October 3: WE ARE MORTALS
The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down to silence. Psalm 115:17
The Bible does not teach inherent immortality of the soul. Nor does it teach that immediately after death the faithful soar directly into heaven’s bliss while the unfaithful descend to hell, where they burn for eternity. The Bible refers to death as a sleep. The deaths of the patriarchs are thus consistently described. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David (1 Kings 2:10; see also 11:43; 14:20).
Many will claim that the Old Testament is silent on the joyful resurrection that is promised to the faithful at the second coming of Jesus. Not so! David looked forward to Christ’s coming in power and glory, in addition to his vision (Psalm 22:6-21) of the Lord’s ignominious death on the cross. For David declared: “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15). This idea of being awakened from the sleep of death (Psalm 13:3) is consistent with the teachings of the Bible.
When the Assyrian army was finally and utterly defeated, the death of the soldiers was called their sleep… a dead sleep (Psalm 76:5-6). This answers the question about the unrighteous. So we know that both the righteous and the unrighteous are viewed as asleep when they die. The concept of the dead as disembodied spirits hovering around to communicate with the living is an unbiblical concept: purely pagan teaching.
Failure to make a clear distinction between life and death leaves us vulnerable to the Deceiver who capitalizes upon our Biblical illiteracy. If he can convince us that our dead loved ones are actually alive, we are sitting ducks for belief of a host of falsehoods that will become a spectacular display in the last days.
“Many will be confronted by the spirits of devils personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous of heresies. These visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions. We must be prepared to withstand them with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils.” E.G. White, The Great Controversy (p.560)
While it is true that both the righteous and the wicked who have died are now resting in the dust of the earth (Daniel 12:2; see also John 5:28-29), there is a 1000-year period between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked (Revelation 20:1-6).
Though we mourn deeply for the dead – for death is a terrible tragedy – we do not sorrow as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Consider that those who die in Christ close their eyes in death, and then… regardless of the time that passes until Christ’s second coming, the next thing they know is the sight of the Redeemer and all of His faithful ones meeting in the air for the victorious reunion parade to the heavenly Jerusalem (see John 14:1-3 & Hebrews 11:39-40). Their first thought will be: “Wow! Jesus came back soon after all!”
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26 (see also Revelation 20:14)