Soul Sleep. Just the term makes some believers go running for the hills and putting their fingers in their ears. After all, the churches are telling them that 'to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord', and that is scripture! But it is removed from it's context with the rest of scripture. Today I hope to show you exegetically why soul sleep is not only biblical, but one of the best scripturally supported stances for what happens immediately after we die.
So what exactly is soul sleep? It is the idea that when we die our spirits go to a place called Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek. That there we sleep until the resurrection of the dead and face judgement before Adonai, and only after judgement do we either get thrown into the place called Gehanna in Hebrew, Tartarus in Greek, or more commonly known as the Lake of Fire - or go on to Heaven or the New Earth with our glorified bodies. Now, this discussion can hold a lot of overlap in whether we go to heaven or the new earth, or if the Lake of Fire is a place of eternal punishment or utter destruction, and everything in between, but I hope to keep us on topic.
The first key to understanding this issue is to understand how scripture was translated into English on it, which is why it's gotten so confusing. For example, the words Sheol, Hades, Gehanna, and Tartarus have all been translated at various times into Hell, grave and abyss. Sadly because different words have been muddied to look like the same it can drastically affect what we see from the scripture in English so we must be looking to the proper text for the best understanding.
So lets start with defining the terms.
First we have Sheol and Hades, two words for the same thing. In English these end up translated most often as Hell, but also as the grave and the pit. Secondly we have Gehanna and Tartarus, which commonly were also called Hell while clearly being a separate entity from Sheol, they were also translated into Abyss and Lake of Fire. So how does scripture show us that two separate places are being discussed? Let's start with a base in Psalms 139:8, If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I lie down in Sh'ol, you are there. So here can firstly see that not only is Elohim present in Sheol but that it is separate from Heaven. Psalms 16:10 then says, for you will not abandon me to Sh'ol, you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss. Here we can see the separation, for while the author knows he would be going to Sheol he knows he won't be there forever and will not be given to the Abyss, or the Lake of Fire. Psalms 89:49 (48 in some versions) shows us that all go to Sheol by saying, Who can live and not see death? Who can save himself from the power of the grave? Even Isaiah recognized that he himself would do to Sheol, not to heaven right away, saying in Isaiah 38:10, "I once said: 'In the prime of life I am going off to the gates of Sh'ol. I am being deprived of living out the full span of my life.' Some have even theorized a divide within Sheol to hold 'compartments', this idea is not overtly scripturally supported and comes from two of the three variations of the Book of Enoch. The closes scriptural evidence was the Parable given by Yeshua in Luke 16:16-31 where we see the poor man go to Abraham's Bosom and the rich man to the fire. Yet it is no more than a parable and wasn't even meant to teach us of heaven and hell but of needing miracles for our faith. Compare this to what scripture tells us of Gehenna or Tartarus; some passages from specifically tell us that Gehanna is a place of fire (Matthew 5:22), that sinners are thrown into it (Matthew 5:29), and that it destroys people body and souls (Matthew 10:28). As it destroys we then can see this clearly wasn't the place Isaiah had spoke of going to!
So what exactly is soul sleep? It is the idea that when we die our spirits go to a place called Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek. That there we sleep until the resurrection of the dead and face judgement before Adonai, and only after judgement do we either get thrown into the place called Gehanna in Hebrew, Tartarus in Greek, or more commonly known as the Lake of Fire - or go on to Heaven or the New Earth with our glorified bodies. Now, this discussion can hold a lot of overlap in whether we go to heaven or the new earth, or if the Lake of Fire is a place of eternal punishment or utter destruction, and everything in between, but I hope to keep us on topic.
The first key to understanding this issue is to understand how scripture was translated into English on it, which is why it's gotten so confusing. For example, the words Sheol, Hades, Gehanna, and Tartarus have all been translated at various times into Hell, grave and abyss. Sadly because different words have been muddied to look like the same it can drastically affect what we see from the scripture in English so we must be looking to the proper text for the best understanding.
So lets start with defining the terms.
First we have Sheol and Hades, two words for the same thing. In English these end up translated most often as Hell, but also as the grave and the pit. Secondly we have Gehanna and Tartarus, which commonly were also called Hell while clearly being a separate entity from Sheol, they were also translated into Abyss and Lake of Fire. So how does scripture show us that two separate places are being discussed? Let's start with a base in Psalms 139:8, If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I lie down in Sh'ol, you are there. So here can firstly see that not only is Elohim present in Sheol but that it is separate from Heaven. Psalms 16:10 then says, for you will not abandon me to Sh'ol, you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss. Here we can see the separation, for while the author knows he would be going to Sheol he knows he won't be there forever and will not be given to the Abyss, or the Lake of Fire. Psalms 89:49 (48 in some versions) shows us that all go to Sheol by saying, Who can live and not see death? Who can save himself from the power of the grave? Even Isaiah recognized that he himself would do to Sheol, not to heaven right away, saying in Isaiah 38:10, "I once said: 'In the prime of life I am going off to the gates of Sh'ol. I am being deprived of living out the full span of my life.' Some have even theorized a divide within Sheol to hold 'compartments', this idea is not overtly scripturally supported and comes from two of the three variations of the Book of Enoch. The closes scriptural evidence was the Parable given by Yeshua in Luke 16:16-31 where we see the poor man go to Abraham's Bosom and the rich man to the fire. Yet it is no more than a parable and wasn't even meant to teach us of heaven and hell but of needing miracles for our faith. Compare this to what scripture tells us of Gehenna or Tartarus; some passages from specifically tell us that Gehanna is a place of fire (Matthew 5:22), that sinners are thrown into it (Matthew 5:29), and that it destroys people body and souls (Matthew 10:28). As it destroys we then can see this clearly wasn't the place Isaiah had spoke of going to!
Indeed the Lake of Fire, Hell, was not even made for people but for angels. Matthew 25:41 says, Then he will also speak to those on his left, saying, 'Get away from me, you who are cursed! Go into the fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels! This is a place created for punishment and imprisonment of the angels who followed HaSatan, and they aren't there yet! The Lake of Fire is currently empty. Job 1:7 shows us that before the Resurrection of the Messiah the Adversary had free roam on the earth by saying, Adonai asked the Adversary, "Where are you coming from?" The Adversary answered Adonai, "From roaming through the earth, wandering here and there." 2 Corinthians 4:4 shows us that not only does he still have free range but that he has the title of 'god of the 'olam hazeh (present age)'. Saying, They do not come to trust because the god of the 'olam hazeh has blinded their minds, in order to prevent them from seeing the light shining from the Good News about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God. Further we see that they are thrown into the Abyss, Hell, at the beginning of the Millenial Kingdom in Revelations 20:1-3, Next I saw an angel coming down from heaven, who had the key to the Abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan (the Adversary), and chained him up for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, locked it and sealed it over him; so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that, he has to be set free for a little while.
With a basic concept now of the differences between Sheol and Gehenna we can now look at Soul sleep, the idea that we go to Sheol when we die until the resurrection of the dead. This generally isn't even disputed for prior to Yeshua's death and resurrection. A large example towards this is the expression 'being gathered to my people' that we see throughout the Torah. Verses like Genesis 49:29, Then he charged them as follows: "I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave that is in the field of 'Efron the Hitti, Genesis 25:8, The Avraham breathed his last, dying at a ripe old age, an man full of years; and he was gathered to his people. Genesis 25:17, This is how long Yishma'el lived: 137 years. Then he breathed his last and was gathered to his people. And Genesis 35:29, Then he breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people, an old man full of years; and his sons 'Esav and Ya'akov buried him. Now, first instinct may think this is purely about where a person is buried as these men all were buried with relatives. Yet this was not the case for the expression as we can then see it used by Aharon and Moshe who were not buried with relatives at all! Numbers 20:24 says, "Aharon is about to be gathered to his people, because he is not the enter the land I have given to the people of Isra'el, inasmuch as you rebelled against what I said at the M'rivah Spring. Likewise Deuteronomy 32:40 says, On the mountain you are ascending you will die and be gathered to your people, just as Aharan your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This shows it was even an expression that Elohim had used for people going to Sheol in death.
With a basic concept now of the differences between Sheol and Gehenna we can now look at Soul sleep, the idea that we go to Sheol when we die until the resurrection of the dead. This generally isn't even disputed for prior to Yeshua's death and resurrection. A large example towards this is the expression 'being gathered to my people' that we see throughout the Torah. Verses like Genesis 49:29, Then he charged them as follows: "I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave that is in the field of 'Efron the Hitti, Genesis 25:8, The Avraham breathed his last, dying at a ripe old age, an man full of years; and he was gathered to his people. Genesis 25:17, This is how long Yishma'el lived: 137 years. Then he breathed his last and was gathered to his people. And Genesis 35:29, Then he breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people, an old man full of years; and his sons 'Esav and Ya'akov buried him. Now, first instinct may think this is purely about where a person is buried as these men all were buried with relatives. Yet this was not the case for the expression as we can then see it used by Aharon and Moshe who were not buried with relatives at all! Numbers 20:24 says, "Aharon is about to be gathered to his people, because he is not the enter the land I have given to the people of Isra'el, inasmuch as you rebelled against what I said at the M'rivah Spring. Likewise Deuteronomy 32:40 says, On the mountain you are ascending you will die and be gathered to your people, just as Aharan your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This shows it was even an expression that Elohim had used for people going to Sheol in death.
Then we must see what was believed about people who were in Sheol. We already saw how Isaiah knew it would not be a permanent place, as he would not be abandoned there. Psalms 115:17 shows us that it is silence with the sleep, The dead can't praise Adonai, not those who down into silence. Daniel shows this silence to be sleep by saying in Daniel 12:2, Many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to the everlasting life and some to the everlasting shame and abhorrence. We also see Sheol as a place of sleep in Job 14:10-14, saying, But when a human being grows weak and dies, he expires; and then where is he? Just as water in a lake disappears, as a river shrinks and dries up; so a person lies down and doesn't arise - until the sky no longer exists; it will not awaken, it won't be roused from its sleep. I wish you would hide me in Sh'ol, conceal me until your anger has passed, then fix a time and remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? I will wait all the days of my life for my change to come. This passage holds some pretty big things in it when broken down. We first see that the body disappears, it decays and dries up, but that the person will live again 'when the sky no longer exists' and 'when Elohim's anger has passed', and that at that time he will be changed! This shows that Job felt that when the resurrection of the dead happen it would be when Elohim had passed this earth and heavens, when we are to be given our glorified bodies! This was a commonly held theology of biblical times, even Marta held to it. We see this in John 11:24, where it says, Marta said, "I know that he will rise again at the resurrection on the Last Day." Sadly this was not a universally held theology as we see in Acts 23:6-8 which shows us the disagreement between the Pharisees and Saducees, as the Saucees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Yet Yeshua himself stands to show that the dead were not yet in heaven when he says in John 3:13, No one has gone up into heaven; there is only the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
I know many of you are wanting to shout about Enoch and Elijah now, but we do need to look at those texts very carefully. After all, Yeshua could not have lied when he made this statement after the pair of them were taken. Genesis 5:24 shows us how he walked with God and then 'wasn't there', 'because God took him'. Hebrews 11:5 repeats this, that Enoch did not see death as God took him. But it never states Where God took him and thus is purely speculation to say that he went to heaven. Speculation that is defied by the words of Yeshua. What we can know is that he had't been to heaven, and that he did not taste a physical death; so the best conclusion from scripture is that he too went to sleep in Sheol. Elijah on the other hand is an entirely separate character. See, Elisha would not leave Elijah's side to do his own work that God had called him too, and thus we see warnings given to Elisha that his master, Elijah, would be taken from him. Elijah himself even knows he will be taken from Elisha. The holy fire separates the pair as Elijah is taken by a whirlwind and even though prepared Elisha is clearly upset with Elijah being removed from his presence. Scripture does state that he was taken up to heaven by this whirlwind, but that doesn't mean he was taken to heaven itself, as even Genesis 1:8 shows us that 'heaven' can be applies to sky and space in addition to the place our God resides. It is best theorized then that he was merely taken away into the air by a whirlwind and set down away from Elisha so that both could continue the work of Elohim properly. This may sound foreign at first, but it is biblically supported. To get this full picture we need to bounce around a little between 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. First, let us look to 2 Kings 3:11. Here we see Elisha speaking with King Jehoshaphat after Elijah was taken, nothing special right? Then in 2 Chronicles 21:1 we see King Jehoshaphat die and his son take the throne, King Jehoram. Yet we then see in 2 Chronicles 21:12 that Jehoram received as letter from Elijah! Years after Elijah was taken away from Elisha in a whirlwind. If he'd been taken to heaven, or even taken from the earth, how did he write a letter to a king after he was taken?
So we can then see that Yeshua was right, none had yet gone up to heaven. All had been in Sheol up to his death and resurrection and the understanding was that the resurrection of the dead would happen on the Last Day.
Many from here would claim that the dead rose with Yeshua when he died. However the scripture doesn't back this claim up either. Let us look then to the crucifixion and one of the most commonly used passages for this claim, Luke 23. In Luke 23:42-43 we see an exchange between the prisoner on the cross and Yeshua, it reads, The he said, "Yeshua, remember me when you come as King." Yeshua said to him, "Yes! I promise that you will be with me today in Gan-'Eden." Now, many modern translations place a comma that sadly in't in the original texts as such grammar markings didn't even exist. It is often used to read like "I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise", as thought the pair would be going to heaven that night. Sadly, that makes Yeshua a Liar, either when he says this or when he then says in John 20:17, "Stop holding onto me," Yeshua said to her, "because I haven't yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Yeshua had not even gone to heaven himself! So what then did he mean when he said in Luke 23:46 that he committed his spirit into his Father's hands as he died? It is like Psalms 139:8 had stated, Elohim is with those in Sheol as well. We can then only take what he says in Luke 23:43 as a statement of 'I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise', a future event being promised at that time.
The next most commonly used verse to state we now go to heaven immediately after death is, strangely enough, found in the Tanakh. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, the dust returns to the earth, as it was, and the spirit returns to God, who gave it! Well certainly our spirits return to God, who is as much in Sheol as he is in heaven, but this verse also does not place a time limit on the moment we go to the Father. As this was in the Tanakh and we've already addressed how they all slept in Sheol that only further supports that this was by means a verse to support an instant resurrection to be with Elohim. Those who died in that time certainly did not get this as Yeshua himself has stated in John 3:13.
So when then does the New Testament say about the resurrection of the dead and where the dead are now? Romans 8:19-23 says, The creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed; for the creation was made subject to frustration - not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it. But it was given a reliable hope that it too would be set free from its bondage to decay and would enjoy freedom accompanying the glory that God's children will have. We know that until now, the whole creation has been groaning as with the pains of childbirth; and not only it, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be made sons - that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free. At first this may not even seem relevant to the discussion. But there's a few key words in here we need to notice. One is that it mentions that nature will receive freedom accompanying the glory that God's children Will have, something they do not yet have. It also speaks futuristically of our bodies being redeemed and free. As we have already seen our bodies are not glorified until the resurrection of the dead so this does indeed show us that Paul saw this as a future event. We have been given only the promise and example in our firstfruits, the Messiah Yeshua, being Resurrected.
So when then does the New Testament say about the resurrection of the dead and where the dead are now? Romans 8:19-23 says, The creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed; for the creation was made subject to frustration - not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it. But it was given a reliable hope that it too would be set free from its bondage to decay and would enjoy freedom accompanying the glory that God's children will have. We know that until now, the whole creation has been groaning as with the pains of childbirth; and not only it, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be made sons - that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free. At first this may not even seem relevant to the discussion. But there's a few key words in here we need to notice. One is that it mentions that nature will receive freedom accompanying the glory that God's children Will have, something they do not yet have. It also speaks futuristically of our bodies being redeemed and free. As we have already seen our bodies are not glorified until the resurrection of the dead so this does indeed show us that Paul saw this as a future event. We have been given only the promise and example in our firstfruits, the Messiah Yeshua, being Resurrected.
1 Corinthians 15 is then a major passage for the argument that we go to sleep in Sheol when we pass away. We continue the first fruits theme in verses 12-19, But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised; and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also your trust is in vain; furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either; and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins. Also, if this is the case, those who dies in union with the Messiah are lost. It is only for this life that we have put our hope int he Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone. Some very bold language is being used here! Our faith is in vain without a resurrection of the dead? Well, of course it is! After all, salvation is the gift of the eternal life believers will receive. Hebrews 6:1-3 repeats the sentiment of how important the resurrection of the dead is to our faith. This again shows us how Yeshua's resurrection was the first, before all others, but what it doesn't do is put a time on when the resurrection of the dead occurs so we must look to context and other scripture for that. Continuing on to verses 20-23 we read, But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming; Now we have a time line! First we see a future tense in 'all will be made alive', not 'all have been made alive', and then we see that 'our order' is not only after the Messiah as we've covered already but at the time of his return! Which has not yet happened. 1 Corinthians 15 isn't done with us yet however. Verses 40-49 go on to describe the glorified bodies we will receive at the time of the resurrection. It even wraps up with verses 51 and 52 showing that not everyone will die, but when Yeshua returns at the sound of the shofar those living will be changed into their glorified bodies when the dead are raised.
2 Corinthians 5:6 says, So we are always confident - we know that so long as we are at home in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord; An often used verse to say that we instantly go to heaven when we die, yet does one verse nagate the multitudes we have already discussed? Of course not, we must apply scripture with scripture, not against scripture, so what is truly being said here? Let us continue to verse 10, for we live by trust, not by what we see. We are confident, then, and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and come to our home with the Lord. Therefore, whether at home or away from home, we try our utmost to please him; for we must all appear before the Messiah's court of judgement, where everyone will receive the good or bad consequences of what he did while he was in the body. So when we finish the passage we then see that we do indeed wait for our consequences which are given out at judgement. This then supports soul sleep in that we do not wake until that judgement is delivered. With our physical sleep we close our eyes and open them to morning, likewise then we would close our eyes on death and wake to the resurrection. To our perception then to be absent from the body is only a breath from being present with Adonai. This is further supported by Hebrews 9:27-28, Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgement, so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to deliver those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Now we can look to further supporting scripture which shows us that the resurrection of the dead does not happen until the return of our Messiah, and thus that the dead remain asleep in Sheol. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, Now, brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died; otherwise, you might become sad the way other people do who have nothing to hope for. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, we also believe that in the same way God, through Yeshua, will take with him those who have died. When we say this we base it on the Lord's own word: we who remain alive when the Lord comes will certainly not take precedence over those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God's shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. So encourage each other with these words. What powerful encouragement for the future he has given! That we would not be left in our slumber should we die before Yeshua's return but be among the first to be resurrected!
Then we get to a kicker that we have touched on already in Revelations 20. In which we see soul sleep, the occurrence of the resurrection of the dead, judgement day, and the difference in Sheol and Gehenna. Verses 4-5 say, Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them received authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for testifying about Yeshua and proclaiming the Word of God, also those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands. They came to life and rules with the Messiah for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is anyone who has a part in the first resurrection; over him the second death has no power. On the contrary, they will be cohanim of God and of the Messiah, and they will rule with him for a thousand years. This ties back into 1 Corinthians 15:23 where it spoke of how we will all be resurrected in our order, this time showing that not all rise at the second coming but all will be raised from their sleep in Sheol. Jumping to verses 12 -14 we read, And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to what they had done. The sea gave up the dead in it; and death and Sh'ol gave up the dead in them; and they were judged, each according to what he had done. Then death and Sh'ol were hurled into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death - the like of fire. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was hurled into the lake of fire. What a strong message sadly of how not all of those resurrected will be resurrected to eternal life, as some will instead face judgement and be sent into Gehenna, that fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels.
Daniel 12:2 truly sums everything up then quite well, Many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to the everlasting life and some to the everlasting shame and abhorrence. May we continue to witness to the world and spread the gospel that the Holy Spirit may use in bringing more people to Yeshua, and to everlasting life instead of everlasting shame when they awaken from the sleep of the first death in Sheol.
