Death is probably one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible - enshrouded with mystery and corrupted by medieval myths. The Heaven's Gate cult leader, Marshall Applewhite, was able to seduce his members about life after death by quoting selectively from the Bible. It's the same way that Satan deceived Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
Yet the Bible's real message about "life after death" is surprisingly simple and straightforward, yet widespread belief in confusing distortions continues today. Popular culture, with such TV shows as Medium and Ghost Whisperer, certainly don't help either. But you can begin to uncover the truth with this week's Fact Tract ...
Question: How did people get here in the first place?
The Bible says:
- "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).
To understand what happens when a person dies, we need to start with how God gave life in the beginning. God made man from the elements of the earth at the beginning of earth's history. Notice it does not say God gave man a soul, but that man
"became" a soul after God combined the body with the breath of life.
Question: What happens when a person dies?
The Bible says:
- "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
At death the reverse of creation occurs: the body returns to dust, and the spirit goes back to God. Pay careful attention here: The spirit of every person who dies - whether righteous or wicked -
returns to God at death. Nor is there anything mysterious about this spirit-nowhere in the Bible does it say this spirit has life, wisdom, or feeling.
"The spirit of God ["the breath which God gave him,"] is in my nostrils" (Job 27:3), which means it is the "breath of life," and
nothing more.
Question: Then what is a "soul," and doesn't it live on after we die?
The Bible says:
- "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20).
- "Every living soul died in the sea" (Revelation 16:3).
A soul is a living being - a combination of two things: body plus breath. A soul cannot exist unless body and breath are
combined. God's Word teaches that we are souls, as well as the animals! And according to God's Word, souls do die - they are not immortal. Man is
mortal (Job 4:17). Only God is immortal (1 Timothy 1:17). Immortality is a gift God gives to the saved (1 Corinthians 15:53, 54).
Question: You mean people are unconscious when they die?
The Bible says:
- "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. There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest" (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10).
- "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalms 146:4).
Yes, the dead know absolutely nothing! Nor can the dead communicate with the living! The dead person's thoughts have
perished (Psalm 146.4). Though millions think it is possible, the dead cannot communicate with the living. The Bible shows that it is impossible.
Question: Don't all good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell as soon as they die?
The Bible says:
- "All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth" (John 5:28, 29).
- "David ... is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. … For David is not ascended into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34).
- The Lord knoweth … to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (2 Peter 2:9).
No, good people do not go immediately to heaven at death, and there is not one single soul burning in hellfire today. The Bible is very specific about this: All go to their graves to wait for the resurrection and judgment day (Job 21:30, 32). God reserves, or holds back, the wicked until the Day of Judgment to be punished. They will enter hellfire at the end of the world, and not one day sooner (John 12:48). Until then, they sleep in their grave (John 11:11-14).
Think about it: Would God punish a person before their judgment - their day in court? Or would He burn a petty thief who died 5,000 years ago 5,000 years longer than a cruel murderer who died today?






