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"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Genesis 2:16-17
Many people have fears and doubts about death
Know the biblical truth about the state of the dead
Protects against deceptions and false doctrines
God said they would die, Satan said "ye shall not surely die"
Death is compared to a sleep - state of unconsciousness
Demons impersonate the dead to deceive
Dead believers will rise when Jesus returns
The wicked will rise a thousand years later for judgment
The wicked will be burned and turn into ashes
God creates man and warns about death
The dead are unconscious, as if sleeping
Jesus returns and resurrects the righteous
The righteous in heaven judging the wicked
The wicked resurrect and are judged
The righteous live eternally, the wicked as if they never existed
Summary: God warns about death as a consequence of sin.
Summary: The first lie: 'ye shall not surely die'.
Summary: Living soul = dust of the ground + breath of life.
Summary: Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return – mortality as a consequence of sin.
Summary: The dead know not anything; emotions cease.
Summary: The grave cannot praise; the living praise.
Summary: Death compared to sleep; Lazarus.
Summary: In the grave there is no work, nor device – absence of activity in death.
Summary: Saul and the witch of En-dor; spiritual deception.
Summary: Transfiguration – discernment about appearances and doctrine.
Summary: Resurrection of life and of damnation.
Summary: Return of Jesus and resurrection of the righteous.
Summary: Millennium, second resurrection, and final judgment.
Summary: Jesus brings the reward according to works.
Summary: The wicked shall be ashes.
Summary: They shall be as though they had not been.
Summary: Man is mortal.
Summary: Only God has immortality.
# Study 9 - State of the Dead
- Foundations
- Creation: Dust + Breath = Living Soul (Gn 2:7)
- Fall: Mortality as consequence (Gn 2:16-17)
- The first lie: 'Ye shall not surely die' (Gn 3:4)
- State of the Dead
- Sleep: Unconscious state (Jn 11:11-14)
- No knowledge: (Ec 9:5-6, 10)
- No praise: (Ps 115:17; Is 38:18-19)
- False Communication
- Deception: (1Sm 28:3-25)
- Spirits of devils: (Rv 16:14)
- Resurrections
- First: Righteous at 2nd Coming (1Th 4:13-17)
- Second: Wicked after Millennium (Rv 20:5)
- Final Judgment
- Reward according to works (Rv 22:12)
- Destruction: Become as ashes (Ml 4:1, 3)
- Eternal death: Second death (Rv 20:14-15)
- Obadiah 1:16 — They shall be as though they had not been
- Mortality
- Hebrews 9:27 — appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment
- James 4:14 — For what is your life? It is even a vapour
Today we will study about the state of the dead. There are people who are afraid of dark environments, of the "suffering soul", of passing in front of the cemetery at night, of ghosts, etc. Many things are believed, most of which are legends, because the Word of God is not known.
What happens after death? Where do the dead go? The Bible reveals clearly.
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Genesis 2:16, 17
God told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would die. Satan said the opposite:
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [...] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die."
Genesis 3:1-5
Important: Cemeteries full of dead bodies prove that God was right. But Satan has not given up on insisting on the first lie with which he succeeded in deceiving Eve.
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6
The dead know nothing, they do not communicate with us nor interfere in our lives. From the text we discover that when a child dies, they do not "become a little angel and go to heaven"; and when an adult dies they do not "pass on to a better place", as they say.
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
Genesis 2:7
Dust of the Ground
Physical body
+
Breath of Life
Power of God
Living Soul
Living human being
"These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead."
John 11:11-14
We go to sleep at night and, when we wake up in the morning, we do not remember what happened. So also the dead are totally unconscious of what is happening among us.
Since the dead are unconscious and do not communicate with the living, how is it that people claim to have talked with the deceased in spiritualist centers, at white and black tables and in sorcery dens?
Account of 1 Samuel 28:3-14 about Saul and the medium
Conclusion: It is not the dead, but the demons, who speak in spiritualist centers and similar places. We are children of God, not of Satan.
When Jesus returns
A thousand years later
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
Revelation 22:12
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. [...] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
Malachi 4:1, 3
Important: The wicked will not burn forever. They will be burned proportionally to their works and die forever, being as if they had never existed.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
Hebrews 9:27
We decide our destiny while we are alive. When death arrives, only receiving the reward remains. Therefore, we must, now, decide to obey God until the end of our lives and seal our fate with the righteous.
Do you wish to free yourself from the legends and beliefs about the dead and believe in the true hope that Jesus will resurrect the righteous dead when He returns for the second time?
Do you wish to obey God by faith in Jesus and keep yourself so until the end, to receive eternal life?
Continue studying the Word of God
Seek God in prayer
Share this truth with others
"For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." - James 4:14
May we make the right choice today, while there is still time!
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Today we learned what the Bible teaches about death and the hope of the resurrection. In the next study, it is about baptism, the true one.