after death? What is the nature of Hades\Sheol? Is man’s soul awake and in conscious torment in Hades\Sheol, or is it unconscious and sleeping waiting for the resurrection?

From the time of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, God, the devil, and man have spoken profusely about the spirit and soul of man, death, and life after death. Judaism, Christianity, and Pagan Religions have taught much about these topics. Man has written volumes of books about these subjects. Many have claimed that God has given them dreams and visions of the after-life.

There is only one book, in all of creation, that can reveal to us the absolute truth about these sacred doctrines, and that book is the infallible Word of God, the Holy Bible. The Bible is the greatest source of Truth this world has ever known. It is not just a truth, but it is “the Truth.” Every scripture as it relates to any given subject is the guiding light that every Christian uses to judge truth, for the Word of God is the final authority regarding the validity of anything that claims to be truth. The Bible is a magnificent work, profound in structure and inerrant in content. It is the only source of absolute truth when it comes to knowing the Creator and what He says about afterlife.

Therefore, death, the soul of man, Hades, the true nature of God’s judgment, and His retribution against sin can only be understood through the Bible. The author has not written this book in an attempt to convert anyone to a church or an organization. Instead, He wrote it in response to one of Christianity’s greatest tragedies, which is the failure of most of its religious institutions to understand these sacred dogmas. They have mastered many of the great doctrines of the Bible, but when it comes to these doctrines, the majority of denominational preachers have failed to study them with an open and unprejudiced mind.

The author does not profess to be a fluent writer, but he does avow to be a man of God who has spent over a thousand hours in the last thirty years studying every facet of this subject. He has read many books from Christian, Jewish, and Pagan sources. He has discussed the subject of hell with many ministers, not for argument sake, but for knowledge sake. He firmly believes that one can learn more from those who hold opposing views than those who agree. This gives one the opportunity to objectively inspect every facet of the opposing perspective, as well as reevaluating his own.

The author has entered into these discussions also because he loves people, and he does not wish to see anyone believing the lies of the Babylonian Religion. The apostle Paul must have believed in open and honest discussion of God’s holy Word because the scripture declared that he disputed “in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him” (Acts 17:17).

Josh McDowell, in his book entitled Evidence That Demands A Verdict, speaking of Biblical apologetics writes: Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence’ (1Peter 3:15). The word defense (Gk. apologia) indicates ‘a defense of conduct and procedures.’ Wilbur Smith defines apologetics as, ‘a verbal defense, a speech in defense of what one has done or of truth which one believes.

The author is an old-fashion, holiness Pentecostal Preacher. He will present the truths pertaining to afterlife in a kind, loving, discreet, and systematic dissertation. This book is not written in a novel style, but in an exegetical fashion. This author firmly believes that the Lord Jesus Christ has called him to write this book, although he does not enjoy writing. In fact, it has taken him several years to compose this work.

The author is asking his readers to prayerfully read the entire message to the end to get an overall view of this subject. Then study or examine this book by looking for a harmony in all the scriptures, as you interpret them in a literal fashion. After you have done these things, then judge for yourself the validity of this message. My prayer for you is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God and Creator may open your heart and mind to understand His prophetic doctrines of Judgment and Hell.

Your Servant In Christ,

Harry A. Peyton

INTRODUCTION

Throughout this book, the author will lay aside his theological biases and present a book base on investigative research. After 30 years of studying the subject of hell and the doctrines that are related to it, the author can honestly say he does not believe it exactly the way he did when he first started. The author believes that sinners will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment and be judge for the sins they committed in their bodies. He also believes that all lost humanity will be cast into to the Lake of Fire at that time, whereby they will experience great physical and mental torment.

However, the author does not believe in immediate torment of lost souls in Hades\Sheol after death. He firmly believes that all souls, i.e. the souls of the saved and lost, sleep and wait for the resurrection. He also believes that the spirits of both the saved and lost goes immediately to heaven in a conscious state after death. The saved spirits of humanity stay in heaven in the presence of God, while the lost spirits go back to the earth or wherever God sends them.

The Bible teaches that wrath, punishment, fire, judgment, damnation, Gehenna, the Lake of Fire, perish, destruction, and all the words that denote the penalties of sin are absolutely certain, for God said what He meant and meant what He said. Every sinner will indubitably receive the exact amount of punishment he or she deserves. For the Almighty God declared, “the wicked shall not go unpunished” (Pro 11:21).

The Greek words Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, and the Hebrew word Sheol word were translated as hell by the King James translators. The words Hades and Sheol will be shown to denote a place where souls are in a state of unconsciousness. All the text containing all the above words will be fully investigated and explicated.

The author’s disagreement with much of Christendom is not a boastful or arrogant position that he takes lightly. Nevertheless, he must walk in the light of what he believes God has shown him through his prayers and studies, just as all good men whom love the Lord Jesus Christ must do. It is not a sin to change one’s beliefs on any given subject of the Bible, when he or she see errors in their beliefs as more light is revealed to them.

On the other hand, it is a sin to compromise or sell out one's beliefs because of fear of a preacher, church, organization, or financial loss. I cannot help but believe that there are preachers in every denomination that understand certain truths about the doctrine of hell but are fearful to preach it. The author has no ax to grind with any preacher in any denomination. He realizes that most them who preach immediate torment of the soul after death, like himself who preached it for years, do it with a biased mind. Therefore they do not, or will not, examine every scripture on this subject with scriptural harmony in mind, but with denominational beliefs in mind!

In the history of the Jewish and Christian Church, there have been noted preachers, which have taught similar views to that of the author. Professor Hermann Olshausen writing in the nineteenth century on church history stated: The learned author, in his examination, confines himself to Justin Martyr [150 AD], Titian [160 AD] and Theophilus of Antioch [180 AD], who… believed that at death, there was only a loss of consciousness or the soul went to sleep until the resurrection. [1] The author hopes that this quote, of which more will follow, will help his readers to open their minds and inspect this book without religious bias that will distort their judgment.

CHAPTER 1

LUCIFER’S MYSTERY BABYLONIAN DOCTRINE OF TORMENT OF THE SOUL IN HADES/SHEOL IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH

This entire chapter is an excerpt from my book “What Is Lost Man’s Eternal Destiny?”

Lucifer’s Babylonian Religion perverted God’s future Judgment plan of just retribution, which was torment in the Lake of Fire for different lengths of time and then annihilation, to his conscious torment of the soul in the fires of Hades immediately after death for its purification. Mystery Babylon (Rev. 17) also taught that some souls are so sinful that they would never become purified, and as a result, they would spend eternity in the fires of Hades.

In Lucifer’s Babylonian plan of salvation, no one goes back to his or her so-called androgynous state right away. Every soul that has been good or bad goes to the underworld after death, where it will be judged. All are condemned to conscious torment in hell, some for a short period of time and others for a long period of time, depending how bad they were, and how many of Lucifer’s Babylonian doctrines they believed and obeyed. Before any soul could be reincarnated into another body, it had to be purified by the fires of Hades.

Professor Bryan speaking of the ancient Greek version of Mystery Babylon’s doctrine of hell in Plato’s time says: Passages in the Greek poets seem to indicate that the mysteries were intended to encourage belief in a future life, and in reward or punishment there, as merited by the life on earth. Certain of the rites were supposed to be a means of purification from sin, and reconciliation with the gods.

Bryan went on to describe the ancient Greek belief of hell by saying: The just journey through heaven and experience many blessings and visions of beauty. The unjust journey through the earth [hell] and endure many sorrows and terrible sights. For every wrong done during life, the soul must suffer tenfold, and for special crimes there are extremes of torture. The rewards of justice and holiness are in the same proportion. After the pilgrimage (in hell and then heaven) a new cycle of mortal life is granted to each soul. [2]

The Encyclopedia Of Religion speaking of the Underworld stated: In the view of ancient Acadians and Babylonians, the underworld is a dreadful place.... One name for the netherworld is Kigal ‘the great subterranean realm....' The realm is organized on the order of a political state under the tyrannical rule of a king and queen, Nergal [probably Nimrod] and Ereshkigal [probably Semiramis].

Dr. Hastings goes on to say that in Greek and Roman literature the souls in Hades are said to be depicted as being weak and extremely melancholy, always in search of escape from their sufferings and finding none. Especially painful are the sufferings of those who were either not properly buried on the earth [probably some mystical religious rites performed for the dead], or not suitably nourished with sacrificial food offerings [those who did not obey and practice the doctrines of Mystery Babylon]. The dire nature of the torments suffered by the inmates is graphically depicted in the story of Tantalus. [3]

In the ancient occult literature of the Zohar, which is one of the books of the Cabala, many of the doctrines of Mystery Babylon are taught. The Zohar is a perverted Jewish book of mysticism that allegorizes the entire Old Testament. This occult book gives a very graphic picture of what happens to the sinful soul immediately after death.

It revealed: demons are at hand to drag him [the sinner] to Gehenna and to deliver him into the hands of Druma, who has been made chief of demons.... In Gehenna there are certain places and grades called ‘Boiling Filth,’ where the filth of the souls that have been polluted by filth of this world accumulates. There these souls are purified by fire and made white…. For the soul indeed originated in fire.... So in order to be purged of its impurities, it has to pass through fire. Thus fire alone has the virtue of consuming every pollution in the soul, and making it emerge pure and white. [4]

The Catholic doctrine of purgatory is nothing but the Christianize of the Babylonian doctrine of the soul’s purification in Hades. The Catholic Priest Origen in 230 AD spoke of this doctrine. He wrote: Gehenna is the place of punishment, intended for the purification of such souls as are to be purified by torments…. Those who undergo the process of purification, who have received into the substance of their soul the elements of wickedness. [5] Origen, like the majority of other earlier and later Catholic Priests, used the allegoric method of interpreting the Bible.

There is little difference between the Babylonian and Catholic teaching of purgatory. When compared side by side, they are saying the same thing. In the Catholic Baltimore Catechism #3, we read: The judgment which will be passed on each one of us immediately after death is called the Particular Judgment.... The soul will go... to its punishment in Purgatory.... Since we do not know how long individual souls are detained in Purgatory, there is need for persevering prayer for the repose of the souls.... God punishes these souls, not in a spirit of vengeance, but because He loves them and wills that they be fully purified, so that they can be admitted to His presence. [6] Protestants and I am ashamed to say oneness Pentecostals teach a similar doctrine of torment of lost souls immediately after death in hell.

The Babylonian doctrine of transmigration was taught in the religions of Babylon, Egypt, Persia and so on. Doctors John M’Clintock and James Strong, in their Cyclopedia Of Biblical Theology And Early Literature, speaking of this said: The transmigration of souls was also [meaning besides Babylon and Egypt] a tenet of the Persian religion before the time of Zoroaster [the second or later Zoroaster], and was derived, with the language of Avesta, from Indian sources. Pherecydes of Syrus, who lived before the age of Zoroaster, taught the doctrine, and Pythagoras received it in Babylon from the Magi. [7]

Charles Heckethorn, in his book The Secret Societies, revealed that the ancient witchcraft priesthood of the Druids taught the doctrine of one supreme being [Lucifer], a future state of rewards and punishments, the immortality of the soul, and metempsychosis [or the transmigration of the soul]... Their authority in many cases exceeded that of the monarch. They were of course, the sole interpreters of religion. [8]

We can also find Lucifer’s teaching on the transmigration and deification of the soul in the Zohar. It stated: If she [the soul] be polluted by sin and guilt, He [god] does not again appoint the same body for her, and so she loses it for ever…. The soul’s dross cannot be cast off in the course of one lifetime. It must pass through many bodies and experience many terrestrial existences, each one higher than the other, before it can reach the pinnacle of perfection [meaning its sinless androgynous state or deification in heaven]. [9]

CHAPTER 2

MAN IS COMPOSED OF A

SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY

To completely understand the great mystery of death, we first must find the answer to the question, what is man? Is man nothing more than an intelligent beast or animal that will die and then perish as his corpse decomposes and returns to the elements of this world? If so, then human beings really have no hope in this life, and their philosophy of life may understandably be, “Let’s eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

Those who believe that a person’s life is in existence only while they are alive in this world will do whatever they can to satisfy their flesh, with its insatiable lust for things and pleasure. If they truly believe their religious doctrine, they will spend most of their spare time in life seeking after temporal things and pleasures.

In contrast, those who believe in an afterlife, regardless of their religious beliefs, whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Eastern Religion, or a combination of all, will try to do whatever their religion mandates in the hopes of securing a happy afterlife. If they truly believe in their religion and its dogmas, they will invest much of their time seeking after spiritual gratification and insights.

Every religious system that has a belief in life after death, believes that man has or is compose of a spirit, soul, and body, even though some confuse the soul with the body, and others the spirit with the soul. Is man composed of a real personal spirit and soul as well as a body, or, are these terms nothing more than non-personal symbolic expressions of the different attributes of man?

The Word of God explicitly informs us that man was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27). Therefore man like God is a triune being, who is composed of three separate and distinct natures, a spirit, soul, and a physical nature. This is a very important statement to remember, for the Bible does not teach that these natures are nothing but mere attributes of man.

Those who teach man’s natures are mere attributes usually say that the spirit represents man’s emotional makeup or life’s force, the soul is a symbolic expression for man’s rational makeup or physical brain, and the physical body represented man’s carnal makeup or physical desires. As a result, they do not believe that man, as a being or one person, is compose of three separate and distinct personal natures, two of which have intelligence, emotion, and volition.

The Bible expressly teaches that man is composed of three distinct natures. Paul said: “the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray to God, that your whole spirit [pneuma] and soul [psuche] and [physical] body [soma] be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Th 5:23). The great apostle Paul prayed that God would sanctify the entire being of man, and not just a part of him. According to Paul, how is a child of God sanctified? It is by the believer keeping their spirit, soul, and body natures blameless until the coming of our Lord.

Paul also said: “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder [or apart] of the soul [psuche], and spirit [pneuma], and of the joints and marrow [referring to soma - the body]” (Heb 4:12). Only the Word of God is able to give us a clear understanding of the distinctions between the spirit, soul, and body of man! For a complete and comprehensive study of man’s spirit and soul nature read my book entitled, “The Mysteries Of Man’s Spirit And Soul Revealed.” In it I examine hundreds of scriptures that reveal the attributes and character of man’s spirit and soul.

The book that you are now reading will only examine the scriptures that reveal what happens to these natures immediately after death. The Word of God definitely reveals that each nature goes to a different and separate location after the death of the body, therefore the body cannot be the soul and the soul cannot be the spirit!

CHAPTER 3

WHAT HAPPENS TO MAN'S

PHYSICAL BODY AND SPIRIT AFTER HE DIES?

The physical body of man always goes to grave upon death. The main Greek word for grave is Mnemeion and the Hebrew word is Qeber. In the original languages in which the Holy infallible Word of God was written, man’s body always goes to Mnemeion or Qeber. The Greek word Hades and the Hebrew word Sheol are Biblical terms referring to place where the soul goes after the death of the physical body. According to Dr. Strong, the words Mnemeion and Qeber always refer to: the grave, the sepulcher or the tomb. [10]

The apostles and prophets were not confused as most modern day preachers, because they never placed the soul in Mnemeion\Qeber, or the physical body in Hades\Sheol. This is a very important point to remember if a clear understanding of a scriptural account of what happens immediately after death is to be obtained.

Man's Physical Body Always Goes To Qeber\Mnemeion: After the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea took His body and laid it in a “sepulchre that was hewn in stone... the women beheld the sepulchre [mnemeion], and how His body was laid” (Lk 23:53, 55). Isaiah speaking about Jesus’ burial said: He “made His grave [qeber] with the wicked, and with the rich in His death” (Isa 53:9).

This can only mean one thing, that Greek word Mnemeion and the Hebrew word Qeber has the exact same meanings, which is the grave where man’s dead body always goes. It can be in the in a cave, in the ground, or even in the sea. The Hebrew word “qeber” is used 67 times in the Old Testament, and is translated 35 times as grave, 25 times as sepulcher, and 6 times as burying place.

The Bible reveled that Lazarus's body was “lain in the grave [mnemeion] four days” (Jn 11:17). John the Baptist's disciples took John's “corpse and laid it in a tomb [mnemeion]” (Mk 6:29). The Antichrist would not allow the two dead prophet’s “bodies to be put in graves [mnemeion]” (Rev 11:9).

God told Israel that they would be unclean if they touched “a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave [qeber]” (Num 19:16). David “buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave [qeber] of Abner” (2Sa 3:32). Barzillai asked the king to allow him to “be buried by the grave [qeber]” of his father (2Sa 19:37, also 1Ki 13:30-31; 14:13; 2Ch 34:4; Job 21:32; Isa 14:19; Jer 26:23).

There is only one place in the Bible where qeber may have included Sheol in it. Job said: “My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves [qebers] are ready for me” (Job 17:1). In the OT Greek Septuagint this verse is translated this way: “I perish, carried away by the wind, and I seek for burial and obtain it not.” In the Greek the word “burial” refers to the “grave” and is in the singular number not the plural. Therefore, there is a doubt as to the real meaning of this verse. If it is in the plural number, as the Hebrew shows, then Job must have expected his body to go to one grave and his soul to another.

It is obvious from these few of many references on this topic that it can be said, with out a doubt, that the physical body of man always goes to grave (mnemeion\qeber) when it dies. Since the apostles in the NT, and the prophets in the OT, always placed the body in an earthly grave (mnemeion\qeber) and not one time in Hades\Sheol, how can anyone believe that these places are the same! It is obvious to any unprejudiced mind that the apostles and prophets did not believe these to be the same place. They obviously did not believe the body was the soul, for they separated where each nature went after death.

After the body is put in mnemeion or qeber, it will rot and return to dust. Martha said to Jesus after her brother Lazarus died: “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days” (Jn 11:39). Job said that after he died, the “skin worms” would “destroy” his body (Job 19:26). God told Adam that he would “return unto the ground” after his death, “for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen 3:19).

Man’s Spirit Always Returns To God: The Bible informs us that the spirit, which exist in all men, never goes to either qeber where the physical body goes, or to Sheol where the soul goes, but it goes back to God who created it. Solomon declared that the physical bodies of all men and animals return unto dust, but “the spirit [ruwach] of man” goes “upward, and the spirit [ruwach] of the beast” or animals goes “downward to the earth” (Ecc 3:20-21). Solomon also said man’s “spirit [ruwach] shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecc 12:7).

Whatever the spirit of man may or may not be, one thing is for sure, after the body dies it always returns back to God who gave it. When Jesus was dying on the cross He said: “Father into Your hands I commend My Spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the Ghost” (Lk 23:46). Stephen as he was dying called upon God “saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Ac 7:59).

Therefore, the spirit of man cannot be the same as the soul of man for they go to two different places after the body dies. It is the spirit of man, and not his soul, that immediately returns back to God in a conscious state after death. What does God do with the spirits of men who were wicked when they return unto Him? Surely, they cannot stay in His presence! I will answer this question later.

CHAPTER 4

WHAT HAPPENS TO MAN’S PERSONAL SOUL

AFTER HE DIES?

For the purpose of emphasis, the following points will be reviewed. The Bible not one time ever shows the soul going to the mnemeion\qeber i.e. the grave, at least in Greek or Hebrew languages that the Bible was originally written in. Therefore, the soul is not the body. The soul is not the spirit of man, for the spirit always returns back to God. So with this in mind, where did the apostles and prophets declare the soul goes after death?

According to the infallible Word of God, the soul always goes to Hades\Sheol, which is never used in the Bible to signify punishment after death. Hades\Sheol should have never been translated as hell for neither word denotes post-mortem torment. If it is a place of torment, then Jacob, David, all of God’s prophets, and our Savior Himself went there after death. Why Sheol\Hades was translated as hell by the King James translators is unknown.

Dr. Vine speaking of “Hades” being translated as “hell” by the King James translators wrote: It corresponds to ‘Sheol’ in the OT…. In the KJV of the OT and NT; it has been unhappily rendered ‘hell,’ e. g., <Ps. 16:10>; or ‘the grave,’ e. g., <Gen. 37:35>; or ‘the pit,’ <Num. 16:30,33>; in the NT the revisers have always used the rendering ‘Hades’; in the OT, they have not been uniform in the translation, e. g. in <Isa. 14:15> ‘hell’ (marg., ‘Sheol’); usually they have ‘Sheol’ in the text and ‘the grave’ in the margin. It never denotes the grave, nor is it the permanent region of the lost (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, article entitled hell).

Many Greek and Hebrew scholars have preferred to leave every passage where the Hebrew word “Sheol” and the Greek word “Hades” are found in the Bible untranslated. The words Hades\Sheol being a proper name should always have been left untranslated. If that had been the case, a world of delusion and misinterpretation would have been avoided.

If KJV translators would have left these words untranslated, no one would have associated Sheol\Hades with hell or a place of torment. Thank God the American Standard Version and other translations of the Bible have left Sheol and Hades untranslated. By using the original Greek or Hebrew word, the King James translators would have allowed the reader to interpret all the passages containing these words and what takes place there.

The Greek word Hades is used 11 times in the New Testament. The King James translators translated it: 10 times as hell, and once as the grave. They translated the Hebrew word Sheol, which is used in the Old Testament 66 times, as: hell 31 times, as pit 3 times, and as the grave 32 times. In the Greek Septuagint, Sheol is rendered as Hades 61 times. The Septuagint is the Hebrew Bible translated into the Greek language. This was done around 150-250 BC.

Therefore, the KJV translators spawned nothing but confusion by translating both Qeber and Sheol with one English word the grave and Sheol with the English word hell. As a result, many uniformed Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as other sects, have tried to make Sheol and Qeber the same place, and other groups have confused Hades and Sheol with the Lake of Fire, thereby mistakenly associating it as a place of present and future torment. This has unfortunately led to several false doctrines.

The Greek word Hades and the Hebrew word Sheol always refers to the resting place of the soul after the death of the body. Dr Strong defined it as: the unseen place, the place of departed souls. [11] The International Standard Bible Encylopaedia speaking of Sheol says it means: the unseen world, the state or abode of the dead, and is the equivalent of the Greek Hades, by which word it is translated in Septuagint…. The American Revisers more properly use ‘Sheol’ throughout….

It is figured as an under-world (<Isa 44:23; Ezek 26:20>, etc.), and is described by other terms, as ‘the pit’ (<Job 33:24; Ps 28:1; 30:3; Prov 1:12; Isa 38:18>, etc.), ABADDON or Destruction <Job 26:6; 28:22; Prov 15:11>, the place of ‘silence’ <Ps 94:17; 115:17>, ‘the land of darkness and the shadow of death’ (<Job 10:21> f). It is, as the antithesis of the living condition, the synonym for everything that is gloomy, inert, insubstantial (the abode of Rephaim, ‘shades,’ <Job 26:5; Prov 2:18; 21:16; Isa 14:9; 26:14>).

It is a ‘land of forgetfulness,’ where God's ‘wonders’ are unknown <Ps 88:10-12>. There is no remembrance or praise of God (<Ps 6:5; 88:12; 115:17>, etc.). In its darkness, stillness, powerlessness, lack of knowledge and inactivity, it is a true abode of death; hence, is regarded by the living with shrinking, horror and dismay <Ps 39:13; Isa 38:17-19>, though to the weary and troubled it may present the aspect of a welcome rest or sleep (<Job 3:17-22; 14:12> f). [12]

Sheol was considered as a vast and wide dominion or region, which extended deep down into the earth. It appears that Sheol is always growing in size. Isaiah said it this way: “Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself; and opened its mouth beyond measure” (Isa 5:14). The meaning of this verse is that Sheol has opened its mouth beyond measure to make room for souls that keep pouring into it every day.

Every scripture, which speaks of the destiny of the soul immediately after death, reveals that the soul of every human being always goes to Hades\Sheol, not to Gehenna. No child of God or wicked person can escape this place of darkness. David confirmed this when he said: “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol” (Psa 89:48, NAS)? There can only be one answer to David’s question and that is NO. There is not one apostle in the New Testament or prophet of the Old Testament, who ever spoken of Hades\Sheol as a place of punishment or torment.

The grave or tomb of the body was the entranceway or mouth by which souls would travel through to get to Sheol. The soul of man cannot go to Sheol unless its body dies. David said it this way: “As when one plows and breaks open the earth, our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol” (Psa 141:7, NAS).

The souls of all human beings cannot leave Sheol to visit their family, relatives, friends, or anyone else on the earth. Job declared this truth when he said: “When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up. He will not return again to his house [on earth], nor will his place know him anymore” (Job 7:9-10; also see Job 21:13; Psa 55:15, NAS). No soul, whether saved or lost, can leave Sheol after they enter it, unless God permits as He did with Samuel and Jonah. These two prophets will be discussed later in this chapter.

According to the prophet Hosea, the souls of the saved must stay in Sheol\Hades until the resurrection of the just. Hosea’s prophecy stated it this way: “I [God] will ransom them from the power [hand, grip or hold] of Sheol; I will redeem [set free] them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction” (Hos 13:14, ASV)? Brenton’s translation of the Greek Septuagint of the OT translated this verse as: “I will deliver them out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death: where is thy penalty, O death? O Hades, where is thy sting?”

The apostle Paul, quoting Hosea, boldly declared that the redemption of the souls of God’s children from Sheol, will take place in the First Resurrection. He says: “Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will 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 has put on incorruption, and this mortal has 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 Hades, where is your victory’” (1Co 15:51-55)?

Regardless of how one wants to interpret these verses, Hosea and Paul theme is the redemption of God’s children out of Sheol\Hades not hell. Paul unquestionably and undeniably associated this redemption out of Sheol with the First Resurrection. Therefore, the great apostle Paul declared that the souls of God’s New Testament children must stay in Sheol\Hades until the pretribulation resurrection takes place. The souls of the tribulation martyrs will be resurrected out of Sheol\Hades at the midtribulation resurrection; and the soul of God’s Old Testament children will be resurrected at the posttribulation resurrection, which takes place on the last day of the tribulation period! The First Resurrection consists of all three resurrections.

Gehenna Or The Lake Of Fire, Not Hades\Sheol,

Is Where The Lost Will Be Punished

God will resurrect all lost children of God out of Sheol\Hades on the first day of the millennial reign of Christ, where they will be judged, sentenced, and thrown in the Lake of Fire. All remaining unsaved will be resurrected out of Sheol\Hades at the end of the millennium, where they will be judged and sentenced at the White Throne Judgment. After this judgment they will be cast into the Lake of Fire, where they spirit, soul, and body will experience extreme torment or pain.

Sheol\Hades and death will be thrown into the Lake of Fire at that time. The apostle John speaking of this says: “the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one [of them] according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Rev 20:13-14, NAS).

The Lake of Fire or Gehenna Fire always refers to a place of future punishment. Gehenna and the Lake of Fire are the only words that should ever be used to refer to hell. These great truths, obtained by using the literal method of interpreting the Bible, enables a student of the Bible to have a clearer and more accurate understanding of the present state of the dead, the rapture, the resurrection of the dead, and hell.

Man’s Personal Soul Always Goes To Sheol\Hades After Death

As we examine the following passages of Scripture that used Sheol in it, there can be no reasonable doubt that Sheol is the abode of the soul in the underworld. It is very clear that there are many passages where no other meaning can reasonably be assigned to it. There is no way it can mean the grave of the body or hell. If we inspect the passages in which the Sheol is rendered the grave or hell, and substitute the original word Sheol\Hades, it will be easier for my readers to perceive the true meaning of this place.

Every scripture that contains the words Sheol and Hades will be given in the appendix with that name. Each scripture will be given in three different languages in the Old Testament, English, Hebrew, and the Greek of the Septuagint. The New Testament will be given in two languages, English and Greek.

Jesus’ Soul Went To Sheol\Hades At Death, Not To Hell Or The Grave: Jesus undeniably told the repentant thief on the cross: “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). Let my readers take note, Jesus did not tell this thief: “today you will be with Me in hell or the Lake of Fire, where we will be tormented.” The universal definition and association of the word paradise is on the other end of the spectrum in relationship to the word hell. The Bible declared that the physical body of Jesus was placed into a sepulchre or Mnemeion (vs 53).

Paul speaking of the soul of Jesus going to Hades wrote: “He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth” (Eph 4:9). David speaking of Christ’s Soul going to Sheol said: “My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption;” the apostle Peter interpreting David’s prophecy declared: “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption” (Psa 16:9-10, Acts 2:29-31).

It is very important for my readers to have an accurate understanding of the aforementioned information concerning the above scriptures. In review, the body of Jesus was laid in the tomb (Mnemeion) for three day that was on the earth, while His soul descended into the heart of the earth (Hades). Therefore, Mnemeion cannot be the same place as Hades. Second, Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would go with Him that very same day to paradise. Therefore, there is no way Jesus could be telling the thief that he was going to hell or a place of torment. To even infer that paradise is a place of torment or suffering would do away with the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Next, what does the resurrection from the dead consist of? Is it only referring to the body as many teach? Was the body of Jesus the only part of His being that rose from among the dead? Can anyone dispute the fact that His Soul was also raised from the dead or from Sheol? It is obvious from these scriptures that His Soul was not left in Hades, and His Body was not left in Mnemeion or the grave. Therefore, the resurrection must consist of the soul and body being raised from the dead, and both being reunited with their spirit. Jesus said it this way: “it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day” (Lk 24:46).

Jacob's Soul Went To Sheol\Hades At Death: When the patriarch Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead, he refused to stop mourning for him; he told his children that he would mourn for Joseph until the day he went “down to Sheol [not the grave or hell].” He told his sons concerning Benjamin that if anything happen to him, they would “bring down” his “gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol” (Gen 37:35, 42:38, also see 44:31, ASV). No intelligent student of the Bible would think for one moment that Joseph went to hell or that Jacob himself expected to go to hell. Jacob expected to go to Sheol went he died or to the abode of the soul.

Jacob told Joseph just before he died: “Behold, I am dying; in my grave [Qeber] which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me” (Gen 50:5). Notice, Jacob's body was not buried in Sheol, but in the Qeber that he personally dug for himself in the land of Canaan. This absolutely proves that Qeber is grave of the body and Sheol is the grave of the soul and they are two different and separate places; for according to the above scriptures, Jacob believed that his soul would go to Sheol and not Qeber when he died.

Job’s Soul Went To Sheol\Hades At Death: Job asked this question: “man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he” (Job 14:10, BBE)? Job answered his own question: “Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me” (vs 13, NRS).

Job also told us where he expected his body to go at death. He said: “I should have been carried from the womb to the grave [Qeber]” (Job 10:19). Job's body was eaten up with boils and it was ready for Qeber the grave. His soul was tired of living and it was ready to go to Sheol. Job like Jacob believed his soul would go to Sheol at death and his body to Qeber.

David’s Soul Went To Hades\Sheol At Death: David became sick and thought he was going to die, therefore he said: “For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave [qeber]” (Psa 88:3-5, RSV). Brenton’s translation of the Septuagint reads this way: “my soul is filled with troubles, and my life has drawn nigh Hades.” According to these verses, David prayed to God to spare him from physical death. He said that his soul was close to departing from his body and ready to go to Sheol or Hades, and his body which had no strength was counted as already in Qeber with the bodies of the slain.

After God healed him, David praised God saying: “O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit [Bowr]” (Psa 30:3, NAS). According to this verse, Bowr must be the same place as Sheol. David also said that God would redeem his “soul from the power [hand or grip] of the Sheol” (Psa 49:15, ASV). David believed with all of his heart that his soul was not going to stay in Sheol forever; for Sheol’s power to retain the soul of the righteous was broken at the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The apostle Peter speaking to a multitude of Jews on the Day of Pentecost said: David “is both dead and buried, and his tomb [Mnemeion] is with us to this day” (Acts 2:29). This proves that David's body was buried in Qeber or Mnemeion. Peter also told these Jews, after the resurrection of Christ: “David did not ascend into the heavens” (Acts 2:34). This can only mean that David’s soul was still in Sheol, and his physical body was still in Qeber, after the resurrection of Christ took place.

David’s soul must stay in Sheol and his physical body in Qeber until the resurrection or the doctrine of the resurrection has no meaning. Therefore David, Job and Jacob all believed that their soul was going to Sheol and their body to Qeber after death.

The Souls Of All Human Beings Goes To Sheol\Hades At Death, Not To Hell Or The Grave: David speaking of the entire human race declared: “What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of the Sheol” (Psa 89:48, RSV). If Sheol or Hades was a place of torment or eternal torment, then David had no compassion or mercy for the lost. For he said: “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into Sheol” (Psa 55:15).

If Sheol or Hades were synonyms of hell, then God is in hell. For David said: “If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there” (Psa 139:8, NAS). Since we know that God does not dwell in wicked or sinful men, David, being a Spirit filled man, expected God’s Spirit to go with Him into upper Sheol or the abode of the righteous. King Hezekiah said: “I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years” (Isa 38:10, A.S.V). Job speaking of the wealthy wicked declared: they “in a moment go down to Sheol” (Job 21:13, DBY).

In all of the above scriptures, the Word of God speaking in clear and precise language declared that the souls of all men, whether saved or lost, goes to Sheol or Hades after death of the body. Notice in particularly that nowhere does the Bible state, in the original language that it was written in, that the soul ever goes to Qeber or Mnemeion or to hell immediately after death.

The apostle John saw: “under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God” (Rev 6:9). John did not see these souls in heaven, but under the altar. These souls were crying out to God in Sheol for God to avenge them, but God told them to rest or sleep a little longer until all their brethren are martyred as they were (vss 10-11). When the number of martyrs was completed, John saw their resurrection into heaven. This was the Midtribulation Resurrection (Rev 7:9-17).

Let my readers again consider the following questions. Why did all the apostles and prophets in their writings or speeches, always use the word Mnemeion and Qeber when referring to place where the physical body goes after death? Why did they use the words Hades and Sheol when referring to place where the soul goes after death? It is obvious to any unprejudiced mind that the apostles and prophets did not believe these to be the same place.

Where Do The Souls Of The Righteous And Wicked

Dwell In Sheol Or Hades?

Job, in an analogy, compared the depths of Sheol with the depths of God’s wisdom and knowledge. He said, they are “high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know” (Job 11:8, also see Amos 9:2, NAS)? The sky and the depths of the earth are here placed in opposition, to represent the height and depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge. Therefore for the analogy to be true heaven must be very high and Sheol must be very deep in the earth.

Righteous Souls Dwell In Upper Sheol\Hades: Sheol is divided into two separate compartments. Jesus declared that there was a Rich Man who died was buried, and “in Hades he lifted up his eyes,” that is, the eyes of his soul, for his body was in the tomb rotting away (Lk 16:23, ASV). Notice, the Rich Man lifted up eyes, which must mean that Lazarus, Abraham and all righteous souls dwell in upper Hades. When Jesus died, His soul did not go to lower Sheol but upper Sheol, as I have already proven.

David prayed and asked God to deliver his “soul from the lowest Sheol” (Psa 86:13, YLT). Notice, David did not ask God to deliver his soul from going to Sheol or Hades. For he knew his soul and all other souls would go there. But he did ask God to deliver his soul from going to lower Sheol where all the lost dwell. Since the Bible stated that there is a lower Sheol, there has to be an upper Sheol. One thing is for sure David surely was not praising God for delivering his soul from going to the lowest grave or Qeber, because David knew that the physical body of all men goes there when they die.

Lost And Wicked Souls Dwell In Lower Sheol Or Hades: David speaking of his enemies said, they that “seek my soul to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth” (Psa 63:9). If David is not speaking of wicked men's souls going to lower Sheol here, then this Scripture has no meaning. He cannot be saying that wicked men's physical bodies are going to the grave or Qeber, because all men's bodies are going there. He also said the “wicked shall be turned into [lower] Sheol, all the nations that forget God” (Psa 9:17, DBY).

David speaking about the wicked again said: “let death come upon them; let them go down to [lower] Sheol alive” or conscious with their spirit in their soul (Psa 55:15, RSV). Now, as we have already said, since there is a lower Sheol, there has to be an upper. The Word of God emphatically declared that the soul of the Lord Jesus went to paradise when He died, therefore, He must have went to upper Sheol with all the righteous.

Are The Souls Of The Righteous And Wicked

Asleep Or Awake In Sheol\Hades?

Sheol has no connection with punishment after death of the body or future punishment. The term Sheol, as stated before, mean nothing more than the abode of dead souls. There is no proper word for hell in the Hebrew language. The Greek word Gehenna is the only word Jewish Rabbis and scholars have ever used to designate hell or a future place of torment. It is used many times in the Talmud and other Jewish writings.

The Jewish translators of the Septuagint never translated the Hebrew word Sheol as Gehenna, but they always translated it as Hades. This is a very important fact since they knew the Greek word Gehenna. They evidently did not believe that Sheol was a place of torment, for if they did, they would have surely translated it as Gehenna. Therefore, Sheol or Hades is not a place of torment, but it is a place where the soul sleeps as it awaits for the resurrection, as history and the following scriptures prove.

Ancient Jews Taught Soul Sleep: In The Jewish Encyclopedia under the heading of “Immortality” we read: As soon as the spirit or breath of God (nishmat or ruah hayyim) which was believed to keep body and soul together, both in man and in beast (Gen 2:7, 6:17, 7:22; Job 27:3), is taken away (Ps 146:4) or returns to God (Eccl 12:7; Job 34:14). The soul goes down to Sheol or Hades, their to lead a shadowy existence without [the spirit's] life and consciousness (Job 14:10-15; Ps 6:5-6; 115:17; Isa 38:18; Eccl 9:5, 10).... The belief in a continuous [conscious] life of the soul, which underlies primitive ancestor worship and the rites of necromancy, practice also in ancient Israel (1 Sam 28:13; Isa 8:19), was discouraged and suppressed by prophet and lawgiver as antagonistic to the belief in YHWH. [13]

The Prophet Job Taught Soul Sleep: The Word of God declared: “mortals lie down [shakab - sleeps] and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep. Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my release [from Sheol] should come. You would call, and I would answer you” (Job 14:12-15).

In verse 10, Job spoke of the spirit and soul of man, or ghost, departs from man, his body will waste away. Where else can man's body waste away except in Qeber or the grave, as already proven. In verse 12, he tells us that man's physical body and soul goes to sleep in their respective places. In verse 13, Job says he want God to hide his soul in Sheol until the time of His wrath is past. In verse 14, He expected his soul to be awakened at the resurrection when God would call him to come forth. There can be no doubt that Job expected his soul to sleep in Sheol until the Old Testament saints were resurrected, which will happen at the third or post-tribulation rapture.

Since Job spoke of the resurrection of both his body and soul, did Jesus' physical body only rise from the dead, or did His soul also rise along with His body? It is clear throughout the scriptures that Jesus' body and soul rose from the dead. In view of the fact that Job spoke of the resurrection of his soul and body, Job must be saying that man's soul goes to sleep in Sheol and his body in Qeber, and both will not awake until the resurrection.

Job speaking of death and soul sleep in Sheol says: “There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master” (Job 3:17-19). Job declared that the souls of the saved and lost, the rich and poor, all sleep in Sheol. There is neither torment nor oppression of any form there, but only rest for the soul. No one is tormented in Sheol! Rather, torment begins in the resurrection when the wicked and the lost are cast into the Lake of Fire by the angels of God.

Job speaking about the body and soul of the lost sleeping said: “His bones are full of his youthful vigor, But it [his body] will lie down [shakab - rest] with him [meaning his soul] in the dust” (Job 20:11). In this passage of scripture, Job definitely separated the physical body from the “him.” Whatever the “him” is, it certainly cannot be referring to the body, because this verse declared that both are going to rest together in the earth. This only leaves one possibility as to what the “him” could be. The “him” has to be referring to the soul that will rest in Lower Sheol, which is in the heart of the earth, and the body will rest in Qeber or the grave, which is also in the earth, but in a different location.

The Prophet David Taught Soul Sleep: David asked God to spare his physical and spiritual life lest he “sleep the sleep of death” (Psa 13:3). Take note, David called death a sleep. The apostle Peter speaking after the resurrection of Christ declared that David’s soul had not been resurrected from the dead. Peter said: “David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Acts 2:34-35).

Let my readers take note, Peter connected the resurrection of David with God’s enemies being made Christ’s footstool. When will this take place? According to David, this will take place at the return of Jesus to the earth to establish His millennial kingdom, which takes place at the end of the tribulation period; for David said: “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength [Jesus] out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies” (Psa 110:1-2)!

According to this verse, the enemies of Christ are made His footstool, when Jesus rules the earth in the midst of Israel’s enemies. Therefore, according to Peter, David’s soul was still in Sheol\Hades, and must remain there until the resurrection of the Old Testament saints takes place. Since the first resurrection is composed of three parts, this means David will not be resurrected until the third or Posttribulation resurrection takes place.

David speaking of his soul being resurrected from the dead wrote: God “Shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth” (Psa 71:20). Would David reasonably call a tomb in a cave or six feet in the ground the “depths of the earth?” Remember, burial in the Bible days was accomplished by digging a hole in the side of a mountain. David referring to his body and soul being awaken out of sleep or resurrected declared: “I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psa 17:15).

David pleading with God again to spare his life used the following arguments: “For in death [maveth] there is no remembrance of Thee [God]: In the Sheol who shall give Thee thanks” (Psa 6:5, ASV)? According to Dr. Strong, the Hebrew word “maveth” means: the dead their place or state in Hades. [14] David went on to say: “The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any that go down into silence [duwmah],” and “If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence [duwmah]” (Psa 115:17, 94:17, RSV). The Hebrew word “duwmah” is: from an unused root meaning to be dumb. [15]

David’s plea to God to prolong his life was base on the fact, that in the Sheol there was no one there who remembered God; and no one there who praised Him. If David believed for one moment that the souls of all men are awake or conscious in Upper Sheol, would not this be a stupid and ridiculous prayer. If souls were awake or conscious in Upper Sheol, there would literally be someone remembering and praising God. David is obviously reminding God that there are no souls awake or conscious in Sheol to remember Him and give Him praise, for only human beings who are alive and conscious can praise God. Therefore, the normal state of all souls in Sheol\Hades is sleep.

David again speaking of soul sleep wrote: man's “spirit departs, he [his physical body] returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” (Psa 146:4, NAS). The word “thoughts” is the Hebrew word “eshtonah” which means: thinking. This means man’s conscious thinking process stops at the moment of death. Man’s thinking does not come for his physical brain. Let my readers be ever cognizant of the Biblical fact that the spirit is the life and consciousness of the soul. Subsequently, when the spirit leaves the soul, the soul literally goes to sleep and enters into a dream state. If they are saved, their dreams are probably pleasant and peaceful, but if they are lost, their dreams are probably nightmares.

Elementary logic reveals that if the physical brain is responsible for man’s ability to think, it stands to reason that medical science should then be able to get the brain to think even after the spirit and soul leaves it. Medical science has been successful in getting the lungs of a dead person to work by pumping an ample amount of oxygen in it. They also have been successful in getting the heart to beat by placing electrodes on it, which resulted in blood flow to all parts of a dead body. But after all there efforts, no doctor of medicine has ever been able to detect any brain activity in anyone who has died.

After medical science did all that was in their power to produce brain activity, they failed miserably for the electroencephalograph machine has always revealed no brain activity. The thousands of unsuccessful experiments of medical science proves that man’s mind, or his thought process, is not controlled by his physical brain.

According to the Bible man has two minds; he has a spirit mind and a soul mind, and both have separate and distinct thinking processes. If my readers desire to read a biblical account of man’s two minds, I would recommend my book “The Mysteries of the Spirit and Soul of Man Revealed.”

Therefore, according to David, man’s physical brain and his soul stop thinking at death, for both goes to sleep. The only difference between the two is that man’s physical brain rots in the earth, while his soul mind is in Sheol in a dream state. David speaking of the souls of all men sleeping in Sheol wrote: “Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; save me [or keep me alive] because of Thy loving kindness. For there is no mention of Thee in death; in Sheol who will give Thee thanks” (Psa 6:4-5, NAS)? The answer to David’s question is obviously no one in Sheol can give God thanks or praise for they all are sleeping!

King Solomon Taught Soul Sleep: Solomon confirmed what his father David taught about soul sleep. He declared: “The living know that they will die, but the dead [meaning departed souls] know nothing... for there is no work, or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Ecc 9:5, 19, RSV). Solomon speaking about the souls of all men said they go to Sheol, where no one, meaning the righteous, wicked, and the lost are not able to work or think, or have any knowledge or wisdom.

Now if the souls of the wicked dead are awake or conscious in Sheol, would not their soul be in mental torment, knowing that their body and soul will be resurrected and rejoined to their spirit and then thrown violently into the Lake of Fire, where they will suffer both physical and mental torment. If the souls of the righteous are awake in Sheol would they not be thinking about God, or know they are suppose to be praising God, or know that they should be praying for their loved ones, friends and enemies who are still alive.

Let my readers take note that Solomon did not say that there was no labor, thought, knowledge, or wisdom on the earth where the living are, or in Qeber (the grave) where the all the dead bodies of mankind are. He emphatically stated that none of these things take place in Sheol, where the souls of all mankind are sleeping. This must mean that the souls of the righteous and the lost are not conscious in Sheol.

King Hezekiah Taught Soul Sleep: Hezekiah, who was from the lineage of David, prayed the very same prayer as David, when He pleaded with God to spare his life from death. He said: “Sheol cannot praise thee, death [maveth] cannot celebrate [halal] Thee: They that go down into the pit [bowr] cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth” (Isa 38:18-19, ASV). The Hebrew words “halal” means: to make boast of and “bowr” means: a pit or hole, especially one used as a prison. [16]

The Revised Version of the Bible translated verse 18 this way: “For Sheol cannot thank Thee, death cannot praise Thee.” Hezekiah, like David, Job, Jacob, and all the prophets, unequivocally believed that there was no one in Sheol who was awake or conscious that could remember and praise God, or boast of His works. Notice, Hezekiah said that only the living, meaning those souls who were conscious on earth could praise God, or in other words, only the souls who have the spirit of life still in them, can praise God.

Since all saved and lost souls are sleeping in Sheol, the Word of God fitly describes it as the land of darkness or a place of darkness. Job said it this way: “If I wait--Sheol {is} my house, In darkness I have spread out my couch” (Job 17:13, YLT). Brenton’s Septuagint English translations reads thus: “For if I remain, Hades is my habitation: and my bed has been made in darkness” (LXE).

Jesus Taught Soul Sleep: Jesus speaking about the dead young girl said: “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise.’ Then her spirit [pneuma] returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat” (Lk 8:52-55).

The Greek word “pneuma” means: spirit and it is never used in the Bible to mean soul. The Greek word “psuche” always means: soul [17] and it never means spirit. There is nothing in this passage that speaks of the girl’s “psuche” or “soul” leaving or returning to the body. Therefore, the body and soul of this girl was unconscious while the spirit was absent from them; also man's soul cannot be conscious or awake in Sheol, unless God wills it to be by uniting his spirit with it for a brief period of time. This will truth will be examined in the next section of this chapter.

Jesus speaking of the death of Lazarus said: “Our friend Lazarus sleeps [koimao], but I go that I may wake him up [exupnizo].’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep” (Jn 11:11-13). Let my readers take note, Jesus called death a sleep in both passages of scripture.

The Greek word “koimao” always means: sleep and never means: annihilated or perish. It is used 18 times in the New Testament and is translated as: sleep 10 times, fall asleep 2 times, fall on sleep 1 times, and be dead 1 times. The Greek verb “exupnizo” means: to wake up or awaken out of sleep. [18] Since Jesus used the Greek word “koimao” to express the idea of man’s soul falling to sleep after death, and because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, this can only mean that man’s soul is not annihilated after dead, but is sleeping waiting for the resurrection.

The Apostle Paul Taught Soul Sleep: Paul defending the doctrine of the resurrection told the Corinthians that some of the saints, who were eye witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, “have fallen asleep [koimao],” not annihilated (1Co 11:6). Paul then argued: “if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen…. Then also those who have fallen asleep [koimao] in Christ have perished [apollumi]…. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [koimao]” (vss 16, 18, 20).

The Greek verb “apollumi” means: to destroy fully. [19] The obvious truth that Paul is teaching in this passage of scripture is: if there is no resurrection of the dead, then the souls of dead saints are not just sleeping, but they have been annihilated or they are no long in existence. If Paul wanted his readers to understand that the physical bodies of the saints were dead, he would have used “nekros,” which means: a dead corpse. If he wanted to convey the idea that the soul was dead, he would have used “apothnesko,” which means: to be dead.

It is obvious that Paul wanted his readers to visualize the soul of man being asleep and not dead or fully destroy or annihilated. Not only is the soul of the righteous sleeping, but the wicked as well; for they will not be destroyed, until they go through their time of punishment or torment in the Lake of Fire. This will not happen until their bodies are raised out of Qeber, and their souls are raised out of Sheol, and their spirits are reunited with them, and the whole man stands before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment and is sentenced by Him!

What is Paul communicating to us in the above verses? Paul boldly declared that if Christ is not raised from the dead, meaning His body from Mnemeion or the tomb, and His Soul from Hades, then there is no resurrection of the dead. This means those righteous souls, which are asleep in Upper Hades, are not really sleeping but are dead have been completely destroyed, or they have ceased to exist.

Apollumi is used many times in the New Testament, as in the above passage, to express the idea of annihilation; for example: Jesus said: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy [apollumi] both soul and body in hell” (Mt 28:28). Jesus compared the body being killed by men with God annihilating both soul and body in the Lake of Fire. Demon spirits cried out to Jesus and said: “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy [apollumi] us” (Mk 1:24)? Demons cannot be killed by any man, but they can be annihilated by God.

Jesus in several places compared eternal life with eternal destruction or annihilation. He said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish [apollumi] but have everlasting life,” and “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish [apollumi]; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (Jn 3:16, 10:28, also see Mt 21:41, Lk 4:34, Ro 2:12, 1Co 1:18, 2Co 2:15, 4:3, 2Th 2:10, 2Pe 3:9).

The Physician Luke Taught Soul Sleep: Luke clearly declared that Stephen being stone to death: “fell asleep [koimao]” (Acts 7:60).

The Apostle Peter Taught Soul Sleep: Peter also described dead as a sleep. He told the church: “For since the fathers fell asleep [koimao], all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2Pe 3:4). Notice, Peter, like Jesus, Paul, Luke, and all New Testament writers, used the Greek word “koimao” which means: to be asleep, to describe the passing away of a child of God.

If any of the New Testament writers wanted their readers to get a picture of a dead man or dead body in their mind, why did he not use the Greek word “nekros?” They obvious knew this word, for they all used it in their writings, for example, Luke speaking of Paul wrote: “Howbeit they looked when he [Paul] should have swollen, or fallen down dead [nekros] suddenly” (Acts 28:6).

If the Greek words apothnesko, nekros, and koimao all are synonyms or interchangeable, then one should be able to use koimao in the following scriptures: “you, being dead [nekros not koimao - asleep] in your sins,” and “if you died [apothnesko not koimao - asleep] with Christ from the basic principles of the world" (Col 2: 13; 2:20).

It is obvious that the writers of the New Testament used the Greek word koimao, because they wanted their readers to understand that when the wicked and the righteous die, they are not dead or cease to exist at that time, but their souls are sleeping in Hades, while their bodies are asleep in Mnemeion, and both are waiting for the resurrection of the dead to take place.

The Bible In Many Places Teaches Soul Sleep: God told Nathan to tell David that he would “sleep” with his fathers (2Sa 7:12 also 1Ki 1:21). The Bible stated: “David slept [shakab] with his fathers, and [his body] was buried in the city of David” (1Ki 2:10). The Hebrew word “shakab” means: to sleep, while “muwth” means: to die. The Hebrew expression “to sleep with his fathers” must be referring to the soul, because it would be ridiculous to say the physical body “sleep or died with their fathers.”

This expression is used many times in the Old Testament and it always refers to soul sleep. The Bible also says, Rehoboam died and his soul “slept with his fathers, and [his body] was buried in the city of David,” and “Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and [his body] was buried with his fathers in the city of David” (2Ch 12:16; 21:1, also 32:33).

The prophet Isaiah speaking about the souls and bodies of the righteous wrote: let the dead “awake and sing... [and] the earth shall cast out the dead” (Isa 26:19). I do not believe that this scripture is speaking of the wicked or lost dead, for when their souls and bodies are awaken from the dead, they will not be singing but crying, and they will be in great fear. Daniel speaking of the saved and lost children of God in the Old Covenant said it this way: “many of them that sleep [shakab] in the dust of the earth shall awake some to Everlasting Life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt…. For you [Daniel] shall rest [sleep], and stand up [or be awaken and resurrected] in your lot at the end of the days” (Dan 12:2, 13).

Notice, the prophets of the Old Testament used the Hebrew word “shakab” that means: to sleep, and not “muwth” which means: to be dead. If they intended for their Old Testament readers to get an accurate word picture in their minds of someone dead, they most certainly would have used the Hebrew word muwth. It is obvious that the prophets wanted their hearers and readers to get a picture in their mind’s eye of someone who is asleep or resting.

The apostles and prophets did all they could to dispel the pagan idea of the conscious existence of the soul after death, reincarnation, and immediate torment of the soul for purification purposes before it can be reincarnated into another body. Remember that all heathen religions followed the teaching of Mystery Babylon, which is the ancient Babylonian Religion that immortalized these errors.

Justin Martyr, Titian, And Theophilus Taught Soul Sleep: Professor Hermann Olshausen (1828 AD) in article entitled, Early Greek Fathers On The Immortality Of The Soul, which appeared in “The Biblical Repository And Quarterly Observer” wrote: The learned author, in his examination, confines himself to Justin Martyr, Titian and Theophilus of Antioch, who teach, upon the point in question, substantially the same things…. The Apologists, who taught the mortality of the soul, by no means believed in absolute annihilation after death…. They rather believed that at death, there was only a lost of consciousness.... We must concede to those fathers, that it is nowhere expressly taught in the Scriptures, that the soul is immortal. [20]

John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Martin Luther and Other Reformers Taught Soul Sleep: Dr. Walter Martin, in his book entitled, “The Kingdom Of The Cults,” speaking of the doctrine of soul sleep wrote: “The doctrine of conditional immortality, commonly called soul sleep… and its necessary corollary annihilation… are held today by the Advent Christian Church, an affiliate of the National association of Evangelicals, and by outstanding Bible scholars in not a few denominations.... Many noted Christians of the past believed in conditional immortality, among them Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and John Wycliffe, all of whom were competent Greek scholars. [21]

Many of the Protestant reformation leaders believed that the soul slept in an unconscious state immediately after death until the resurrection. Because there were so many teaching against the conscious torment of the soul immediately after death, and the doctrine of immortality of the soul, Pope Leo X issued a Bull in 1513 condemning all those who assert that the intellectual soul is mortal.

Martin Luther definitely believed in soul sleep and the mortality of the soul wrote against the Pope's Bull saying: I permit the Pope to make articles of faith for himself and his faithful, such as... the soul is immortal, with all those other monstrous opinions to be found in the Roman dunghill of decretals. [22] According to Hugh Thompson, in his book entitled, “A Compend Of Luther’s Theology,” Luther spoke of soul sleep this way: in Christ it is indeed not death, but a fine, sweet and brief sleep... until the time when He shall call and awaken us together with all His dear children to His eternal glory and joy. [23]

William Tyndale, the great English Bible translator, reformer and martyr, wrote an article entitled, An Answer To Sir Thomas More's Dialogue. In it he refuted More's defense of the Catholic teaching on the immortality of the soul and the conscious state of the soul after death. Tyndale wrote:

Tyndale continued: The heathen philosophers, denying that [meaning soul sleep] did put that the souls did ever live [or were conscious after death].... And because the fleshly minded Pope consenteth unto heathen doctrine, therefore he corrupteth the Scripture to establish it.... ye [Catholics] in putting them, the dead [souls of men and women immediately] in heaven, hell, and purgatory, destroy the arguments where with Christ and Paul proved the Resurrection….

Nay, Paul, thou art unlearn: go to Master More, and learn a new way… for our souls go to heaven as soon as we be dead.... And I marvel that Paul had not comforted the Thessalonians with that doctrine, if he had wist [known or believed] it.... If the souls be in heaven, in as great glory as the angels after your [Babylonian Catholic] doctrine, show me [for] what cause should [there] be of the Resurrection.

Tyndale’s argument is very simple and basic. He affirmed the Bible teachings that the soul of the righteous and wicked sleep in Sheol or Hades waiting for the resurrection of the dead to take place. All who love the Catholic doctrines of Mystery Babylon, and teach them, have inadvertently destroyed the purpose of the Biblical doctrine of the resurrection by putting the soul immediately after death in a conscious state in heaven, hell and purgatory. Remember, the resurrection consist of the physical body out of Qeber, and soul out of Sheol, with both natures raised from the dead and reunited with their living spirit.

The nefarious John Calvin, who had the good, pious, one God preacher Michael Servetus burned alive as a so-called heretic, was one of the heretics who sided with the Pope of Rome and taught against soul sleep. This heretic also taught the false doctrine of “eternal security,” which is also known as “once saved always saved.”

Has God Ever Awaken Any Of The Souls

In Sheol Or Hades From Their Sleep?

Isaiah’s Teaching: In the following passage of scripture, we will analyze the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the descent of the soul of the Antichrist into Sheol after his death. My readers should be able to perceive that the focus of this passage is on the awaking of the souls of the dead kings in Sheol, who ruled with the Man of Sin.

The evident reason why God allowed the Antichrist to go consciously into Sheol, and why He woke the souls of these dead kings out of their sleep was so they could mock the man who claimed to be god! Therefore, God gives us a clear picture of the helpless condition this so-called god-man was in after death, for his soul was in Sheol and his body that was in Qeber was beginning rot and worms began to cover it.

Isaiah stated the above truths this way: “Sheol beneath hath been troubled at thee, to meet thy coming in. It is waking up [uwr] for thee Rephaim, all chiefs ones of earth. It hath raised up from their thrones all kings of nations. All of them answer and say unto thee, ‘Even thou hast become weak like us! Unto us thou hast become like!’ Brought down to Sheol hath been thine excellency, The noise of thy psaltery, Under thee [meaning his body] spread out hath been the worm, Yea, covering thee is the worm” (Isa 14:9-11, YLT)!

The American Standard Version translated this passage thus: “Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up [uwr] the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.”

The 1985 Jewish Tanakh OT translated this verse this way: “Sheol below was astir to greet your coming -- Rousing [uwr] for you the shades of all earth's chieftains, raising from their thrones all the kings of nations.”

The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BHS (WTT Isaiah 14:9): “`~yIAg ykel.m; lKo ~t'Aas.Kimi ~yqihe #r,a' ydeWT[;-lK' ~yaip'r> ^l. rreA[ ^a,AB tar;q.li ^l. hz"g>r' tx;T;mi lAav..” Uwr is used 81 times in the Old Testament and the King James translators translated it awake 25 times and wake 6 times.

Dr. Strong defined the Hebrew verb “uwr” as: to open the eyes, to wake (lit. or fig.), wake up, awake, awaken. [24] According to the Hebrew-Aramic English Lexicon Of The Old Testament by Drs. F. Brown, S. Diver and C. Briggs, the Hebrew verb “uwr” basically means: to rouse oneself, awake, (#6915, page 735, Strong 5782). The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner defined “uwr” as: to wake up, be excited, causative, to wake someone up, (6884).

Dr. Harris in his Theological Workbook of the Old Testament defined “uwr” as: rouse oneself, awake, incite…. This verb appears in the active, passive, intensive, and the causative with minimal differences…. Ugaritic ±r in its causative stem means ‘to arouse’ and Akkadian êru ‘awake.’ Inanimate objects can be addressed and be told to awake: idol (Hab 2:19), sword (Zech 13:7), spear (2Sam 23:18), wind (Song 4:16), fire (Hos 7:4), storm (Jer 25:32), scourge (Isa 10:26), dawn (Psa 57:8 [H 9]), and harp and lyre (Psa 57:8 [H 9]). Qualities can be awakened and incited: love (Song 2:7; Song 3:5; Song 8:4), strife (Prov 10:12), wrath (Psa 78:38), might (Psa 80:2 [H 3]), and a cry of anguish (Isa 15:5)….

This word is also predicated of man. He can be awakened from sleep (Zech 4:1), but he cannot be aroused from the sleep of death (Job 14:12 cf. qîƒ ‘awake’)…. Deborah is urged to awake, to awake and sing a song in the struggle against Sisera (Jud 5:12). With the negative this word is used to show spiritual inertia. Isaiah has the exiles confessing that they had failed to pray, that they had not awakened themselves, remaining in spiritual lethargy. Hence God had hidden his face (Isa 64:7)…. There is also a personal appeal to God to arouse himself, particularly in the Psalms…. God appears to be sleeping, and is urged to awake and bring deliverance (Psa 44:23 [H 24]; Psa 59:4 [H 5]), (1587.0, 1587a).

The seventy translators of the Greek Septuagint translated the Hebrew verb “uwr” or “rW[” with the Greek word “sunegei,rw.” Professor Walter Bauer defined this Greek word this way: ‘assist someone in lifting up’ Ex 23:5; 4 Macc 2:14; Ps.-Phoc. 140; ‘awaken’ Ps-Plut., Mor. 117c... to cause to emerge with from an inactive state… awaken or rise up together (from sleep), (Bauer-Danker, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, #7049).

The Greek Septuagint (LXT Isaiah 14:9): “o` a[|dhj ka,twqen evpikra,nqh sunanth,saj soi sunhge,rqhsa,n soi pa,ntej oi` gi,gantej oi` a;rxantej th/j gh/j oi` evgei,rantej evk tw/n qro,nwn auvtw/n pa,ntaj basilei/j evqnw/n.”

There can be no doubt that the dead souls of the kings that were in Sheol were awaken out of their sleep; or in other words, God put their spirit back into their souls again, and the souls of these kings became conscious and alive again!

Verses 12-14 reveal that the Antichrist had a very close connection with Lucifer, for these verses seem to imply that Lucifer must have dwelt in Him and they were one. Verses 15-20 reveal that the soul of the Man of Sin is resurrected from Sheol and his body from Qeber, presumably to continue his reign.

Verses 15-20 read thus: “Thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying, ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home? All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre [Qeber] like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body [corpse] trodden under foot. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial” (ASV).

Let’s examine the background of this event, for it takes place just prior to the Antichrist being raised from the dead to finish his reign during the Great Tribulation. At the end of the tribulation period the Bible declared that the Antichrist and the false prophet “were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev 19:20). Therefore the Man of Sin must have been killed and resurrected from the dead as Isaiah declared; for his soul was cast out of Sheol and his body out of Qeber.

Regardless of who you believe this man of perdition or king of Babylon is, it does not change the fact that God woke up the souls of the dead kings in Sheol. Thereby proving they were sleeping until God woke them up. Since the spirit of man gives consciousness to man’s soul, God must have temporarily placed the spirits of these dead kings back into their souls to fulfill His will. God also allowed the Man of Sin to enter Sheol with his spirit still in his soul. This passage definitely proves that man’s soul has intelligence and memory outside of the physical body. Therefore, man’s ability to reason comes not from his physical brain but his spirit and soul.

The soul is only conscious when it is united with the spirit. The scripture confirmed this when the apostle Paul spoke of the young man that fell from a three-story building and died. Let my readers take note of what Paul said of this brother. Paul told the saints: “His life [psuche - soul] is in him” (Acts 20:10). Since the body and soul were both in an unconscious state, this can only mean the spirit has to be the life and consciousness of both the soul and the body. Jesus also gave us an example of the body and soul being in an unconscious state, when the human spirit is absent. Jesus took a dead girl by the hand and said: “Little girl, arise.’ Then her spirit [psuche not her psuche\soul] returned, and she arose immediately” (Lk 8:52-55).

Therefore with the above truth in mind, what lessons is God communicating to us in the Isaiah passage? Regardless of whether this infamous King of Babylon is the Man of Sin or someone else, the following truths will still apply: First, Sheol\Hades is the place where this event takes place. No one can deny that it is taking place in Sheol, which according to verse 9 is beneath the earth or in the lower parts of the earth. The fact that all the souls of the dead go to Sheol, and all their bodies go to Qeber the grave has already been amply substantiated.

The second truth relates to the fact that God awakened only the souls of the wicked dead kings that knew and recognized the person who came into Sheol with them. I believe these kings were those who ruled with the Antichrist during the time of the Tribulation Period. Let my readers take note, the first words that came out of their mouth were words of mockery. Why? Paul gave us the answer. He told us that the Man of Sin proclaimed “himself to be God” (2Ti 2:4, NIV). These kings then proceeded to tell their so-called god how weak he was.

The third truth to consider is that God can awaken any soul in Sheol, any time, and for whatever reason He chooses, and keep them awake as long as He desires. The last truth to remember is the Word of God does not mention, in the above passage, that the Antichrist or the dead kings were in any kind of fire in Sheol or being tormented. If the doctrine of conscious torment of the soul in Sheol\Hades immediately after death is true, then why did these verses not mention this? The Antichrist and the false prophet will not be tormented until they are judged by Christ and then thrown in the Lake of Fire at the very end of the tribulation period (Rev 20:10).

The prophet Samuel spoke of God’s power to raise dead soul from Sheol when he said: “The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1Sa 2:6, RSV). This prophecy will not only be fulfill with the Antichrist, but it was fulfilled in Samuel’s day; for God woke up the soul of Samuel in Sheol, so he could prophesy to Saul concerning his and his sons imminent death (1Sa 28:12-19). Let my dear readers take note to the fact that Samuel’s prophecy was fulfilled that day; therefore it could not have been a familiar demonic spirit that appeared to Saul.

The prophet Jonah died and his soul went to Sheol. The scripture informs us that God allowed his soul to go into Sheol in a conscious state. After three days and three nights, God brought his soul up from Sheol. Jonah speaking of this said: “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice” (Jon 2:2-7). God cannot only awaken whomever He chooses out of sleep in Sheol, but He can also put them back to sleep when He is finish with them.

It should be clear to my readers by now the folly and deceit of Lucifer’s doctrine of the conscious existence of the soul after death. Although some may suggest that this is not a doctrine relevant to salvation, it is, in fact, an important building block in understanding salvation. The clear Biblical truth of soul sleep destroys the demonic teaching of reincarnation, which in turns destroys the Babylonian perfection and godhood doctrine of the soul, or in other words, Lucifer’s doctrine of salvation. These Babylonian doctrines are also being revived under the name of New Age Religion, which is rampantly spreading all around the world today.

Luke’s Teaching: The Greek word Hades is used 11 times in the NT, and is translated as hell 10 times and 1 time as grave. The Greek Septuagint uses “Hades (a[|dhj)” throughout the OT in place of the Hebrew word Sheol. For example, in Isaiah 14:9, it is “Hades” from beneath that “wakes up” the dead kings of the earth. There is only one passage of the eleven, or in fact in the whole Bible, in which torment is connected with Hades or Sheol. It is found in the gospel of Luke the sixteenth chapter.

Our Lord and Savior did not give this discourse concerning the plight of the rich man to confirm the pagan teaching that the souls of all human beings in Hades are conscious, or lost souls are tormented there until the resurrection. Those who teach this view are not rightly dividing the word of truth. Because their minds are so filled with bias against the truth, they do not even try to harmonize this passage of scripture with all of passages of scripture given on this subject, as I have been doing throughout this book!

The author totally agrees with many of his opponents that the Bible teaches that the wicked and the lost will be consciously tormented in the Lake of Fire after the Judgment takes place. Until then, the scripture clearly points to the belief that all souls are asleep in Hades until the resurrection takes place.

As we examine this passage, we will discover that Jesus is teaching us some important lessons about Hades and the soul of man. In fact, this and Isaiah 14:9 are the only passages of scripture in the Bible, which gives us a clear insight into the intellect of the soul and spirit of man after his body is dead. The passage in Luke is the only passage in the entire Bible that actually describes the outward appearance of a soul! As Jesus brings us to a full realization of what our soul looks like outside of our bodies.

We must understand the passage in Luke, in the light of all of the scriptures, we have expounded upon in the above two sections in this chapter, which very definitely reveal that the souls of the saved and lost are normally asleep in Sheol\Hades. They also reveal that God has awaken souls in Sheol\Hades in times past in order that His will may be accomplish at that moment of time. My readers should be able to perceive by this time, that this is the only logical explanation that will be in harmony with all of the Hades\Sheol text!

Base upon the above truths, we must assume that God awaken the souls of two men that were in upper Sheol\Hades, one was Abraham the other one was a Jewish beggar by the name of Lazarus. God obviously must have placed their spirits back into their souls. My readers have learned from a previous chapter that it is the spirit that gives the soul consciousness. God allowed the rich man after his death to go into Hades consciously or with his spirit still in his soul, just as He did with the Antichrist’s soul in the Isaiah passage of scripture.

Before we begin to examine the great truths our LORD is teaching in the sixteenth chapter of Luke, we should first scrutinize the background setting of this true story. First, this is not a parable because it speaks of Abraham, a real person, talking to this rich man (verses 25-26, 29-31). In addition, this rich man has to be a backslidden Jewish child of God, because he calling Abraham his father (verses 24, 27, 30).

The time period that this event is taking place has to be before the death of Jesus, for Abraham referred the rich man to the Old Covenant Bible or Law of Moses and the Prophets (verse 29). Finally, this event is taking place in Hades\Sheol. With these truths in mind, all the other truths Jesus was teaching in this passage may be more readily discovered.

Verse 22: “the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.” The Bible expressly and emphatically declared that God’s angels are the ones who take the souls of all men to Hades\Sheol. They carried Lazarus’ soul to Abraham's Bosom, or Upper Hades\Sheol, or as Jesus called it Paradise (Lk 23:43). The angels carried the lost rich man’s soul to Lower Hades or the Pit as it is also called.

In verses 19-21, God declared that the Jewish rich man treated Lazarus, his brother in the LORD, very badly. This is probably the reason why this man died lost (Mt 25:31-46). The rich Jew died and his body was buried in Mnemeion or the grave, but his soul was carried to the Lowest Hades. This is a very important point for my readers to remember and one that I have proven many times thus far. It is the soul of this rich man, which was in Hades not his physical body.

In verses 23-25, Jesus said the rich child of God “being in torments [basanos - pain] in Hades, he lifted up his eyes [i.e. eyes of his soul] and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said [with the mouth of his soul], 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his [soul’s] finger in water and cool my [soul’s] tongue; for I am tormented in this flame [phlox].' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember [i.e. with the mind of your soul] that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented [odunao - grieved].”

The Greek word “basanos” means: going to the bottom; by analogy torture: pain, and “odunao” means: to be grieved. [25] Let my dear readers take note that the Greek word “phlox” or “flame” is in the dative case or an indirect object and singular number. Basanos is use 3 times in the New Testament and is translated twice as torments and once as torment. Basanizo means: to torture, and it is used 6 times, and is translated 3 times as torment, once as tormented, tossed, toiling. Odunao is used 3 times, and it is translated twice as tormented and once as sorrowing (Lk 2:48). Basanos and basanizo are the words that mean torture or great physical and emotional pain, while odunao simple means emotional grief or sorrow.

In the above passage of scriptures, Jesus is teaching a great lesson about the soul of man and Hades. Jesus unquestionably and undeniably proclaimed that the soul of man has a spiritual form or body. The rich man’s soul had spirit eyes that could see, a spirit tongue and mouth that could talk, a spirit mind that could think and remember past events, and no doubt every other outward appearance of the physical body.

Let’s remember, this rich man’s physical body, as well as his physical brain, was in the grave rotting. Jesus even taught that the soul has personality outside of the physical body. It has emotions because it has feelings. It has a mind because it can speak and think. This is absolute proof that man’s mind is not in his physical brain, but is in his soul and spirit.

Jesus expressly declared that the rich man’s spirit tongue, not his entire spirit body, was on fire. It was his spirit tongue that was in pain. It was his spirit tongue that he wanted cooled. Jesus nowhere mentions, in this true story, that the rich man’s entire spiritual soul body was engulfed in a burning Lake of Fire, or in one giant single flame of fire, as some have wrongly presumed.

Anyone who assumes this is taking these scriptures out of context, because our Lord emphatically declared that it was a single flame of fire, which was only in his mouth. Our Lord did not say flames as many, but fame as one. Therefore, considering what has been studied thus far, the entire context demands we understand that it was this man’s spirit tongue, which was on fire, and not his whole spirit soul body.

Since our Lord declared that this single flame of fire was on his tongue, it is important to distinguish here whether Jesus is talking about a natural fire or a spiritual fire. If it is a natural fire, then will some preacher tell me how a nature fire can hurt or produce pain on the spiritual tongue of a soul being? In fact, how can a soul, which is spiritual, be hurt by anything that is natural? Can you burn it, shoot it, stab it, or grind it up? The answer is obviously no, for these things can only be done to the natural physical body. Therefore, this singular flame of fire on the rich man’s soul tongue has to be a spiritual fire, which not only cause him pain but also grieved him to no end.

How did this spiritual fire, which set this man’s spirit tongue on fire, grieve him and cause him pain? Did not James say: “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity... it defiles the whole body” (Ja 3:5-6). Solomon said it this way, in a sinner man's “lips there is as a burning fir”" (Pro 16:27). Jesus declared that a sinning preacher, saint, or unsaved man, who lies, backbites, slanders, gossips, sows discord, speaks profanity, uses God’s holy Name as a slang word, or uses his tongue for any other type of evil, will be condemned in the Day of Judgment. Jesus said it this way: “I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt 12:36-37).

My dear readers, if you or I are serious about making heaven our home, we must come to the recognition of our need for repentance and restitution toward all those we have killed and wounded with our tongue. When we see these sins committed by our very own tongue as God sees them, and realizes how He hated these acts, it should bring us speedily to repentance, for God meant every word He said in the above verses.

I believe that I have given my readers ample Biblical evidence revealing that an evil tongue is a spiritual fire that has the power to condemn a sinner on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, in all probability, this spiritual fire that caused his tongue to be in pain was no doubt guilt. This lost child of God knew he had done wrong to his brother in the Lord, by not showing him compassion. His tongue probably ridiculed, insulted, defamed, and condemned his brother, despising his brother’s state of poverty. In fact, the sins committed with his tongue played a major role in the rich man’s spiritual demise. Because of these sins, his conscience smote him to such a degree that he felt as though he had a red-hot coal of fire sitting on his tongue. A guilty conscience can be very painful.

The rich man was also very grieved that he found himself at the bottom of Hades, rather than at the top. This backslidden child of God somehow deceived himself into thinking everything was all right between him and God. Jesus spoke about religious people like this man, who will be awaken at the resurrection only to discover that they are lost. Do you think this rich man could have been deceived by his Rabbi in thinking he was in good standing with God because he paid his tithes?

Jesus in His teachings definitely mention false prophets, who would deceived believers concerning some of the truths of the Bible, especially on topics such as salvation, the godhead, and holiness. Jesus speaking of this said: “Not every one that saith unto me, LORD, LORD, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day [the Day of Judgment], LORD, LORD, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you" (Mt 7:21-23).

Let my dear readers take note, these seemingly sincere people professed to know Him, when they were standing before Him on the Day of Judgment. In fact, they even acknowledge Him as their LORD. These poor religious people were deceived by false prophet. Jesus speaking of the results of a false prophet ministry said: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out” (Lk 13:28). It is a terrible thing to be deceived by false prophets.

Even Father Abraham, with all of his influence with Almighty God, could not help his lost descendant. Therefore in the Day of Judgment no father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, uncle, aunt, friends, preacher, or church will be able to intercede for any lost child of God. Notice, no one could help this backslidden child of God at that time; no one could intercede or save him, not even Mary the mother of our Lord, nor any holy dead saint, or even one of God’s holy angels.

The Word of God declared that this rich Jewish man died lost; therefore no amount of prayers for him will ever change his condition. The spiritual condition a person is in, when he or she encounters death, is the state they will be in through eternity. The Bible does not teach the doctrine of second chance after death.

After Abraham told this lost child of God that he could not help him, he said: “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him [Lazarus] to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (Verses 26-31).

In verse 26, Abraham referred to a great gulf or chasm between upper and lower Hades\Sheol. This is why the rich man had to lift up his spirit eyes of his spiritual soul to see Abraham and Lazarus in upper Hades. In verses 27-31, Jesus taught a great truth. He tells the rich man and all men that the written Holy Word of God is what will judge them in the Day of Judgment. Jesus explicitly declared that His Words, and His Words alone, will be the standard He will use to judge all mankind.

Conclusion: It should now be apparent to my readers some of the truths our dear Lord was teaching in this true story of the rich man, Lazarus, and Abraham. This story very definitely teaches the truth about lower and upper Hades\Sheol as two distinct places. Upper Hades\Sheol is for the saved, the lower is for the lost.

It also reveals outstanding truths concerning the soul of man. First, the soul leaves the body at death and it is carried to Hades\Sheol by God’s angels. Second, the soul has a spirit form with bodily features. Third, the soul has intelligence and memory. There is no other passage in the Bible that gives us such a clear teaching on the appearance of the soul outside of the body.

Jesus also taught that there will be no second chances to repent after death; and the Word of God will be the standard that God will used to judge unsaved men at the judgment.

This story emphatically does not teach that the souls of everyone who dies go consciously into Hades, nor does it teach that the wicked are being tormented there at this time. If this was true, it would directly contradict 98 percent of the scriptures on this subject, which teach soul sleep. It would render them uninspired or false. Not only would this pagan doctrine not promote scriptural harmony, but it would also sabotage God’s truth and purpose of the future resurrection, judgment, and punishment of man.

There is nothing in this passage of scripture that teaches the rich man’s physical body, soul and spirit was being tormented in Hades\Sheol. There is absolutely not a single word in the entire passage that speaks of the torment the lost will experience in the Lake of Fire, after they have been resurrected from Hades\Sheol and judged. Let my dear readers take note, there is absolutely no reference to punishment.

If anyone preacher claims that these passages teach hell or the torments of hell, they have no proof whatsoever! All they have is mere assumption, which comes from a bias mind that believes Lucifer’s Babylonian doctrine of immediate torment of the soul after death. If these preachers could somehow examine all of the above passages of scripture with an unbiased mind, they would perceive the simple truth these passages are teaching.

There is nothing in the remaining passages in the Bible, where Hades is used, that remotely speaks of torment! See Hades passages in appendix. The New Testament speaks of torment in the Lake of Fire, that is, Gehenna Fire, not in Hades!

CHAPTER 5

THE SPIRIT OF MAN, NOT THE SOUL, GOES

IMMEDIATELY TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH

Does Ephesians 4:7-8, teach the false doctrine that saved souls go immediately to heaven after death? Paul speaking about the salvation of Christ wrote: “To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, ‘when He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men" (NIV).

The phrase “led captives” is the Greek word “aichmaloteuo” which means: to capture. So what does the Bible mean when it says that the Lord Jesus “captured captivity” or “captured those who were held as captives,” and gave “gifts unto men?” It simple means that all men are sinners and therefore are slaves to sin and the Devil. Satan is the lord and master of all sinners. Throughout all ages sin has held men and women captive by binding their mind, will, and emotions. After death, Hades held their souls as it captive, while the grave held their physical bodies as it prisoners.

However, because of Jesus’ magnificent victory at Calvary, He was able to take the Keys of Death and Hades away from Satan (Rev 1:18). He has broken the “power of Sheol\Hades” to hold the souls of the righteous forever. He has also broken the “power of the grave” to hold the bodies of His saint forever. Praise God, Jesus has totally conquered Sheol and the Grave, whereby the souls and bodies of all of His children will be resurrected from the dead and receive eternal life in the first resurrection.

Jesus has also set His living children free. He has broken the bonds of sin that enslaved them and set them free from the power of sin over their minds, wills, and emotions. They do not have to live in sin any longer, for they are no longer bond servants to sin but are now it master; for, Jesus now lives in their spirit and gives them power over sin. Jesus has also given His children the different ministerial offices (vs 11) and the Gifts of the Spirit to help them fulfill their duties as God’s priests (1Pe 2:5-10).

Tertullian in 190 AD interpreted Ephesians 4:16-17 this way: Now hear how he [Paul] declared that by Christ Himself, when returned to heaven, these spiritual gifts were to be sent: ‘He ascended up on high,’ that is, into heaven; ‘He led captivity captive,’ meaning death or slavery of man; ‘He gave gifts to the sons of men,’ that is, the gratuities, which we call charismata…. [26]

There are those who misinterpret the above verses by teaching that they refer to the souls of the righteous going directly to heaven in a conscious state after the resurrection of Christ. Nowhere in this passage of scripture do you find the phrase “the souls of the righteous,” or any mention of “them being resurrected.” This opinion is an assumption based on an erroneous belief system. Truth by far outweighs all of man’s assumptions.

This particular interpretation would make all previous scriptures a lie, because they teach that the soul sleeps in Sheol\Hades until the resurrection. Let’s not forget the resurrection consist of body and soul being raised from the dead, not the body alone! Jesus’ resurrection consisted of His soul being raised from Sheol\Hades and His body from the grave.

Truly, Jesus was right when He told the religious teachers of His day that their false traditions or doctrinal beliefs made the Word of God of no effect. If this interpretation is true, then why did David's soul not go to heaven? The apostle Peter speaking forty-seven days after the resurrection of Christ, and under the unction of the Holy Ghost said David, i.e. his soul and body have “not ascended into Heaven” (Acts 2:34). This alone should be sufficient proof that none of the righteous souls in Hades or Sheol ascended into heaven at the resurrection of Christ.

Did not our Lord tell the souls of the Tribulation martyrs to go to sleep or take their rest until all their brethren were martyred as they were (Rev 6:11). Notice in verse 9, it said these souls were under the altar that was in heaven, or in other words, in Hades. The Word of God undeniably declared that these dead souls were not in heaven. God told them to sleep so all the Tribulation martyrs could be resurrected together in the Midtribulation Resurrection (Rev 7:9-17). The First Resurrection will take place in three parts and at three separate times, i.e.: Pre, Mid, and Posttribulation Resurrections (read my book, The Mysteries Of Prophecy Revealed).

Does second Corinthians 5:1-8, teach the false doctrine that saved souls go immediately to heaven after death? These verses of scripture have also been greatly misinterpreted by those who preach the Babylonian\Catholic doctrine immediate torment of the soul in Hades\Sheol after death.

Paul said it this way: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle [our earthly bodies] were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house [a glorified body] not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.... For we that are in this tabernacle [earthly body] do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon [with our glorified body], that mortality might be swallowed up of life.... Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home [endemeo] in the [earthly] body, we are absent [ekdemeo] from the Lord.... We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent [ekdemeo] from the body, and to be present [endemeo] with the Lord.” The Greek words “endemeo” means: to be in one's own country i.e. fig. home, and “ekdemeo” means: to be an emigrant. [27]

Paul speaking of man’s spirit waiting for his glorified body wrote: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Rom 8:16, 23).

Rightly dividing the Word of the Lord mandates an interpretation of these scriptures that would be in total harmony with the context it was given. The entire context of this passage deals with the resurrection. Paul also declares that some part of man goes to heaven at the death of the body. Now since the resurrection consist of the soul being raised from Hades\Sheol and the body from the grave (Acts 2:31). Let’s remember, when the soul and body sleeps, they are in an unconscious state, which means time stops for them, just as it does when a person is asleep in their bed; for all that person remembers is closing their eyes and then hours later opening them again.

Now, according to Paul, some part of man will be in the presence of the Lord after the death of the physical body. Since, the Word of God emphatically teaches that the soul and body of man go to sleep after man dies, the only part of man that can consciously go immediately into the presence of God at the moment of death has to be the spirit of man.

Let us always remember that the Bible unquestionably, undeniably, irrefutably declared that man's spirit “goes upward” or “to heaven” (Ecc 3:21), or back “to God who gave it” (Ecc 12:7), at the very moment of death. Stephen’s dying prayer was: “Lord Jesus receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Jesus dying prayer as a man was: “Father into Thy hands I commit My Spirit” (Lk 23:46).

All these scriptures are very clear in substantiating, without twisting or taking them out of context, that the spirit of man goes to heaven or goes in the presence of God after death, and soul goes to sleep in Hades\Sheol. In the face of this great Biblical truth, the erroneous teaching that declares man’s soul go immediately into the presence of God is totally unsupported by the infallible Word of God. There is not one scripture that teaches this Luciferian Babylonian Catholic doctrine.

Does Philippians 1:21-24, teach the false doctrine that saved souls go immediately to heaven after death? Paul wrote: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.... For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

It is obvious in this passage of scripture that Paul desired or welcomed death. Considering all of the suffering the great apostle Paul experienced, it is very understandable why he felt that way. However, Paul had a pastor's heart, knowing that the churches needed him, and desired to stay alive for their sake. Paul longed for death, for he knew it was a peaceful sleep of the body and soul.

Let my readers take note that not one of these verses even mentions the soul of man. The only thing they teach is that some part of man would be in God’s presence after the body died. As I have already shown that part is the spirit of man. In summary, the soul and body of man will not be resurrected or placed in the presence of Christ until the resurrection. Therefore, the spirit of man is the only part of man that can go, in a conscious state, immediately in the presence of Christ upon the death of the body. This is the only interpretation that does not contradict the Bible.

APPENDIX

Every Scripture Containing The Greek Word Hades And Hebrew Word Sheol Is Presented In One Or More English Translations, The Beza’s 1598 Textus Receptus Greek New Testament, The Jewish Old Testament (The Greek Septuagint And The Hebrew Masoretic Text): This appendix was written for the scholar, or the student of the Bible, who enjoys doing intensive research, whereby they can minutely examine all the scriptural facts in the language the Bible was written in.

Meaning Of Abbreviations:

LXT = The Greek Septuagint

WTT = The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BHS

KJV = King James Version

NKJ = New King James

ASV = American Standard Version

NAS = New American Standard

RSV = Revised Standard Version

NIV = New International Version

YLT = Young’s Literal Translation Of The Holy Bible

DBY = The English Darby Bible

Definition Of Hades

The Greek word Hades is used 11 times in the New Testament and 69 times in Septuagint. It always refers to the place where dead souls sleep waiting for the resurrection.

Louw-Nida Lexicon speaking of Hades (a|[dhj) says it is: a place or abode of the dead, including both the righteous and the unrighteous (in most contexts a|[dhj is equivalent to the Hebrew term Sheol) - 'the world of the dead, Hades.' ou;te evgkatelei,fqh eivj a|[dhn 'he was not abandoned in the world of the dead' Ac 2.31…. a|[dhj may be more satisfactorily rendered as 'where the dead are' or 'where the dead remain (article entitled Hades).

Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words speaking of Hades stated: the region of departed spirits…. It has been thought by some that the word etymologically meant ‘the unseen’ (from a, negative, and eido, ‘to see’), but this derivation is questionable; a more probable derivation is from hado, signifying ‘all-receiving.’ It corresponds to ‘Sheol’ in the OT. In the KJV of the OT and NT; it has been unhappily rendered ‘hell,’ e. g., <Ps. 16:10>; or ‘the grave,’ e. g., <Gen. 37:35>; or ‘the pit,’ <Num. 16:30,33>.

In the NT the revisers have always used the rendering ‘hades’; in the OT, they have not been uniform in the translation, e. g. in <Isa. 14:15> ‘hell’ (marg., ‘Sheol’); usually they have ‘Sheol’ in the text and ‘the grave’ in the margin. It never denotes the grave, nor is it the permanent region of the lost; in point of time it is, for such, intermediate between decease and the doom of Gehenna.

The word is used four times in the Gospels, and always by the Lord, <Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23>; it is used with reference to the soul of Christ, <Acts 2:27,31>; Christ declares that He has the keys of it, <Rev. 1:18>; in <Rev. 6:8> it is personified, with the signification of the temporary destiny of the doomed; it is to give up those who are therein, <20:13>, and is to be cast into the lake of fire, <v. 14> (article entitled Hades).

The Hades Passages

In all the following passages of scripture, Hades refers to the resting place of departed souls, not the torments of hell or the Lake of Fire:

Matthew 11:23 NKJ "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”

YLT “And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto hades shalt be brought down, because if in Sodom had been done the mighty works that were done in thee, it had remained unto this day.”

GNS kai. su,( Kapernaou,m( h` e[wj tou/ ouvranou/ u`ywqei/sa( e[wj a[|dou katabibasqh,sh|\ o[ti eiv evn Sodo,moij evge,nonto ai` duna,meij ai` geno,menai evn soi,( e;meinan a'n me,cri th/j sh,meronÅ

Matthew 16:18 NKJ "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

YLT “And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and gates [power] of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

GNS kavgw. de, soi le,gw( o[ti su. ei= pe,troj( kai. evpi. tau,th| th/| pe,tra| oivkodomh,sw mou th.n evkklhsi,an( kai. pu,lai a[|dou ouv katiscu,sousin auvth/jÅ

Luke 10:15 NJK "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.”

YLT “And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto hades thou shalt be brought down.”

GNS kai. su,( Kapernaou,m( h` e[wj tou/ ouvranou/ u`ywqei/sa( e[wj a[|dou katabibasqh,sh|Å

Luke 16:23 NKJ "Being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

YLT “In the hades having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he doth see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

GNS kai. evn tw/| a[|dh| evpa,raj tou.j ovfqalmou.j auvtou/( u`pa,rcwn evn basa,noij( o`ra/| to.n VAbraa.m avpo. makro,qen( kai. La,zaron evn toi/j ko,lpoij auvtou/Å

Acts 2:27 NKJ “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

YLT “Thou wilt not leave my soul to hades, nor wilt Thou give Thy Kind One to see corruption.”

GNS o[ti ouvk evgkatalei,yeij th.n yuch,n mou eivj a[|dou( ouvde. dw,seij to.n o[sio,n sou ivdei/n diafqora,nÅ

Acts 2:31 NKJ David being a prophet “Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He [Jesus’ soul] was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.”

YLT David being a prophet “having foreseen, he did speak concerning the rising again of the Christ, that his soul was not left to hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

GNS proi?dw.n evla,lhse peri. th/j avnasta,sewj tou/ Cristou/( o[ti ouv katelei,fqh h` yuch. auvtou/ eivj a[|dou( ou;de h` sa.rx auvtou/ ei=de diafqora,nÅ

1 Corinthians 15:55 NKJ “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"

YLT “Where O Death, thy sting? where, O Hades, thy victory?'

GNS Pou/ sou( qa,nate( to. ke,ntronÈ pou/ sou( a[|dh( to. ni/kojÈ

Revelation 1:18 NKJ “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

YLT “He who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death.”

GNS kai. o` zw/n\ kai. evgeno,mhn nekro.j kai. ivdou.( zw/n eivmi eivj tou.j aivw/naj tw/n aivw,nwn( avmh,n\ kai. e;cw ta.j klei/j tou/ tou/ a[|dou kai. tou/ qana,touÅ

Revelation 6:8 NKJ “So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”

YLT “I saw, and lo, a pale horse, and he who is sitting upon him--his name is Death, and Hades doth follow with him, and there was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part of the land,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land.”

GNS kai. ei=don( kai. ivdou. i[ppoj clwro,j( kai. o` kaqh,menoj evpa,nw auvtou/( o;noma auvtw/| o` Qa,natoj( kai. o` a[|dhj avkolou,qei metV auvtou/Å kai. evdo,qh auvtoi/j evxousi,a avpoktei/nai evpi. to. te,tarton th/j gh/j( evn r`omfai,a| kai. evnlimw/| kai. evn qana,tw|( kai. u`po. tw/n qhri,wn th/j gh/jÅ

Revelation 20:13-14 NKJ “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

YLT “The sea did give up those dead in it, and the death and the hades did give up the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works; and the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire--this {is} the second death.”

GNS kai. e;dwken h` qa,lassa tou.j evn auvth/| nekrou.j( kai. o` qa,natoj kai. o` a[|dhj e;dwkan tou.j evn auvtoi/j nekrou.j\ kai. evkri,qhsan e[kastoj kata. ta. e;rga auvtw/N kai. o` qa,natoj kai. o` a[|dhj evblh,qhsan eivj th.n li,mnhn tou/ puro,j\ ou-toj evstin o` deu,tero,j qa,natojÅ

The Definition Of Sheol

The word Sheol is used sixty-five times in the OT and it is translated as the grave 31 times, hell 31 times and the pit 3 times.

The International Standard Bible Encylopaedia speaking of Sheol says it means: the unseen world, the state or abode of the dead, and is the equivalent of the Greek Hades, by which word it is translated in Septuagint…. The American Revisers more properly use ‘Sheol’ throughout…. When life is ended, the dead are gathered in their tribes and families. Hence, the expression frequently occurring in the Pentateuch, ‘to be gathered to one's people,’ ‘to go to one's fathers,’ etc. <Gen 15:15; 25:8, 17; 49:33; Num 20:24, 28; 31:2; Deut 32:50; 34:5.

It is figured as an under-world (<Isa 44:23; Ezek 26:20>, etc.), and is described by other terms, as ‘the pit’ (<Job 33:24; Ps 28:1; 30:3; Prov 1:12; Isa 38:18>, etc.), ABADDON or Destruction <Job 26:6; 28:22; Prov 15:11>, the place of ‘silence’ <Ps 94:17; 115:17>, ‘the land of darkness and the shadow of death’ (<Job 10:21> f). It is, as the antithesis of the living condition, the synonym for everything that is gloomy, inert, insubstantial (the abode of Rephaim, ‘shades,’ <Job 26:5; Prov 2:18; 21:16; Isa 14:9; 26:14>).

It is a ‘land of forgetfulness,’ where God's ‘wonders’ are unknown <Ps 88:10-12>. There is no remembrance or praise of God (<Ps 6:5; 88:12; 115:17>, etc.). In its darkness, stillness, powerlessness, lack of knowledge and inactivity, it is a true abode of death; hence, is regarded by the living with shrinking, horror and dismay <Ps 39:13; Isa 38:17-19>, though to the weary and troubled it may present the aspect of a welcome rest or sleep (<Job 3:17-22; 14:12> f). [28]

The Sheol Passages

Since some Christian theologians claim that only twelve, out of the sixty-five passages where Sheol is found, can provide proof that the word means a place of punishment after death, let’s examine these passages first before we look at the rest. In all twelve passages, Sheol is connected with the lost or wicked. A close examination of these twelve passages of Sheol will reveal that they have nothing to do with torment.

Numbers 16:30, 33 NAS Moses speaking to Israel said, “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…. 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.”

LXT avllV h' evn fa,smati dei,xei ku,rioj kai. avnoi,xasa h` gh/ to. sto,ma auvth/j katapi,etai auvtou.j kai. tou.j oi;kouj auvtw/n kai. ta.j skhna.j auvtw/n kai. pa,nta o[sa evsti.n auvtoi/j kai. katabh,sontai zw/ntej eivj a[|dou kai. gnw,sesqe o[ti parw,xunan oi` a;nqrwpoi ou-toi to.n ku,rion kai. kate,bhsan auvtoi. kai. o[sa evsti.n auvtw/n zw/nta eivj a[|dou kai. evka,luyen auvtou.j h` gh/ kai. avpw,lonto evk me,sou th/j sunagwgh/j

Brenton’s English translation of the above Greek Septuagint (LXE) “But if the Lord shall shew by a wonder, and the earth shall open her mouth and swallow them up [into Sheol], and their houses, and their tents, and all that belongs to them, then ye shall know that these men have provoked the Lord. And they went down and all that they had, alive into Hades; and the ground covered them, and they perished from the midst of the congregation.

WTT `hw"hy>-ta, hL,aeh' ~yvin"a]h' Wca]nI yKi ~T,[.d;ywI hl'aov. ~yYIx; Wdr>y"w> ~h,l' rv,a]-lK'-ta,w> ~t'ao h['l.b'W h'yPi-ta, hm'd'a]h' ht'c.p'W hw"hy> ar'b.yI ha'yrIB.-~aiw> Wdb.aYOw: #r,a'h' ~h,yle[] sk;T.w: hl'aov. ~yYIx; ~h,l' rv,a]-lk'w> ~he Wdr>YEw: `lh'Q'h; %ATmi

This is the very first mention in the scriptures of a soul going into Sheol alive. For every soul that goes into Sheol is always dead. Their soul is asleep and is carried to Sheol by angels in an unconscious state. Their human spirit in not in them therefore their soul sleeps. In this passage, this is obviously not the case, for these souls enter Sheol alive, meaning their spirit was still in their soul and body. They no doubt died in Sheol, and Sheol became the place where their body was buried and their soul went to sleep. There is absolutely no mention of torment in Sheol in this passage.

Psalm 55:15 ASV David angry with his enemies prayed: “Let death come suddenly upon them. Let them go down alive into Sheol” (ASV). David evidently want God to kill all of his enemies quickly, so they could not cause him any more trouble. This passage also does not mention or even implies that the soul of man is tormented in Sheol!

LXT Psalm 54:16 evlqe,tw qa,natoj evpV auvtou,j kai. katabh,twsan eivj a[|dou zw/ntej o[ti ponhri,ai evn tai/j paroiki,aij auvtw/n evn me,sw| auvtw/n

WTT Psalm 55:16 `~B'r>qiB. ~r'Wgm.Bi tA[r'-yKi ~yYIx; lAav. Wdr>yE Amyle[' Îtw<m'Ð ÎyViy:Ð ¿tw<m'yViy:À

Deuteronomy 32:22, ASV God speaking of the destruction of all things says, “For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest Sheol, And devoureth the earth with its increase [fruit], And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.”

LXT o[ti pu/r evkke,kautai evk tou/ qumou/ mou kauqh,setai e[wj a[|dou ka,tw katafa,getai gh/n kai. ta. genh,mata auvth/j fle,xei qeme,lia ovre,wn

WTT `~yrIh' ydes.Am jhel;T.w: Hl'buywI #r,a, lk;aTow: tyTix.T; lAav.-d[; dq;yTiw: yPia;b. hx'd>q' vae-yKi

In this passage of scripture, God is angry at Israel for their idolatry. He is probably comparing their destruction to His future destruction of the heavens, the earth, and Sheol. The apostle Peter speaking of God future destruction wrote, “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2Pe 3:10, ASV). None of the above passages of scriptures have anything to do with sinners being tormented in Sheol in the past, or at that time, or those who will be torment in the Lake of Fire after the resurrection and judgment.

Job 21:13, ASV Job speaking of the wicked said, “They spend their days in prosperity, And in a moment they go down to Sheol.” The King James translators translated Sheol here as “grave” and in the next four passages as “hell.” Job in this verse informs us that lost souls go to lower Sheol immediately at the point of death. There is nothing in this verse that even implies torment in Sheol.

LXT sunete,lesan de. evn avgaqoi/j to.n bi,on auvtw/n evn de. avnapau,sei a[|dou evkoimh,qhsan

WTT `WTx'yE lAav. [g:r,b.W ~h,ymey> bAJb; ÎWLk;y>Ð ¿WLb;y>À

Psalm 9:17, ASV Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned back [shuwb] unto Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God.” The Hebrew word “shuwb” has several meanings, one of which is “return.” It is used 1066 times in O.T. and was translated as “return” 391 times. If this is what it means than this verse has to be teaching that the wicked will leave Sheol at some time in the future. This could only happen when they are resurrected and judged; for then Sheol/Hades is thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14). Since this is a future event, there is nothing in this verse that speaks of present or past torment in Sheol!

LXT Psalm 9:18 avpostrafh,twsan oi` a`martwloi. eivj to.n a[|dhn pa,nta ta. e;qnh ta. evpilanqano,mena tou/ qeou/

LXE “Let sinners be driven away into Hades, even all the nations that forget God.”

WTT Psalm 9:18 `~yhil{a/ yxekev. ~yIAG-lK' hl'Aav.li ~y[iv'r> WbWvy"

Psalm 31:17 ASV “Let me not be put to shame, O Jehovah; For I have called upon thee: Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent [damam] in Sheol.” The Hebrew verb “damam” is used 30 times in the O.T. and was translated as silence 6 times, still 6, silent 4, and several other ways.

The KJV translated Sheol as the grave in this verse; “let them be silent in the grave.” None of these translations make any sense. If Sheol means the grave here, than how can the dead speak from their grave? It is impossible! If it means hell a place of torment, would it not be irrational and ridiculous for David to tell someone who is burning to be quite and stop their crying and wailing. It like telling a baby who is hungry and wet not to cry!

David is really telling sinners that they will “become silent in Sheol,” or as Dr. Young put it, “Let them become silent to Sheol.” In other words, the wicked will become ashame and they will become silent in Sheol and cease from hurting others! No manner how one translates this verse, it says nothing of anyone being tormented in Sheol\Hades.

LXT Psalm 30:18 ku,rie mh. kataiscunqei,hn o[ti evpekalesa,mhn se aivscunqei,hsan oi` avsebei/j kai. katacqei,hsan eivj a[|dou

WTT Psalm 31:18 `lAav.li WmD>yI ~y[iv'r> WvboyE ^ytiar'q. yKi hv'Abae-la; hw"hy>

Proverbs 5:5; 7:27; 9:18 ASV Solomon speaking of a harlots and those who are whoremongers wrote, “Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on [lower] Sheol…. Her house is the way to Sheol, Going down to the chambers of death…. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”

Solomon is preaching to immoral women and men. He told them that they both have a bulldog grip on lower Sheol, where all the lost will dwell. He told them that they are living in death and will receive eternal death. Where is there the slightest hint of fire or torment in these verses?

LXT th/j ga.r avfrosu,nhj oi` po,dej kata,gousin tou.j crwme,nouj auvth/| meta. qana,tou eivj to.n a[|dhn ta. de. i;cnh auvth/j ouvk evrei,detai…. o`doi. a[|dou o` oi=koj auvth/j kata,gousai eivj ta. tami,eia tou/ qana,tou.... o` de. ouvk oi=den o[ti ghgenei/j parV auvth/| o;lluntai kai. evpi. pe,teuron a[|dou sunanta

WTT `Wkmot.yI h'yd,['c. lAav. tw<m' tAdr>yO h'yl,g>r;.... `tw<m'-yred>x;-la, tAdr>yO Ht'yBe lAav. yker>D;.... WTT `h'ya,ruq. lAav. yqem.[iB. ~v' ~yaip'r>-yKi [d;y"-al{w>

Proverbs 23:13-14, ASV Solomon in another of his Proverbs wrote, “Withhold not correction from the child; (For) if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from [lower] Sheol.” Solomon declared that we should discipline or chastise our children to prevent their soul from going down to lower Sheol where all the lost or unsaved dwell.

Again I say, where is there any mention of torment in this verse or any other? There is none! The lost are not tormented in Sheol/Hades but are asleep!! Therefore preacher you need to repent of lying on God, for the infallible Word of God declares that sinners will not be torment until they have been resurrected from Sheol, judged at the Judgment, and then they are violently thrown into the Lake of Fire by God’s holy angels!!!

LXT su. me.n ga.r pata,xeij auvto.n r`a,bdw| th.n de. yuch.n auvtou/ evk qana,tou r`u,sh|

WTT `lyCiT; lAaV.mi Avp.n:w> WNK,T; jb,VeB; hT'a; Notice the Hebrew text shows the soul will be delivered from Sheol, while the Septuagint declares his soul will be delivered from death. In all the above passages in Proverbs, Solomon reveals that there is a strong connection between Sheol and death!

Ezekiel 32:27, ASV This prophet speaking of unsaved gentile warriors said they went “down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads.” If Sheol is a place of torment, why do these great warriors have their weapons under their heads? Should not their weapons be in their hands instead of under their heads?

Say preacher do you teach that the lost, whom you say are now being tormented in hell, are fighting wars with each other; and that man made weapons can hurt or kill a spiritual soul? In fact, how can a physical fire hurt or torment a spiritual soul. It is impossible! This is why in the resurrection God will resurrect both soul and body from the dead and the whole man will tormented in the Lake of Fire; for the soul cannot feel the effects of the fire outside of the body!! There is no mention of torment in this verse!!!

LXT kai. evkoimh,qhsan meta. tw/n giga,ntwn tw/n peptwko,twn avpo. aivw/noj oi] kate,bhsan eivj a[|dou evn o[ploij polemikoi/j kai. e;qhkan ta.j macai,raj auvtw/n u`po. ta.j kefala.j auvtw/n kai. evgenh,qhsan ai` avnomi,ai auvtw/n evpi. tw/n ovstw/n auvtw/n o[ti evxefo,bhsan gi,gantaj evn gh/| zwh/j

WTT `~yYIx; #r,a,B. ~yrIABGI tyTixi-yKi ~t'Amc.[;-l[; ~t'nOwO[] yhiT.w: ~h,yvear' tx;T; ~t'Abr>x;-ta, WnT.YIw: ~T'm.x;l.mi-ylek.Bi lAav.-Wdr>y" rv,a] ~ylire[]me ~ylip.nO ~yrIABGI-ta, WbK.v.yI al{w>

Since we have examined the passages used by preachers who teach the Babylonian doctrine purgatory, let’s examine the other Biblical passages that speak of Sheol.

1 Kings 2:6, 9 ASV Just before David died he told King speaking Solomon, “Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his [Joab’s] hoar head go down to Sheol in peace…. Now therefore hold him not guiltless, for thou art a wise man; and thou wilt know what thou oughtest to do unto him, and thou shalt bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.” In other words, David told Solomon to kill Joab so he would not die a peaceful death, but go to Sheol dying a bloody violent death.

LXT kai. poih,seij kata. th.n sofi,an sou kai. ouv kata,xeij th.n polia.n auvtou/ evn eivrh,nh| eivj a[|dou…. kai. ouv mh. avqw|w,sh|j auvto,n o[ti avnh.r sofo.j ei= su. kai. gnw,sh| a] poih,seij auvtw/| kai. kata,xeij th.n polia.n auvtou/ evn ai[mati eivj a[|dou

WTT s laov. ~l{v'B. Atb'yfe dreAt-al{w> ^t,m'k.x'K. t'yfi['w>…. lAav. ~d'B. Atb'yfe-ta, T'd>r;Ahw> AL-hf,[]T; rv,a] tae T'[.d;y"w> hT'a' ~k'x' vyai yKi WhQen:T.-la; hT'[;w>

Just as the above verse is speaking of going to Sheol dying a violent death, the following passage Jacob, thinking that Joseph was dead, told his sons that he would grieve for Joseph till the day he died; and in a sense go to Sheol mourning or die mourning. Genesis 37:35, ASV The Bible stated, “And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.”

LXT sunh,cqhsan de. pa,ntej oi` ui`oi. auvtou/ kai. ai` qugate,rej kai. h=lqon para

ale,sai auvto,n kai. ouvk h;qelen parakalei/sqai le,gwn o[ti katabh,somai pro.j to.n ui`o,n mou penqw/n eivj a[|dou kai. e;klausen auvto.n o` path.r auvtou/ rv,a] %r,

WTT `wybia' Atao &.b.YEw: hl'aov. lbea' ynIB.-la, dreae-yKi rm,aYOw: ~xen:t.hil. !aem'y>w: Amx]n:l. wyt'nOB.-lk'w> wyn"B'-lk' WmquY"w./

In the following passage, Jacob warned his sons again that he would grieve himself to death, if anything happens to Benjamin. Therefore in a sense he would go to Sheol in sorrow or die in a state of sorrow! Genesis 42:38 ASV Jacob told his sons about Benjamin, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

LXT o` de. ei=pen ouv katabh,setai o` ui`o,j mou meqV u`mw/n o[ti o` avdelfo.j auvtou/ avpe,qanen kai. auvto.j mo,noj katale,leiptai kai. sumbh,setai auvto.n malakisqh/nai evn th/| o`dw/| h-| a'n poreu,hsqe kai. kata,xete, mou to. gh/raj meta. lu,phj eivj a[|dou

WTT hl'Aav. !Agy"B. ytib'yfe-ta, ~T,d>r;Ahw> Hb'-Wkl.Te rv,a] %r,D,B; !Asa' Wha'r'q.W ra'v.nI ADb;l. aWhw> tme wyxia'-yKi ~k,M'[i ynIB. dreyE-al{ rm,aYOw:

Genesis 44:29-31 ASV Judah told Joseph, my father told me, “If ye take this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life. It will come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.” It is quite evident that Judah interpreted his father’s words to mean that great sorrow would be the cause of his death, or he would die in grief before he went to Sheol.

LXT eva.n ou=n la,bhte kai. tou/ton evk prosw,pou mou kai. sumbh/| auvtw/| malaki,a evn th/| o`dw/| kai. kata,xete, mou to. gh/raj meta. lu,phj eivj a[|dou…. kai. e;stai evn tw/| ivdei/n auvto.n mh. o'n to. paida,rion meqV h`mw/n teleuth,sei kai. kata,xousin oi` pai/de,j sou to. gh/raj tou/ paido,j sou patro.j de. h`mw/n metV ovdu,nhj eivj a[|dou

WTT hl'aov. h['r'B. ytib'yfe-ta, ~T,d>r;Ahw> !Asa' Whr'q'w> yn:P' ~[ime hz<-ta,-~G: ~T,x.q;l.W