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NASB | Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa, which he saw [in a divine revelation] concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. [Zech 14:5] |
Bible Question: Does a person go straight to heaven after death? |
Bible Answer: Dear Sir or Madam, Your question is a very interesting one and requires an answer in two steps. The first issue is whether we are resurrected to heaven. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 state: For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten... All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going. Therefore, according to our creator we have no part in anything anymore when we are dead in Sheol, the common grave of mankind. If we look at Jesus' teachings, when his friend Lazarus died he said to his disciples that Lazarus was sleeping in death. He then resurrected him to life on earth, not to heaven. Psalms 37:29 also says that the righteous people will be resurrected to an earthly life. This is what most of us can look forward - to living on a cleansed earth after our creator eliminates all suffering as promised in Rev. 21:3,4. However, some will get a heavenly resurrection, according to the bible. God's kingdom is being established in the heavens and a limited number of 144,000 have been called by God to a heavenly resurrection in order "to make them be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.” (Rev. 5:9,10). But when? 1 Corinthians 15:23 says "But each one in his own rank: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ during his presence", i.e. first Christ would be resurrected in 33 CE and then the selected ones during his presence. When is that? You can read Jesus' own answer and prophecy in Matthew 24. Now, to sum up, if God is setting up a Kingdom, a government, over the earth, there will be subjects of that kingdom there. And these are those righteous ones that after some time in a state of "sleep" (like Jesus said about Lazarus) will be resurrected to eternal life on earth. If you would like to continue this discussion, please reply to this post. Kind regards, Marisa |