The Soul: Sleeping Until the Resurrection

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 22:37

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Recap: The Spirit

Genesis 6:3

³ And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Ecclesiastes 12:7

⁷ Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

The Spirit is from God. It returns to God when we die.

The spirit is "mine", but not "me". It is the Lords, present in Genesis 1:1-2 and returning back to God when we die.

The Soul

Hypothesis The soul is who I am. The “me” that lives, dies, written in the Book of Life, and is resurrected on the coming of Christ, or the last day.

Part 1. Where is the soul now?

John 11:11-13

These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

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.

Death is “sleep” in scripture.

Psalms 13:3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Psalms 104:29 Thou takest away their breath; they die, and return to their dust.

Psalms 6:5 In Death there is no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psalms 115:17 The dead praise not the Lord

Psalms 146:4 When a man returns to the earth, that very day his thoughts perish

Ecclesiastes 9:5 ..but the dead know not anything, neither have they anymore a reward

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Ecclesiastes: 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Isaiah 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit can not hope for thy truth

Q Are there thoughts in death?

Q If there was, would we not be praising God?

Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart: merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel 12:13 But you, go your way till the end: for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.

John 3:13 Jesus says: No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the son of man.

John 6:49, 58 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and

are dead.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Q According to John 14:3 , when will we be with Christ and be with him?

1 Samuel 28:11-15

¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

¹³ And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.”

¹⁴ So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

¹⁵ Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

Acts 2:34 But David is not ascended into the heavens.

Q David IS NOT ascended. The “who” of David is sleeping.

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”

Matthew 12:40

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Q IF when dead, we are in “heaven”, why was Christ dead three days and still not with God? Why was David not with God after one thousand years?

I Cor. 15:20-23 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Job 14:10-15 ¹⁰ But man dies and is laid away;

Indeed he breathes his last

And where is he?

¹¹ As water disappears from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dries up,

¹² So man lies down and does not rise.

Till the heavens are no more,

They will not awake

Nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³ “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,

That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴ If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait,

Till my change comes.

Soul Part 2

Take away

Death = Sleep ( John 11:11-13 )

We will raise together. ( Daniel 12:13 , I Cor. 15:20-23 )

Only Jesus has ascended to the Father. ( John 3:13 )

When will dead be raised? First and Second resurrection. ( see part 2 )

PART 2 When will the soul be with the Lord?

Discuss: What is the Spirit? What is the Soul?

According to most Christian apologists, when do you get to see God? What stories do they tell about loved ones when they die?

What We Are Promised

We will rise TOGETHER at one of the two resurrections. (not individually)

Hebrews 11:39-40

³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

If Jesus was not in heaven in 3 days, what is the timeline that the non-resurrected have fellowship with the Father? When will dead be raised?

John 6:40

⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 5:28-29

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

John 6:54

⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

HOWEVER

Is the last day (Day of Judgment) the first resurrection or the Second?

Jesus is in the upper room with the Disciples in John 13-14

The First Resurrection

John 14: 2 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there you may be also.”

Job 19:25

I know that my Redeemer lives… and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God…

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

⁵ But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Q Why were the disciples told they would be in the first resurrection when he comes back? What qualifies them for this event?

A They all but one were martyred. John was given Revelation

Q The martyrs have a "better resurrection". This suggests what about their choices and multiple resurrections. Does this suggest their own decisions have a factor in determination?

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting

deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Q Which resurrection is “better”, the first or the second? Why?

Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs

Revelation 6:9-11

⁹ When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Q What state were the saints prior and after this event?

Revelation 7

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

...

¹³ Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Refer back to John 14:4 , Revelation 6:11

Who are the people seen from heaven?

Are they awake the entire time from death?

Where do they go?

Both the Return of Christ and Judgement are the “Last day”

When is the Last Day(s)

The 7 Epochs

Adam till Noah – 10 generations

Noah till Abraham – 10 generations

Abraham till David – 14 generations

David till Babylon – 14 generations

Babylon till Jesus – 14 generations

Jesus till 1st Resurrection – Till fulfillment of Gentiles

1st Resurrection until Judgment. - 1000 years.

Reference: Matthew 1:17

The Pollution of the Greek philosophy

Matthew 10:28

²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).

The Soul definition of the verse above from the Strong's.

If we look up the word for Soul we see discrepancy in what we learned from Hebrew.

What things do you find that are not correct about this definition?

• 1. (a) The soul is NOT the breath/Spirit. For man that is the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
• 2. The writing of “immortal soul” re-writes the definition of scripture in the entire Old-Testament. Re-read Matt 10:28. What happens in judgment in Gehenna?

Q WHY would this definition used in our interlinear dictionary be wrong?

Answer

• 1. The concept of the immortal soul is foundation to the GREEKS.
• 2. The Greeks believe “Hades” the God of the Underworld where he reigns. The soul/spirit is one, and they exist in darkness. They were cognizant, but living as spiritual beings.
• 3. This is where the concept of the dead are alive in some state in “hell”, neither the “grave” or Gehenna “firey destruction”, as soon as people die, which is not Biblical.

The Greek definitions for soul are not aligning with the message of the old testament. The Greek make no differentiation between soul and spirit in their beliefs. Their concepts when looking up the word are not the law for what we read in conceptual communication. Do NOT look at word meanings in Greek, and use them as law for context. *

This paved the way for other cultures to add on to it. The Catholics could then devise Purgatory to become a Roman underworld, becoming as temporary as the punishment defined by the priests and wealth of the family attempting to negotiate for the dead's release.

Resources: Lazarus and the Rich Man

https://herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Lazarus

• Reference on Greek Beliefs

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2139&context=faithandphilosophy

• 1) “it was clearly defined that man consists only of two different principles or substances: soul and body.”
• 2) “here is in man only one spiritual and rational principle, namely soul possessing many parts or faculties; thus spirit differs from the soul only in conception, and not in fact”

“the term ‘spirit’ applied to human nature “

Are these phrases based on scripture TRUE or FALSE:

They died, and are in heaven.

They are with Jesus now.

They are praising God and singing with the angels.

My dead grandmother is watching over me.

My grandmother came to be in a dream. She was praying for me.

Where is Mary, Peter, and Paul? Can they hear us if we pray to them?

If you say this prayer, when you die, you will be in heaven.

Saved or lost, when I die, the next person I see will be Jesus.

Next Lesson: What is forever? (Olam)

The Epochs : Eternal torture and the soul.

EXTRA

Who has seen the Father? No one but Christ.

John 6:46

⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

Bonus Will ANYONE other than Christ see God's face... ever?

The Bible clearly states that God is spirit (John 4:24) and that no one can see His face and live (Exodus 33:20).