Bible Question: I would like to answer your questions, with some questions of my own. How can there be a good and bad part of Sheol? And how did God decide who goes were? The reason i ask these questions is because God will not judge anybody before the last day. 2Peter2:9 says that he reserves the unjust until the day of judgment. Can a person be given the verdict before the judgment? According to Heb.6:1-3 I do beleive that this is a very important subject. To be blunt there is no good or bad part of Sheol. I'm under the impression that you gathered this through the parable of the the rich man and Lazzereth. This parable has nothing to do with Sheol at all. Its about the Jews and the Gentiles. If anybody respondes to this letter I would be happy to give more evidence why. As far as Jesus teaching in Sheol, well this also is a common misunderstanding? The Bible says that Jesus was dead for three days. How could he be teaching if he was dead? Please show me the scripture were it says that Jesus preached the gospel to anyone who was dead when he himself was dead? Quick note to you: Sheol(hell) is nothing more than the grave, or sometimes refered to as the pit. Amos 9:2 "Though they dig into hell(sheol-7585)thence shall my hand take them;though they climb up to heaven; thence will I bring them down." Here we can at least tell that to get to Heaven you must go up. And to get to sheol you must DIG.Ecc.9:10 and Isa.38:18 shows that ther is NO knowledge or praise to anyone in the grave. And psalm 146:4 states that there thoughts perish. Last question for you now. How could Jesus preach to anyone in there death without making these sciptures false. And how could he have been Dead if he was awake? |
Bible Answer: Man is made up of three parts: Spirit, Soul and Body 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." There is a difference between man's breath and spirit: "Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it." Isaiah 42:5 Destination After Death "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake." Philippians 1:21-24 "Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say . . . and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 The Soul is Conscious After Death Revelation 6:9-11 "And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also." Obviously a person's soul is more than his breath. These robed souls under the altar, crying out to God, are not "breaths." Note that these souls are conscious after death. They were martyred and after death are very much alive in Heaven. They have the ability to cry out to God and to wear white robes. God Himself tells them that more of their brethren will join them after they are killed. Again in Revelation 20:4 "And I saw thrones; and they sat upon them, and judgement was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." Additional Scriptures Indicating the Consciousness of the Soul after Death Job 26:5-6 Matthew 22:31, 32 Luke 16:19-31 1 Thessalonians 5:10 Isaiah 14:9-11; 15-17 When the Soul Leaves the Body, the Body Sleeps The term "sleep" is never applied to the soul or the spirit, but only the body. The soul and the spirit continue to exist after death. The body "sleeps" and goes back to dust. (http://www.sdaoutreach.org/dead.html) |