Links to elsewhere on this Web site: /apologetics.html /book.html /doctrinal.html /essays.html /links.html /sermonettes.html /webmaster.html Home Page, click here: /index.html
Does Islam cause terrorism? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Moral Equivalency Applied Islamic History 0409.htm
Is the Bible God’s Word? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Is the Bible the Word of God.htm
Why does God Allow Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
Is Christian teaching from ancient paganism? /Bookhtml/Paganism influence issue article Journal 013003.htm
Should God’s existence be proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should the Bible and God Be Proven Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does the Bible teach blind faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
What
Happened to People Who Died Before Jesus’ Resurrection?
Were the people who died before Jesus’ resurrection treated differently than those who died afterwards? However, this question naturally leads to a broader ones: Are we humans naturally immortal? Will we live forever, whether it be in heaven or hell? Do the dead even go to heaven or hell right at death? Or rather, is immortality conditional upon continued faith in and obedience to God? What does the Bible teach about where the dead go after they die? When the Bible's text is carefully examined, without reading preconceived ideas or interpretations into it, it reveals that the dead presently aren't alive in heaven or hell, but they remain unconscious until the day they are resurrected. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10 clearly teach that the dead aren't conscious: "For the living know that they will die: But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share is anything done under the sun. . . . Whatever your had finds to do, do it with your might: For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." Therefore, nobody goes to heaven or hell at death, but each person lies unconscious in the common grave of humanity until his or her resurrection, excepting for those few Christians translated or “born again” (John 3:5-8) at the first resurrection when Jesus returns (I Cor. 15:45-55; I Thess. 4:14-17).
When the dead enter the great collective grave of
mankind, "sheol" in Hebrew, and "hades" in Greek, they
aren't conscious of anything. They aren't in heaven, hell, limbo, or
purgatory. When Jesus said this (John 3:13), no man had gone to
heaven (i.e., where God's throne is, the third heaven): "No one has
ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man
who is in heaven." Even after Christ's resurrection, King
David, the man after God's own heart, hadn't ascended to heaven according to
Peter (Acts 2:29, 34): "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you
of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with
us to this day. . . . For David did not ascend into the heavens." In the same passage, Peter cited David in
the Old Testament to prove the Messiah Himself wouldn’t ascend to heaven before
His resurrection, but His soul would stay briefly in the grave while He was
dead (v. 27): “For You will not leave
my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” So when the dead enter the great collective
grave of mankind, sheol in Hebrew, hades in Greek, they aren't conscious of
anything.
Can those who died unsaved still get saved? According to Scripture, unsaved people who
die aren't immediately put into an eternal hell fire. Instead, they
simply aren't judged until the second resurrection takes place (see Rev. 20:5;
cf. I Cor. 15:22-24). This would be true for both babies and
adults who were uncalled in this lifetime.
Because they weren’t called during their first lives on earth (see John
6:44, 65; Acts 2:39; Matt. 13:11-16; Romans 8:28-30), they will get their first
and only chance (not a “second chance”) to be saved after their
resurrection at the end of the millennium, after Christ had ruled on earth for
a thousand years. Ezekiel’s vision of
the valley of dry bones of the house of Israel provides the clearest passage
showing the unsaved dead will be resurrected and then given an opportunity for
salvation. Now the Chosen People
generally had a dismal history spiritually.
Israel was often very disobedient.
Israelites born in the pre-Exile period (not just Jewish, of the tribe
of Judah only when strictly defined) commonly were violating the First
Commandment by being idolaters, just as typical Hindus are
today. Most of Israel obviously was not saved back then since so
many were so faithless and disobedient that they often used statues while
worshiping false gods, such as Baal, Chemosh, Molech, and Dagon. But
instead of being thrown into the lake of fire after their resurrection, they
are lovingly put back into the land of Israel, as God told Ezekiel (Eze.
37:11-14):
“Son
of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones
are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely cut
off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God,
"Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your
graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you
will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to
come up out of your graves, My people. And I will put My Spirit within
you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own
land.”’"
These unsaved Israelites were no more saved
than ignorant Buddhists, Hindus, animists, pagans, and Muslims. Indeed, most Israelites didn't have the Holy
Spirit, which conditionally gives salvation by its presence (Eph. 4:30;
1:13-14), which only became much more generally available on Pentecost in 31
A.D. after Jesus’ resurrection and later ascension to heaven (John 16:7; Acts
1:4-5; 2:2-4). But when they were resurrected, they weren't tossed into
hell, but were placed in the Holy Land! Notice that they were resurrected
to have physical bodies of flesh (verses 7-10), not bodies composed of spirit,
like angels have (Hebrews 1:7) and already saved Christians will receive when
Jesus returns (I Cor. 15:42-53).
God will not condemn any who are
ignorant during their first lifetimes on earth, but only the willfully knowing
wicked who refuse to repent even after their resurrection (Daniel 12:2). After all, if God commands all men
everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), He has to make His will theoretically
possible to fulfill. Likewise, the Lord
(II Peter 3:9) “is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for
all to come to repentance.” Paul also
told Timothy that God “desires all men to be saved, and to come to the
knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4).
So doesn’t God want to save everyone?
Will God condemn to an eternity of torture in hell fire those who never
heard Jesus' name or who never heard the Gospel preached? Would God hurl
billions of ignorant Chinese and East Indian peasants to burn in hell for
endless trillions of years for a mere mayfly lifetime of sins without an
opportunity to escape their dire fates?
Would God so fail so colossally to grant them a practical way to gain
repentance (Acts 11:18) so they possibly could be saved? Is it fair for God to condemn those who
never had a chance to begin with? Can the traditional view justify God's justice
to humanity (i.e., construct a convincing theodicy)? Is a brief life of
(say) 20, 40, or 70 years of moderate sin fairly punished by trillions and
trillions of years of burning torture? And that's merely for starters,
the barest preface to a never-ending story of agony. Will God maintain and
supervise this a plague spot in His universe for all eternity with evil angels
and men suffering for their sins? Or will God totally clean out His
universe (see Acts 3:21) in order to restore the conditions that existed before
Lucifer (a/k/a Satan) rebelled and Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil? Wouldn’t
God ultimately want EVERY living creature still remaining in the created
universe (cf. Rev. 5:13) to bless Him and to worship Him?
As indicated by Matt. 12:41-42
(compare 11:21-24), most people aren't judged yet during this lifetime. The pagan inhabitants of Nineveh aren't yet
burning eternally in hell. If the immortal soul doctrine is true, then
the judgment has to occur at death.
Otherwise, the dead are being held in an unconsciousness state instead.
How else could presumably unsaved people during their lifetimes, such as
the men of Nineveh who heard Jonah and the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon,
condemn Jews who rejected Jesus as their Messiah when He visited their villages
and towns? It would be most curious for God to resurrect these people who
(most likely) never had the Holy Spirit, which is a requirement for salvation
(Romans 8:9-11; II Cor. 5:5), and let them condemn others before tossing them
all into hell.
Notice that Israel still has a chance
at salvation despite having rejected their Messiah to date, according to Paul:
"And thus all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:26; cf. verses 7,
26). If this generalization wasn't true, how could Paul write it?
Could (say) 90% of Israel be lost to hell despite he believed they all
would be saved? Although we know some won't be saved, such as Judas
Iscariot, it has to be that almost all of them will be, despite they often
worshipped false gods using idols during their physical lifetimes.
We shouldn’t mistakenly assume that
when the dead are “judged” that has to mean "sentencing" rather than
“probation.” Nor should we equate
"sentencing" with "judgment." Someone who is judged
or being judged need not at that moment be condemned and sentenced to a
particular punishment. A person can have a period of judging
before a final outcome is determined. For example, Peter says "it is
time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us
first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of
God?" (I Pet. 4:17). Since Christians during this lifetime
aren’t yet sentenced, "judgment" here simply can't mean only
"sentencing." So we should be
wary of assuming this automatically for other texts, such as Hebrews 9:27, but
see what the context indicates or what other parts of the Bible teach.
So to summarize very briefly, the dead who lived
before and after Jesus’ first coming are still dead. They haven’t been judged yet.
They aren’t in hell, heaven, purgatory, or any other place in which they
are conscious of their surroundings and their own selves. As for Jesus’ return, He promised that He
will come again (John 14:3) to His disciples.
Jesus hasn’t yet come again, since many spectacular signs will happen
when He returns. These are described in
Matthew 24:3, 25-27. He will be as
noticeable as the lightening that flashes east to west; he won’t come secretly
without the whole world knowing.
Revelation 1:7 says that every eye will see Him. So Jesus did not return secretly in 1914 or
some other year in the past. The
Messiah, who is Jesus, came in 4 b.c., died in 31 A.D., and He will return again,
as per Hebrews 10:28: “So Christ also,
having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time
for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” The dead who were called and knew and
accepted God’s full truth will be resurrected to meet Him in the air (I Cor.
15:23-24; 51-54; I Thess. 4:13-17).
Notice that the last section describes those who died in Christ as being
resurrected to meet Jesus in the air.
Eric
Snow
Click here to access
essays that defend Christianity: /apologetics.html
Click here to access
essays that explain Christian teachings: /doctrinal.html
Click here to access
notes for sermonettes: /sermonettes.html
Why does God Allow Evil?
Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why
Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians work on
Saturdays? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should Christians obey
the Old Testament law? /doctrinalhtml/Does
the New Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an immortal
soul? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here
and Hereafter.htm
Does the ministry have
authority? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
There an Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United States the
Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are
We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should you give 10% of
your income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does
the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God? Click
here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
Jesus God.htm
Will there be a third
resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will
There Be a Third Resurrection.htm
Links to elsewhere on
this Web site: /apologetics.html /book.html /doctrinal.html /essays.html /links.html /sermonettes.html /webmaster.html For the
home page, click here: /index.html