...aaaandddd... welcome back my beautiful family! It is so great to see you again. I've been thinking for a while now releasing a new generation of posts under the "short and sweet" mission which aim to answer, as straightforward as possible, commonly asked questions that are asked amongst the christian community. Furthermore, perhaps even questions that different denominations within the "Christian" umbrella don't seem to agree on. As ALWAYS, we are not after personal opinion or beliefs here, but solely and strictly what the Bible teaches.
As we have been doing for the past few posts, and without further ado, let's take a look at our video summary below. Don't feel like watching? No worries, skip the video and continue reading. Everything we discuss in the video it's also discussed and with more details in writing :)
Did you watch the video? What are your thought? Please share! Now, let's talk about life after death.
Death, life, and the Bible
Ask me what my favorite thing about religious discussions is, go ahead? ... did you ask? My favorite thing is being able to back up EVERYTHING I say with the Bible. People, and even Pastors, can teach whatever they want, but it is on us to always ask: "where is that in the Bible?". God invites us to study His word and for those who truly dig in and ask questions, answers are given in the Bible. The topic of death is no exception. For millennia, centuries and decades many have believed that once you die you reincarnate, or that your spirits wonders the planet, or that you go to purgatory to pay for your sins right away, or that you go meet St. Peter at heaven's door and live with God, or that you go to hell if you were mean... etc. etc. etc... Many actual christians churches believe some of these beliefs but, can any of these be proven biblically speaking?
The Bible is the Word of God. In it we find everything we need to know about life and about how God wants us to be. It only makes sense to stop believing everything we hear around and look for the answer in the Bible. If you haven't, don't worry, let's open the Bible together and answer once and for all what happens after death. First thing first, let's read our opening Bible text:
"For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun..." - Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
One could argue the question of whether there's life right after death has been answered already with the Bible, no? The dead know NOTHING. This means dead don't partake in the affairs of this world, they're not wondering somewhere in the void of space making decisions or talking to St. Peter or none of the sorts... the dead are simply dead, lying in the ground with absolute zero conscience or knowledge. Let's take a look at what God said to Adam right after he sinned along with his wife:
"Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: 'Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.'” - Genesis 3:17-19
Kinda curious that the dead do indeed return to dust after decomposition takes place... God was right (obviously!). Solely from these two texts we have the whole truth about the state of the dead. They know nothing, do nothing... the body just rests decomposing until Jesus returns. There is no biblical evidence that would indicate otherwise. There is no flying soul, wondering spirits, no going to heaven or hell, no purgatory, no reincarnation... the dead are just that... dead. Is this clear?
Why there are some Pastors, churches, religions and/or denominations teaching other truths? Well in the Bible we read:
"To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." - Isaiah 8:20
Anyone out there that is teaching anything other than this regarding the state of the dead, is flat out deceiving (or trying to deceive) you and others. This is the cutoff for the "short and sweet" portion. We've answered the question. I invite you to keep reading because I want to expand a little on the discussion but, feel free to pause and come back to finish the read later. There are two more questions that I feel need answered before we close this topic on the state of the dead. Ready?
What about the 'ancestor spirits' that communicate from through mediums?
Not only in TV shows and media, but in real life there are people that claim to have the ability to communicate with the dead and others that hire them to actually communicate with their ancestors. People that have consulted these 'services' claim to have spoken to the person they wanted that is no longer with them. I 100% believe that it is possible to speak to *a* spirit, but because of what we just learned, we know 100% that the spirit/person they are talking to is NOT their family member but the great deceiver and his followers. God strictly and irrevocably condemns the practice of consulting these spirits:
"Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God..." - Leviticus 19:31
"There shall not be found among you anyonewho makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you." - Deuteronomy 18:10-12
A Google search for verses in the Bible regarding consulting the dead would come to show several other verses that simply state that one SHOULD NOT consult mediums/spiritists to talk to the dead. Again, it is not the dead the person that will talk to but evil spirits whose only pursuit is to separate us from God. A quick read at the story of King Saul in the Bible comes to show one of his greatest sins (which eventually cost him his life) was to consult a medium to talk to the dead.
Friend, please do yourself a favor... don't consult a medium or a spiritist. Don't let yourself enter into Satan's playground. All those that "read" the future with your palm, or read 'Tarot' cards or talk to the dead... one should stay away from them because nothing good can come from playing with the devil. Now, let's answer one final question...
But the Bible says that Jesus will resurrect us... so there is life after death, no?
You are 100% percent correct. In that context, then there IS life after death. Our discussion on the dead being dead applies to the moment a person dies until Jesus' 2nd coming. During that 'in-between' time, the dead know nothing and go nowhere... at Jesus' 2nd coming, that state will change as we all prepare to receive Jesus and God's final judgement. This, topic, however, for another post.
For now know that all humanity WILL see Jesus' return and every tongue will confess that the Lord is just and Almighty. Amen to that.
Until next one my friend!
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