Short answer:
The righteous goes to the “bosom of Abraham,” also known as the Garden of Eden (Paradise); the sinner goes to Gehenna, which is so close to the lake of fire that the heat and flames make it a place of torment. Both places are just temporary dwelling places for the spirits of the dead as they await the Last Judgment.
All saved spirits, whether Jews or Gentiles, go to the bosom of Abraham. After all, “if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
Detailed explanation:
For a more detailed answer, let us first find out what the
Bible, the word of God, teaches about the parts of man that can either cease or
continue to exist when a person physically expires.
Three
parts of a man
In
1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul enumerates three parts of a man: “And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The three parts are: (1) spirit; (2) soul; and
(3) body. Let us examine all three to determine the use or function of each
one.
The body.
There
is no exact term for “body” in Hebrew. The International
Standard Bible Encyclopaedia explains: “Generally speaking, the Old
Testament language employs no fixed term for the human body… Various terms were
employed, each of which denotes only one part or element of the physical
nature, such as ‘trunk,’ ‘bones,’ ‘belly,’ ‘bowels,’ ‘reins,’ ‘flesh,’ these
parts being used, by synecdoche, for the whole… The Greek word which is used
almost exclusively for ‘body’ in the New Testament is soma.”
Man’s
physical body came from the earth. “And
the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground…” (Gen 2:7a). Chemically,
human beings are made up of the same elements found in the ground.
The soul.
“And the LORD God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul”
(Gen 2:7). It looks like the soul came into existence as a product or result of
life. The word “soul” is nephesh in Hebrew; psyche
in Greek.
Instincts and desires. The soul feels and expresses some of
the most basic instincts and emotions of man. According to Fausset’s Bible Dictionary, “The soul is the seat of the appetites, the desires, the will;
hunger, thirst, sorrow, joy; love,
hope, fear, etc…” It is the
soul that feels the need to eat and drink, as in Isaiah 29:8 (NKJV) – “It shall even be as when a hungry man
dreams. And look -- he eats; But he awakes, and his soul is still empty; Or as
when a thirsty man dreams, And look -- he drinks; But he awakes, and indeed he
is faint, And his soul still craves.” Or:
“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and
filleth the hungry soul with goodness” (Ps 107:9; cf. Deut 12:20; Prov 25:25).
Carl
Jung (1875-1961), the world renowned Swiss psychiatrist who developed the field
of analytical psychology, had a similar view: The soul is the lower nature of
man, the personal unconscious with the instincts and desires.
The spirit.
The International
Standard Bible Encyclopaedia states that the term “spirit” has a shade of
meaning that is “generally for all the manifestations of the spiritual part in
man, as that which thinks, feels,
wills…”
Mind. In other words, the spirit houses the
intellect, the mental faculties, or the rational, thinking mind of man. Roberto
Assagioli, an Italian Jew regarded as the father of transpersonal psychology,
defined the spirit as the personal “I” or “conscious self.”
In
the Old Testament, Hebrew ruach
(“spirit”) is frequently translated as “mind”, as in Proverb 29:11 – “A fool uttereth all his mind (ruach): but a wise man keepeth it in till
afterwards” (cf. Gen 26:34-35;
Ezek 11:5b; Dan 5:20a; Hab 1:11). The spirit can gain both knowledge and
wisdom: “Immediately Jesus knew in his
spirit (Greek pneuma) that this was what they were thinking in
their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?” (Mark
2:8-9, NIV; cf. Ex 28:3; Dan 5:12).
The spirit makes decisions (Deut 2:30; cf.
Matt 26:41); it can be troubled or upset (Gen 41:8; Dan 2:1); it can be either
patient or proud (Eccl 7:8). Thus, it becomes clear that the spirit can have
all the thoughts that may enter into a man’s mind.
God and the angels. God is a spirit (John 4:24); and, as
we know, God is all-knowing. The angels, too, are spirits (Ps 104:4, Heb 1:7, 12:9)
and, unless they materialize, have no physical bodies with brains. Yet,
although ethereal, they have individual consciousness and minds of their own.
This goes to show that the mind, consciousness, and intelligence are in the
spirit.
The parts of Adam.
“And
the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen 2:7).
No spirit. Something seems to be missing. Adam had
a physical body from the dust of the ground, and as a result of life he became
a living soul (nephesh), having the
instincts necessary to eat and drink in order to sustain life; but… he had no
spirit! Adam lacked the part that is responsible for conscious and intelligent
thought. What could be the reason for this?
Origin of spirit. The prophet Zechariah gives us an idea:
“The burden of the word of the LORD for
Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the
foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him” (Zech
12:1). God forms the spirit inside man. Hence, the physical body must first
come into existence; only then can the spirit be divinely formed or fashioned
inside the human body.
The
process becomes clear. First, the body; next the soul (nephesh, with the instincts to survive by drinking, eating, etc.);
then the spirit (ruach, with the consciousness
and intellect). The spirit or mind seems to gradually develop as the physical
body grows and matures – at the same rate as the physical growth of a child.
Psychoanalyst
Carl Jung taught something similar: the conscious mind “grows out of an
unconscious psyche (soul), which is older than it…” as quoted by author Migene
Gonzalez-Wippler (A Kabbalah for the
Modern World, 1974, p. 148). This
explains why we cannot talk sensibly with babies and very young children –
their spirits or minds are not yet well developed. If that is the case, then
God must have created Adam as an infant or a little baby!
A
fourth part of man
Man
appears to have a little known fourth part, in addition to the three (body,
soul, and spirit) that we have already discussed.
Two kinds of spirit.
Another
kind of spirit distinct from the ruach
crops up surreptitiously, unnoticeably, in some Biblical verses. We thus find
two markedly different kinds of spirit: One seems to be corruptible, while the
other appears to be incorruptible or indestructible. We see in 1 Thessalonians
5:23: “And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul prayed for the preservation of the
spirit, so it follows that that particular spirit can be destroyed. We see the
same thing in other verses, both in the OT and NT: “Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath
preserved my spirit (ruach)” (Job
10:12); “To deliver such an one unto
Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit (pneuma) may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1
Cor 5:5).
On
the other hand, there seems to be another kind of spirit that cannot be
destroyed. “Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Eccl
12:7). Solomon said that the spirit of the dead goes back to God, who gave it
to man. The corruptible spirit (ruach),
as Zechariah hinted, did not come from God, who forms or fashions the spirit
that is already inside the body. Apparently, these are two different kinds of
spirit!
The difference. Let us take another, much closer
look. The perishable spirit, which did not come from God, if soiled by sin, can
be destroyed. On the other hand, the indestructible spirit, which came from
God, it appears, will return to God at death unconditionally – whether the
person is a sinner or a saint! We are already familiar with the verses about
the corruptible spirit (ruach or
mind). Let us now look for examples of the incorruptible spirit for scrutiny.
“Spirit of life.” Several passages state that the spirit
makes the body alive. “It is the Spirit (pneuma)
who gives life; the flesh profits
nothing” (John 6:63, NKJV). “For as
the body without the spirit (pneuma)is
dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). “And after three days and an half the Spirit
(pneuma) of life from God entered
into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which
saw them” (Rev 11:11; cf. Luke
8:52-55).
“Breath of life.” In other Bible verses, the life-giving
and sustaining element in man is referred to as the “breath of life” (Hebrew neshamah). “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life (neshamah); and man became a living soul” (Gen 2:7). “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath (neshamah) of the Almighty hath given me life”
(Job 33:4). “If he set his heart upon
man, if he gather unto himself his spirit (ruach) and his breath (neshamah);
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust” (Job
34:14-15; cf. Isa 42:5).
The
“breath of life” came from God. Hence, the “spirit of life” must also be the neshamah, which is indestructible and “shall return unto God who gave it,” whatever
the spiritual condition of the person is. It is so unlike the other spirit (ruach) which has the conscious mind that
is formed inside the body and, being corruptible, can either be saved or
destroyed.
Big picture. We can now visualize the simplified big
picture, based on the Biblical passages:
1)
body of man was formed by God from the ground;
2) neshamah
(breath of life) from God made the body alive;
3)
nephesh (soul) spontaneously came
into being as a result of life;
4) ruach
(spirit) grew inside the body, and was formed or fashioned by God.
Different beliefs
Solomon
said there is a silver cord that keeps the body, soul, and spirit tied
together, but this cord gets unfastened at the moment of death. We read in
Ecclesiastes12:6-7 – “Or ever the silver
cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Death
can no longer be averted once the silver cord is loosed. “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and
there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that
are given to it” (Eccl 8:8).
That
brings us back to the ages-old question: What happens after a person dies? The
enigma of whether life and consciousness continue after death has haunted men
since time immemorial. There are several different beliefs concerning what happens to a deceased
individual after death.
Annihilation? This belief assumes that all things end for a person at death – physically and mentally. Proponents of annihilationism argue that this is consistent with biblical teachings about God's justice and mercy in relation to eternal punishment. The Sadducees did not believe in the existence and immortality of the soul or spirit (Matt 22:23; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Josephus Ant. 18.1.4.; Wars 2.8.14), because Moses made no mention of them. “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both” (Acts 23:8).
Reincarnation?
Belief
in the preexistence of the soul is behind the concept of reincarnation – the rebirth of a person’s spirit in a new human body, an animal,
or some other form of life. The
idea came with the
Greek culture to Israel, finding its way into the Bible. “And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or
his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2-3). The disciples were
wondering if the beggar might have been born blind because he had sinned in a
previous life. No, Christ said, the man was born blind so
that the works of God could be manifested through His miracles.
Unbiblical. Paul, in a sweeping statement later,
doused any notion the disciples might have entertained about reincarnation. “And as it is appointed unto men once to
die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27). He stated categorically that
men can only die once. Therefore, the belief in preexistence and reincarnation is
unbiblical.
“Sleep of death”?
Many
times in the Bible, death is euphemistically called “sleep.” We see examples of
this in the following verses: 1 Kings 2:10 – “So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David”;
Matthew 27:52a – “And the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose…”; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 51 – “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of
them that slept… Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed.” For this reason, some denominations teach that dead
people lie in the grave with no consciousness at all until they are raised back
to life in either one of the two prophesied resurrections.
Conscious spirits. Revelation 6:9-10 belies the “sleep
of death” interpretation. “And when he
had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they
cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” The martyred
believers below the altar in heaven are fully conscious and calling to God from
below the altar in heaven!
Moreover,
Christ told the repentant thief crucified with Him, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke
23:43b). It does not look like Christ would take the man along to sleep in
Paradise.
Heaven or hell?
After
life in this world, do righteous people go straight to heaven, while sinners go
directly to hell (the lake of fire)? That is what some mainstream churches
teach.
No man in heaven. Christ said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). Quite clearly,
therefore, no man, except Christ, the Son of God, has ever gone up to be with
the Father in heaven.
No one in hell… yet. Sinners will be thrown into “hell” only after the Last Judgment: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15). “Hell” is reserved for Satan and his minions. “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). After losing the war in heaven, Satan and his demons were thrown down to earth, not into the lake of fire (Rev 12:9). In fact, Satan is now the “god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4). “Hell” is still empty.
What the Jewish sages taught
So, what really happens after death? Let us again appeal to the received wisdom of the Jewish sages. But, wait a minute, why keep on consulting the Jews, you might say, they are not Christians. Paul explains: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God” (Rom 3:1-2, NIV). Christ also told the Samaritan woman at the well, “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22b, NIV).
Three separate destinations.
We
read in a commentary on the Torah (first five books of the Bible): “Three names
has the soul of man: nephesh, ruah and neshamah. They are all comprised one
within the other, yet upon death they have three distinct abodes:
“Neshamah
(breath of life) ascends at once to her place, the region from whence she
emanated, and for her sake the light is kindled to shine above. She never again
descends to earth… And as long as she has not ascended to be united with the
Throne, the ruah (spirit) cannot
crown itself in paradise, nor can the nephesh
(soul) be at ease in its place; but when she ascends all the others find rest.”
This is basically what Solomon said. “Then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it” (Eccl 12:7).
“Ruah
(spirit) enters paradise and there dons a likeness which is in the semblance of
the body: that likeness being, as it were, a garment with which the spirit
robes itself, so that it may enjoy the delights of paradise.” This is why
Christ told the repentant thief crucified with Him, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke
23:43b).
It
is the spirit, not the soul, which goes to Paradise. The psalmist sang: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou
hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth” (Ps 31:5). Christ commended His
spirit as He died on the cross: “And when
Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands
I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last” (Luke
23:46-47, NKJV). The martyr Stephen likewise prayed for his spirit as he was
being stoned to death: “And they stoned
Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts
7:59).
“Nephesh
(soul) remains in the grave until the body is decomposed and turned into dust,
during which time it flits about in this world, seeking to mingle with the
living… the three are one – yet separate. The neshamah ascends aloft to the fountainhead; the ruah enters paradise; the nephesh finds rest in the grave.”
The
afterlife, according to Christ
The
following account, related by Christ to His disciples, is not a parable, as
some mistakenly believe, but an object lesson or practical example and
illustration of what actually happens to the spirits of men after death. “There was a certain rich man, which was
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table:
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. “And it came to pass, that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man
also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke 16:19-23).
Two regions in Hades.
Lazarus
the beggar and the rich man went to two separate destinations after death. The
rich man had a rude surprise. (“Hell” in this passage is the English
translation of the Greek Hades, which
refers to the underground domain of the dead [not the “lake of fire”]; its
equivalent in Hebrew is Sheol.) The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia notes:
“Hades is here the comprehensive designation of the locality where the dead
reside, and is divided into two
regions, ‘the bosom of Abraham’ and the place of torment…”
Jewish
historian Flavius Josephus wrote: “There is one descent into this region, at
whose gate we believe there stands an archangel with an host, which gate when
those pass through that are conducted down by the angels appointed over souls;
they do not go the same way; but the just are guided to the right hand, and are
led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed over that place unto a region of
light, in which the just have dwelt from the beginning of the world; not
constrained by necessity, but ever enjoying the prospect of the good things
they see, and rejoice in the expectation of those new enjoyments, which will be
peculiar to every one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have
here; with whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing cold,
nor are any briers there; but the countenance of the fathers and of the just,
which they see always smiles upon them, while they wait for that rest and
eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call
the Bosom of Abraham.”
The New Unger's Bible
Dictionary concludes
that “it seems clear that Hades was in two
compartments, the residence respectively of saved and unsaved spirits.” Jewish
teaching and the New Testament account agree.
Several names for Paradise.
According
to Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the
Whole Bible, “The Jews expressed the happiness of the righteous at death
three ways: they go to the garden of Eden: they go to be under the throne of
glory; and they go to the bosom of Abraham…” The phrase “under the throne of
glory” means the same as “under the altar” (Rev 6:9; q.v., Ex 30:1, 6; Rev 9:13).
Third heaven. Paradise is also the “third heaven,” as
Paul illustrated in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4a – “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body,
I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an
one caught up to the third heaven… How that he was caught up into paradise…”
Both Jews and
Gentiles. At
death, all saved spirits, whether Jews or Gentiles, go to the “bosom of
Abraham” (Paradise, third heaven, or under the throne or altar). After all, “if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29).
Place of torment.
Let
us now see where the rich man ended up after a lavish life on earth. “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke
16:23). Josephus gives us a detailed account: “But as to the unjust, they are
dragged by force to the left hand by angels allotted for punishment, no longer
going with a good-will, but as prisoners driven by violence; to whom are sent
the angels appointed over them to reproach them and threaten them with terrible
looks, and to thrust them still downwards. “Now those angels that are set over
these souls, drag them into the neighborhood of hell itself, who, when they are
hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the hot
vapor itself; but when they have a nearer view of this spectacle, as of a
terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with a fearful
expectation of a future judgment, and in effect punished thereby…”
Gehenna. The terrifying region on the left is Gehenna, Greek for Ge-Hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom), an actual deep, narrow valley below
the southern slope of Jerusalem. It had an area called Topeth, where pagan
worshippers sacrificed children (Jer 7:31) to Moloch, god of the Ammonites and
Phoenicians. To stop the evil practices, King Josiah (7th century
B.C.) littered the site with human bones, dead criminals and animals, and other
unclean things (2 Kings 23:10). It became a garbage dump where the city’s wastes
and dead animals were burned continuously. Flies abounded, and their maggots
covered the remains of carcasses. It “became the representative or image of the
place of everlasting punishment, especially on account of its ever-burning
fires.”
Lake
of fire next door. The
rich man was desperate from great thirst in the unbearable heat. “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water,
and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24). The
Greek word used for “flame” is phlox,
which is the gaseous part of fire, not the fire itself (pyros), showing that Gehenna is not the lake of fire, but is simply
adjacent and so close to it that the heat and flames make it a place of
torment.
Separated by a
canyon. The
rich man’s plea could not be granted. Abraham said, “between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would
come from thence” (Luke 16:26). Josephus (ca. 37-100) echoes Luke’s Gospel
account (ca. 56-58) – “where they see the place of the fathers and of the just,
even hereby are they punished; for a chaos deep and large is fixed between
them; insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them cannot be
admitted, nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it,
pass over it.”
A
Jewish tradition has it that at the bottom of the impassable canyon separating Gan Eden and Gehenna is a river flowing with cool, refreshing waters. However,
whenever anyone from Gehenna goes
down and tries to scoop some water from the river, the water recedes! This is
repeated at every attempt endlessly. That was why the rich man begged Abraham
to send down Lazarus to dip his finger in the water for him. He was in front of
the water, and yet he was unable to refresh himself!
Temporary holding places.
Both
Gan Eden and Gehenna, the two regions of Hades
(or Sheol), are only temporary
holding places for the spirits of the dead as they await the Last Judgment.
Josephus said that the saved will be in the Bosom of Abraham “while they wait
for that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region.”
The New Unger's Bible Dictionary
confirms this, “The rich man, who is evidently still in Hades, is a
representative case and describes the unjudged condition in the intermediate
state of the wicked.”
Restoration of all things.
The
spirits of the dead will be in Hades until the restoration of all things. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your
sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and
that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you -- even Jesus. He
must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he
promised long ago through his holy prophets” (Acts 3:19-22, NIV). Implicit
in the verse is the idea that the restoration of all things will begin at the
Second Coming of Christ – which will also witness the first resurrection.
The Millennium. The full restoration will take place
during the 1,000 years of peace on earth (the Millennium) when Christ will
reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. “And
I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him
into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he
should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled… and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus,
and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his
image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev 20:1-3a,4b).
Vegetarian diet. What will be restored? For one, the
Creator had commanded men and animals to be plant-eaters: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which
is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of
a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the
earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it
was so” (Gen 1:29-30). Yet, men and many animals have turned omnivores,
carnivores, even predators.
During
the Millennium, wild animals will no longer eat or otherwise harm fellow
creatures. “The wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and
the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together:
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on
the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice'
den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa
11:6-9).
Long life spans. From Creation until Noah’s Flood, men
lived close to a thousand years. For instance, “And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine
years: and he died” (Gen 5:27). Men’s longevity will be restored in the
Millennium. “There shall be no more thence
an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child
shall die an hundred years old… as the days of a tree are the days of my
people...” (Isa 65:20a, 22b). Trees
are the longest-living organisms on earth. The lives of the Millennial Kingdom’s
citizens will be similar.
Ghosts.
It
appears that what people call “ghost” (Greek phantasma) is the nephesh (“soul”). As we have seen in the Jewish
commentary, the “nephesh remains in
the grave until the body is decomposed and turned into dust, during which time
it flits about in this world, seeking to mingle with the living…” A “ghost,”
though, seems to be a mere shadow or trace of the dead person’s soul (nephesh), seen only under certain
favorable conditions of light and temperature. It appears to disintegrate
sooner or later. Without the ruach
(spirit or mind), ghosts usually do not interact with living people. They do so
only if the nephesh (soul) is
possessed by a spirit, usually an evil one.
Men
have known and believed in ghosts and spirits since ancient times. Over 4,000
years ago, Job’s friend Eliphaz described one. “Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up” (Job
4:15). The spirit had an electromagnetic characteristic!
The
disciples mistook Christ for a ghost several times. “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking
on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were
terrified. "It's a ghost (phantasma)," they said, and cried out in fear” (Matt 14:25-26; Mark
6:49, NIV). After the Resurrection, “While
they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to
them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw
a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in
your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a
ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke
24:36-39, NIV).
Sightings. Jewish sages believed that the dead can
be revived. “Now when the children of men are in sorrow or trouble, and repair
to the graves of the departed, then the nephesh
is awakened and it wanders forth and rouses the ruah, which in turn rouses the Patriarchs, and then the neshamah.” The long-dead prophets Moses
and Elijah appeared to Christ and were seen by disciples at the Transfiguration
on the Mount. Christ brought back to life His friend Lazarus; Jairus’s
daughter; a widow’s only son in Nain. The prophets Elijah and Elisha each
revived a child. At the Resurrection, many saints arose from their graves and
appeared to people in the city.
Spiritism or necromancy. The witch of Endor summoned the
spirit of the prophet Samuel for King Saul: “And
the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said
unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is
covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped
with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why
hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?” (1 Sam 28:14-15a).
Abomination. Contacting the spirit of the dead is
disgusting to God. “There shall not be
found among you… a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For
all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD…” (Deut 18:10-12).
Resurrection of the dead.
All
dead humans not taken in the first resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ will
be resurrected after the Millennium for the Last Judgment before the Great
White Throne “But the rest of the dead
lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (Rev 20:5). The
oldest will have been dead for close to 7,000 years!
Bodies and souls restored. The Jewish sages “believed that the
body will be raised again; for although it be dissolved, it is not perished;
for the earth receives its remains, and preserves them… but at the mighty sound
of God the Creator, it will sprout up, and be raised in a clothed and glorious
condition…for although it be dissolved for a time on account of the original
transgression, it exists still, and is cast into the earth as into a potter’s
furnace, in order to be formed again… to
everybody shall its own soul be restored.”
The
Four Parts of Man
|
|
Hebrew |
Greek |
Source |
Function |
Terminus at Death |
|
Body
|
(various) |
Soma
|
Ground |
Vessel |
Ground |
|
Breath
/spirit of life |
Neshamah
|
- |
God |
Life giver |
God |
|
Soul
|
Nephesh
|
Psyche |
Life |
Instincts, desires |
Ground |
|
Spirit
|
Ruach |
Pneuma |
Neshamah
|
Mind |
1)Hades (Paradise or Gehenna); 2)Kingdom of
heaven or lake of fire |
Excerpted from the booklet Secrets of the Soul and Spirit and the book Angels & Men by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.
Bible
quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise
indicated.
