Bible Questions Answered:
“Does the bible teach that the soul
rests after death?...”
Aretha/ Hernando, Mississippi U.S.A.
Bible Answer:
Bible Texts:
Death of Lazarus, called sleep.
John 11:11-14 KJV
11 "...He saith unto them, Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of
sleep.
12 Then said His disciples, Lord, if
he sleep, he shall do well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death:
but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14 Then said Jesus unto them
plainly, Lazarus is dead.
Jesus on the
healing of Jarius' daughter.
Mark 5:39-42 KJV
39 And when He was come in, He saith
unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead,
but sleepeth.
40 And they laughed Him to scorn.
But when He had put them all out, He taketh the father and the mother
of the damsel, and them that were with Him, and entereth in where the
damsel was lying.
41 And He took the damsel by the
hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted,
Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42 And straightway the damsel arose,
and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were
astonished with a great astonishment.
The Apostle Paul speaks concerning
the rapture:
I Thessalonians
4:13-18 KJV
13 But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will
God bring with Him.
15 For this we say unto you by The
Word Of The Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming
of The Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For The Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
The Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with The Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another
with these words.
Well this is one side of the coin, now let us look at the other
side:
Solomon:
Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV
“Then shall the dust (body) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
“Then shall the dust (body) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Again, the Apostle Paul:
II Corinthians
5:6-9 KJV
6 Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from
The Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by
sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with
The Lord.
9 Wherefore we labor, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.
Jesus, on the Mount
of Transfiguration:
Matthew 17:1-8
KJV
1 And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high
mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them:
and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the
Light.
3 And, behold, there appeared
unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto
Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make
here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elias.
5 While he yet spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud,
which said, This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye Him.
6 And when the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
7 And Jesus came and touched them,
and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
8 And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
Jesus tell the
story of poor-Lazarus, and the rich man:
Luke 16:19-31
KJV
19 There was a certain rich man,
which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously
every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came
and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom:
the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his
eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip
of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in
this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us
and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass
from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would
come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee
therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he
may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of
torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have
Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham:
but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead.
Jesus, at Calvary
and the two crucified besides Him:
Luke 23:39-43
KJV
39 And one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on Him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we
receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing
amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.
Luke 23:46 NLT
“Then Jesus shouted, "Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!" And with those words He breathed His last.”
His body, would lay in the tomb (for
three days), but His soul would proceed to the Father in Heaven.
Stephen (A deacon of the early
church.), before his stoning said....
Acts 7:59 NLT
“As they stoned him, Stephen prayed,
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Well, does the soul
sleep at death, or does the soul move on to its eternal destination,
determined by its life on earth?
The first three
scriptures listed refer to “the body.”
Early believers
said that the body of dead saints was to be at rest. The soul was in
the very presence of God, but the body, was said to be at rest. They
thought of death as a rest for the body, because they believed that
one day that old lifeless body would wake up to resurrection.
The Apostle Paul
taught that to be absent from the body, (for the Christian) was to be
present with The Lord!
In Matthew 17, on,
on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were not sleeping
in a grave some where, they came from heaven to speak with the
glorified Lord Jesus.
Metaphor:
1 a
figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to
which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a
resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”.
Compare
mixed metaphor, simile.
2.
something
used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem;
symbol.
Whenever
the words soul sleep appear, it is in reference to the body at rest
(dead, waiting for resurrection) and does not refer to the soul!
John
14:1-6 KJV
1 Let not your heart be
troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 In My Father's house
are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you.
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 ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye
know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto
him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the
way?
6 Jesus saith unto him,
I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by Me.
Hebrews
9:27 KJV
And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
The
judgment will be, your eternal destination, CHOSEN BY YOU!
For
poor-Lazarus, it was heaven, for the selfish rich man, it was hell.
Dear
friend, there is no second chance after death! (See the new book
“SALVATION”.)
We
will be very awake, very much experiencing our eternal choice!
Make
your eternal choice, to be with The Savior Of The World, The Lord
Jesus Christ.
John
8:24 KJV
I said therefore unto
you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am
He, ye shall die in your sins.
