When we die, our spirit returns to God.
Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped
and the golden bowl is crushed,
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring
and the wheel is broken at the well,
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
But what does that mean?
There are a number of Old Testament verses like this one below that elaborate further...
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Perhaps one of the clearest explanations of Sheol comes from a text outside of our western canon, but included in some eastern canons.
In the Book of Enoch, Enoch offers this description of Sheol:
And thence I went to another place, and he showed me in the west another great and high mountain and of hard rock. And there was in it four hollow places, deep and wide and very smooth. How smooth are the hollow places and deep and dark to look at. Then Raphael answered, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: "These hollow places have been created for this very purpose, that the spirits of the souls of the dead should assemble therein, yea that all the souls of the children of men should assemble here. And these places have been made to receive them till the day of their judgement and till their appointed period till the period appointed, till the great judgement comes upon them."
I saw the spirits of the children of men who were dead, and their voice went forth to heaven and made suit. Then I asked Raphael the angel who was with me, and I said unto him: "This spirit- whose is it, whose voice goeth forth and maketh suit?" And he answered me saying: "This is the spirit which went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew, and he makes his suit against him till his seed is destroyed from the face of the earth, and his seed is annihilated from amongst the seed of men." Then I asked regarding it, and regarding all the hollow places: "Why is one separated from the other?" And he answered me and said unto me: "These three have been made that the spirits of the dead might be separated. And such a division has been made for the spirits of the righteous, in which there is the bright spring of water. And such has been made for sinners when they die and are buried in the earth and judgement has not been executed on them in their lifetime. Here their spirits shall be set apart in this great pain till the great day of judgement and punishment and torment of those who curse for ever and retribution for their spirits. There He shall bind them for ever. And such a division has been made for the spirits of those who make their suit, who make disclosures concerning their destruction, when they were slain in the days of the sinners. Such has been made for the spirits of men who were not righteous but sinners, who were complete in transgression, and of the transgressors they shall be companions: but their spirits shall not be slain in the day of judgement nor shall they be raised from thence." Then I blessed the Lord of glory and said: "Blessed be my Lord, the Lord of righteousness, who ruleth for ever."
Enoch 22
He describes not two, but "four hollow places". And their purpose? "That the spirits of the souls of the dead should assemble therein,,, these places have been made to receive them till the day of their judgement and till their appointed period... till the great judgement comes upon them."
Enoch also describes this place (Sheol) being separated into 2 broad categories or partitions:
- the righteous - "And such a division has been made for the spirits of the righteous, in which there is the bright spring of water."
- the sinners - "And such has been made for sinners when they die and are buried in the earth and judgement has not been executed on them in their lifetime."
We see something very similar in Jesus' story of Lazarus and the Rich Man:
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side [the righteous partition]. And the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades [the sinners partition], where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’
But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’
‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’
‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
Luke 16:19-31
Abraham's "bosom" or "side" [where Lazarus is] is believed to be the righteous partition within Sheol. The Rich Man, on the other hand, resides in "a place of torment'. And a "great chasm" is fixed between the two.
We know from Scripture, that Jesus' sacrifice atones for our sin. And that at the resurrection, we shall be raised incorruptible.
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
I Cor 15:52
But where are the spirits of the righteous dead (who've been atoned for) in the interim?
The majority consensus is that believers are already in Heaven. But where in Scripture does it say that?
Many will point to Jesus' statement here:
And Jesus said to him [the thief on the cross next to Him], “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43
But did Jesus immediatly ascend into Heaven that day or did He ascend three days later?
So where did Jesus go immediatly following His death?
David had this to say:
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
Psalm 16:10
Sheol is a Hebrew word that occurs 66 times in the Old Testament. You won't find a clear definition or description for the term Sheol in any of those occurrences. For that you need to go back to the Book of Enoch. But if you look at its use in all those occurrences, it's use is consistent with Enoch's description.
When Jesus told the thief on the cross that "today you will be with Me in Paradise”, he was describing Abraham's "side" or "bosom" (Luke 16) - the portion of Sheol designated for those redeemed - the side containing the "bright spring of water" (Enoch 22).
The Greek word that is translated into the english "Paradise" occurs only three times in the New Testament. But it's only used once by Luke. It's origin:
- parádeisos – an ancient Persian word meaning "enclosure, garden, park."
This is entirely consistent with Enoch's and Jesus' description. And why did Luke use the word "Paradise" here instead of the word "heaven"? He uses "heaven" or the plural form about 35 other times throughout his gospel account. But not here. I think Luke (quoting Jesus) was being specific about the place - "parádeisos".
That Jesus was busy immediatly following His death is consistent with this statement from Peter.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
1 Peter 3:19
This is probably a reference to the "sons of God" [angels] that violated their proper domain and went in to the daughters of men (Gen 6). These angels were cast into the abyss - "this place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven" (Enoch 18:14)
Paul also had this to say regarding Jesus' activities between His death and resurrection.
Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. This is why it says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captives away,
and gave gifts to men.”What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
Eph 4:7-9
Who are these "captives He led away"? And what does this mean?
Many will claim that it is here that Jesus escorts all the righteous dead out of Sheol and into heaven. Paul is quoting from Psalm 68 here. It could mean that, or it might be describing something different. The context of the statement made in Ephesians appears to be about grace.
"Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ".
It's usually not a good idea to establish a doctrine based on an obscure passage.
David in his Psalm says this...
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
Psalm 49:15
Hosea says the same thing:
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I will redeem them from Death.Hosea 13:14
He accomplished that by paying the price for our sins - when He was crucified. But did He escort all the redeemed in Sheol into heaven upon His resurrection? There is no clear evidence of that actually happening. All of Scripture (including Enoch) describes a future resurrection of the dead when He comes!
Many will use Paul's statment here to support the idea that the spirit of the redeemed dead goes to heaven to be with Christ:
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed. But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Phil 1:21-24
To depart and be with Christ. Is he saying immediately upon death? Or is he referring to a place of rest while he waits for a future resurrection?
If Paul meant that Jesus led "captives" (dead in Christ) from Sheol into heaven at His ascension, then He seems to contradict himself here.
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thes 4:13-17
The context here is the resurrection. First of the dead, and then those who are alive and remain at His coming. Note the words "will bring" those who have "fallen asleep".
Even Jesus' own statement here is describing that same future event:
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
John 5:28
I know it's not popular. But I'm inclined towards believing the dead (in Christ) are still in Sheol - waiting for the resurrection. Enoch's statement here seems to make that pretty clear!
And in those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it, And Sheol also shall give back that which it has received, And hell shall give back that which it owes. And he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them: For the day has drawn nigh that they should be saved.
Enoch 51:1-2
And so does the prophet Daniel. Speaking about the last days, a messenger from the Lord spoke these words to Daniel:
“At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations until that time. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt. Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
Dan 12:1-3
It's the conclusion that is most consistent with all of Scripture.
See also: Sheol - What did the early church fathers believe?
btw - If true, I don't think the outcome is changed all that much. If the dead in Christ are still waiting for the resurrection of their bodies in Sheol, consider the implications. Consider other OT and NT statements about Sheol and the state of the dead.
Also, if the dead (in Christ) are still in Sheol, consider this remarkable scene in Rev 7 - a "great multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb... that come out of the great tribulation". This looks a lot like a pre-wrath rapture - after the sixth seal, after the 144,000 are sealed, and before the wrath of God begins.
By placing the dead (in Christ) in Sheol until the resurrection (rapture), scenes like those in Rev 7 negate a lot of the debate surrounding the timing of this event.
