SHEOL-KNOW
Summary: This book will PROVE biblically that the state
of the unsaved dead is
sleeping in “Sheol”
until Judgment Day.
MORE
INFORMATION
Contact author email: dltoes@msn.com(nospam) (delete words no spam)
Also visit author’s other web site: www.hell-know.net “Dispelling the myth of eternal torment”
For further
proof of the doctrine of “Conditional Immortality” visit www.jewishnotgreek.com
Note: All articles are evangelical in nature and not
pertaining to any specific denomination.
To download a free .pdf Click
Here
Chapter One: UNDERSTANDING SHEOL/HADES: “The Intermediate State”
Seven Important Facts
about Sheol/Hades
Confusion Due to
Inconsistent Translating of Sheol
Understanding the Two
Views of Sheol
Chapter Two: JACOB,
JOB & SOLOMON’S View of Sheol
What Jacob Said
Job’s View of Sheol
Solomon’s View of Sheol
CHAPTER THREE: SHEOL IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS – Part I
Sheol: Where You Cannot
Remember or Praise God
Sheol: “The Land of Silence”
Sheol: “The Pit” or
“Well of Souls”
Sheol: A Condition of
the Soul (Mind)
Sheol: A Place Where
Sheep Go?
Do Animals Have Souls?
Do They Go to Sheol When
They Die?
“God Will Ransom My
Soul from the Power of Sheol”
CHAPTER FOUR:
SHEOL IN
THE BOOK OF PSALMS – Part II
Did David Pray for His
Ex-Friend to Go to a Hellish Torture Chamber?
“Who Can Escape the
Power of Sheol?”
“If I Make My Bed in
Sheol, You Are There”
“Sleeping” in Sheol
Why are Souls in Sheol
Referred to as “Sleeping”?
CHAPTER FIVE:
SHEOL IN
PROVERBS
Sheol and Death:
Synonymous
“To Avoid Sheol Below”
“Deliver His Soul from
Sheol”
Sheol is Never
Satisfied
CHAPTER SIX:
SHEOL IN
THE PROPHETS
“Sheol has Enlarged its Appetite”
The Proud King of Babylon Brought Down to Sheol
The Longest and Most
Detailed Passage on Sheol
“Progressive
Revelation” on the Nature of Sheol?
“Where, O Sheol, is
your Destruction?”
CHAPTER SEVEN: FURTHER SCRIPTURAL INSIGHTS INTO THE NATURE
OF SHEOL
Sheol is Contrasted
with “the Land of the Living”
Sheol: The Soulish Grave of “All the Living”
Sheol and the Physical
Grave: Distinct yet Parallel
CHAPTER ONE
UNDERSTANDING
SHEOL/HADES:
“The Intermediate State”
The
great white throne judgment is when God will resurrect every un-regenerated
soul from hades to be judged as shown in this
passage:
REVELATION 20:13-15
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death
and hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what he had done. (14) Then death
and hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the second death. (15) If anyone’s name was not found
written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
We see plain evidence here
that unredeemed people are held in a place called hades
after their physical death. This place is called sheol
in Hebrew. These disembodied souls are kept in hades
until judgment day when, as you can see, they are resurrected for the purpose
of divine judgment. What is the precise nature of these people’s condition in hades during this intermediate period between
physical death and resurrection? The traditional religious view is that they
will be in a state of conscious torment the entire span. Although this has been
the common evangelical position of the “intermediate state,” it’s rarely
mentioned or elaborated on in Christian circles.
Is
this what the bible really teaches? That people who are spiritually dead
will suffer hundreds and hundreds of years of torment in captivity immediately
after they die merely waiting for God to judge them? (As shown in Part I, the
same people who believe this also believe that they will then spend all
eternity in torturous captivity in the lake of fire after they
are judged).
Our
purpose in this part of HELL KNOW is to thoroughly search the Holy
Scriptures to find out the truth about sheol/hades,
the intermediate state. If sheol/hades is
indeed a place and condition of conscious torment, then God’s Word will clearly
support it from Genesis to Revelation. If the scriptures don’t support it then
we need to expose it as a false doctrine, eliminate it from our belief system
and proclaim what the bible really teaches on the subject. It’s that
simple. This is the only way “the truth will set us free.”
Seven Important Facts about Sheol/Hades
Before
we turn to the God-breathed scriptures to discover the precise nature of the
intermediate state, it’s essential at this point to understand seven important
facts about Sheol/hades, some of which are
obvious and some not:
1.)
As pointed out in Part I Sheol and Hades are synonymous
terms, that is, they refer to the same condition or place. Sheol
(sheh-ole') is the Hebrew term and hades (hay'-deez) is
the Greek. For proof of this, note the following Psalm passage, which speaks of
sheol, then observe how the Hebrew sheol is supplanted by the Greek hades
when the text is quoted in the New Testament:
PSALM 16:10 (NASB)
For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to sheol;
neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.
ACTS 2:27 (NASB)
Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to hades, nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.
We
see here that the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades are synonymous terms in the bible.
Since using both words could
be confusing and overly wordy we will simply use the term sheol
in reference to the intermediate state throughout the rest of this study. The
main reason for this is that the Hebrew sheol
appears much more often in the scriptures than the Greek hades;
the former appears 66 times in the Old Testament and the latter 10 times in the
New Testament. A secondary reason is that the word hades
is apt to conjure fantastical images of Greek mythology rather than biblical
truth; the Hebrew sheol, by contrast, offers
no such misleading images.
2.)
Since this is a study on the subject of sheol,
what precisely is it? Sheol is defined as “the world of
the dead” by the popular Hebrew & Greek scholar James strong; it simply
refers to the place and condition of dead souls after their physical decease
and before their resurrection to face God’s judgment. In other words, if
people are spiritually dead to God, that is, they’ve never experienced
spiritual regeneration through Jesus Christ, their disembodied souls will go
straight to sheol when they physically die to
be held until judgment day, at which time they will be resurrected for the
purpose of judgment. Since this time period in sheol
is after physical death and before resurrection it
is commonly referred to as the “intermediate state” by theologians.
3.)
Where exactly is sheol? In our
study we shall see clear evidence that sheol
is located in the heart of the earth, not in the physical realm, but in the
dark spiritual realm. You see, the bible speaks of three existing worlds or
realms: (1.) The earth and the physical universe, (2.) the
underworld, which is the dark heavenly realm that parallels or underpins the
earth and universe, and (3.) God’s heaven, called the “third heaven” in
scripture. We’ll see biblical support for this in Chapter Six.
It
should be understood that sheol is not
the underworld itself, it is a compartment or pit in the underworld.
This will become evident as our study progresses.
4.)
Sheol must be distinguished from the grave or tomb where dead bodies are
put to rest. This must be emphasized because translations often render sheol as “the grave,” for example Psalm 16:10 in the
New International Version. Yet scholar W.E. Vine properly points out that sheol never refers to the literal
grave or tomb where the body is lain to rest (286). There’s a separate
Hebrew term for the physical grave or tomb, the Hebrew word qeber
(keh’-ber).
However,
even though it’s true that sheol does not
refer to the physical grave or tomb, it should be pointed out that since it is
defined as “the world of the dead” where souls enter after physical death, sheol could arguably be described as the graveyard
of souls. In light of this, translations that render sheol
as “the grave” are not necessarily inaccurate, as long as one understands that
the text is not referring to the physical grave or tomb where dead
bodies are placed.
5.)
Another important fact, which I think is obvious, is that sheol is a temporary
condition, regardless of its nature. This is vastly important to keep in
mind – sheol only applies to the intermediate
state of the disembodied souls of spiritually dead people after their physical
death and before their resurrection on judgment day. Why is this so significant
to understand? Because, regardless of what anyone ultimately believes about sheol, we can all agree that it’s a temporary
state, it’s not something that lasts forever. Because of this, it’s obvious
that the subject of sheol is not as important
as the subject of the second death. Why? Simply because the second death is
eternal while sheol is not. Hence, the nature
of sheol is without question a secondary
issue on the topic of human damnation.
Consequently,
even though the bible is very clear on the issue of sheol,
which we’ll see in our thorough study of the scriptures, no matter what conclusion
we each personally come to, it has no bearing on the biblical truths already
determined in Part I. This is important to keep in mind.
6.)
Sheol is not hell; the lake of fire is hell. We see in the
scriptures that sheol and the lake of fire
(i.e. Gehenna) are two separate
places and states. Revelation 20:13-15, quoted on page 1, plainly shows this
distinction: After people are resurrected from sheol
(“hades”) to face judgment, sheol itself will then be cast into the lake of
fire. Since sheol and the lake of fire are
plainly shown to be two separate places/states in this passage, then only
one can rightly be designated as “hell;” and since “hell” commonly
refers to a fiery, dark netherworld wherein people suffer eternal
damnation then it is the lake of fire (or Gehenna)
that should properly be labeled hell. In light of this, if a person refers to sheol as hell, they’re simply not being scriptural;
the lake of fire is the true hell.
Yet,
those of us who understand this should extend grace toward those who mix-up the
two terms because most of the confusion over this issue is simply the result of
bad translating practices; for instance, the King James Version often renders
both sheol (hades)
and Gehenna as “hell,” giving the impression
to English readers that they’re one-and-the-same. They’re not. Thankfully, more
recent translations have helped correct this mistake.
It’s
interesting to note, incidentally, that the word “hell” is derived from the Old
English ‘helan,’ which means “to conceal or cover,”
hence in Old English literature you may find references to the helling of potatoes – that is, putting them into pits in
the ground – and the helling of a house, meaning to
cover it with a thatched roof. “Hell” therefore was originally an accurate
description of sheol because it properly gave
the image of souls concealed in a pit in the netherworld until their
resurrection on judgment day. Of course, “hell” has taken on a radical change
in meaning in the centuries since.
An
alternative way of looking at the distinction between sheol
and the lake of fire is to simply regard sheol
as temporary hell and the lake of fire as eternal hell. This is
good for those who, for whatever reason, insist on referring to both sheol and the lake of fire as “hell.”
7.)
Righteous souls went to sheol before the
ascension of Christ. This significant fact about sheol is
not widely known amongst Christians even though it’s obvious in the scriptures
and theologians readily acknowledge it. Before Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection
from sheol (Acts 2:27) the souls of Old
Testament saints had to go to sheol just as
well as the souls of people not in covenant with God. The obvious reason for
this is that spiritual regeneration was not available in Old Testament times
because Jesus had not yet spilled his blood for the forgiveness of our sins and
was not subsequently raised to life for our justification. The blood of animals
shed in Hebrew religious ceremonies only temporarily covered
their sins, it was not able to wash them from sin; only the blood
of Christ can do this. As it is written: “It is impossible for the blood of
bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).
In
our study we’ll observe that death and sheol
are often spoken of together; they go hand-in-hand and are arguably
one-in-the-same – death is sheol and sheol is death. Well, what is the wages of
sin? According to the bible “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). My point is that the
souls of Old Testament saints had to go to sheol
just as heathen people because in order for them to be redeemed from death a
person innocent of sin would have to die in their place. The good news is that
Jesus Christ did this very thing for all those who believe on him and accept
him as Lord. It is believed that when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead as
the “firstfruits” (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-23) the souls of the Old
Testament saints were raised from sheol with
him. We see apparent evidence of this in this passage:
EPHESIANS 4:8
When he (Jesus) ascended on high, he led captives in his
train
Who
were the “captives” that ascended to heaven with Jesus? Who else but the Old
Testament saints who were subject to death and sheol
just as well as heathen people? They were captives to sheol
– death – until God’s ultimate sacrifice for humanity’s sins was made. When
Jesus died he destroyed “him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil”
(Hebrews 2:14) and, by his resurrection, set free those who were
captive to death.
Now
that Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought eternal life and immortality
to light through his death and resurrection (2 Timothy 1:10), no soul that is
spiritually born-again and blessed with God’s gift of eternal life has to go to
sheol. Now, when a spiritually-regenerated
believer physically dies, his or her soul goes straight to heaven, not sheol. This is plainly evident in such clear
passages as Revelation 6:9-11 and 7:9-17, as well as Philippians 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:8.
There are, incidentally,
many adherents of literal destruction that reject this notion that spiritually-rebirthed believers go to heaven when they die; they
believe that both heathen and Christian souls alike go to sheol.
I have open-mindedly and thoroughly researched their position but am persuaded
by scripture to embrace the above view. We’ll look at this subject in detail in
Chapter X and honestly consider arguments for and against; you are welcome to
draw your own conclusion. Regardless, even though this is an important issue
it’s a detail matter in the grand scheme of things and actually has no bearing
on the nature of sheol, the subject of this
study; hence, whatever the reader’s conclusion after an honest appraisal of the
biblical facts, let’s strive for unity and loathe division! Amen?
The
notion above that death and sheol are
synonymous may initially sound strange to those of a religiously-indoctrinated
mindset; yet, if such a person patiently and honestly seeks the scriptural
truth, it will all make perfect sense as we analyze the Holy Scriptures on the
subject. God’s Word is more than able to wash our minds from false religious
indoctrination.
One
last point regarding this seventh fact of sheol:
If sheol is a condition of conscious torment
as religious traditionalists advocate, how do they explain the biblical fact
that righteous people went to sheol in Old
Testament times? Their answer is that there was a separate chamber in sheol for righteous souls and base this idea on a
literal reading of Jesus’ story of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). We
will thoroughly analyze this passage in Chapter X to find out if this is true.
BACK TO TOP
Confusion Due to
Inconsistent Translating of Sheol
Centuries
ago theologians evidently did not believe there was a separate compartment to sheol for righteous souls in Old Testament times;
they simply believed sheol was a place of
torment for those damned of God in the heart of the earth. This caused some
obvious problems: If sheol is a condition of
conscious torment, how does one explain the many passages that plainly show
that righteous souls as well as heathen souls went to sheol
in Old Testament times?
The
solution for the translators of the 1611 King James Version, believe it or not,
was to translate sheol as “hell” when it
applied to unrighteous people and as “the grave” when it applied to the
righteous. In other words, they did not uniformly translate sheol;
in fact, their definition was determined purely by whether the passage
referred to the wicked or the righteous. The translators of the King James
– also known as the Authorized Version – adhered to this as a general rule, so
anyone reading this version would understandably come to the conclusion that
heathen people went to a horrible netherworld of torments when they died while
righteous people like Job and David merely went to “the grave.”
Let’s
observe evidence of this:
PSALM 9:17 (KJV)
The wicked shall be turned into hell (sheol),
and all the nations that forget God.
Since the passage is
referring to “the wicked” the King James translators chose to translate sheol as “hell;” yet notice how they render sheol when the sciptural
passage applies to righteous King Hezekiah:
ISAIAH 38:10 (KJV)
I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the
gates of the grave (sheol): I am deprived of the
residue of my years.
Hezekiah,
the godly king of Judah,
is speaking in this passage; he has a fatal illness and clearly doesn’t want to
die. Unfortunately, the King James rendering of this verse isn’t very clear to
modern readers so let’s read the same passage from the New International
Version:
ISAIAH 38:10
I said, “In the prime of my life must I go through the
gates of death (sheol) and be robbed of the rest
of my years?”
It’s
obvious here that Hezekiah expected to go to sheol
when he died. Since this passage is plainly referring to a righteous man of
God, the King James translators decided not to translate sheol
as “hell” as that would give the impression to any English reader that godly
King Hezekiah would go to a place of conscious torment when he died; this
evidently contradicted their theology so they simply rendered sheol as “the grave.”
The
Hebrew word sheol appears 66 times in the Old
Testament and is translated in the King James Version 32 times as “hell,” 31
times as “the grave” and 3 times as “the Pit.” How the King James translators
translated sheol was determined purely by
whether the passage referred to the wicked or the righteous. We see evidence of
this above and we’ll see much more evidence as our study progresses. Scholars
agree that there is simply no justification for this lack of uniformity in
translating sheol.
Before I
say anything more, I’d like to stress that I’m not a hater of the King James
bible; I have at least three editions of this fine version in my household and
enjoy them greatly. Overall, it’s been a great blessing to English speaking
people for many centuries now. However, its translation error on this specific
issue cannot be condoned.
Needless
to say, due to the King James Version’s extreme popularity in the centuries
following its publication in 1611, it’s lack of uniformity in translating sheol has not helped the cause of truth regarding
the nature of the intermediate state.
Today,
the King James is no longer the most popular English version of the bible and
more recent translations have, thankfully, corrected this translation error.
For instance, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and The New American
Standard Bible (NASB) adhere to the policy of not translating either sheol or hades. It
is for this reason that we will regularly use these translations in our study
on sheol in this part of HELL KNOW.
As
for the popular New International Version, sheol
and hades are rendered variously as “grave,”
“death,” “depths,” and once as “hell.” Yet, regardless of how this version
translates sheol and hades,
it very conveniently reveals the original Hebrew or Greek term in the
footnotes, which is a commendable.
BACK TO TOP
Understanding the Two Views
of Sheol
Before we begin our thorough
scriptural study on the nature of sheol, let’s
first make sure we understand the two possible views (although there are
variations, every legitimate view of sheol
falls within the parameters of the following two definitions):
1.)
Sheol is a place where unrighteous souls go to immediately after death
where they suffer constant torment until their resurrection on judgment day; in
Old Testament times sheol also contained a
separate compartment for righteous souls where they were comforted and enjoyed
Father Abraham’s company. According to this view, the disembodied souls of
pagans who died hundreds or thousands of years ago have been in a constant
state of torture ever since even though they haven’t even been judged yet.
The only legitimate proof text for this position is Jesus’ story about The Rich
Man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31. The story is about a rich man and poor
beggar, Lazarus, who die and go to sheol (hades) where they experience highly contrasting
conscious states – the rich man suffers constant torment while Lazarus enjoys
comfort in “Abraham’s bosom.” Adherents of this position insist that this story
should be taken literally and that the rich man and Lazarus are actual
historical figures. They further insist that the numerous other references to sheol in the bible must be interpreted or ignored in
light of this literal interpretation of Jesus’ story.
2.)
Sheol is merely the condition of death itself, a place or pit where dead
souls are laid to rest “awaiting” their resurrection on judgment day.
Initially I adhered to the
first view above solely due to Jesus’ story of The Rich Man and Lazarus, which
was the only passage I ever seriously considered on the topic. This is
the case with the vast majority of believers as well. I have since come to
accept the second position after much thorough and honest biblical research,
prayerfully analyzing literally hundreds of passages on the subject. The
scriptural evidence for this second position, believe it or not, is simply overwhelming.
Jesus is the living Word of God, so it’s hardly likely that he
would disagree with the written Word of God; hence his story of
The Rich Man and Lazarus is likely a parable, a symbolic story intended
to convey important spiritual truths, not a historic account. This is supported
by three facts: (1.) The bible teaches that Jesus “did not say anything
to them without using a parable” (Matthew 13:34), (2.) Jesus’ story
of The Rich man and Lazarus is contained within a string of parables, and (3.)
Jesus clearly used symbolic language in the story such as, “the beggar died,
and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (KJV). Abraham’s literal bosom obviously
turned to dust centuries earlier, not to mention there would hardly be enough
room in his chest cavity to contain Lazarus, so this is clearly a symbolic
statement; and if this statement is symbolic it stands to reason that the rest
of the story is symbolic as well.
The fact that the first
position above remains in the doctrinal books, despite the incredible
scriptural support for the latter, is potent testimony to the formidable force
of religious tradition and sectarian bias.
If
you find my words hard to believe and doubt the colossal evidence for the
second position, judge for yourself as we now journey through the God-breathed
scriptures to discover the truth about the nature of sheol
– God’s Word speaks for itself.
BACK TO TOP
JACOB, JOB & SOLOMON’S
View of Sheol,
the Intermediate State
In
this chapter we will examine how Jacob, Job and Solomon viewed sheol. All three were godly men of the Old Testament
era. Jacob was the grandson of Father Abraham and the patriarch of the twelve
tribes of Israel; in fact, his name was
changed to “Israel.” Concerning Job, God Himself
regarded him so highly that He boasted there was no one on earth as great as
Job (Job 1:8). As for Solomon, the bible states that, “King Solomon was
greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole
world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart”
(1 Kings 10:23-24).
These scriptural facts
reveal that, although far from perfect, Jacob, Job and Solomon were great and
mighty men of the Old Testament period. Hence, there’s no reason not to
assume that their recorded statements concerning sheol
in the God-breathed scriptures are sound; this is particularly so if their
beliefs are in harmony with what the rest of the bible teaches.
With this understanding
let’s consider the very first passage in the bible where sheol
appears…
What Jacob Said
The
term sheol first appears in Genesis 37:35.
This verse refers to the time when Jacob’s eleven sons treacherously sold their
brother Joseph into slavery; they then lied to their father by telling him that
Joseph was slain by a wild beast. Jacob believed the lie and was understandably
heartbroken:
GENESIS 37:35 (NRSV)
All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him (Jacob); but he refused
to be comforted, and said, “No, I shall go down to sheol
to my son (Joseph), mourning.” Thus his father bewailed him.
Two simple facts can be
derived from Jacob’s brief expression of grief in this passage: (1.)
Jacob very much expected to go to sheol when
he died, and (2.) Jacob believed that Joseph was already in sheol, that he would remain there, and that he would
himself join him when he eventually died.
The
King James Version translates sheol in this
passage as “the grave.” Why? Obviously because the verse refers to Jacob and
Joseph, both righteous men of God (righteous, that is, in the sense that they
were in-right-standing with God, not that they were unflawed individuals). This
is in harmony with the King James translator’s policy of rendering sheol as “hell” when it applied to unrighteous
people and as “the grave” when it applied to the righteous. As pointed out in
Chapter One, there is absolutely no justification for this practice; the
meaning of the word sheol does not change
depending upon the character of the person going there.
We thus find evidence in the
very first appearance of sheol in the bible
that religious people have tried to mislead the populace about the truth of its
nature and who exactly went there.
As
for the King James and other translations rendering sheol
as “the grave,” it has already been pointed out in the first chapter that sheol never denotes the physical grave or tomb where
bodies are laid to rest; there’s a separate Hebrew word for this. Sheol
should only be understood as “the grave” in the sense that it is the graveyard
of souls in the spiritual realm, wherein they are held and “awaiting”
resurrection to be judged by God. This will become increasingly clear as our
study progresses.
One
last important point concerning Jacob’s view of sheol:
Although Jacob doesn’t state anything about the precise nature of sheol, it’s obvious that he didn’t regard it as some
sort of nether paradise where his son was hanging out with Father Abraham,
which is what many evangelicals today advocate. If this were the case, would he
be “mourning” and “bewailing” him so grievously? Of course not. Someone might
argue that Jacob was grieving over his own personal loss and not the
destination of his son’s disembodied soul. If this were so, wouldn’t Jacob
likely exclaim something to the effect of, “Praise you LORD that my son is now
in the blissful presence of Father Abraham, and I will one day go down to this
same paradise rejoicing.” Yet Jacob says nothing of the kind; in fact, his
reaction is completely opposite to this.
Job’s View of Sheol
Let
us now consider Job’s view of the intermediate state. Job was the greatest man
of his time and God bragged of his character, integrity, godliness and hatred
of evil (Job 1:1,3,8). Furthermore, in the book of Ezekiel God spoke of Job in
the same breath as Noah and Daniel, two other great men of God (Ezekiel 14:14-20). The LORD obviously has
a very high opinion of Job. We can therefore regard Job’s views on sheol as very reliable.
As
we shall see, Job goes into quite a lot of detail concerning the nature of sheol. Did Job just dream up all this information or
did he have divine revelation on the subject? No doubt God revealed these
truths to him. We can confidently draw this conclusion because what Job says
about sheol is in complete agreement with what
the rest of the bible teaches on the subject; only if Job’s position
contradicted the rest of Holy Scripture would we question its validity.
For
those unfamiliar with the biblical book of Job, let me briefly explain its
contents: Satan argues to God that Job is devoted to Him merely because the
LORD has blessed him so greatly; he contends that Job will curse Him to His
face if his many blessings are removed. God therefore permits Satan to attack
Job to find out. As a result of Satan’s attacks, Job loses his ten children,
hundreds of his employees (all but four), all his great wealth and even his
health as he is afflicted with painful sores from head to toe.
After many months of suffering, three of Job’s
friends go to “comfort” him and end up judging & accusing him of some great
hidden sin, which consequently brought about all his horrible suffering. Most
of the book consists of Job, in great anguish, profoundly debating with these
“friends;” it should be noted, however, that much of what Job says is directed
at God Himself. Such is the case with this passage:
JOB 14:10-15 (NRSV)
“But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire and
where are they? (11) As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away
and dries up, (12) so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until
the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be aroused out of their sleep.
(13) Oh that you (God) would hide me in sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would
appoint me a set time, and remember me! (14) If mortals die, will they
live again? All of the days of my service I would wait until my release
should come. (15) You would call, and I would answer you; you would long
for the works of your hands.”
Much is
being said in this passage so let’s take it point by point. First of all, in
verse 10 Job declares that “mortals die” and then asks “where are they?” He
then partially answers his own question in verse 12 by likening death to
“sleep” which humans will not “awake” from until “the heavens are no more,” or,
we could say, a very long time. The important point I want to emphasize from
these words is that Job describes the condition of death as “sleep” from which
all human beings will one day “awake” or be resurrected.
Yet he
still hasn’t really answered the question of where people go after they
die. The very next verse answers this: In his great anguish he cries out to God
to hide him in sheol. Why does Job pray this?
Because his suffering was so great he wanted to escape it through death; and
obviously when a person died, Job believed, his or her soul would go to sheol.
One may
argue that, in verse 12, Job is perhaps referring to the body “sleeping” in the
grave, but the obvious focus of his words is the death condition of the soul in
sheol because in the very same breath,
verse 13, he prays to God to go specifically there: “Oh that you would
hide me in sheol, that you would
conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint a set time and
remember me!”
Job
erroneously believed that God Himself was causing his great afflictions; he was
obviously unaware of the Devil’s hand in the situation. In truth, God only permitted
Job’s afflictions by allowing Satan to attack him. Regardless, the fact
is that Job believed that by dying and going to sheol
he would escape his intense suffering.
In other
words, as amazing as it may seem, Job was actually hoping and praying to die
and go to sheol, a place traditionally
considered “hell” and viewed as a horrible, devil-ruled torture chamber located
somewhere in the nether regions of the earth! Obviously Job’s view of sheol – “hell” – was quite different from what
religious tradition has taught us. He prayed to go to sheol
because, being one of God’s inspired servants, he knew that sheol
was a condition of unconsciousness which he describes as sleep. Job was
understandably weary of his intense suffering and wanted it to end. He knew
that in death, in sheol, he would find relief
from his misery, not an increase of it.
A vital
fact that needs to be stressed from the above passage is that, regardless of
the nature of sheol, Job definitely believed
that everyone would ultimately be resurrected from there. In verse 12 he
makes it clear that all mortals who lie down in the sleep of death will one day
awaken, that is, be resurrected when “the heavens are no more.” And, while Job prayed to go to sheol in verse 13, it was not with the expectation
that he would remain there forever. Job obviously believed that if God “hid”
him in sheol He would “appoint a set time and
remember” him, which is obviously when his “release” would come (verse 14).
Release from what? Why, release from captivity to sheol,
“the world of the dead” as scholar James Strong defines it. So God
“remembering” him and “releasing” him are references to a future resurrection
from sheol, which is in harmony with what the
rest of the bible teaches.
“There the Wicked Cease from
Turmoil, and the Weary are at Rest”
Job
elaborates greatly on the nature of sheol in
chapter 3 of the book named after him. In this chapter Job curses the day of
his birth because his suffering is so great. In essence, Job is wishing that he
were never born into this world because then he would never have had to
experience such incredible agony. He then details what it would be like for him
if this were so:
JOB 3:11-19
“Why did I not
perish at birth and die as I came from the womb? (12) Why were there knees to
receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? (13) For now I would be lying
down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest (14) with kings
and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now lying in
ruins, (15) with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses
with silver. (16) Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day? (17) There the wicked cease
from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. (18) Captives also
enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. (19)
The small and great are there, and the slave is freed
from his master.”
Job
starts off this passage by asking why he didn’t die as an infant. He then
indicates that, in this event, he would not be enduring all the great suffering
that he was experiencing. He explains in verse 13 that had he died in infancy
he would be peacefully “lying down… asleep and at rest.”
Job then
further explains that he would have shared this condition of sleep and
rest with kings and counselors of the earth, with the small and
the great, with rulers and slaves, with captives and weary people
and, yes, even with the wicked! In this state of death,
Job declares in verse 17 that “there the wicked cease from turmoil, and there
the weary are at rest,” and in verse 18 he makes it plain that there’s no
“slave driver’s shout” as well.
This
coincides with what Job later says concerning the wicked:
JOB 21:13
“They
(the wicked) spend their days in prosperity and in peace
they go down to sheol.”
Note that
Job didn’t say the wicked go down to sheol in
torment; no, they go down to sheol in peace.
This completely contradicts the religious traditional belief that the
unredeemed go to some horrible devil-ruled nether realm immediately after
physical death and suffer torments as they are goaded on by slave-driving
demons in fiery pits. Instead Job makes it clear that there is no turmoil or
torment for the wicked in sheol.
If Job’s
view of sheol is divinely inspired and
therefore coincides with the rest of the God-breathed scriptures, these are
powerful facts indeed! They reveal that at death kings, counselors, rulers,
infants, the wicked, the weary, captives, the small, the great and slaves all
share the same condition, a condition of peaceful “sleep” and
“rest,” which are obvious references to unconsciousness. No wonder Job,
stripped of all his possessions, forsaken by his wife and friends, tortured by
painful sores from head to toe, mocked and made a byword by everyone and
mourning for his ten children & hundreds of servants, prayed to go to such
a place. Needless to say, Job’s understanding of sheol
was quite different from that held by so many misguided religious people today.
Some may
wonder if perhaps Job was referring to the literal grave or tomb where the body
is laid to rest since there is no specific mention of sheol
in chapter 3. This idea is ruled out because Job makes it clear in verses 13-15
that, if he died, he’d be lying down asleep with kings,
counselors and rulers. So Job is plainly referring to a common place or
condition that all people shared together. Biblically speaking, this
would be sheol, the realm of dead souls, as
verified in Ecclesiastes 9:10, a passage we shall examine in the very next
section. In addition, Job would not be referring to the literal grave or tomb
for the body because it is not acceptable or usual practice to bury people together
in mass graves or tombs, whether then or now.
Before we
continue let’s remember, as detailed in Chapter One, that this was well before
the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, hence spiritual rebirth and the
consequent attainment of eternal life were yet to be manifested. For this
reason, the souls of Old Testament saints could not be ushered into God’s
presence when they physically died; the souls of both the righteous and
unrighteous went to sheol during this period
because ultimate redemption was not yet available. The righteous captives to sheol – death – would not be set free until the
resurrection and ascension of the Lord.
Solomon’s View of Sheol
Solomon
was the wisest man on earth in his time (see 1 Kings 4:29-34) and God utilized his great knowledge and wisdom
in three books of the God-breathed scriptures.
Solomon had divine revelation concerning the precise nature of sheol, the condition of the dead. Witness:
ECCLESIASTES 9:10 (NRSV)
Whatever
your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or
knowledge or wisdom in sheol, to which you are
going.
The
language in this text describes beyond any question of doubt that sheol is a condition of unconsciousness.
Notice that, in sheol, there’s neither good
work or bad work; there’s neither positive, hopeful thoughts or anguished,
hopeless thoughts; there’s neither knowledge of what’s good and holy or
knowledge of what’s evil and impure.
This is further verified in verse
5:
ECCLESIASTES 9:5 (NRSV)
The
living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing.
The
obvious reason the dead “know nothing” is because they’re no longer alive and
conscious – they’re dead. This coincides with this passage from the
Psalms:
PSALM 146:4 (KJV)
His
breath goeth forth, he (his body) returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts
perish.
The
Psalmist makes it clear that when a person physically dies his or her
thoughts perish. Note that there is no mention whatsoever of a person’s
thoughts continuing to live on in some devil-ruled chamber of horrors. This is
obviously because a dead person is no longer conscious of anything.
Take
another look at Ecclesiastes 9:10
above and observe that Solomon doesn’t make a distinction between righteous or
unrighteous people. Like Job, he makes it clear that everyone would go to sheol at that period of time, whether righteous or
wicked, rich or poor, small or great. In fact, Solomon’s major point in chapter
9 of Ecclesiastes is that death or sheol is
the common destiny of all people before redemption was ultimately made
available through Christ’s death and resurrection. He plainly states in verse 3
that “the same destiny overtakes all.” What destiny? The destiny of sheol, the state of death, where – he goes on to say
in verse 10 – there is neither work or thought or knowledge or wisdom.
Summary
Jacob,
Job and Solomon’s views of sheol can be
summarized as follows:
1.) Sheol
is a condition that every spiritually un-regenerated person will
experience immediately following physical decease, this includes godly men and
women in Old Testament time periods preceding the ascension of Christ. It
includes the rich and the poor, the small and the great, the pure and the
profane. In other words, sheol is the common
destiny of anyone who is spiritually dead to God and therefore
un-redeemed.
2.) Sheol
is a condition of unconsciousness, likened unto sleep, where
there is no work, thought or knowledge of any kind. It is not a place or state
of conscious suffering and misery.
3.) Sheol
is a temporary condition; all consigned to sheol
will ultimately be resurrected.
BACK TO TOP
CHAPTER THREE
SHEOL IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS
Part I
The
biblical book of Psalms consists of 150 songs called psalms. Most of the psalms
were written by Solomon’s father, King David. Other psalmists include Moses,
Solomon, Asaph, Ethan and Heman.
Quite a few psalms were written anonymously. Yet, regardless of who exactly
wrote each individual psalm, one fact is certain: All the psalms are “God-breathed”
(2 Timothy 3:16) as all the
psalmists “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2
Peter 1:21).
The book
of Psalms possesses a wealth of information regarding the nature of sheol, the intermediate state. Despite the fact that
there were quite a few authors, the views of the psalmists regarding sheol are in complete agreement. This is
unsurprising since, as just noted, they all “spoke from God… by the Holy
Spirit.” Their many revealing statements on sheol
are also in complete harmony with the views of Jacob, Job and Solomon as
detailed in the previous chapter.
Sheol: Where You Cannot
Remember or Praise God
Let’s
examine the very first text in the book of Psalms where the Hebrew word sheol appears:
PSALM 6:5 (NRSV)
For
in death there is no remembrance of you; in sheol
who can give you praise?
In this
passage David is praying for God to save his life because his enemies were
trying to kill him (as indicated in verse 10). Despite the anguish David was
experiencing he didn’t want to die; David was “a man after God’s own heart” (1
Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) and thus wanted to live, serve God and
worship Him. He knew that if he died and went to sheol
he wouldn’t be able to do this.
This
simple passage completely contradicts the prominent religious position on the
matter. As previously noted, religious traditionalists believe that when Old
Testament saints died, this being before redemption was made available through
Christ, their souls would go to “paradise” or “Abraham’s bosom” which was
supposedly located in sheol. They would be
conscious there and supremely comforted as they hanged out with Father Abraham.
Yet, if this were so, wouldn’t they be able to remember God? Would they not be
praising Him and thanking Him as the righteous are always ever ready to do,
that is, as long as it were possible?
Yet David
makes it clear in this passage that souls in sheol
do not and cannot remember God; they consequently cannot praise Him either.
What a positive statement to support the view that those in sheol
are unconscious – “asleep” in death until their resurrection.
The notion that sheol
is a condition where a person cannot remember or praise God is corroborated by
other biblical texts. For instance:
PSALM 115:17-18 (NRSV)
The
dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any that go down into silence, but we (the
living) will bless the LORD
This
passage clearly shows that those who die “go down into silence.” Sheol
is a place of silence because those who go there are unconscious, that is, dead.
There’s no praising and worshipping of God there nor are there horrible screams
of torment. It is a condition of silence. It is the living that bless the Lord,
the Psalmist plainly states, not the dead.
Righteous
King Hezekiah’s prayer from the book of Isaiah is another coinciding passage:
ISAIAH 38:18-19 (NRSV)
“For
sheol cannot thank you, death
cannot praise you; those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your
faithfulness. (19) The living, the living, they thank you as I do this day.”
First,
notice in this passage, as well as Psalm 6:5 above, that sheol
and death are spoken of synonymously (we’ll look at this in more detail in the
next chapter). Secondly, witness how Hezekiah makes it clear, just as David and
the other psalmist did, that those in sheol
are unable to thank or praise God.
The
obvious conclusion we must draw is that, if the righteous are unable to
remember God and cannot praise or thank Him, then they must be unable to
do so; that is, they must be either unconscious or dead – no longer
alive. This is supported by Hezekiah’s statement in verse 19 where he stresses
that only “the living, the living” can thank and praise God, not those who go
to sheol, the world of the dead.
Let’s
examine one other scriptural passage that perfectly coincides with the three
we’ve just looked at:
PSALM 88:3, 10-12
(3) For my soul
is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave (sheol).
(10) Do you
show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?
(11) Is your love declared in the grave (qeber),
your faithfulness in destruction. (12) Are your wonders known in the place of
darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
Here is
further proof that those in sheol are dead and
therefore unable to rise up and praise God. Furthermore, sheol
is equated to the literal grave (qeber) and
destruction, and is also spoken of as “the place of darkness” and “land of
oblivion.” The Psalmist makes it clear that God does not show His wonders to
the dead in sheol, that the dead cannot praise
Him there and that God’s love, faithfulness and righteous deeds are all unknown
there. What unmistakable proof that souls in sheol
are dead and conscious of nothing!
This
Psalm, written by Heman the Ezrahite
when his life was in mortal danger, is a prayer to God for deliverance from
death. Note in verse 3 that Heman clearly expected to
go to sheol when he died just as Jacob, Job,
Solomon, David and Hezekiah did. In the King James Version the importance of
this statement is kept from the reader by the use of the word “grave” as a
translation of sheol; this is likewise the
case with the NIV rendering of the verse as shown above (although, I should
point out, there is a footnote properly indicating that the verse is indeed referring
specifically to sheol). Because of this
mistranslation the average reader is misled into believing the psalmist is
talking about the condition of the literal grave where the body is buried and
not to sheol where the soul goes. The problem
with this is that it obscures the truth about the nature of sheol
to the average reader and consequently perpetuates false religious ideas.
Let’s
recap: The writers of the four passages examined in this section – David,
Hezekiah, Heman and the anonymous psalmist – are all
in perfect agreement that sheol is not
a place of consciousness. According to these inspired biblical writers, sheol is synonymous with death and is thus a
condition of silence where it is impossible to even remember God, let alone
praise & thank Him.
BACK TO TOP
Sheol: “The Land of Silence”
Let’s
examine another enlightening Psalm text by David from both the New
International Version and the King James:
PSALM 31:17-18
let
the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave (sheol). (18) Let their lying lips be silenced,
PSALM 31:17-18 (KJV)
let
the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave (sheol). (18) Let their lying lips be put to
silence;
Note that
this passage is solely referring to “the wicked” – people who are in
outright rebellion against God, living after the desires of the sin nature.
These are David’s enemies; they have rejected his God-appointed kingship and
are trying to kill him. David is actually praying for their death for that is
the only way their lying lips will be silenced.
With this
understanding, observe how David describes the condition these wicked people
will experience if they die: He plainly states that they will lie silent in
sheol.
According
to David, the great godly king, inspired biblical writer and “man after God’s
own heart,” the wicked do not constantly scream in torment in sheol, but simply lie silent! This description is in
perfect harmony with the view that sheol is a
condition of unconsciousness where souls lie “asleep” in death “awaiting” their
resurrection.
This is
not the only biblical text that makes it clear that souls lie silent in sheol. We saw this same thought expressed in Psalm
115:17 in the previous section. Here’s another coinciding Psalm text:
PSALM 94:17 (NRSV)
If
the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the
land of silence.
The
psalmist is simply testifying that, if the Lord had not delivered him from his
wicked enemies (see verse 16), they would have killed him and, as a result, his
soul would have gone to “the land of silence.” What is “the land of silence”?
Since he’s addressing the place his soul would go to after death
we know he’s referring to sheol.
With this
understanding, notice that the psalmist does not describe sheol
as “the land of shrieking in torment” or as “the land of comforts with Father
Abraham” (religionists would have us believe sheol
is one or the other, depending on whether the soul is wicked or righteous
respectively). That’s because neither of these descriptions is true; sheol is, in reality, the land of death where
there’s no consciousness of anything and thus only silence.
Take
another look at the King James rendition of Psalm 31:17-18 above and notice
that the passage deviates from the King James standard practice of rendering sheol as “hell” whenever the text in question
referred to the wicked (and as “the grave” when it referred to righteous
people). Why did the translators fail to render sheol
as “hell” in this particular case since it clearly refers to “the wicked”?
Obviously because the passage plainly portrays the wicked in sheol as lying in silence and this contradicts their
belief that wicked souls in sheol suffer a
constant state of screeching torment. What hypocrisy.
This
certainly shows the dishonest extents religious people will go to cover up the
scriptural truth and perpetuate their false religious beliefs.
Sheol: “The Pit” or “Well
of Souls”
The fact
that sheol is a condition of silence is also
pointed out in Psalm 30. In this psalm David is simply expressing thanks
because God delivered him from death. He knew that, if he died, his soul would
go to sheol as indicated in verse 3:
PSALM 30:3 (NRSV)
O
LORD, you brought up my soul from sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
The text
showcases a form of Hebrew poetry called synonymous parallelism wherein the
second part of the verse simply repeats and enforces the thought of the first.
We’ve already seen examples of this type of poetry (Psalm 6:5 & Isaiah
38:18) and will continue to as our study progresses.
With this
understanding, notice that sheol is spoken of
as synonymous with “the Pit.” Since sheol is
described as “the Pit” we will naturally gain better insight into the nature of
sheol by simply deciphering what “the Pit”
means.
The
Hebrew word for “the Pit” is bowr (bore)
which literally refers to a hole or pit in the ground; it is used 71 times in
the bible. The setting in which bowr is used
determines, of course, what specific type of hole or pit and, consequently,
which English word is used to translate it. For instance, 26 times bowr is used in reference to a ‘cistern’ (e.g.
Genesis 37:22,24,28,29), nine times in reference to a ‘well’ (e.g. 1 Chronicles
11:17-18), five times in reference to a ‘dungeon’ (e.g. Genesis 40:15; 41:14),
once to a ‘quarry’ (Isaiah 51:1) and once it’s even translated as ‘death’
(Proverbs 28:17).
Why “death”? No doubt because bowr, a hole in
the ground, is what a grave actually is; and grave, of course, signifies death
– the utter absence of life.
What is
God trying to tell us in His Word by likening sheol
to bowr, a pit? Obviously that sheol is like a vast common pit or grave where
un-regenerated souls are held captive after physical death and before
resurrection.
Interestingly, since one of the
definitions of bowr is ‘well,’ sheol could properly be described as “the well of
souls.”
Most of
us have probably heard this phrase. “The Well of Souls” is an actual
subterranean chamber beneath the Dome of the Rock in the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem.
Jews believe it is where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. The popular 1981 film
Raiders of the Lost Ark depicted the Well of Souls as the hiding spot of
the Ark of the Covenant but placed it as a lost chamber in Tanis, Egypt,
rather than in a cave in the Temple Mount.
In Judeo-Christian mythology “the Well of Souls” is a place in the spiritual
realm where the souls of those yet to be born are stored; this was portrayed in
the 1988 film The Seventh Sign.
Yet, from
a purely biblical standpoint, the Well of Souls is sheol,
the pit where un-regenerated souls are held intermediate between physical death
and resurrection. Like the subterranean chamber beneath the Dome of the Rock, sheol is a dungeon – a dungeon where souls
are held captive after death. This explains why bowr
is translated as “dungeon” in reference to sheol
in this passage from Isaiah:
ISAIAH 24:21-22 (NASB)
So
it will happen in that day, that the LORD will punish the host of heaven, on
high, and the kings of the earth, on earth. (22) And they will be gathered
together like prisoners in the dungeon (bowr),
and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished.
The
passage is referring to the day when God’s cataclysmic wrath will be poured out
upon the whole earth; this occurs right before the establishment of the
millennial reign of Christ. Because of God’s judgments billions of people will
die and every unsaved soul will be confined to sheol
“like prisoners in the dungeon.” Only “after many days,” that is, after the
thousand-year reign of Christ will these souls be resurrected to face judgment
and suffer the eternal punishment of the second death (see Revelation
20:5,13-15).
Incidentally,
observe how verse 22 makes it clear that these unsaved souls will not be
punished until after they are resurrected from sheol
and judged; this is further evidence which disproves the view that unsaved
souls are punished with conscious torment while captive in sheol.
The only punishment experienced in sheol is death
itself, the utter absence of life or being. This stands to reason since it is
in harmony with the biblical axiom that death is the wages of sin.
The
important point of this passage, for the purposes of our subject, is that verse
22 likens sheol to a gloomy dungeon or prison
where souls are confined. No wonder David praised and thanked God for
delivering him from this death condition. Obviously David didn’t share the view
of some people today that righteous souls in sheol
were in some type of “paradise” hanging out with Father Abraham. No, this is a
false religious myth! Sheol is a dungeon, a prison – a common pit of
death where all un-regenerated souls are confined until their appointed
resurrection.
The only
soul that can escape this dungeon-like pit of death is the soul that is born
again and thus possesses eternal life (John 3:36; 5:24; 1
John 3:14,14). This is only possible
because “Christ Jesus… has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
The gospel or “good news” refers to all the benefits available to humankind as
a result of Jesus’ sacrificial death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthian
15:1-3); aside from reconciliation with God, the main benefit of this gospel
is, of course, eternal life. Until Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection,
eternal life or immortality was not available and that’s why in Old Testament
times, before the ascension of Christ, both righteous and unrighteous souls had
to go to sheol after physical decease. When Jesus
ascended, however, he set the captive righteous souls free (Ephesians 4:8)!
It was
necessary here to go into a bit of detail about bowr
“the Pit” so that now, whenever it pops up in our study, we’ll understand
precisely what it means.
Incidentally,
I find it interesting that the original definition of ‘hell’ – “to conceal or
cover” – is in harmony with the biblical description of sheol
as “the Pit.” The Old English ‘hell’ was originally used as a translation sheol because it properly gave the image of souls
consigned and concealed in a pit in the netherworld until their resurrection on
judgment day. Unfortunately, the definition of ‘hell’ has taken on a completely
different meaning since that time, i.e. perpetually writhing in torment in some
devil-ruled torture chamber.
Let’s now
return our attention to Psalm 30: At the end of this psalm David plainly
reveals the state that his soul would have been in if God had not delivered him
from death:
PSALM 30:11-12 (NRSV)
You
have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and
clothed me with joy, (12) so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
David is
just praising God here because he knew that, had he died, his soul would have
been silent in sheol. He well knew that a person
cannot praise God or tell of His faithfulness in sheol,
as indicated in verse 9, because sheol is a
“land of silence.”
BACK TO TOP
Sheol: A Condition of the
Soul (Mind)
Let’s
return to Psalm 30:3 to observe another important fact about sheol:
PSALM 30:3 (NRSV)
O
LORD, you brought up my soul from sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
David was
so close to death that God, in a sense, “restored” him to life by saving him
from sheol, which is where his soul
would have gone had he physically died.
“Soul” in this context refers to
his very being or mind, the actual essence or qualities that mark him as an
individual human creation of God. This is supported by the second part of the
verse that speaks of “those” who actually died and consequently went to sheol, the Pit. Notice that he doesn’t say “those
whose bodies have gone down to the Pit” or “those whose breath of
life has gone down to the Pit.” That’s because a person’s body does not go
to sheol when s/he dies; a lifeless body is
placed in a grave or tomb. Neither does the breath of life, the spirit, go to sheol when a person dies; this animating life-force
simply returns to God from whence it came, as detailed in Part II. No, sheol is the holding place of a person’s very life
essence or being, the part that possesses volition, emotion and intellect; in
other words, sheol is the condition to which
the human soul or mind enters after physical death.
This
is supported by a verse examined in the previous chapter:
ECCLESIASTES 9:10 (NRSV)
Whatever
your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or
knowledge in sheol, to which you are
going.
Notice
that the text plainly states that you are going to sheol
(that is, anyone who has not been spiritually regenerated through Christ, which
included everyone in Old Testament times). Sheol is the housing
place of people’s very being after physical death, the part that marks them as
an individual creation of God, the part of them that thinks, reasons, chooses
and feels; hence, sheol is the condition that
the mind enters when the body dies. As shown in Part II “mind” is the
Greek word nous (nooce)
and refers to that central part of human nature that decides, thinks and feels.
We could put it this way: Your mind is you and you are your mind.
The human
body separate from mind and spirit is just a slab of flesh; it goes to the
grave at the time of death. The human spirit separate from mind and body is
simply a breath of life, an animating life-force, not a personality. This
breath of life comes from the Creator and gives life to our very being, our
soul, our mind – our personhood. When a person dies this breath of life, or
spirit, simply returns to God who gave it (that it, if one is spiritually
un-regenerated through Christ). The soul separate from body and spirit goes to sheol.
Simply
put, sheol is a condition of the human soul,
the disembodied mind.
If any of
this is difficult to understand, please refer to Part II: The Nature of Human
Beings, which biblically addresses the subject in detail.
BACK TO TOP
Sheol: A Place Where
Sheep Go?
Let’s now
turn to another very enlightening psalm passage written by the sons of Korah:
PSALM 49:13-15 (NRSV)
Such
is the fate of the foolhardy, the end of those who are pleased with their lot.
(14) Like sheep they are appointed for sheol;
death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their
form shall waste away; sheol shall be their
home. (15) But God will ransom my soul from the power of sheol,
for he will receive me.
Verse 14
refers to those who trust in themselves rather than God; verse 13 describes
these people as the “foolhardy.” A ‘fool’ in the bible is synonymous with a
wicked person since the term “fool” denotes someone who is morally deficient,
that is, someone who rejects God’s existence, wisdom & discipline and
embraces evil desires (see Proverbs 1:7; 5:22-23 and Psalm 14:1).
Since
this text is definitely referring to ungodly people you would think that the
King James translators would have translated sheol
as “hell,” which would be in line with their policy of translating sheol as “hell” when the passage refers to wicked
people and as “grave” when it refers to righteous people. Yet, notice how the
King James bible renders verse 14:
PSALM 49:14 (KJV)
Like
sheep they are laid in the grave (sheol);
death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the
morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
The passage is contextually
referring to ungodly people yet the King James translators chose not to
render sheol as “hell” as was their usual
practice. Why? Obviously because it was impossible for them to do so since the
verse plainly states that wicked people are appointed for sheol
like SHEEP! And everyone knows that sheep don’t go to a place of
conscious torture when they die; the very idea is absurd. You don’t have to be
a scholar to realize this. Hence, despite the translators desire to render sheol as “hell,” as was their standard practice,
they had no choice but to translate it as “the grave” in this particular case.
This text
coincides with Jeremiah 12:3, which also likens ungodly people to sheep that
are to be slaughtered: “Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter.” Note clearly that it says they
are to be butchered and slaughtered (which is in harmony with the biblical fact
that “the wages of sin is death”), not tortured in some fiery nether realm
until their resurrection thousands of years hence, as religionists ludicrously
teach.
At this
point, two questions crop up: Do sheep really go to sheol
as Psalm 49:14 implies? And, if so, does this mean they have souls since,
biblically speaking, sheol is the “world of
the dead” wherein dead souls are specifically laid to rest after physical
death?
BACK TO TOP
Do Animals Have Souls? Do
They Go to Sheol When They Die?
The
answer to both these questions, believe it or not, is yes. Sheep and
other animals are described in terms of being “living souls” in the bible and,
when they die, their non-physical essence is indeed laid to rest in sheol. This may, admittedly, sound odd at first but
let’s observe what the God-breathed scriptures have to say on the subject. Some
of the following biblical information has already been offered in Part I and,
in detail, in Part II, but it’s necessary here for us to brush up on this
material in order to properly address these questions.
The word
“soul” in the bible is translated from the Hebrew word nephesh
(neh-fesh´), which corresponds to the Greek psuche (soo-khay´).
The creation text, Genesis 2:7, states that God breathed into the body of the
first man the breath of life and he “became a living soul.” This passage
plainly shows that human beings are “living souls.” This explains why
redeemed people who physically die during the future tribulation period are
described as conscious living “souls” in heaven in Revelation 6:9-10. It’s
obvious in Genesis 2:7 that what makes people living souls as opposed to
dead souls is God’s breath of life. Without this breath of life the
human soul is a dead soul. This is where the concept of sheol comes into play: When a person physically dies
the bible teaches that the breath of life (i.e. spirit) returns to God who gave
it (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7; Job 34:14-15; Psalm 146:3-4). What happens to a soul
when God’s breath of life returns to Him and the soul is no longer a living
soul? In other words, where are dead souls laid to rest? In sheol, of course! Remember, as Greek and Hebrew
scholar James Strong defined it, sheol is “the
world of the dead.” It’s not the world of the living, the world of conscious
beings; no, it’s the world of the dead. And souls that are no longer
animated by God’s spiritual breath of life are dead. That’s why they are
placed in sheol, because sheol
is the world of the dead.
We know
from the scriptures that every human soul will ultimately be resurrected from sheol. Righteous Old Testament saints were likely
resurrected when Jesus ascended, as shown in Ephesians 4:8. Everyone else will
ultimately be resurrected at the time of the great white throne judgment, which
will take place immediately following the millennial reign of Christ on earth;
this resurrection includes every unredeemed soul that’s ever existed throughout
history. Christians don’t have to worry about going to sheol,
of course, because they’ve been spiritually born-again of the imperishable seed
of Christ and possess eternal life in their spirits; hence, when authentic
Christians physically die they are ushered into the presence of the LORD as
plainly shown in the aforementioned Revelation 6:9-10, as well as Philippians
1:20-24 and other texts (which we’ll examine in detail in Chapter X) – death
holds no black pall over the blood-washed, spiritually re-born Christian for to
“be with Christ… is better by far”!
Why am I
emphasizing all this? Because it’s important here to understand that sheol is the holding place of dead souls. It is
where God stores the soulish remains or spiritual
DNA, if you will, of every human being that has ever existed. This is perhaps
necessary so that every person can be resurrected at the appropriate time. This
is, incidentally, what makes the “second death” so horrifying: Everyone will
ultimately be resurrected from sheol but no
one will ever be resurrected from the lake of fire, which is the second
death according to Revelation 20:14-15. This “second death,” as shown in Part
I, is an “everlasting destruction” so utterly complete and final that no one
will ever be resurrected from it; it is literally a total obliteration
of soul and body where one’s spiritual DNA is wiped out of existence.
Incidentally,
the fact that everyone will ultimately be resurrected from sheol,
which is the first death, but no one will ever be resurrected from the second
death explains why souls in sheol are
repeatedly described as “sleeping.” People who suffer the first death are, in a
sense, “sleeping” because they will one day be “awoken,” that is, resurrected.
By contrast, those who suffer the second death are never described as sleeping
because they will never be “awoken” or resurrected. In other words, the first
death is temporary, but the second death is everlasting – there is no hope of
resurrection from the second death. We’ll look at this matter further in the
next chapter.
With the
understanding of the above scriptural facts, let’s return to the question of
whether or not animals have souls and whether or not they go to sheol when they physically die. The bible describes
animals in terms of being “living souls” just as well as humans. The Hebrew and
Greek words for soul – nephesh and psuche – are repeatedly used in reference to animals
in the bible. For example:
GENESIS 2:19 (NRSV)
So out of the
ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air,
and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the
man called every living creature (nephesh),
that was it’s name.
We
see here that land animals and birds are described in the bible as “living
creatures.” As you can see, the word “creature” in this passage is nephesh, the Hebrew word for “soul.” Water animals
are also described in the bible as “living creatures” (Genesis 1:20-21); this includes Revelation 8:9 where
the Greek word for “soul” – psuche – is used.
My point is that animals are described in the God-breathed scriptures as
“living souls” just as people are. The reason most people don’t realize this is
because English translations generally don’t translate nephesh
and psuche as “soul” when the text refers to
animals, as shown above in Genesis 2:19.
Why would
bible translators refuse to translate nephesh
and psuche as “soul” when the terms apply to
animals? No doubt because they wanted to draw a distinction between animals and
human beings; after all people are created in the image of God, beasts are not.
Yet the original God-breathed scriptures used the very same Hebrew and Greek
word for both, shouldn’t we? If God Himself doesn’t have a problem with this,
why should we?
The real
reason translators refrain from translating nephesh
and psuche as “soul” when these words apply to
animals is that doing such would not be supportive of the doctrine of the
“immortal soul.” As detailed in Chapter Four of Part I, this doctrine maintains
that souls, once created, can never be de-created – even incorrigibly sinful
souls worthy of eternal death. Hence, the immortal soul doctrine is one of the
chief pillars for the eternal torture doctrine. This pillar would be damaged,
of course, if people discovered that animals are described in the bible as
“living souls” just as well as people; after all, even the uneducated public
would likely question the notion that animals possess immortal souls. To solve
this dilemma, English bible translators decided to translate nephesh and psuche
as “creature(s)” or “thing(s)” when the terms apply to beasts. This is another
prime example of religionists attempting to cover-up the scriptural truth in order
to perpetuate false beliefs.
The King
James translators were so careful in this matter that only in one scriptural
passage is nephesh translated as “soul” in
reference to animals; and the only reason they did so in this specific case was
because of the peculiar wording of the passage. Witness:
NUMBERS 31:28 (KJV)
And
levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one
soul (nephesh) of five hundred, both of
the persons, and of the beeves (oxen), and of the asses, and of the sheep.”
As you
can see, “soul” (nephesh) in this verse
applies equally to people, oxen, donkeys and sheep; the translators
couldn’t very well render it as “creatures” or “things” since the list includes
people as well as animals. They therefore had no other choice but to translate nephesh as “soul.” (Let’s remember that the King
James Version is a word-for-word translation so the translators couldn’t very
well omit the word).
At this
point an obvious question crops up: If both humans and animals are described as
“living souls” in the bible, what is the essential difference between them? The
difference is that human beings are created in the very image of God (Genesis 1:27), whereas animals are not. This not only
means that people have the same general form of God (head, face, torso, legs,
arms),
but that human beings possess a spiritual dimension to their make-up that is
aware of God & the spiritual realm, and Christians even possess the
capacity to know and commune with God because of spiritual re-birth though
Christ. Animals, of course, lack these characteristics. Yes, they have a spirit
but only in the sense of a “breath of life,” an animating spiritual life-force
of the Almighty. Animals are, of course, awesome creations of God, but they are
on a far lower spiritual plane than people. They are instinct-oriented and
therefore lack any consciousness of good or evil and have very limited
reasoning capabilities. They don’t have a God-consciousness (spirit) or a
sin-consciousness (flesh). Many of them can be trained to respond to certain
words and do various tasks or tricks, but that’s about it. Animals cannot build
cities, learn languages, understand algebra, create and appreciate art or
worship God. Human beings, on the other hand, are souls of the highest order
and that’s why God gave humankind authority over all animals (see
Genesis 1:28 and 9:2-3). This is evidenced by the fact that people have zoos
for animals and not vice versa.
Okay, so
it is clear in the bible that animals are “souls,” but does this mean that
their soulish essence goes to sheol
when they die? Evidently, according to Psalm 49:14:
PSALM 49:14 (NRSV)
Like
sheep they (the foolhardy) are appointed for sheol;
The
Psalmist is essentially saying that fools under Old Covenant law will
prematurely die just as surely as sheep slated to be slaughtered. Note that the
Psalmist plainly states sheep “are appointed for sheol.”
There’s no reason we shouldn’t take this statement literally: When sheep die
their souls go to sheol. Remember, sheol is simply “the world of the dead” or “well of
souls” – the space in the spiritual realm where dead souls are stored. Is there
any reason why God wouldn’t store the soulish remains
of animals there as well as humans? Where else would He store them? Especially
considering the strong possibility that God will resurrect some or all of them
in the age to come. (See the section in Appendix B Will there be animals in
the new heavens and new earth?). We would simply assume the likelihood that
there is a separate compartment in sheol
for animal souls, just as pet cemeteries are separate from human cemeteries in
our physical world.
Incidentally,
the fact the bible teaches that dead animal souls go to sheol
when they die is further proof that sheol is
not a burial plot in the ground because sheep and other animals are not
ordinarily thus buried. The Hebrew word qeber
denotes the physical grave where bodies are buried; whereas sheol,
once again, refers to the ‘graveyard’ in the spirit realm where dead souls are
housed.
“God Will Ransom My Soul
from the Power of Sheol”
Let’s
look again at the very last verse of the Psalm 49 passage quoted earlier:
PSALM 49:15
But God will
ransom my soul from the power of sheol,
for he will receive me.”
First of all, notice that sheol is spoken of as a condition of the soul, which
was emphasized earlier in this chapter. A person’s body doesn’t go to sheol when s/he dies, nor does the breath of life
(spirit), which simply returns to God who gave it; no, sheol
refers exclusively to the condition of un-regenerated souls after
physical death.
Secondly, like Job, this Psalmist
believed that his non-physical essence would go to sheol
when he died, but, also like Job, he believed God would ultimately ransom his
soul from there. ‘Ransom’ literally means “the redeeming of a captive.” When
did God eventually redeem the souls of righteous Old Testament saints,
including the writer of this psalm, from captivity to sheol?
And with what did He redeem them? The answers are obvious: God redeemed them by
the blood of Jesus Christ when he was crucified for the sins of humanity. When
Jesus later ascended he rescued the righteous captives of sheol,
including this psalmist, by resurrecting them and bringing them to heaven where
they were “received” by the Father, as the above verse indicates.
BACK TO TOP
CHAPTER FOUR
SHEOL IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS
Part II
Continuing
our study of sheol in the book of Psalms,
let’s consider a very interesting question:
Did David Pray for His
Ex-Friend to Go to a Hellish Torture Chamber?
Notice
David’s statement in this passage:
PSALM 55:15 (KJV)
Let
death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell (sheol): for wickedness is in their dwellings, and
among them.
David is
indeed referring to his enemies in this text, yet it’s interesting to note that
one of these enemies was once a very close friend of his. This is revealed in
the preceding passages, verses 12-14 (as well as verses 20-21). At one time
David had shared “sweet fellowship” with this person, but by the time of the
writing of this psalm it appears that this one-time close friend had turned
against him.
Supposing
that the “hell” mentioned in the text is a netherworld of conscious torment for
wicked souls many have no doubt wondered how David, “a man after God’s own
heart,” could pray for his enemies – including a former close friend – to go to
such a place. But when we realize that sheol,
the word translated as “hell” here, refers to the graveyard of dead
souls and, hence, the state of death itself, then all is clear, for David’s
prayer is in harmony with the law of God which plainly states that the “wages
of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
As a
godly king of Judah,
David knew God’s Word promised that his enemies would be defeated &
destroyed (Leviticus 26:8; Deuteronomy 28:7) and he was praying in accordance
with these promises. True, he was obviously very torn-up inside because one of
these enemies was once a dear friend, but this ex-friend and the others were trying
to assassinate him, the righteous king of Judah,
and David felt he had no other recourse.
This
passage illustrates that a proper, biblical understanding of sheol clears up texts that present serious problems
to those who adhere to the view that sheol is
a torture chamber.
“Who Can Live and Never See
Death? Who Can Escape the Power of Sheol?”
Let’s
observe what Ethan the Ezrahite had to say about sheol:
PSALM 89:48 (NRSV)
Who
can live and never see death? Who can escape the power of sheol?
Here it
is as plain as language can state that death and sheol
are synonymous terms; in other words, the only thing souls going to sheol will experience is death itself, the utter
absence of conscious existence. The obvious implication of both questions is
that, apart from Christ’s redemption, everyone who lives will
ultimately die and go to sheol, the death
state of the soul. Solomon also declared this:
ECCLESIASTES 7:2b
…
for death is the destiny of everyman; the living should take this to heart.
Both of these
texts were, of course, written during the Old Testament era before
Jesus’ sacrifice for humanity was made; hence, no one living at this time had
redemption from sin, regardless of whether or not they had a covenant with God,
like the Israelites. Before Christ’s death and resurrection no one could
escape the power of sheol, whether moral,
immoral or anywhere in between.
The good
news is that this is no longer the case ever since Christ died for our sins
and was raised to life for our justification (Romans 4:25). Jesus “poured out his soul unto death” (Isaiah
53:12 KJV) so that we don’t have to. As it is written: “For God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may
not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16 NRSV). You see, in order for the world – that is, all
humankind – to be set free from death, someone innocent of sin and thus not
worthy of death, had to die in our place. This is exactly what Jesus Christ
did. So now when a born-again believer in Christ physically dies, his or her
soul does not die, that is, go to sheol, but
rather goes straight to heaven. As it is written: “…to be absent from the body
(is) to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV). Of course, this is
only the intermediate state of the Christian soul; ultimately, the believer
will receive a new glorified, spiritual, imperishable body at the bodily
resurrection of the saints, called the first resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-43; Revelation 20:4-6).
I realize
we’ve already gone over this information in this study so why am I emphasizing
it again here? Simply to properly answer Ethan’s question: “Who can live and
not see death? Who can escape the power of sheol?”
The answer is the Christian who has accepted God’s sacrifice for humanity’s
sins, Jesus Christ; such believers literally possess eternal life in
their spirits through spiritual rebirth (John 3:3,6,36), so even when they
physically die sheol has no power over them – hallelujah!
“If I Make My Bed in Sheol, You Are There”
Let’s
examine another Psalm passage that mentions sheol;
this one’s by David:
PSALM 139:7-8 (NRSV)
Where
can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? (8) If I
ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in sheol,
you are there.
To
properly understand what David is saying here we must consider the gist of the
entire psalm (remember, “context is king”). In Psalm 139 David is completely
awestruck as he contemplates God’s omnipresence and omniscience – that is, God
being everywhere at the same time
and knowing everything. David humbly realizes that he himself is finite while
God, the Almighty Creator, is infinite. This awareness overwhelms him so much
that he even states, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me
to attain” (verse 6).
So,
David’s words in verses 7-8 above are simply a poetic way of describing God’s
omnipresence. Where can David go that God isn’t? The obvious answer is nowhere.
Note how the New International Version renders this passage:
PSALM 139:7-8
Where
can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? (8) If I go up
to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths (sheol), you are there.
The
NIV is a thought-for-thought translation and, as you can see, sheol is rendered as “depths.” According to the NIV
translators the thought of the passage is that, whether David goes far out into
the universe or to the lowest depths of the earth, God is there. The
translators evidently didn’t believe David was being very literal about the
usage of sheol here; he was just making a
point in an poetic manner.
Yet, I
don’t believe there’s any reason we shouldn’t take sheol
literally in this passage. God is everywhere. If David goes to heaven or to
“the heavens,” the furthest reaches of the universe, God is there. If he makes
his bed in sheol, the LORD is there as well.
God’s central presence isn’t, of course, in sheol
(He’s on his throne in heaven), but He is completely aware at all times of sheol and of every dead soul housed there.
Notice David’s wording “make my bed in sheol;”
this is important to understanding the nature of the intermediate state for the
unredeemed soul. David obviously believed that if he were to go to sheol he’d essentially be in bed there or, we could
say, asleep. This is in harmony with the repeated descriptions of souls in sheol as “sleeping;” for example, Job’s statements
as covered in Chapter Two.
Of course, souls in sheol are not literally slumbering there, they’re
dead. So the only “sleep” they experience is the sleep of death.
This explains why David stated in
Psalm 6:5 that souls in sheol cannot remember
or praise God even though God is present there (due to His omnipresent nature
as noted above):
PSALM 6:5 (NRSV)
For
in death there is no remembrance of you; in sheol
who can give you praise?
This is a rhetorical question; the answer is
obvious within the question itself. If God is present is sheol,
why are souls held there unable to either remember or praise Him? Obviously
because they’re dead, they lack conscious existence. They’re “asleep” in
death. This is in complete harmony with the idea that sheol
is “the world of the dead;” it’s not the world of the living, it’s the world of
the dead.
“Sleeping” in Sheol
As seen in Chapter Two, Job plainly described
the intermediate state in terms of sleep:
JOB 3:11-14
“Why
did I not perish at birth and die as I came from the womb? (12) Why were there
knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? (13) For now I
would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep
and at rest (14) with kings and counselors of the earth who built for
themselves places now lying in ruins,”
Let’s
keep in mind that this passage pertains to the time before redemption was
provided for humanity through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, hence,
everyone shared the same fate when they physically died; no one could
escape the power of sheol back then. With this
understanding, note how Job describes the condition he would experience if he
had died at birth: He says that he would be “lying down in peace…
asleep and at rest” with other people that
died long before him.
Those
that advocate that sheol is a place of
conscious existence would argue that Job is referring to his body
sleeping in the literal grave and not to the soul sleeping in sheol. Yet, notice that Job doesn’t say his body
would be asleep; he plainly states “I would be lying down in peace; I
would be asleep and at rest.” Let’s remember that, from a purely biblical
standpoint, the Judeo-Christian perspective is focused on the inner man, not
the body. The apostle Paul even stated that an improper focus on outward
appearance rather than the heart is “worldly” (2 Corinthians 5:12-17); in other words, doing such is the
carnal or “human point of view” (NRSV), not the godly or divine point of view.
Also, consider Jesus’ statement that we are not to fear people who can only
kill the body, but not the soul; rather, we are to fear God Himself who is able
to utterly destroy both body and soul in the lake of fire (Matthew 10:28). You
see, a true man or woman of God’s outlook is geared toward the heart not the
body; and, remember, Job was the most righteous man of God on the face of the
earth during his time (Job 1: 1,3,8).
But let’s
consider, for the sake of argument, the possibility that Job was, in fact,
referring to his body when he stated that he’d be asleep if he died at birth;
and, by contrast, his soul would be fully conscious in sheol.
Let’s read the passage as if this were so:
JOB 3:11-14 (altered to fit the
view that sheol is a place of conscious
existence)
“Why did I not
perish at birth and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to
receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in
peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and counselors of the earth who
built for themselves places now lying in ruins. (I’m, of course, referring to
my body here. My soul, my real self, would be fully conscious in sheol joyously hanging out with Father Abraham).”
Is this
what Job really meant to say? Of course not. As you can see, altering the
passage to fit the beliefs of those who contend sheol
is a place of conscious existence renders it completely absurd.
Let’s observe a few other bible
texts that describe the intermediate state of unredeemed souls in terms of
sleeping:
PSALM 13:3 (NRSV)
Consider
and answer me, O LORD, my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep
the sleep of death.
David’s
life was in mortal danger here; if God didn’t save him he was going to die.
Notice plainly how he describes the death condition he would experience if the
LORD didn’t deliver him: “I will sleep the sleep of death.” Like Job, above, he
wasn’t absurdly referring to his body here; he says “I will sleep the
sleep of death” not “my body will sleep the sleep of death while I will go to sheol and enjoy fellowship with Father Abraham.”
Let’s
observe two cases where Jesus Christ himself described the intermediate state
in terms of “sleep:”
MATTHEW 9:18-19; 23-26
…
a ruler came and knelt before him (Jesus) and said, “My daughter has
just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” (19)
Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
(23)When
Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and noisy crowd, (24)
he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at
him. (25) After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by
the hand, and she got up. (26) News of this spread through all that region.
Why did
the people laugh when Jesus stated that the girl was “asleep”? Obviously
because she was literally dead. She was indeed dead but Jesus Christ
described her condition as sleeping. Why? Because her soul was in sheol sleeping the sleep of death and he had come to
“awaken” her back to life in her physical body on this earth.
This next
passage involves the case of Lazarus’ death and subsequent resurrection by
Jesus. The Lord is speaking at the start of the text:
JOHN 11:11-13
“Our
friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”(12)
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” (13) Jesus
had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural
sleep. (14) So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, (15) and
for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. Let us go to
him.”
As you can see, Jesus states that
Lazarus had “fallen asleep” and that he needs to go to him in order to “wake
him up,” meaning resurrect him. But his disciples mistook the Lord, thinking he
was talking about natural sleep. That’s when Jesus plainly told them Larzarus had actually died. Verse 13 plainly reveals
that Jesus was speaking of Lazarus’ death when he said he had “fallen asleep”
in verse 11.
All I want to stress and prove in
this section is that the bible repeatedly describes the intermediate state of
the spiritually dead soul in terms of “sleeping.” As shown above, both the Old
and New Testaments teach this. Even Jesus Christ himself, the living Word of
God, plainly described it as such.
What can we deduce from this?
Simply that when an unredeemed person dies, according to the bible, his/her
soul enters into the sleep of death. Again, this is not literal sleeping; it’s
“the sleep of death” as David described it above in Psalm 13:3.
Most of us have heard the
evangelistic declaration: “If you die today you’re either going to wake up
in heaven or hell!” Yet, if unredeemed souls are asleep in death
in sheol until their resurrection to face
God’s judgment (Revelation 20:11:15),
this slogan is only right on the first account. After all, souls can’t very
well “wake up” in hell (i.e. sheol) if
they’re sleeping the sleep of death. Jesus and the apostles never used
inaccurate pronouncements like this in their evangelistic efforts, why should
we? If you’re a Christian, let’s strive to be faithful to biblical
truth!
Why are Souls in Sheol Referred to as
“Sleeping”?
If souls in sheol
are dead, why are they repeatedly described as “sleeping” in the bible? All who
go to sheol are, in fact, dead and have ceased
to exist in the sense of conscious existence, but the bible refers to them as
“sleeping” because they will all one day be awoken or resurrected from this
death. As briefly noted in the last chapter, this is what differentiates sheol, the first death, from the lake of fire (Gehenna), which is the second death (Revelation
20:6,14; 21:8; 2:11). Everyone
will be resurrected from the first death, but no one will be resurrected
from the second death. This is why the second death is described as an “eternal
punishment” (Matthew 25:46) or “everlasting destruction” (2
Thessalonians 1:9) because there is no hope of recovery or resurrection from it
– it’s a fatal destruction of such complete and final magnitude that it lasts
forever and ever.
Soul Sleep?
Many of you have no doubt heard
of “soul sleep” and may be wondering if that’s what I’m talking about here. Yes
and no. ‘Yes’ because advocates of soul sleep believe, as noted above, that the
soul is simply “sleeping” the sleep of death during the intermediate state
between death and resurrection; they don’t believe the soul is literally
slumbering while awaiting resurrection. ‘No’ because most adherents of soul
sleep believe that the souls of spiritually regenerated people will also
experience this condition of soul sleep during the intermediate state. As
pointed out numerous times in our study, this is simply not biblically
accurate: If people are born-again of the imperishable seed of Christ and,
hence, possess eternal life in their spirits, why would they have to
suffer death when their bodies perish? This explains why the apostle Paul wrote
to the Corinthian believers that being absent from the body is to be present
with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). We’ll look at this issue in more detail in
Chapter X: The Intermediate State of the Regenerated Soul.
The doctrinal label “soul sleep”
is a good, brief and accurate description of the intermediate state of
un-regenerated souls but I never use it for two reasons: 1.) It gives
the impression to the average person that the soul is still alive and merely
dozing during the intermediate state. 2.) The label is too closely
related to cultic or marginally cultic groups that I understandably don’t want
to be associated with.
Some will inevitably argue: “If
cultic or near-cultic organizations adhere in some form to the view that souls
in sheol are asleep in death and therefore not
conscious, does this not automatically make this belief false or, at least,
questionable? If nothing else, it doesn’t look good.”
This argument has already been
addressed in detail in Chapter Six of Part I, under the heading Cults Teach
Everlasting Destruction – It Just Doesn’t Look Good, but allow me to
briefly address it again here: Christians do not determine the veracity of a
doctrine by whether or not an objectionable group adheres to it; they determine
what is true and not true simply by finding out what the God-breathed
scriptures clearly and consistently teach. If a doctrine is not clearly
and consistently taught in the bible, it is a false doctrine, regardless
of what respectable person or group claims otherwise. Likewise, if a doctrine is
clearly and consistently taught in the bible then it’s a true doctrine,
regardless of what questionable person or group agrees with it. This is in
accordance with the theological principle of sola
scripture, meaning “by scripture alone,” which maintains that the
God-breathed Holy Scriptures are the final authority regarding every judgment
of Christian doctrine and practice.
Let’s face it, we all
agree with cultic groups on some things; for instance, many cultic or
borderline cultic organizations believe that the bible is the inerrant Word of
God. All authentic Christians, of course, believe this as well. Wouldn’t it be
ludicrous to reject this belief simply because questionable groups agree with
it?
The fact is, any person or group
that steps outside of the blinding influence of religious tradition will easily
be able to determine what the bible clearly and consistently teaches on sheol and the condition of souls held there during
the intermediate state. This explains how various cultic or borderline cultic
groups are able to discern the truth about the nature of sheol.
BACK TO TOP
CHAPTER FIVE
SHEOL IN
PROVERBS
and the
Prophetic Books
Of the 31
chapters of the book of Proverbs, the first 29 were written by Solomon, the
wisest person who’s ever lived outside of Jesus Christ (1 Kings 3:12). In Chapter One of this study we saw how
Solomon described the nature of sheol in very
clear language. He said that those who die “know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
because they’ve gone to sheol, where “there is
no work, or thought, or knowledge or wisdom” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Everything
Solomon says about sheol in the book of
Proverbs is in complete harmony with this unmistakable description.
Sheol and Death:
Synonymous
Take
note, for instance, of the following proverbial texts and how they plainly
reveal that sheol is synonymous with death. These
first two texts poetically refer to the wicked adulteress:
PROVERBS 5:5 (NRSV)
Her
feet go down to death; her steps follow the path of sheol.
PROVERBS 7:27 (NRSV)
Her
house is the way to sheol, going down
to the chambers of death.
These
passages apply to those in covenant with God under Old Testament law. They
declare a sobering fact: Those who choose to commit sexual immorality with an
adulteress “follow the path of sheol”
or are on “the way to sheol.” This is not to
suggest that godly people during the Old Testament period didn’t go to sheol when they eventually died, because we know
from numerous passages that they did; these texts simply reveal that adulterers
will prematurely die. This was the penalty for adultery and other critical
sexual sins under the law of Moses (Leviticus 20:10-16).
Even today, despite the fact that we’re living during a dispensation of grace,
those who choose to live sexually immoral lifestyles often suffer very serious
consequences for their actions, including premature death from AIDS. Other
consequences critically hamper the quality of one’s life – teenage pregnancy,
illegitimate children, abortion, broken relationships, divorce and a multitude
of sexual diseases, many of which are incurable. Truly, sexual immorality brings
death. Even if it doesn’t literally kill you it can certainly kill the
quality of your life.
This next proverbial passage
personalizes folly as a wicked woman and is referring to the foolish, immoral
people who choose to follow “her:”
PROVERBS 9:18 (NRSV)
But
they do not know that the dead are there (in Folly’s house), that
her guests are in the depths of sheol.
The 9th
chapter of Proverbs showcases the personal invitations of Wisdom and Folly.
Those who wisely choose to enter the house of Wisdom will be rewarded with
good, long lives (as verified by verses 11-12) while those who choose Folly
will prematurely die.
Premature death is, of course,
the gravest consequence of following folly with wild abandon. The graveyard is
full of such people, so are the prisons and mental institutions. Those who
merely dabble in folly here and there will suffer as well, just not as
severely. This is the case even today in the age of grace.
Notice plainly in this text that
those in sheol are described as “dead,”
not roasting alive in torment. Their sinful lifestyles resulted in their deaths
because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
These
next two passages equate sheol with abaddon; abaddon is
the Hebrew word for destruction:
PROVERBS 15:11 (NRSV)
Sheol
and abaddon (destruction) lie
open before the LORD, how much more human hearts!
PROVERBS 27:20 (NRSV)
Sheol
and abaddon (destruction) are
never satisfied, and human eyes are never satisfied.
All I
want to emphasize from these five proverbial passages is that Solomon
repeatedly brings up sheol and repeatedly
associates it with death or destruction. This is not unique to Solomon or the
book of Proverbs; here are some passages from past chapters that also equate sheol with death:
PSALM 6:5 (NRSV)
For
in death there is no remembrance of you; in sheol
who can give you praise?
ISAIAH 18-19 (NRSV)
“For
sheol cannot thank you, death
cannot praise you; those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your
faithfulness. (19) The living, the living, they thank you as I do this day.”
PSALM 89:48 (NRSV)
Who
can live and never see death? Who can escape the power of sheol?
There
are other biblical passages that identify sheol
with death and destruction as well, such as Job 26:6, Psalm 49:14, Hosea 13:14,
Habakkuk 2:5, Revelation 6:8 and 20:14. Most of these passages consist of a
form of biblical poetry known as synonymous parallelism wherein the second part
of the verse simply repeats and enforces the thought of the first.
As you can plainly see, the God-breathed
scriptures repeatedly equate sheol with death
and destruction, not conscious torture. These passages were written by a variety
of godly men separated by many centuries – Job, David, the Korahites, Ethan, Solomon, Hezekiah, Habakuk
and John; they all spoke in harmony concerning sheol
because they all “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”
(2 Peter 1:20-21). Do you think the LORD is trying to reveal something to us
about the nature of sheol in these many clear
passages? Of course He is! Those who go to sheol
have suffered death, their lives have been destroyed. Death
simply refers to the absence of life because it is, in fact, the opposite
of life – the state of non-being or non-existence; it does not refer to a
low-quality life separate from God as proven in Chapter Six of Part I. Living a
life of misery in a subterranean torture chamber is, after all, still
life. Sheol is the “world of the dead”
where lifeless souls are held captive until their resurrection. They are
dead and lack consciousness; they can therefore neither remember nor praise
God. How much clearer could the LORD possibly be in his Word?
“To Avoid Sheol Below”
Let’s look at another proverbial
passage that mentions sheol:
PROVERBS 15:24 (NRSV)
For
the wise the path of life leads upward in order to avoid sheol
below.
This
verse isn’t at all saying that wise people in Old Testament times (before the
ascension of Christ) would go to heaven when they died. We must interpret
scripture in light of scripture and we know that during the Old Testament
period both the wise and foolish alike went to sheol
when they died.
The text
is simply declaring that, under the law of Moses, living a wise, godly life
would guarantee a person a long, blessed life in the “land of the living” and
avoid a premature trip to sheol. As Proverbs 4:18 puts it, “The path of the righteous is
like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of
day.” Although death or sheol was indeed “the
destiny of every man” during the Old Testament period (Ecclesiastes 7:2; Psalm
89:48), those who were wise by living according to godly wisdom would avoid sheol as long as possible, enjoying a full,
productive life.
Observe
how the passage makes it clear that sheol was
something to be avoided as long as possible. This doesn’t
jell with the belief that sheol had a separate
compartment called “paradise” where Old Testament saints enjoyed sweet
fellowship with Father Abraham far removed from their earthly troubles. If this
were so, why would any godly person want to avoid it? Any righteous person
would want to get there as soon as possible if this were true, right? This
verse proves that this belief is unscriptural. Sheol is, in fact, the
state of death. Those who go there are dead and therefore no longer exist.
Their soulish remains are held there but their
conscious life has expired. Hence, it is to be avoided, not looked forward to.
“Deliver His Soul from Sheol”
This
makes sense of this proverb:
PROVERBS 23:13-14 (NASB)
Do
not hold back discipline from the child, although you beat him with the rod, he
will not die. (14) You shall beat him with the rod and deliver his soul
from sheol.
The
passage is simply stressing the importance of godly, loving discipline. It is
by no means advocating child abuse; only a wicked heart would entertain such a
perverse interpretation. In Old Testament times everyone ultimately went to sheol when they died, but by properly training a
child to live in harmony with the laws of God, and hence acquire godly wisdom,
it would guarantee the child a long, blessed life and keep him or her from the
curse of premature death.
Let me
use my own life as an example: I grew up in a home where there was almost zero
proper parental discipline. I was consequently full of folly as I entered my
teenage years because my parents failed to discipline it out of me, that is,
beat it out of me.
This folly naturally resulted in a perpetual string of critical mishaps
throughout my adolescence and young adult years. Some of these misfortunes
included overdosing and almost dying on drugs, getting hit by a car and landing
on my head resulting in a near-fatal head concussion, getting expelled from
school for drugs, falling off a cliff during a “party” episode and ending up in
a body cast for months, and almost successfully committing suicide. The
fact that I survived those years is a miracle!
My point
is that the folly I walked in was due to a lack of parental discipline and it
almost resulted in my death on several occasions. So I know from experience how
true this proverb is – if parents fail to drive-out folly in their children by
proper discipline, folly will either severely hamper their lives or kill them.
By the
age of 20 I was understandably starved for godly wisdom, discipline and
truth! The LORD revealed Himself to me and I turned to Him in repentance
through Christ. I slowly started to acquire wisdom through the study &
application of His Word and the relational discipline of my Heavenly Father by
the Holy Spirit. Here’s a fact: True love disciplines. Parents who fail to
discipline their children are showing that they don’t really care or have the
time for them. The truth is, I longed for true, loving discipline
throughout my teen years but never received it; thankfully my Heavenly Father
lovingly gave me the discipline I needed when I finally turned to Him.
Observe,
incidentally, that the above proverb states that a child’s soul is saved
from sheol. This is further evidence that sheol concerns the state of the human soul after physical
death. It is not the housing abode of the spirit (i.e. breath of life) or the
physical body; the spirit returns to God who gave it and the body simply
returns to the dust.
Sheol is Never Satisfied
This next
proverb reveals that sheol is never satisfied:
PROVERBS 27:20 (NASB)
Sheol
and abaddon (destruction) are never
satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.
First
of all, we see, once again, that sheol is
associated with destruction. As pointed out earlier in this chapter, Sheol
is repeatedly equated with death and destruction in the scriptures not
conscious torment.
Secondly,
we observe that sheol is “never satisfied”
just as the eyes of man are never satisfied. What’s this mean? Simply put, the
desires of human nature are never satiated. People always have desires – good,
bad and everything in between – and once these desires are obtained or satiated
we desire even more, or something else entirely. It’s our nature as human
beings; it’s how we’re wired. This is the nature of sheol
as well.
How is sheol never satisfied? Well, we’ve discovered in our
study that sheol refers to the place and
condition all unredeemed souls enter after death; it is the holding place of
captive souls, the graveyard of dead souls. Since unredeemed people continue to
birth and die year after year, decade after decade, century after century, the
“population” of sheol naturally keeps growing.
For a
natural comparison, consider earthly graveyards where bodies are buried.
Graveyards remain active for “business” until they become full of bodies. They
then become historical in nature. My wife is currently the office manager of a
large burial park. This graveyard has 58 acres of land that are developed for
business. It has an additional 60 acres that are undeveloped. As the 58
developed acres become full they will have to expand by developing and
utilizing the additional 60 acres. This particular burial park will never be
“satisfied” until all 118 acres are full. Sheol, by contrast, has no
limits to its “expansion” as unredeemed people continue birthing and dying. It
is in this sense that sheol is never
satisfied.
This next
proverbial passage addresses the same point:
PROVERBS 30:15-16 (NASB)
There
are three things that will not be satisfied. Four that will not say, “Enough”: Sheol,
and the barren womb, earth that is never satisfied with water, and fire that
never says, “Enough.”
Four
things are listed here that are “never satisfied:” sheol
is never satisfied with its increasing population of dead souls, the barren
womb is always ready to produce another child, the earth will always drink up
more water, especially desert landscapes like Palestine, and fire always keeps
devouring combustible matter. Yet, none of these four items are insatiable in
an absolute sense: A womb can only produce so many babies in a lifetime, the
earth can only take so much water before flooding starts, fire only destroys
until it is put out one way or another. Just so, sheol
will one day stop receiving dead souls, and every lifeless soul resident
there will be resurrected to face judgment; in fact, sheol
itself (i.e. “hades”) will ultimately be
thrown into the lake of fire, as shown in Revelation 20:11-15.
BACK TO TOP
CHAPTER SIX
SHEOL IN THE PROPHETS
In this
chapter we shall examine how sheol is
addressed in the last section of the Old Testament, the major and minor
prophetic books, which includes all the books from Isaiah to Malachi.
“Sheol has Enlarged its
Appetite”
We’ll
start with sheol as used in the book of
Isaiah:
ISAIAH 5:11-14 (NRSV)
Ah,
you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the
evening to be inflamed by wine, (12) whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
or see the work of his hands! (13) Therefore my people go into
exile without knowledge; their nobles are dying of hunger and
their multitude is parched with thirst. (14) Therefore sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth
beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem
and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her.
This
passage is referring to the wicked nobles of Judah and the numerous people
corrupted by their leadership. According to verses 11-12 these people had
completely forsaken the LORD and had plunged into a flood of “partying” and
dissipation. In fact, in chapter 3 the LORD remarked that they had become as
brazenly shameless as Sodom (3:9) – that’s pretty bad! As a result of their
evil deeds, God had to justly pronounce judgment on them as shown in verses
13-14 above. Many were to be taken into captivity, no longer blessed with the
knowledge of God. Many more would die of hunger and thirst, while others would
be slain by the sword (1:20).
Clearly, multitudes would die
because of God’s righteous judgment. This explains why verse 14 proclaims, “…sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth
beyond measure.”
This is obviously not a literal
statement. Sheol is not some living entity that possesses a mouth and
appetite, but God uses this metaphor to plainly illustrate that numerous people
would die because of His just judgment. “The wages of sin is death” and these
rebels were simply going to have to eat the fruit of their actions (after much
merciful patience on the LORD’s part, I might add).
In
verse 24 God uses clear metaphors to illustrate the nature of sheol and eternal damnation:
ISAIAH
5:24 (NRSV)
Therefore, as
the tongue of fire devours the straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will become rotten (i.e. decay) and their blossom go up
like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts, and
have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
We know
this text is referring to the death of these people because the very next verse
says so (verse 25). The root that decays is probably referring to their bodies
in light of verse 25 which states, “their corpses were like refuse in the
streets.” But their immaterial being, their soul that goes to sheol, is likened to straw devoured by fire and dry
grass that goes up in flame. The example is clear: straw and grass that are set
ablaze go up in smoke and cease to exist; likewise blossoms that “go up like
dust” no longer exist as well. This corresponds to the nature of sheol because sheol
is a condition of non-existence where dead souls are held until their
resurrection on judgment day. These metaphors are applicable to both sheol, which is the temporary hell or first death,
and the lake of fire (Gehenna), which is the
eternal hell or “second death.”
Since
Isaiah 5:14 blatantly refers to
wicked people, the King James translators naturally rendered sheol as “hell.” They obviously did this to give the
impression that wicked people go to a nether realm of conscious torment when
they die. This is in contrast to Isaiah 38:10 where they render sheol as “the grave” because the text refers to
godly king Hezekiah. Needless to say, this schizophrenic practice is a
translation error of the greatest magnitude! It grieves my heart to see how the
truth about sheol was purposefully covered up
in order to support the religious myth that sheol
(“hell”) is a nether torture chamber where undying souls suffer conscious
torture without respite until their resurrection on judgment day.
Let’s
observe precisely what Hezekiah said in this particular passage:
ISAIAH 38:9-12 (NASB)
A
writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery:
(10) I said “In
the middle of my life I am to enter the gates of sheol;
I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.” (11) I said, “I shall
not see the LORD, the LORD in the land
of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the
world. (12) Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from
me; as a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom; from
day until night Thou dost make an end of
me.
In this
passage Hezekiah is praying for deliverance from a fatal illness that would
cause him to die prematurely. Note, first of all, that Hezekiah clearly expected
to go to sheol when he died – just like Jacob,
Job, David, Solomon and so many other men of God in the Old Testament era. The
rest of his statements are very revealing concerning the nature of sheol. In verse 10 he says that, if he dies and goes
to sheol, he will “be deprived of the rest of
his years.” The rest of his years of what? The rest of his years of life!
Hezekiah knew that if he died and went to sheol,
the spiritual graveyard of souls, he would be dead – he would not
have life anymore; he would cease to have consciousnes
or feeling. That’s why, in verse 11, he speaks of life in this world as “the
land of the living.” This is in contrast to the “land” of sheol, which is the “land” of the dead where
lifeless souls are held until their resurrection on judgment day. Notice also,
in verse 11, he makes it clear that he “shall not see the LORD” in sheol. This is further proof that souls held in sheol are dead and conscious of nothing. After all,
the bible reveals God to be omnipresent; consequently, a righteous man like
Hezekiah would certainly be able to sense His presence even in the nether abode
of sheol, as long as he were alive, conscious
and able. However, since souls held in sheol
are dead they are unable to experience God in any sense. Because they
lack conscious existence the only thing they can “experience” is death itself,
utter non-being. This is why Hezekiah would “not see the LORD” in sheol.
In
addition, notice that Hezekiah points out that he “shall look upon man no more”
in sheol. How can this be if sheol was, in part, a paradise where righteous
people hanged out with Father Abraham and other saints, as religionists claim.
If this teaching were true then Hezekiah would be looking upon many
people in sheol. Furthermore, if this teaching
were true, why would Hezekiah be praying so earnestly not to go there?
You would think that he’d want to go to such a pleasant paradise, the sooner
the better. These factors all prove that this belief is unbiblical and
therefore false. Hezekiah knew that he wouldn’t be seeing the LORD or anyone
else in sheol because he fully understood that
sheol was and is a place and condition where
people only “experience” death itself. Although he knew that he’d eventually go
there, as every righteous (and unrighteous) person did when they died in Old
Testament times, he wanted to avoid it as long as possible and enjoy a long,
productive life in “the land of the living.”
Regarding
this last point from verse 11, some may argue that Hezekiah technically stated,
“I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.” The
obvious argument being that, although Hezekiah will not see people in the
physical world any longer, he will definitely see multitudes of people in the
paradise compartment of sheol. Momentarily accepting
this argument, let’s read Hezekiah’s statement as if this contention were true:
“I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world, but – thank
God – I shall look upon many people in sheol
while socializing with Abraham and friends.” Let’s face it, this belief plainly
makes an absurdity of such passages. What Hezekiah was really saying was that,
because he was about to die and go to sheol,
the graveyard of dead souls, he would no longer see and experience fellowship
with his fellow human beings anymore. You see, with a proper understanding of
the true nature of sheol, scriptural
statements like this make perfect sense.
Let’s
address an important question that is naturally raised in light of the fact
that Hezekiah and other righteous people where destined to go to sheol: What benefit was there to serving God in Old
Testament times if both the righteous and the unrighteous went to sheol when they died? First of all, those who served
God were promised a full, blessed life on earth (Deuteronomy 8:1; Ezekiel
18:5-9, 14-17, 27-28), whereas those who forsook Him were risking the judgment
of premature death unless, of course, they repented (Deuteronomy 8:19-20;
Ezekiel 18:10-13, 18, 20, 26). Secondly, although both the righteous and the
wicked went to sheol when they died, the
righteous were promised a resurrection unto eternal life as shown in Part I
(Daniel 12:2-3), whereas the wicked would only be resurrected to face divine
judgment and suffer the destruction of the second death (Daniel 12:2; Revelation
20:11-15; Matthew 10:28; 2 Peter 3:7).
Before
the ascension of Christ every soul had to die because no ransom of innocent
blood had yet been paid; thus no soul could obtain intrinsic immortality and,
consequently, go to heaven at the time of physical death. In this present era
redeemed men or women of God go to heaven when they physically die to bask in
the presence of the LORD while awaiting their glorious bodily resurrection –
death and sheol have zero power over
blood-bought spiritually-regenerated children of the Most High God!
The Proud King of Babylon
Brought Down to Sheol
Isaiah 14:1-23 addresses the LORD’s just judgment on the king of Babylon. “The wages of
sin is death” and this was the Almighty’s sentence for the notorious Babylonian
king. Hence, the king died and his body was not given a proper burial. The
passage also shows the king’s soul going to sheol.
Out of the multitude of passages
in the Old Testament that describe the nature of sheol
this is the only one that advocates of eternal torture occasionally cite to
support their belief. They’re not overly gung ho about it, however, since
nothing is said about souls writhing in fiery torment, but they do occasionally
cite it in a weak attempt to support the idea that souls in sheol
are conscious and can talk. Let’s closely examine the passage piece by piece to
see if this is so.
Verses 1-3 show that the LORD will deliver the
Israelites from their Babylonian captivity and bring them back to their
homeland. Starting in verse 4 we see the Israelites taunting the fallen, dead
king of Babylon:
ISAIAH 14:4-8 (NRSV)
You
will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has
ceased! How his insolence has ceased! (5) The LORD has broken the staff of the
wicked, the scepter of rulers, (6) that struck down the peoples in wrath with
unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.
(7) The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. (8)
The cypresses exult over you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying “Since you were
laid low, no one comes to cut us down.”
These
verses reveal how oppressive, insolent and wicked the king of Babylon was to
all the peoples and nations that surrounded him. Verses 5-6 show that the LORD
Himself had broken the king’s staff and scepter; in other words, the LORD’s sentence of death brought an end to his tyrannical
reign. Hence, all the peoples of the earth who were either oppressed by him or
feared his possible threat are now at peace and even celebrating in song (verse
7). Verse 8 even states that the trees the king would regularly cut down for
his numerous building projects would break out in exultation. Did these trees
literally break out in triumphant jubilation? Of course not, this is figurative
language. God is a master communicator and he uses figurative language here to
make a point – the king of Babylon was so wicked that even inanimate objects
would rejoice over his death!
Let’s
continue with the passage:
ISAIAH 14:9-11 (NRSV)
Sheol
beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades (the
dead) to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their
thrones all who were kings of the nations. (10) All of them will speak and say
to you: “You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!” (11) Your
pomp is brought down to sheol, and the sound
of your harps; maggots are the bed beneath you and worms are your covering.
Sheol
is preparing to receive the dead soul of the Babylonian king. The dead are
roused to greet the king, including those who were once mighty kings of various
nations. The Hebrew word for the dead in verse 9 is rapha
(raw-faw') which, as shown above, the NRSV
translates as “shades.” This word refers to the dead in the sense that they are
feeble, idle and weak compared to who they were when they were alive and
dwelled in “the land of the living.” Both the KJV and the NKJV translate rapha as “the dead” while the NASB renders it “the
spirits of the dead” and the NIV as “the spirits of the departed.” Although
these latter two translations use “spirits” in their multi-word definition of rapha, the usual Hebrew word for ‘spirit’ – ruach – does not appear in the text. Why do I point
this out? Because when an unredeemed person dies their spirit (or breath of
life) returns to God from whence it came; their dead soul goes to rest in sheol until their resurrection.
With that
understanding, verse 10 shows these dead souls greeting the Babylonian king by
informing him that, despite all his former glory and infamous power, he has now
become weak like they are, signifying that human distinctions of greatness are
meaningless in sheol, the world of the dead.
Should we
take verses 9-10 literally? Did the dead souls in sheol
really rise up to greet and mock the king of Babylon?
Absolutely not. We confidently conclude this for three reasons: (1.)
These people who are greeting the king are described as “dead” in verse 9. The
dead are dead. Dead people are not conscious and cannot talk. (2.) The
passage switches from literal language to figurative language in verse 8; this
is obvious because trees don’t talk and celebrate. Verses 9-11 continue in this
figurative mode. Why should we assume this? Because, once again, the dead souls
housed in sheol are dead. Anything that is
dead is not conscious and therefore cannot very well think, speak or greet;
hence, the language must be figurative. (3.) We’ve examined a multitude
of clear passages in our study plainly revealing that sheol
is the nether realm of the dead, the “land of silence” where the dead know
nothing and therefore cannot think or even remember God. This is verified by
numerous respected men of God throughout the Old Testament and even by the LORD
Himself, as we shall see in the next section on Ezekiel 32. Scripture is not
open to isolated interpretation based on personal bias (see 2 Peter 1:20-21). Scripture interprets scripture; it’s
an interpretational law. Consequently, verses 9-10 must be interpreted as
figurative language. And please notice that, literal or not, nowhere is anyone
shown writhing in fiery torment.
Verse 11
continues, showing that the Babylonian king’s “pomp” has brought him the
sentence of premature death. Surely “pride goeth
before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 KJV). It goes on to say that maggots
will be the king’s bed and worms his covering. This is insightful in multiple
ways: The verse specifically refers to sheol,
which is backed up by its mention in verse 9, so we know the text is
specifically talking about the world of the dead where the soul goes after
death and not to the physical grave or tomb. It is said that maggots are his
bed and worms his blanket. Is this literal language? Are there literal maggots
in sheol feeding upon dead souls? Not likely.
This is more figurative language drawing a parallel to the physical grave to
produce a powerful image (in the next chapter we shall examine how sheol and the physical grave are distinct yet
parallel concepts in scripture). What’s the picture we get from this image?
Since maggots consume only carcasses, the image is that of death. It’s
not a pretty picture, but it’s not supposed to be. Death was God’s judgment on
the pompous Babylonian king for death is the wages of sin.
Also note
the image of maggots being his bed and worms his covering.
The picture is clearly that of sleeping in death, not roasting and wailing in
conscious torment.
The
parallel to the physical grave offers further insight. The Babylonian king was
not given a proper burial like other rulers placed in personal tombs; the
king’s body was discarded into a big hole with other Babylonian corpses and
naturally devoured by maggots. This is corroborated by verses 18-20:
ISAIAH 14:18-20 (NRSV)
All
the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; (19) but you are
cast out, away from your grave, like loathsome carrion, clothed with the
dead, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit,
like a corpse trampled underfoot. (20) You will not be joined with them
in burial because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people.
Not being
given a proper burial was the deepest degradation to the ancients. Ecclesiastes
6:3-6 shows that dying without mourners or honors was considered worse than
being born dead, even if the person lives a full life and has numerous children
(!). Such was the pompous Babylonian king’s dishonorable and humiliating
demise. Verses 18-19 show that other kings were honorably placed in tombs and
“lie in glory” whereas the Babylonian king is merely tossed into a mass grave
with other dead Babylonians, a meaningless, unmarked grave that people walk
over with no regard.
The
parallel of the soulish grave to the physical grave
are shown in this passage as well. The text is clearly talking about the
physical tomb and suddenly mentions that the king will be “clothed with the
dead, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit,
like a corpse trampled underfoot.” We found out in Chapter Three that “the Pit”
is another biblical term for sheol. Obviously
the physical grave and sheol are distinct yet
parallel concepts: Just as a body lies dead in a grave or tomb, so the soul
lies dead in sheol. Please note the language
repeatedly used to describe the people in either the physical grave or sheol – “carrion,” “the dead” and “corpse.” What’s
God trying to communicate to us by the usage of this language? Just as a
physical grave or tomb is meant only for that which is dead, so it is with sheol. Souls in sheol
are carrion, not living, thinking, talking people.
How much plainer could God be in
His Word? Isaiah 14 in no way supports the idea that souls are conscious in sheol.
BACK
TO TOP
The Fall of the King of Babylon Parallels the Fall of
Lucifer
The Longest and Most
Detailed Passage on Sheol
Ezekiel
32 features the longest passage on sheol in
the bible. Chapters 31-32 of Ezekiel address God’s judgment on the nation of
Egypt wherein Egypt is likened to a great cedar of Lebanon that is about to be
felled by the nation of Babylon and, consequently, descend into sheol where other nations condemned by God have
descended, e.g. Assyria, Elam, Edom, etc. This passage powerfully drives home
the image of sheol as the common soulish grave of humankind where dead souls are housed
until their resurrection on judgment day. God Himself is speaking in this
passage from verse 18 onward:
EZEKIEL 32:17-32 (NRSV)
In
the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the
word of the LORD came to me:
(18)
Mortal, wail over the hordes of Egypt, and send them down, with Egypt
and the daughters of majestic nations to the world below, with those who
go down to the Pit, (19) “Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go
down! Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!”
(20)
They shall fall among those who are killed by the sword. Egypt
has been handed over to the sword; carry away both it and its hordes.
(21) The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the
midst of sheol: They have come down, they
lie still, the uncircumcised killed by the sword.”
(22)
Assyria is there, and all its company, their graves all around it, all
of them killed, fallen by the sword. (23) Their graves are
set in the uttermost parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its
grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror
in the land of the living.
(24)
Elam is there, and all its hordes around its grave; all of them killed,
fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below
who spread terror in the land of the living. They bear their shame with
those who go down to the Pit. (25) They have made Elam a bed
among the slain with all its hordes, their graves all around it,
all of them uncircumcised killed by the sword; for terror of them
was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with
those who go down to the Pit; they are placed among the slain.
(26)
Meshech and Tubal are
there, and all their multitude, their graves all around them, all of
them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; for they spread terror
in the land of the living. (27) And they do not lie with the
fallen warriors of long ago who went down to sheol
with their weapons of war,
whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose shields are upon
their bones; for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the
living. (28) So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised,
with those who are killed by the sword.
(29)
Edom is there, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid
with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the
uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit.
(30)
The princes of the north are there, all of them, and the Sidonians,
who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror
that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who
are killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go
down to the Pit.
(31)
When Pharaoh sees them, he will be consoled for all his hordes – Pharaoh and
all his army killed by the sword, says the Lord GOD. (32) For he
spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid
to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the
sword – Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD.
As you
can see, the Pharaoh of Egypt and his army have been judged and condemned by
God. What is the LORD’s sentence? God states in verse
20 that “Egypt has been handed over to the sword” and, in verse 31,
“Pharaoh and all his army killed by the sword.” So God’s
sentence is death. Is this a just sentence? Absolutely; it is in line with the
biblical axiom “the wages of sin is death.”
Since
Egypt’s sentence is death, verse 18 states that the Egyptians shall be sent
down “to the world below, with those who go down to the Pit.” “The Pit,” or bowr in the Hebrew, is another term for sheol as detailed in Chapter Three; this
synonym for sheol appears 4 more times in the
above passage (verses 24, 25, 29 & 30), while sheol
itself appears twice (verses 21 & 27). My point is that there is no doubt
that this section of scripture is addressing the subject of sheol,
the intermediate state of un-regenerated souls between physical decease and
resurrection.
With this
understanding lets work our way through the passage point by point.
Verse 18
describes sheol as “the world below.” Sheol
is described this way because it is part of the underworld. We’ll look at this
subject in detail in Chapter Seven but, briefly put, the bible speaks of three
realms or universes: (1.) heaven, which is described as “the third heaven”
in scripture and is where God’s throne is located, (2.) the earth &
physical universe, and (3.) the underworld (see Philippians 2:10 for
verification). You’ll note that verse 18 above describes this “world below” as
“the Pit.” Why? Because sheol is a pit or
dungeon in the underworld where dead souls are housed until their resurrection.
Sheol has levels and chambers where dead souls are “laid to rest” in an
orderly fashion. Once again, we’ll look at this further in Chapter Seven.
We know
souls housed in sheol are dead because the
bible repeatedly says so in numerous ways as detailed throughout this study so
far. For instance, Ecclesiastes 9:5 & 10 explicitly states that “there is
no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in sheol”
and that the people housed there are “dead” and “know nothing.”
The fact
that souls in sheol are dead is verified in
verse 19 above where it states that the Egyptians will be “laid to rest
with the uncircumcised.” Notice they will be “laid to rest,” not writhe and
scream in torturous torment for over a thousand years without a break as
religionists ludicrously teach. No, they are simply laid to rest; this phrase
is repeated in verse 32 in reference to the Pharaoh being “laid to rest” in sheol. The two words “laid” and “rest” used in
conjunction clearly evoke the image of sleep. In addition, verse 21 states that
people in sheol “lie still,” verse 25 that
Elam will be in “bed,” and verses 27, 28 & 30 that those in sheol “lie” there. All these images clearly suggest
sleep, not writhing in ongoing torment. As already detailed in our study, these
descriptions aren’t suggesting literal physical sleep, but rather the “sleep”
of death itself, which all souls will be “awakened” from to face judgment.
Verse 25 flat out states that souls in sheol are dead: “they bear their shame with those
who go down to the Pit; they are placed among the slain.” In
other words, the newest group of souls entering sheol
will be “placed among the slain.” Souls in sheol
are dead, they are not alive and are therefore conscious of nothing. How much
clearer could God be?
Note also how verse 19 states
that the Egyptians will be laid to rest “with the uncircumcised.”
Who are the “uncirucumcised”? In the bible
circumcision was a sign that a person was in covenant with God under the law of
Moses. The scriptures always distinguish between those who are in
right-standing with God and those who are not. The “uncircumcised” spoken of in
the passage did not have a contract with God and therefore were not right with Him,
this would include the numerous peoples cited throughout the passage – the
Assyrians, Edomites, Sidonians,
etc. In other words, verse 19 is simply pointing out that the Egyptians will be
laid to rest in the very same section of sheol
that houses other uncircumcised godless people of that era.
As noted
throughout our study, souls in right-standing with God also went to sheol at the time of death during the Old Testament
period but they were not laid to rest with the uncircumcised. There was
obviously a separate section of sheol for
those in covenant with God. If this sounds strange to you, consider the fact
that bodies are buried in earthly graveyards in an orderly fashion, why would
we think it would be any different for dead souls in sheol?
These righteous souls were, of course, raised to life after Jesus bought
salvation for humanity and ascended to heaven. Henceforth, righteous souls no
longer die and go to sheol because they
possess eternal life.
Verse 20 states that those in sheol have been “killed by the sword”
and that the Egyptians will suffer this same fate. This phrase (or similar
phrasing) is used for every group mentioned in the passage. In other words, the
text repeatedly emphasizes that theses people are dead. Also notice that
it states they are killed “by the sword.” If taken in a strictly
literal sense we would have to conclude that each of these thousands upon
thousands of people from varying nations perished by the stroke of a sword. Is
this what happened? Of course not. Many obviously died from other methods –
arrow, spear, club, fire, etc. “The sword” simply refers to the God-ordained
right of a government to inflict the penalty of death on those who have
committed capital crimes or those judged and condemned by God (see Romans
13:4). For instance, Ezekiel 31-32 shows that Egypt has been judged and
condemned to death. Whom does God commission to carry out this sentence? Babylon,
as verified in Ezekiel 32:12: “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘The
sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you [Pharaoh and his army]’.” It’s unlikely that the Pharaoh
carried a sword and, even if he did, it was merely for show; so “the sword”
that the king of Babylon carried was simply the authority from God to carry out
His just sentence of death.
Verses
22-23 introduce a revealing concept:
EZEKIEL 32:22-23 (NRSV)
Assyria
is there, and all its company, their graves all around it, all of them killed,
fallen by the sword. (23) Their graves are set in the uttermost
parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its grave, all of
them killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the
land of the living.
These
verses reveal that the Assyrians are in sheol
and that they are killed, fallen by “the sword” of the LORD’s judgment. In addition, three times the passage
emphasizes that the graves of the Assyrians are in sheol.
The words “graves” and “grave” are respectively translated from the Hebrew
words qibrah (kib-raw´)
and qeburwrah (keb-oo-raw´),
which both refer to a literal grave or tomb. What’s this mean? Simply what
we’ve been discovering throughout this study so far – sheol
is a graveyard in the underworld where dead souls are laid to rest until their
resurrection. Just as dead bodies are laid to rest in grave plots on earth, so
dead souls are laid in grave plots in sheol.
Is a
grave ever intended for anything other than that which is dead? Of course not.
This is further definitive proof that souls in sheol
are dead and that sheol itself is a soulish graveyard in the underworld, not a ludicrous,
diabolical torture chamber.
Verses
24-26 likewise point out that there are “graves” in sheol
for the people of Elam,
Meshech and Tubal. Are
people placed in graves for the purpose of conscious torture or simply to lie
in the “sleep” of death?
Now note
in verse 23 that it states the Assyrians’ graves are set “in the uttermost
parts of the Pit.” This provides evidence that there are levels in sheol and distinctive parts. The dead souls of the
Assyrians were, evidently, placed in the lowest level.
Verse 23
ends by pointing out that the Assyrians once “spread terror in the land
of the living.” The “land of the living” obviously refers to life on
earth when the Assyrians warred, conquered and ruled. This is in contrast to sheol, the land of the dead, where the Assyrians
would spread terror no more. Why? Simply because they’re dead. Sheol
is the land of the dead where “there is no work or thought or knowledge or
wisdom.”
The very same point is made in
reference to Elam, Meshech, Tubal
and Egypt in verses 24, 25, 26, 27 and 32. We’ll look at this matter further in
the following chapter.
As you can see, throughout this
long passage God repeatedly utilizes unmistakable and vivid language to plainly
show that souls in sheol are dead. God is
without doubt a master communicator. With this understanding, verse 31 must be
taken in a non-literal sense because it states that, after Pharaoh dies, he
will “see” the other groups laid to rest in sheol
and be “consoled.” This is obviously not to be taken literally. Pharaoh and his
men will be dead at this point and will not be able to see anyone or anything;
they’ll be laid to rest in the sleep of death just like the other groups in sheol. In fact, the very next verse, verse 32,
emphasizes that Pharaoh is “laid to rest” in sheol,
not alive and making observations. However, even if we were to take it
literally it wouldn’t support the religious view that pagan souls are in a
state of constant torment until the day of judgment. How would Pharaoh possibly
be consoled by the fact that he and his army are going to join thousands upon
thousands of writhing, screaming souls in perpetual agony? Do you see how
incredibly unscriptural this mythical belief is?
“Progressive Revelation” on
the Nature of Sheol?
The above
passage from Ezekiel 32 disproves the theory that humanity had a “progressive
revelation” concerning the nature of sheol.
This theory suggests that the Hebrew understanding of sheol
evolved over time. It is embraced by those who advocate that sheol is a place of conscious torture. The reason
they are forced to adopt this theory is obvious: The many Old Testament
passages on sheol that we’ve examined thus far
in our study clearly reveal that sheol is a
“Pit” in the underworld where dead souls are laid to rest in the sleep of
death, a vast soulish graveyard where there is
consciousness of nothing. Since they are unable to reconcile these numerous
passages with their belief that sheol is a
place of constant conscious torment they have no recourse but to completely
‘write them off’ with this theory. This is a blatant case of “taking away” from
God’s Word, a practice severely condemned in the scriptures (Deuteronomy 4:2;
Proverbs 30:5-6 and Revelation 22:18-19).
The
reason these people are compelled to such error is because they’ve been
indoctrinated that Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31
is a literal teaching. Yet, if one takes this tale literally the entire rest of
the bible is in error regarding the nature of sheol.
Hence, the idea of “progressive revelation.” Aside from the obvious fact that
this reasoning conflicts with the weight of scriptural testimony, there are two
problems with this position: (1.) Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and
Lazarus is clearly a symbolic story that was never meant to be taken literally.
We’ll examine this story in detail in Chapter X where every sane, honest reader
will plainly see that it would be utterly absurd to take it literally. And (2.)
the idea of “progressive revelation” would suggest that humanity’s awareness of
the nature of sheol slowly evolved over
time. Yet, if one accepts this theory, there is clearly no slow progressive
revelation on the nature of sheol in the
bible; the testimony of scripture goes from the concept of sheol
as a nether graveyard where dead souls are conscious of nothing as they “sleep”
in death, to the abrupt and completely opposite notion (based solely on
Jesus’ story) that sheol is a nether realm
where souls are fully alive and conscious, either in a state of constant fiery
torment or hanging out with Abraham in communal bliss, depending upon whether
the soul is wicked or righteous respectively.
So how
does Ezekiel 32:18-32 disprove this theory of “progressive revelation”? Simply
because God Himself is speaking throughout this long passage. Throughout
this study we’ve examined numerous passages on sheol
that reflect what various Old Testament characters believed about the nature of
the intermediate state. We’ve looked at Job’s view, Solomon’s view, David’s
view, Hezekiah’s view and many others. All of their views coincide that sheol is a “Pit” in the underworld where dead souls
are laid to rest in the unconscious sleep of death ‘awaiting’ their
resurrection. One may legitimately argue that their views are the result of a
limited understanding of the subject and are therefore inaccurate. Yet, one
cannot make this argument concerning Ezekiel 32:18-32 because God himself is
speaking. Does anyone ludicrously think that God had a “limited
understanding” regarding the nature of sheol?
Does anyone absurdly think that the LORD had to have a “progressive revelation”
on sheol? Or has He always known precisely
and completely everything there is to know about sheol?
I think the answers are obvious.
The vast
majority of people who believe that sheol is a
place of conscious torment (or bliss) have never researched the subject beyond
Jesus’ story of The Rich Man and Lazarus. I know because I was once one of
them; I therefore understand their reasoning: The story of the Rich Man and
Lazarus, if taken literally, reveals that people are in a conscious state in sheol; and since Jesus Christ himself is speaking
it’s not necessary to look into the subject any further. In other words, Jesus’
story tells us everything we need to know about sheol;
who would know more about sheol than Jesus
Christ himself?
Well,
according to the bible there’s only one higher than the Son, and that’s God the
Father, and He is speaking in Ezekiel 32:18-32 wherein He repeatedly and
explicitly reveals that souls in sheol are “slain,”
“laid to rest,” “lie still,” in “bed” in “graves,” etc. Why is it that
advocates of conscious torture fail to bring up this long commentary on sheol by God the Father Himself in Ezekiel 32?
Because it conflicts with their false religious belief, that’s why.
Am I
suggesting that that the Father and Son contradict each other? Absolutely not;
that’s an impossibility. What I am saying is that the scriptures very clearly
point out that the Father is the head over the Son (1 Corinthians 11:3 & 3:23). This is explicitly stated. Hence, Jesus
would never contradict the Father; in fact, he can’t contradict the Father
because, as he said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Consequently, Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and
Lazarus must be interpreted in light of what the entire rest of the bible
teaches on the subject of sheol, including
what the Father, who is the head, plainly taught.
“Where, O Sheol, is your
Destruction?”
The Hebrew word sheol
appears twice in the book of Hosea, both in the same verse:
HOSEA 13:14
I
will ransom them from the power of the grave (sheol);
I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave (sheol) is your
destruction?
This text
is simply God’s promise that all his children shall be ransomed from sheol and redeemed from death. This was
accomplished, of course, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
“who became a ransom for all men” (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus took our place and
died for our sins so we don’t have to. Christians who are spiritually
born-again of the imperishable seed of Christ have eternal life in their
spirits. Consequently, the only death they’ll undergo is physical death; and
the simple reason for this is “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Which is fine because all those redeemed through
Christ are going to ultimately receive a much better body – an imperishable,
glorified, powerful, spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)! The awesome thing
about this body, unlike the old one, is that it can inherit the kingdom
of God!
We
clearly see in this passage, as detailed earlier in this chapter, that sheol is spoken of synonymously with death and
destruction. In other words, sheol is death
and death is sheol. The condition of souls in sheol is destruction, not torture. That’s why the
LORD raises the question: “Where, O sheol, is
your destruction?” and not, “Where, O sheol,
is your fiery endless torment?” The bible is so easy to understand once one is
freed up from absurd religious indoctrination!
BACK TO TOP
CHAPTER SEVEN
FURTHER
SCRIPTURAL INSIGHTS
into the
Nature of Sheol
The
purpose of this chapter is to examine several Old Testament passages to acquire
further insights concerning the nature of sheol.
Let’s start with this scriptural fact:
Sheol is Contrasted with
“the Land of the Living”
Additional
proof that sheol is, in reality, the realm
where dead souls are held awaiting their resurrection can be derived from the
fact that sheol is often spoken of in contrast
to “the land of the living.” In the previous chapter we witnessed evidence of
this in Hezekiah’s statements from Isaiah 38:9-12. Let’s look at some other
biblical examples:
PSALM 116:8-9 (NASB)
For
thou hast rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from
stumbling. (9) I shall walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
We see in
this text that the LORD delivered the psalmist from a life-threatening
situation. Verse 3 reveals that the psalmist was distressed and sorrowful
because, as he puts it, “The cords of death encompassed me and the
terrors of sheol came upon me.” (We,
once again, see evidence here that death and sheol
are synonymous terms in the bible). Obviously the psalmist was quite concerned that
he’d lose his life in this situation, but the LORD ultimately delivered him and
that’s why he exclaims in verse 8: “thou hast rescued my soul from death.”
The psalmist knew that, if he died, his soul would go to sheol,
the world of the dead where lifeless souls experience only death
(naturally). Note plainly that God saved his soul from death; He
did not save him from fellowship with Father Abraham in the paradise
compartment of sheol, he saved him from death.
Because the LORD delivered him, he states in verse 9: “I shall walk before the
LORD in the land of the living.” Why does he state this? Obviously
because you can’t walk before the LORD in sheol.
Needless
to say, if life in this world is “the land of the living” then it stands to
reason that sheol is the land of the dead or
“the world of the dead,” as James Strong defines it, where souls suffer death
itself.
David
speaks of “the land of the living” in these two passages:
PSALM 27:13 (NASB)
I
would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the
LORD in the land of the living.
PSALM 142:5 (NASB)
I
cried out to Thee, O LORD; I said, “Thou art my refuge. My portion in the
land of the living.”
In
each of these cases David was in a life-threatening situation. If the LORD failed
to come through he would have died and gone to sheol.
As you can see, David speaks of life in this world as “the land of the living”
as opposed to the alternative – dying and going to sheol.
Once again, if life in this world is “the land of the living” then sheol is obviously the land of not-living –
the land of the dead, the realm of utter non-existence.
When his
life was in danger, Jeremiah likewise used the phrase “land of the living” in
this prayer:
JEREMIAH 11:18-20
Because the
LORD revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at the time he showed me what
they were doing. (19) I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;
I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying, “Let us destroy
the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more.” (20) But, O LORD Almighty, you who judge
righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
As
you can see, there were people out to kill Jeremiah; their intent was to
“slaughter” him and “destroy” his very life, thus cutting him off
from “the land of the living.” These evil plotters rightly knew that if they
successfully murdered Jeremiah his soul would go to sheol,
the nether realm of dead souls. Since souls in sheol
are literally dead, Jeremiah would be completely cut off from those who
are alive in “the land of the living.”
But let’s
suppose for a moment that sheol is a place
where souls are alive and conscious as religionists contend – the wicked suffer
continuous torment while the righteous blissfully enjoy paradise. Let’s reword
the evil plotters words in verse 19 as if this belief were true:
“Let us
physically destroy Jeremiah and cut him off from the land of the living on
earth. Unfortunately his soul will immediately go to the paradise compartment
of sheol where he’ll enjoy blissful communion
with Father Abraham and other righteous saints that have passed on.”
Once
again, we see that adjusting the scriptures to fit the religious belief that
souls are alive in sheol, whether tormented or
blessed, makes an absurdity of God’s Word.
The
bottom line is that if souls in sheol are
alive and conscious then sheol is just as much
“the land of the living” as earthly life is “the land of the living.” Yet, this
would make nonsense of the scriptures. Hence, if life on earth is “the land of
the living” then we naturally conclude sheol must
be the land of not-living, the land of the dead.
Sheol: The Soulish Grave of “All the Living”
Notice
what David exclaims to God after having been rescued from a life-threatening
situation:
PSALM 56:13 (NRSV)
For
you have delivered my soul from death and my feet from falling so that I
may walk before God in the light of life.
Obviously
David knew that sheol was the state of death
where “the dead know nothing” and where “there’s no work or thought or
knowledge or wisdom” (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10). The only reason he could “walk
before God in the light of life” was because God rescued his “soul from death.”
He knew, as we’ve looked at before, that sheol
is a state where you cannot remember or praise God (Psalm 6:5). Thus, if the
LORD hadn’t delivered him, his soul would have dwelt in the silent darkness of
non-existence.
This is
the common spiritual grave of all humankind where the souls of all
non-born-again people go at physical death. No one had the opportunity to be
re-born spiritually and receive immortality until Jesus died and was raised.
Before that all humankind went to sheol the
“common grave.” This is why, when Joshua was nearing his time of death, he said
he was “about to go the way of all the earth” (Joshua 23:14). What is
“the way of all the earth”? Why sheol, the
graveyard of souls.
In complete agreement with Joshua, Job made
the statement:
JOB 30:23 (NRSV)
“I
know that you (God) will bring me to death, and to the house
appointed for all the living”
What is “the house
appointed for all the living”? Sheol, of course. Notice that Job makes
it very clear that “all the living” would go there. That’s why Ethan the
psalmist asked the rhetorical question: “Who can live and never see death?
Who can escape the power of sheol?”
(Psalm 89:48).
Thus sheol can be described as the common grave of
humankind. People’s bodies may, in fact, be housed in separate, individual
graves, tombs, mausoleums, or otherwise, but throughout history all
people’s souls have shared the common spiritual grave, sheol.
We see this fact evident in Job 3:13-19 where Job said that, if he died, he
would experience the sleep of death “with kings and counselors of
the earth… with princes… There the wicked cease from troubling
and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together…
The small and great are there and the slaves are
free from their master” (NRSV).
Job makes
it clear that kings, counselors, princes, wicked people, weary people,
prisoners, people of small and great social stature, and slaves will all be
housed in the same condition together. Indeed, sheol
is the common grave of every soul throughout human history, “the house
appointed for all the living,” as David described it above. The only people who
can escape the power of sheol are those who
have obtained immortality by being born again of the imperishable seed of
Christ (1 Peter 1:23).
W.E.
Vine, the Hebrew and Greek scholar, points out in his lexicon that sheol/hades “never denotes the grave” (286) and he’s
technically right if, in fact, “grave” is referring to the physical hole or
tomb/mausoleum where bodies are housed. As pointed out earlier in our study,
the Hebrew word qeber (keh´
ber) is the biblical word used to specify this.
However, although sheol doesn’t refer to the
literal physical grave where the body is buried, it can accurately be described
as the grave of the soul – the common spiritual graveyard where all dead souls
are housed.
We see
this clearly evident in Ezekiel 31:14-18 where it states that whole nations
(which are likened unto trees, e.g. “trees of Eden,”
“cedars of Lebanon”) will go to “sheol, to
those slain by the sword… to the earth beneath; you will lie in the
midst of the uncircumcised with those who were slain by the sword” (verses
17-18 NASB). Sheol is specifically mentioned 3 times in this passage
(verses 15, 16 & 17) and the context clearly states that sheol is death: “For they have all been given
over to death, to the earth beneath” (verse 14 NASB). “The earth
beneath” or “world below” (NRSV) is a descriptive phrase for sheol, which we will analyze in the next chapter.
Note, incidentally that this passage describes souls as lying in sheol with other dead people. “Lie” indicates being
in a horizontal or prostrate position as on a bed or the ground. The image is
that of resting or sleeping, not writhing and wailing in constant fiery
torment. That’s because the latter notion is not biblical. And a belief that’s
not biblical is false. In other words, it’s a false doctrine. It may be
religious, it may be traditional in the sense that it goes back to the time of
Saint Augustine, but it’s false nevertheless.
In any
event, my main point here is that, because of God’s judgment, whole nations
of people will go to sheol and lie together
“in the midst of the uncircumcised.” This clearly shows that sheol is indeed the common grave of all spiritually
un-regenerated souls.
In the
New International Version of the bible, which is the most popular modern
translation, sheol is consistently translated
as “the grave” in the Old Testament. At first I considered this to be an
improper translation since sheol does not
technically refer to the physical grave where bodies are housed. However, as
I’ve studied the subject of sheol and
discovered that it clearly refers to the common graveyard of all non-born-again
souls, I’ve deduced that “the grave” is indeed a sound translation. (Unfortunately
the NIV translators weren’t consistent with their rendering of sheol in the New Testament where the corresponding
Greek word hades is diversely translated as “hades,” “hell,” “depths” and “death”).
Sheol and the Physical
Grave: Distinct yet Parallel
Although
the physical grave (qeber) and the soulish grave (sheol) are
indeed separate terms in the bible they are often mentioned in the very same
breath. Why? Obviously because the two go hand in hand – if one physically dies
his/her soul goes to sheol; if one’s soul is
in sheol it’s because s/he physically died.
Simple, right? Let’s look at a few examples:
In Psalm
30:3 David states, “O LORD, you brought up my soul from sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit” (NRSV). Here, once
again, David is praising God for deliverance from a life-threatening situation.
On this occasion David was so close to death that he considered himself as good
as dead; that’s why he symbolically exclaims, “you brought up my soul from sheol [and] restored me to life.” David obviously
didn’t literally die, but he came so close that he spoke as if did. Also take
note that David makes it clear in this passage that sheol
is the condition and place that souls specifically go to at physical death;
this is, of course, in contrast to the physical grave where bodies are housed.
Take note as well that David describes sheol
as “the Pit.”
With this
understanding, notice what David goes on to say in verse 9: “What profit is
there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise
you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?” (NRSV). Observe how David mentions
“the Pit,” which is a reference to sheol, and
then in the very next breath asks, “Will the dust praise you?” “Dust” is
definitely a reference to the physical grave or tomb (qeber)
where the body is housed because dust is what (unpreserved) bodies revert to
after death. The reason David interchangeably refers to sheol
and the physical grave here is simply because the two, although distinct,
naturally go together.
We also
see this in Psalm 88 where Heman prays for
deliverance from a serious life-threatening situation. In verse 3 Heman states, “For my soul is full of troubles and
my life draws near to sheol. (4) I am
counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no
help, (5) like those forsaken among the dead like the slain that
lie in the grave (qeber)” (NRSV). By
saying that his “life draws near to sheol,” Heman is simply expressing how close he is to losing his
life in this situation. Now notice what Heman
declares in verses 10-12:
PSALM 88:10-12 (NRSV)
“Do
you (God) work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise
you? (11) Is your steadfast love declared in the grave (qeber),
or your faithfulness in abaddon (destruction)?
(12) Are your wonders known in darkness, or your saving help in the land of
forgetfulness?”
Heman specifically mentions sheol
in verse 3 and references it as “the Pit” in verse 4. His reference to
“darkness” and “the land of forgetfulness” in verse 12 are also references to sheol, although they could arguably apply to the
physical grave as well. In addition, he refers to sheol
as “regions dark and deep” in verse 6. He also mentions the literal grave, qeber, in verses 5 and 11.
Why is
this important to our subject? I just want to clearly show how sheol and the physical grave are sometimes spoken of
in the very same breath. Although sheol
definitely refers to the common grave where all un-regenerated souls go to and qeber refers to the physical grave/tomb where bodies
are lain to rest, both terms are parallel and signify the same condition:
DEATH, the cessation of life. Qeber signifies
the utter absence of life in the physical realm and sheol
denotes the utter absence of life period.
Because sheol and qeber are
sometimes spoken of in the same breath some theologians have mistakenly
theorized that sheol refers to the physical
grave, at least in that particular context. Yet, sheol
is repeatedly described in the scriptures as a place and condition where immaterial
souls specifically go, not bodies. We’ve clearly seen this in our study. Hence,
the idea that sheol refers to the physical
grave must be rejected.
Our
conclusion is that sheol and qeber are distinct yet parallel terms in the bible;
they each have separate definitions but naturally go together. Being parallel
terms they each signify the same thing – death, the absence of life. Is there
any life in a physical grave? Of course not. Neither is there life in sheol, the soulish grave.
Is a grave meant for anything other than that which is dead? Of course not. The
same goes for sheol. Both terms, though
distinct, denote the utter absence of life.
This
presents a problem for the religious traditional view which teaches that sheol/hades is a nether realm where unredeemed souls
exist in a state of conscious torment and Old Testament saints hanged out in
paradise with father Abraham before the ascension of Christ. If this were so sheol and qeber
couldn’t possibly be sister terms. Why? Because qeber
would signify the utter absence of life, whereas sheol
would refer to the express opposite – conscious life in a spiritual dimension,
whether in misery or bliss. They wouldn’t be parallel terms if they both
represent two completely opposite concepts.
BACK TO TOP
Tags..... for web
And for those who are curious and ask, Do aborted babies go to
hell? know that aborted babies do NOT go to hell. They do NOT suffer after death. Jesus said,
“Let the little children come unto me.”
He would not change His mind now.
This material is excellent
for those who are studying, conditional immortality, conditionalism, gehennah, rabbinic, messianic,
This material is excellent
for those who are studying, sheol, heaven, heaven,
annihilation, annihilationism, annihilationist, soul.
This
material is excellent for those who are studying nephesh,
hades, evangelism, 23 minutes in hell, devil, satan, demons, bill wiese, john hagee, Randy Hurst, Tony Evans, moody bible institute, baptist, pentecostal, lutheran, luther, adventist, nazarene, catholic,
purgatory, Jonathan Edwards, sinners in the hands of an angry God, Christian
reformed, Plato, soul sleep, life after death, eternity, Heidelberg Catechism,
Revelation 14, eternal torment, FF Bruce, Edward Fudge, Peterson,
predestination, This material is excellent for those who are studying, 1611,
Charles Stanley, Ray Comfort, John Bevere, Edward
Fudge, Bill Wiese 23 minutes in hell, Erwin Lutzer
one minute after you die, catechisms, catechism, Randy Alcorn,
What is conditional
immortality Conditional immortality movement Conditional immortality
association John Stott conditional immortality