May 3 – What Happens When We Die?

       "We are confident, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 5:8

       " After that, he [Christ] appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep." - 1 Corinthians 15:6

       The New Testament writers and Jesus himself, weave a tapestry of the big picture of what happens when people die. To understand how the people of Jesus' time saw the state of post-death, let's first look at a few Old Covenant writings. David laments in Psalm 6:5 that "No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?" Psalm 30:9; 115;17; and Ecclesiastes 9:10 basically states the same thing. At best, this lends credence to the idea of "soul sleep", in which we are in a state of limbo, sleeping/awaiting the next phase of existence. At worst, it lends credence to the belief that we do not have an eternal spirit that lives beyond death. The latter is basically what the Sadducees of Jesus' time believed (as they did not believe in a resurrection of the dead). This study is not interested in the resurrection of the body, which is a related, but completely separate, topic.

       At another point in time, David seems to contradict himself in Psalm 16:10-11, that "....you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." While this phrase is quoted by Peter in Acts 2 to reference the physical resurrection of Jesus, David must have had something in mind regarding all living humans.

       The ancients certainly had the concept of "Sheol", a Hebrew word that is often translated as "the grave". In modern times, we understand "the grave" as a hole in the ground, where a dead body is laid. But the ancients understood it as the "abode of the dead, of "good" people and "bad" people alike. We now understand it as something like a "holding place" where there were two separate areas for conscious spirits. One was a tormenting fiery place for the ungodly; the other was called Abraham's bosom, a place of bliss for the godly people who had died. None were sleeping, but were quite conscious. Reference the story of Lazarus, told by Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 to get the complete story . There are also two other references of dead persons being quite conscious before the resurrection of Jesus. I Samuel 28 recalls a story of Samuel being "summoned" from "the grave" to speak with King Saul. Matthew 17 tells the story of the transfiguration of Jesus on a high mountain, accompanied by Peter, James, and John. The spirits of Elijah and Moses showed up to talk with Jesus for a brief time. From these references, we get a glimpse that the dead were not "sleeping" but were definitely conscious.

       The story of Lazarus in Luke 16 also fits into the puzzle of what happens now when people die. I am obviously insinuating that there has been a change in the "locations" of some of the dead. 1 Peter 3:19 references Jesus preaching to the ungodly dead, at the time of his death. Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8 give us the picture of Jesus taking the godly dead from the "holding tank" of Abraham's bosom to heaven itself, the abode of the Father. The ungodly, however, are left in Hades, the Greek word that equals Sheol. There they are left in punishment, while still awaiting the final judgment.

In Paul's writings, we are also given clues to our state of being when we die. In 2 Corinthians 5:8,9 as referenced in the title verses, to be away from the body, is to be present with our Master. This clearly indicates that our spirits depart the body, and are conscious with Jesus in heaven. He basically states the same thing in Philippians 1:23. If Jesus led the Old Covenant godly persons to heaven as conscious beings, why would he leave us now to wait in "soul sleep"? No, he takes us as conscious beings into his heavenly presence as soon as we die. If David could envision eternal pleasures with his limited understanding of the revelation given to him, then how much greater those pleasures must be in the loving presence of our Savior.

March 21 - Spooky Shadows

Psalm 23:4 – "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death, I will not fear any disaster, because you [God] are at my side...."

       As I was reading Psalm 23 in my Spanish NVI, verse 4 was translated with the Spanish word "tenebrosos", which can mean spooky or eerie. I laughed when I read that definition. I had never read the word "spooky" in my Bible. Spookiness connotes that weird feeling of the unknown, when one is in a dark strange place, where the bogeyman or Bigfoot, is just one step behind us, waiting to pounce at the height of our mind running amok in fear. That kind of fear is just one's imagination. The greater, and real, kind of fear is when one sees the threat of real death coming near to one's own life.

       This was written during the great "panicdemic" of March 2020, when the "civilized" world took extreme caution in trying to prevent a widespread pandemic of a strain of the flu virus – COVID19. Public/social gatherings were banned and/or highly discouraged, by all levels of government, in order to stem the spread of a quasi-dangerous contagious disease. (Never mind that there still exist many more of the same types of diseases that we all IGNORE all the time, simply because they are commonplace and treatable, notwithstanding the fact that they can still be deadly to older folks and people who already have other serious health issues.) International commerce was affected; office workers were told to work from home; restaurants were closed for in-house eating; even church gatherings were highly curtailed, because the authorities wanted to minimize the chance of people spreading the virus to others.

       The key word here is "minimize", which goes along with the concept of caution. Prevention of getting a disease is what we all should practice in our everyday lives, but only as something commonplace, as we actually live our normal everyday lives. Paranoia kicks in, when we allow the thoughts of "what if" to creep in and paralyze our freedom in living. What if I am unknowingly a carrier of any virus, and I go to visit my 80-year old grandmother? I could be bringing the death sentence to her! At this stage of her game, any sickness or accident could be the death of her! Every day, we drive heavy machines on roads at high speeds - machines that could kill us in an instant. Yet, we do so in commonplace fashion, even though the odds are not in favor of us never getting into an accident. Every time we get behind the wheel of a car, we are taking chances. So, why should we go to extremes to curtail normal living in freedom?

       At my workplace, some of the previously-mentioned extreme measures have already been put in place. However, it could be too late. I have already been breathing the same air as my one hundred co-workers; already have shared common colds with them; already have touched their computer equipment, door knobs, etc. All of that activity and more happens on a normal basis every day and every year. Then I have to go to the grocery store to buy food. So I breath the same air as a thousand other persons do. If I curtail those activities and more, I will have minimized the "chances", the "odds", of getting a disease. However, it only takes one person in a million to spread a virus to another person. The only way that I can truly keep myself from ever getting any disease, or giving a disease, is to stay at my house, without ever coming into contact with any other human being. That is not living! That is being stranded by yourself on an uncharted island! I have never seen the overblown reactions to the "possibility" of widespread contagion, as those that are happening now.

       I believe that the main reason for the widespread fear and paranoia is that the majority of the world has no hope or concept of what is beyond death. Since the western world has largely dismissed the concept of a real God, the only thing worth living for is the continuance of this physical life on earth. After death, we cease to exist; therefore, life itself must be prolonged at all costs, in order to even have the slightest chance for happiness. What a sad state of mind!

       We hear the words of Psalm 23 at most funerals in America. Do we really believe them?  Is there really a God who exists, who cares about us, who CAN comfort us in death, or in the threat of death, or in paranoia of death, or in the pre-mature coming of death? Death is coming to all of us!! It is unavoidable!  Should we not be seeking to find the real meaning of life, God, truth, and the meaning of existence?

       The whole of Psalm 23 has to become a reality in our lives, and not just poetic beauty to deal with the loss of loved ones. 1 Peter 5:4 states, "Cast all your anxiety on [God], for he cares for you." Psalm 55:22 also states, "Cast your cares on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken." We should also take great encouragement from 2 Timothy 4:18: "Yahweh will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to this heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever."

       There is a wonderful future for all of us adopted children of God, even though we may have to get to that kingdom by walking through some spooky places.