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The Time Of Death |
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The Time Of Death |
Introduction:
Why should death be a subject included in this Bible study on The Last Things?
Because death is the end of life, and is therefore a last thing?
Because death is a part of life, the last part, which we need to understand?
Because death is the last thing we need to prepare ourselves for?
Because death as our final end raises a lot of questions we would like to have answers to?
Other reasons?
Death is a relevant topic. News programs have covered the subject of assisted suicides. The legality of assisted suicides has been proposed and debated in state legislatures. The moment of death is a vital concern in the medical fields and courts in regard to establishing when a person is “brain dead,” or when and whether a life support system should be turned off. Near death or after death experiences have also been the subject of books and articles.
Focus:
The aim of this Bible study is to explore what the Scriptures teach us about death and what we can expect, as well as to cover related topics relevant to our times.
Searching the Scriptures:
1. In this first section of this Bible study we will discover what death is.
The world considers death a natural part of life. In light of the account of man’s creation and the other following passages, however, death was not a part of life in the beginning. God created man and gave him the necessities of life in order that man could live forever, not die. Scripturally speaking, then, death is not natural but unnatural, since death came into existence as a result of sin and as a punishment for sin.
Genesis 1:26-29 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
Genesis 2:7, 16, 17 The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Romans 5:12 Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death.
The Bible speaks of three different kinds of death. The following passages reveal these three kinds of death as physical or temporal death, spiritual death, and eternal death.
The following set of passages speaks of death as a physical death. Physical, or temporal, death is the soul being separated from its body and from the Lord’s blessings in this world.
Genesis 5:5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.
Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
The next set of passages speaks of death as a spiritual death. Spiritual death is the human spirit being separated spiritually from God to follow sin and from being unable to understand and enjoy the blessings of his divine truths and gifts.
Ephesians 2:1-5 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved.
1 Peter 4:6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
Luke 9:60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 8:22 Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
John 5:25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
The last set of passages speaks of death as an eternal death. Eternal death is the body and soul being separated from God and his heavenly blessings forever.
John 11:26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
John 5:24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
Revelation 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Revelation 20:6, 14 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
When God created man he bestowed his blessings on him. For man’s physical life God created a perfect heavens and earth with a garden paradise to dwell in. There God gave man all that he needed for his livelihood and the authority to rule over the other creatures God had made. For his spiritual life God made man in his own image, so man could live in close fellowship with him and enjoy the blessedness of being with his Creator. For man’s everlasting life God gave man an immortal soul and a body, so that as a living being he could enjoy his blessings forever. When death entered the world because of sin, however, man was separated from his Creator God and from the enjoyment of God’s blessings. The following verses clarify this.
Isaiah 59:2 Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Matthew 7:23 Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
In this first section of this Bible study we have discovered that death is not natural but unnatural. Death is a separation from God and his blessings, whether that separation be a physical death, a spiritual death, or an eternal death.
2. In this second section of this Bible study we will see that death is all encompassing.
Romans 5:12 informs us that all people are subject to death, because all people are sinners.
Romans 5:12 Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Poets called death The Grim Reaper because it claims all without partiality, and it brings this tragedy to all alike.
Through the ages men have dreamed of finding the source of eternal life. Spanish explorers like Ponce de Le’on searched for the Fountain of Youth in America and the West Indies, a legendary spring which was supposed to restore health and youth to those who drank from it. The Holy Grail, the cup supposed to have been used by Christ to institute the Lord’s Supper, has been glamorized as having the power to give eternal life to the one who drank from it. People have dreamed of, and have tried, freezing their bodies in the hope of being brought back to life. Health foods and prescribed life styles have been suggested to prolong life and to thwart the advent of death. Apart from Christ’s coming to usher in eternal life, there is no possibility of anyone escaping death, as the following passage makes clear.
Psalm 89:48 What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?
The next passages clarify that man’s life is short, like that of the grass, then it is gone. This is an inescapable part of life now.
Psalm 103:15, 16 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
Job 14:1, 2 Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. 2 He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
Isaiah 40:6, 7 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
1 Peter 1:24 All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.
Individuals hope for medical discoveries that will find a cure for their disease and prevent their death. Modern medicine has made amazing advances, which we can look upon as blessings from God. In spite of these advances, however, the mortality rate remains 100%.
The following verses reveal that the one hope for deliverance from death is Jesus Christ, who has destroyed death and the devil’s power to enslave man in death through sin.
2 Timothy 1:10 Christ Jesus … has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Hebrews 2:14, 15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death —that is, the devil — 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
In this second section of this Bible study we have seen that death is all encompassing. No one can escape death except through Jesus Christ, who destroyed death with his atoning sacrifice on the cross.
3.In this third section of this Bible study we will consider what we know about people’s beliefs in a life after death and about near-death, or out-of-body, experiences.
Pliny the Elder, (ca. 24-79 A.D.), a Roman aristocrat and writer noted for his studies, scoffed at the notion of a life after death. He wrote: “Regarding man’s ideas about an afterlife, these are fictions of childish absurdity, and belong to a mortality greedy for life unceasing. Similar also is the vanity about preserving men’s bodies and the hope of our coming to life again. Plague take it, what is this mad idea that life is renewed by death? Assuredly this sweet but vain fancy ruins nature’s chief blessing, death, and doubles the sorrow of one about to die by the thought of sorrow to come hereafter also.” (The Past Speaks For Itself, Vol.2, Hartwig, Theodore J., Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, p.17)
Note: Pliny, an educated aristocrat, lived in the first century during the time of Paul’s mission work. Pliny’s skepticism reflects the mind of the philosophers Paul faced at Athens. See Acts 17:16-21, 32.
Religions and mythologies of all kinds and of all ages have held a belief in a life after death.
Hinduism holds the belief in reincarnation.
The ancient Egyptians held a belief in a life after death. As evidence of this, the pharaohs’ great tombs and pyramids stored their valuables and property for use in an after life
The Greek Elysian Fields in ancient mythology was the place assigned to virtuous people after death. It was a place of ideal bliss, complete happiness, and a paradise yielding the highest pleasures and delights.
Mohammed’s concept of heaven is described in the 56th chapter of the Koran as a garden of delights where the faithful will recline on couches, with immortal youths going around them “with goblets and ewers, and a cup from a spring...and such fruits as they shall choose, and such flesh of fowl as they desire, and wide-eyed houris (nymphs represented in the Koran as the most beautiful virgins, endowed with unfading youth) as the likeness of hidden pearls.” (cf. The theological paper entitled Heaven And Hell, Dr. Siegbert Becker, Oct. 5th, 1978, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary)
Valhalla of the ancient Germans and Norsemen in Norse mythology was a great hall where Odin received and feasted the souls of heroes, who had fallen bravely in battle. Valhalla, also Walhalla, or Valhall, is said to be any final resting place of many of the heroes or great men of a nation.
In America the American Indian looked forward to the happy hunting grounds.
This knowledge of being accountable to God upon death in the next life is within the heart of man. Within the heart of man is a longing for immortality, an eternal bliss after death. Accordingly, man’s conscience is his inner voice that urges him not to offend his Maker to whom he must give an account in the next life.
Near-death, or out-of-body, experiences play upon man’s hope for a blissful afterlife. Persons who have been close to death but were resuscitated and brought back to life have said they entered the realm of the dead and saw what lies on the other side of the curtain of death. Dr. Raymond A. Moody, who has studied these near-death experiences and has analyzed hundreds of such cases, described what he thinks is the typical near-death experience in his book Life After Life. His description follows:
“A man is dying and, as he reaches the point of distress, he hears himself pronounced dead by his doctor. He begins to hear an uncomfortable noise, a loud ringing or buzzing, and at the same time feels himself moving very rapidly through a long tunnel. After this, he suddenly finds himself outside of his own physical body, but still in the immediate physical environment, and he sees his own body from a distance, as though he is a spectator. He watches the resuscitation attempt from this unusual vantage point and is in a state of emotional upheaval.
“After a while, he collects himself and becomes more accustomed to his odd condition. He notices that he still has a ‘body,’ but one of a very different nature and with very different powers from the physical body he has left behind. Soon other things begin to happen. Others come to meet and to help him. He glimpses the spirits of relatives and friends who have already died, and a loving, warm spirit of a kind he has never encountered before--a being of light--appears before him. This being asks him a question, nonverbally, to make him evaluate his life and helps him along by showing him a panoramic, instantaneous playback of the major events of his life. At some point he finds himself approaching some sort of barrier or border, apparently representing the limit between earthly life and the next life. Yet, he finds that he must go back to earth, that the time for his death has not yet come. At this point he resists, for by now he is taken up with his experience in the afterlife and does not want to return. He is overwhelmed by intense feelings of joy, love and peace. Despite his attitude, though, he is somehow reunited with his physical body and lives.
“Later he tries to tell others, but he has trouble doing so. In the first place, he can find no human words adequate to describe these unearthly episodes. He also finds that others scoff, so he stops telling other people. Still, the experience affects his life profoundly, especially his views about death and its relationship to life.” (Schuetze, John D. A Christian View of Death, Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, p.20)
Were these near-death, or out-of-body, experiences an illusion or a reality?
“According to experts, some experiences can be attributed to physical causes, such as a lack of oxygen to the brain, the effects of drugs and medications, etc. These would have to be classified as hallucinations. Studies have shown that certain drugs produce hallucinations similar to those found in near-death experiences.
“While most cases would probably fall into this category, one writer suggests, ‘There are experiences we might call paranormal, that apparently defy the normal medical explanations often put forth.’ ” ((Schuetze, John D. A Christian View of Death, Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, p.21)
The Bible tells us of instances when a person was given a glimpse of what lies beyond life in this world. We call these visions, in which the person was allowed to see the glory of God. We can readily compare what the Bible tells us was seen in the following biblical visions into the other world to what those who have had near-death experiences claim to have seen in the next world. What the Bible described was seen is vastly different from what those who have had near-death experiences claimed to have seen. What they saw is nothing like having seen the glorified Christ and Lord.
Acts 7:55, 56 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
2 Corinthians 12:1-4 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know —God knows. 3 And I know that this man —whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows — 4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
Revelation 1:9-16 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Revelation 4:1-6 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
Revelation 7:9-12 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
We are led to believe that typically the near-death experiences are pleasant and heavenly. What is more, we are told that all alike, regardless of their religion, have this same blessed near-death experience. The Scriptures, however, make it very clear that not everyone ends up in heaven. So the report that everyone has the same pleasant, heavenly experience has to be a lie.
The devil would foster such a lie about life after death and the illusion that everyone will have a heavenly end. The following verses clarify that the devil is the father of lies and masquerades as an angel of light. The bright, warm light that individuals have claimed to see in their near-death experiences could have been not the Lord but the devil in disguise.
John 8:44 The devil … was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
2 Corinthians 11:14 Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Contrary to the heavenly reports that have been given, Dr. Maurice Rawlings, in his book Beyond Death’s Door, has reported about half of the cases reported horrible hell like experiences of a fiery abyss and place of torture. He attributes the lack of such reports to the failure to interview the individuals immediately after their revival and to their subconscious then blocking out or forgetting the bad experience and impressions. He has been quoted as concluding, “Unless you know where you are going, it is unsafe to die.”
Assuming some cases are supernatural experiences of life after death, we must judge them according to Isaiah 8:19, 20 on the basis of God’s Word. God’s Word tells us there are a heaven and a hell, where the souls of the dead proceed according to whether they believed in Jesus or not. Any conclusions drawn from near-death experiences that contradict the Word of God must be regarded as heretical lies coming from the devil, who is the father of all lies as stated in John 8:44 above.
Some consider reports of the heavenly near-death experiences as a comforting sign to assure them of their eternal life. Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:39 below could well be applied to those comforting, reassuring reports and signs. They could be a false sign from the devil himself to deceive people into believing they will have a blessed eternity and to deceive people into becoming satisfied with themselves and their sinful, unbelieving lifestyles. Those who want such a sign are an evil, adulterous, unbelieving generation, who fail to look to Christ’s death and resurrection as the only sign of hope for a blessed everlasting life.
Matthew 12:39 He (Jesus) answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!”
In this third section of this Bible study we have discovered that many people have believed in a life after death. As for near-death, or out-of-body, experiences, many are due to hallucinations. Some could have been supernatural experiences in the next world. But we should not be deceived by the reports into believing that everyone will have a blessed eternity. We should believe what the Bible says: those who believe in Jesus will be saved; those who do not believe in Jesus will be condemned.
4. In this fourth section of this Bible study we will look into what we should think of a sudden, unexpected or accidental, death.
Based on Luke 13:1-5 we discover that we should not think that individuals who died suddenly or tragically must have been guilty of some great sin for which God took their lives to punish them. Jesus clarifies that the deceased who died suddenly and tragically were not necessarily greater sinners than we are. We all are sinners who deserve to perish. Therefore we ought not to think the deceased who died suddenly or tragically were great sinners; rather, we ought to be reminded to repent of our sins so we ourselves do not perish in hell as great sinners.
Luke 13:1-5 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them —do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Isaiah 57:1, 2 reveals that there is a good reason for the deaths of Christians, whether their deaths were sudden or not, and offers comfort to us who survive them. The Lord delivered those Christians through death from evil -- the evil in this world and the evil that is coming on the last day when the world is judged. Through death the Lord gave them peace and rest, which we who are here do not have.
Isaiah 57:1, 2 The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
In this fourth section of this Bible study we have discovered that in the case of a sudden or tragic death we should not conclude the deceased was a great sinner who was suddenly punished with death. His death should serve to prompt us all to repent, so we do not perish in hell. We can take comfort in the sudden death of a Christian, for through his death the Lord delivered him from evil into heavenly rest and peace. As survivors we will draw comfort from the deceased Christian’s confession of faith and love for the Lord during his life, and we will trust that Christ his Savior was with him to help him through the time of his death.
5. In this fifth section of this Bible study we will discover whether the time of our death is something to worry about.
The following verses reveal that we should not worry about anything but put our trust in God and his care of us.
Matthew 6:25-34, and especially verses 27 and 34, tells us not to worry about the necessities of life, nor about our life itself. Worrying does not lengthen our lives. Nor should we worry about tomorrow. We should simply put our lives in the Lord’s hands and trust in him to give us life and what we need to live.
Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
1 Peter 5:6, 7 urges us to humble ourselves and to put ourselves into the care of God’s almighty power, to cast our worries on him, and to trust that he cares and will care for us.
1 Peter 5:6, 7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Rather than worry about the time of our death, the next Bible passages inform us that we should remember that our life and how long we live are in God’s hands.
Psalm 31:15 says our times, our life, and how long we live are in God’s hands.
Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hands.
Psalm 139:13-16 states that God created us. He already had the length of our life planned out, ordained, and established before we were even born and lived to see the first day of our life.
Psalm 139:13-16 You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Acts 17:26 further states God created us from Adam. In fact, he established the times all people live and where they will live.
Acts 17:26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
In this fifth section of this Bible study we have discovered that we should not worry about the time of our death. We should put our life into God’s hands, trust in him to give us life and to preserve our life, and believe that he will sustain our life to the time he has established for us to die.
6. In this sixth section of this Bible study we will discover whether suicide and euthanasia are God-pleasing deaths.
According to the AFA Journal, June 1996, popular support for euthanasia was growing in the United States. Quoting figures from USA Today, the journal reported that in 1973 53% of Americans believed doctors should be legally permitted to painlessly end the life of a terminally ill patient if the person and his family requested it. In 1990 the percentage was 65%, and in 1996 the percentage was 75%.
In the American Medical News, October 14, 1991, Charles Culhane, a staff correspondent began his article “Ethicist: Helping terminally ill commit suicide can be acceptable” by writing:
“Physicians caring for terminally ill patients in intractable pain have an ethical right to help them commit suicide if that’s the patient’s wish, a medical ethicist has told family physicians.” His article continued: “ ‘There is intractable suffering that cannot be alleviated in any other way,’ Robert C. Cassidy, PhD, told the American Academy of Family Physicians annual meeting last month. ‘There is a cure for that kind of suffering...the ultimate analgesic...that a physician can offer...to a patient not as an obligation, not as a matter of right, but as a gift,’ said Dr. Cassidy, director of medical ethics at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y.”
Suicide and euthanasia as favorable options to living are not new but date back to antiquity.
1 Samuel 31:1-6 reveals that Saul, the king of Israel, asked his armor-bearer to assist him in his death by running him through with his sword. When his armor-bearer would not do it, Saul fell on his sword to avoid capture.
1 Samuel 31: 1-6 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-shua. 3 The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. 4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.
Pliny the Elder wrote in the first century, “...one thing is in the least certain--that nothing certain exists and that nothing is more pitiable or more presumptuous than man! But the chief comfort for nature’s imperfections in man is that he can, if he wishes, commit suicide. This is the supreme gift that God has bestowed on man among all the penalties of life.” (Hartwig, Theodore J. The Past Speaks For Itself (Documents In Western Civilization), Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1986, Vol.2, p.17)
The right-to-die movement in this country goes back to 1938, when the Euthanasia Society of America was formed, which is now known as the Society for the Right to Die.
Suicide is well understood: a person takes his own life and kills himself. Euthanasia is not so well understood. The word comes from the Greek language and means a good death, or to die well. The Greek-English Lexicon defines it as an easy, happy death. Its corresponding verb means to die a noble death, easily and happily. The past Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, has been quoted as saying, “Euthanasia today means that you can do anything you can, actively or passively, to hasten the demise of someone who is considered to be either a nuisance or no longer productive.”
Euthanasia has been divided into different classifications:
Active Euthanasia: terminating a life, as by lethal injection
Passive Euthanasia: bringing on a person’s death by depriving him of food and water or depriving him of a respirator.
Voluntary Euthanasia: a person requests a second party to assist him in bringing on his death.
Involuntary Euthanasia: a second party decides to terminate a person’s life without his consent, usually a person who is comatose or incompetent. This has been known as mercy killing, or a merciful, humane act carried out in compassion for the suffering.
In 1991 The Wisconsin Right to Life took issue with differentiating between active and passive euthanasia. In its publication of April, 1991, #113, entitled “Life Cycle--Withholding food and fluids,” Dr. David N. O’Steen wrote in his article entitled “The human tragedy of euthanasia:”
“It is obvious that the real targets of euthanasia today are those most at risk. It is not patients whose deaths are imminent or even those who are terminally ill. It is patients who are very debilitated or very old, whose prospects for improvement are not good, yet who are likely to live for an indeterminate period of time if given the most basic care and treatment, food and fluids. Such patients are now candidates for euthanasia by starvation and dehydration exactly because they are not dying, or are not dying soon enough, in the opinion of some...Yet to starve or dehydrate a patient to death is just as direct a means of killing as shooting the individual or administering a lethal injection. That is the crucial point that must be recognized.”
The following Scripture verses teach us about the value of life and a person’s right to die.
Genesis 9:5, 6 teach us that God values life very highly and protects it. Thus we should regard life as very precious and defend it. Whoever takes a human life should be punished and forfeit his own life.
Genesis 9:5, 6 For your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
The Fifth Commandment: “You shall not murder.” forbids anyone to take the life of anyone else, or even his own life, which is self-murder. The value and sanctity of life in the eyes of God are evident through the fifth commandment, for with it God protects the life of every human being.
The next Scripture verses reveal a person’s life is so valuable to him because his life is the time the Lord gives him to repent of his sins and to believe in Jesus Christ for his salvation. When the person is dead, it is too late for him to be saved, for then he has met his judgment.
Isaiah 55:6, 7 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Acts 17:26, 27 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Hebrews 9:27 Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
When the message of Matthew 25:34-46 is applied to euthanasia, especially the method of withholding food and water from an individual to hasten his death, it becomes clear that that is done not just to the individual but to Christ himself. When food and water are withheld from an individual to kill him that is the same as killing Christ by withholding food and water from him. Those who provide food and water to preserve a life are blessed; those who withhold food and water to terminate a life are cursed.
Matthew 25:34-46 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Our government is slow in condemning euthanasia, assisted suicide, or the hastening of death. Compare this to King David’s decision about the propriety of killing a person to assist him in ending his life according to 2 Samuel 1:1-16. David condemned it immediately and had the person who said he assisted Saul put to death. The man should have been afraid to kill Saul. Likewise today, people should be afraid of helping others end their life or taking it upon themselves to hasten their deaths.
2 Samuel 1:1-16 After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and with dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor. 3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him. He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” 4 “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” He said, “The men fled from the battle. Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.” 5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and riders almost upon him. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’ 8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ ‘An Amalekite,’ I answered. 9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’ 10 “So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.” 11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?” I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite,” he answered. 14 David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ”
Assisted suicide and euthanasia are deemed proper and merciful to prevent further suffering. There is a purpose to suffering, however, which God has intended and which supporters of euthanasia overlook and thwart.
Job 42:1-6 reveals what the benefit was in Job’s suffering. It led him to repent of his pride and to humble himself before God. Through suffering God delivered him from his conceit.
Job 42:1-6 Job replied to the LORD: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 we discover that the Lord had blessed Paul with visions of heaven, which other Christians were not permitted to see. Afterwards the Lord afflicted Paul with a thorn in the flesh. The good purpose God had for Paul’s suffering was that it kept him from falling into the sin of conceit and into God’s just punishment for it.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
James 1:2-4 & 12 declare what the value of suffering is. It is a time our faith is tested to enable us to grow in perseverance under trials. The suffering provides an opportunity for spiritual growth into mature Christians. Those who bear up under the trials by faith will receive the benefit of the crown of life that God has promised. Based on these verses it can be said that those who refuse to accept their suffering and try to escape from it through assisted suicide and euthanasia are thwarting God’s purpose for them. They are showing their lack of faith and unwillingness to accept God’s will for them, which causes them to forfeit the crown of life.
James 1:2-4 & 12 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 reveals the beneficial outcome that arises from suffering. When we suffer, God comforts us with the gospel of life and salvation and of his divine love and care for us by which he makes all things work for our good. When we have suffered and have been comforted with the gospel and God’s promises, we in turn are able to comfort others who are suffering. We can be missionaries of comfort to uphold others in their faith when they are suffering, or to bring them to faith with the word of comfort from the gospel that we share with them. We can be lights and examples to others of the hope that is within us in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Psalm 31:15 tells us our times are in God’s hands. The length of our life and when we will die is up to him, and as we saw above in Psalm 139 and Acts 17:26 he has already ordained and established what the length of our life will be even before we are born. Knowing this affects our attitude toward assisted suicide and euthanasia. We stand opposed to it, because by faith we know we must put our life into God’s hands and not try to act on our own to end our life. The Lord will take our life when it is the right time according to his plans for us.
Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hands.
In this sixth section of this Bible study we have discovered that suicide and euthanasia are not God-pleasing deaths. They are forbidden by the fifth commandment and punished by God. Killing a person by euthanasia is even a sin committed against Christ himself, while preserving a person’s life is an act of kindness to Christ. Human life has value and divine sanctity, for it is a time of grace to come to God for mercy and salvation in Christ Jesus. The suffering that suicide and euthanasia seek to circumvent has a divine purpose and blessing, namely to lead us to repentance, to our spiritual growth in becoming mature Christians, and to comforting others in their suffering as God has comforted us in our suffering.
7. In the seventh section of this Bible study we will discover whether death is something to be feared.
When Hamlet contemplated committing suicide he spoke these memorable words, “To be or not to be, that is the question.” The outcome of his contemplating death was that he decided against suicide. He understood that life on the other side of death was an unknown factor. As bad as he saw his life on earth, his life on the other side of death could turn out to be even worse. This being the case, he decided in favor of living.
Hamlet’s fear of death is characteristic of mankind. Mankind’s fear of death is attributable to various factors:
Like Hamlet, people fear the uncertainty of death itself and what lies beyond it.
People know in their hearts there is a God, as was verified in war, which led to the adage, “There are no atheists in the foxhole.” Knowing there is a God, death incites fear because people know that then they must stand before God to give an account of their lives and deeds. Their conscience then stirs up the fear that the just God will punish them for their sins and evil deeds.
Immortality lies within the heart of mankind, which accounts for the hope of an afterlife even among the world’s unbelievers and idolaters. This immortality within the heart goes back to creation when man was created to live, not to die. Death is unnatural, an accident and consequence of sin. Being unnatural, people are afraid of it.
Luther acknowledged that the fear of death was natural, even among Christians. He wrote that he did not like to see people glad to die. He said he preferred to see them fear and tremble at death but still go through it. He acknowledged that great saints do not like to die and that the fear of death is natural because death is a penalty. It is something sad. According to the Christian’s spirit, he is glad to die; but according to his flesh he does not want to die. You can see Luther’s comments in What Luther Says – An Anthology, Vol.1, p.368, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, second printing 1972.
Luther also knew that feelings of guilt caused people to agonize over death. He noted how people in the world acted when death comes for them. They have no peace, only unrest, fear, terror, and weeping. Luther said it was impossible for their nature to act any differently, because they die the death of sin. Because of sin death is imposed upon them. For this reason their death is hard and terrible, for they must fear God’s wrath and judgment, which follow upon death and are eternal. This fear of God’s wrath and punishment make man concerned about death. Here again you can read Luther’s comments in What Luther Says – An Anthology, Vol.1, p.366, 367, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, second printing 1972.
The real agony of death is not physical but spiritual in nature. When the fear of death is removed from the soul, death itself is dispensed with. Luther’s comments on this can also be found on page 367 of the book noted above.
In the following passages we will discover what cures and removes the fear of death.
In Acts 7:54-60 we learn that Stephen’s seeing Jesus by faith and believing he would receive his soul into heaven removed his fear of death. Likewise, our believing Jesus will receive our soul into heaven will remove our fear of death.
Acts 7:54-60 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
John 11:25, 26 declares that faith in Jesus, who is the source of life and the resurrection, gives immortality and everlasting life to all who believe in him.
John 11:25, 26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Paul revealed that he was not afraid of death. He confessed in his spirit that the Christian longs for the eternal life in heaven, which is the Christian’s upon his death. Having that heavenly life was preferable to living on earth. Knowing that through Jesus we also have eternal life in heaven will remove our fear of death.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
In 2 Timothy 4:6-8 Paul said he was approaching his martyrdom. He was not afraid to die, however. The reason: He had lived by faith to the end of his life and knew he would receive from God the crown of righteousness in heaven. This confidence of faith will remove our fear of death as well.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day —and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
From 1 John 4:16-18 we can learn what will drive the fear of death out of our hearts. That is the love of God for us, by which we are saved, and our responding love for him, which lives righteously without the fear of punishment for sin.
1 John 4:16-18 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
In this seventh section of this Bible study we have discovered whether death is something to be feared. We all harbor a natural fear of death for a variety of reasons according to our sinful nature. Our spirit as Christians, however, does not fear death, for the promises of God’s gift of life and salvation lead us to yearn to be with him in heaven. Faith in God’s love for us and our responding love for him will drive out the fear of death.
8. In this eighth section of this Bible study we will consider how the world attempts to obscure the stark reality of death and how successful those attempts are.
The world tries to cover up the harsh reality of death in a variety of ways.
The world uses euphemisms and platitudes instead of the word death. Instead of saying a person died, the world speaks of his having passed away. It says the person was called away or is out of this world. He has fallen asleep. or has gone away, or has joined so-and-so. or has gone home, or has finished his pilgrimage. The world says just about anything except that the person died and is dead.
The world’s funeral homes also try to cover death’s harsh reality. The funeral homes create beautiful settings and use flowery decorations to give the illusion of peace and contentment. Even the dirt at the graveside and the hole which was dug for the grave is covered over with green carpeting to hide them and remove the stark reality of where the body will be laid.
These attempts to mask the reality of death are not very successful when the following, which commonly surround us, are considered:
Hospitals are a constant reminder of sickness, disease, and its outcome—death.
Funeral homes are additional reminders that people are dying everyday and leaving grief behind them. People see their loved ones and friends dead and lying in a casket.
Cemeteries are driven passed repeatedly and visited. They are another constant reminder that they are the final end of all who live on earth.
Daily news reminds people of death as a result of murder, crime, accidents, disease, old age, and the reporting of the deaths of famous individuals.
Accidents that are seen on the highways and elsewhere are more reminders of death.
Wars with their staggering number of dead and dying are a horrible reminder about death in the world.
Nature, too, reminds people of death. They see the death of their pets and the changing of the seasons, that brings fall and the end to the beautiful flowers and leaves that formerly had beautified their world.
People’s own aging brings thoughts of their eventual deaths.
The simple truth is people cannot put death out of mind or rationalize it away. People cannot dispose of it, because the world is full of death, and it is all around them.
Martin Luther said that death is the sphere in which the entire world moves. The world is nothing but pictures and works of death! Until the end of time life is a constant and daily journey toward death. One person after another dies, and the living must merely engage in the miserable business of carrying one another to the grave. We humans bring death into the world with us and drag it around with us from our births. We all are traveling the same road together to death and the grave. Death rules over all and irresistibly sweeps all away. You can read Luther’s comments in What Luther Says – An Anthology, Vol.1, p. 364, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, second printing 1972.
In this eighth section of this Bible study we have discovered that the world’s attempts to cover up the stark reality of death are failures. Death cannot be hidden from us. It is around us everywhere. Euphemisms and platitudes cannot hide it, nor can decorations and flowers. It cannot be rationalized away or ignored as a triviality to be unconcerned about.
9. In the ninth section of this Bible study we will see that unlike the world that uses euphemisms to cover up death, God uses names for death for good reasons.
In the following Bible passages we will see that God calls death the deceased’s being gathered to his people. This name for death is appropriate, because when people die they do join in the grave their people who preceded them in death. What is more, God’s believers who die are gathered to their fellow believers in heaven, while the unbelievers who die are gathered to their fellow unbelievers in hell.
Genesis 25:8, 17 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 17 Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.
Genesis 35:28, 29 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. 29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Genesis 49:33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Numbers 20:24, 26 Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 26 Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.
Deuteronomy 32:50 There on the mountain that you (Moses) have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
Luke 2:29 calls death a being dismissed or a departing in peace. This is an appropriate name for death, because those who believe Jesus is their Savior do die in and with God’s peace.
Luke 2:29 Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.
Isaiah 57:1, 2 says that death is a “being taken away” to be spared from evil, to enter into peace, and to find rest. For God’s believers in Jesus “being taken away” is a good name for death, because they are taken away from evil to enter peace and rest.
Isaiah 57:1, 2 The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
In the following Bible passages death is called a sleep. This is a good name for death, because death is a sleep for the body until the Lord Jesus awakens the body in the resurrection at the last day.
Daniel 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Matthew 9:23, 24 When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
John 11:11-13 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
Philippians 1:23 calls death a departing to be with Christ. This is an appropriate name for death, because when a believer in Jesus dies, he does go to join Jesus in heaven.
Philippians 1:23 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.
In this ninth section of this Bible study we have discovered some of the names God uses for death in the Bible for us believers in Jesus. For good reasons God calls death a being gathered to our people, a departing in peace, a being taken out of evil to peace and rest, a sleep, and a departing to be with Christ. All these names inform us what death is for us believers in Jesus.
10. In this tenth section of this Bible study we will discover what is the cause of death.
The following verses reveal what is the cause of death:
Genesis 2:17 states that death would result for breaking God’s commandment and committing sin. The cause of death, then, is breaking God’s command and sin.
Genesis 2:17 You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.
Romans 5:12 states that death came as a result of sin.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 6:23 says death is the reward for sin.
Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The following verses from the Book of Hebrews reveal that Christ’s death for sin reveals sin is the cause of death, and his death for sin gives us life.
Hebrews 9:26-28 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 10:12, 14, 18 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. . . 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. . . And where these (sins) have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
The following verses tell us more about the cause of death:
Psalm 90:1, 3, 5, 7 & 8. inform us that God as the just and righteous judge inflicts death as the punishment for sin. This infliction of punishment is God’s consequential will and judgment as a consequence of sin.
Psalm 90:1, 3, 5, 7, 8 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 3 You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning — 7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
John 8:44 reveals that Satan is the murderer who took man’s life by tempting him into sin.
John8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
From Romans 5:12, 15 we learn that Adam is the cause of sin, in the sense that he as the representative of the human race sinned and brought God’s threatened punishment of death into the world. In Adam the whole human race, which would derive from him, sinned. His sin and guilt are held against all and makes all people subject to death.
Romans 5:12, 15 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned — 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Luke 13:1-5 below indicates that disease, accidents, and violence are intermediate causes of death. Those who were killed were not worse sinners than those who still lived. The dead and the living were both sinners alike. Jesus’ words, however, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish,” indicates the accidental and violent deaths were a consequence of God’s wrath against sin. We should remember that accidental or violent deaths do not mean that the person killed must have been guilty of some great and vile sin that prompted God to strike him dead at that moment. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, died a violent death, as did Paul. Death of all kinds, whether accidental or violent or natural, are a consequence of God’s wrath against sin for which he inflicts death. Romans 8:10 below makes it clear that even Christians who have forgiveness still die as a consequence of sin and God’s wrath against it. The verses of Psalm 90 above also reveal this.
Luke 13:1-5 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them —do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Romans 8:10 If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
The simple truth is: If there were no sin, there would be no death. Had man resisted sin, based on the confirmation of the holy angels in holiness who did not sin, man would have been confirmed in holiness, would never have sinned, and thus would never have been subjected to death. The wages of sin is death, but where there is no sin, there is no wages for it. Man would have lived forever, which is the life Christ our dear Savior has restored to us in heaven by means of his death for sin.
In this tenth section of this Bible study we have discovered that the cause of death is sin.
11. In this eleventh section of this Bible study we will learn what happens at the time of death.
The following verses describe the soul and body being separated at the time of death:
Ecclesiastes 12:7 states that at the time of death the soul and body are separated from each other. The body is buried; the soul returns to God. Death is the cessation or deprivation of the body’s natural life.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1, 4, 8 the earthly tent is our human body. The original Greek text says the body is demolished and destroyed. The body is done away with in death but the person, his soul, still lives. The Christian’s soul lives away from the body and is at home with the Lord. Again, we see that at death the soul and body are separated.
2 Corinthians 5:1, 4, 8 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Philippians 1:23 reveals that the Christian soul departs from the body to be with Christ. The Greek verb says it is a loosing, an untying, a departing of the soul. Soul and body part company and are separated.
Philippians 1:23 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.
2 Timothy 4:6 also says the soul departs. The Greek verb is again an unloosing, an untying, and a departing of company.
2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
In 2 Peter 1:13, 14 Peter says the time had come to put aside his body. The Greek verb denotes a putting off. The soul puts off the body and lives apart from it.
2 Peter 1:13, 14 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
The next set of passages that follow tell us that at his death the person is judged. The believer in Jesus is received into heaven. The unbeliever is put in hell.
Hebrews 9:27 and Ecclesiastes 12:7 state that when a person dies he is judged by God.
Hebrews 9:27 Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
The following verses make known that when a believer in Jesus dies, the Lord receives his soul in heaven. There he enjoys a state of bliss and blessedness, which, as Paul said, is preferable to life on earth.
Acts 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Philippians 1:23 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Revelation 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
In John 11:25 Jesus says that all who believe in him live even though they die. Their soul is immortal. To live is to be with God and to enjoy his blessings. Thus the soul of each believer enjoys the blessings that God has prepared in the life after death, namely in heaven.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.
In Luke 16:19-26 Jesus spoke of what happened at death. The child of God is joined with the saints in heaven, as Lazarus was in the bosom or fellowship of Abraham. The unbeliever, however, finds his soul in hell, the place of torment and agony, from which he cannot leave.
Luke 16:19-26 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ ”
1 Peter 3:19, 20 inform us that the spirits of the unbelievers are with the demons in the prison, which we know is hell.
1 Peter 3:19, 20 He (Jesus) went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.
We have learned some key facts from the Bible about what happens at the time of death. Yet we must realize, in spite of this information we have gleaned, that the Bible tells us little about the state of the souls of the dead to the time of the resurrection.
The next set of Bible passages teach us what does not happen at the time of death or after death.
From Psalm 148:2, 5 we learn the deceased do not become angels. This is true because the angels are created creatures of God, not human souls that have evolved into angels.
Psalm 148:2, 5 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
Based on the numerous passages we looked at above that said when people die they are judged and received into heaven or cast into hell, it is clear that the deceased are not reincarnated to live in another life form on earth.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 and Luke 16:27-31 clarify that the deceased do not become ghosts to haunt this world. This is so, because the soul returns to God for judgment. Furthermore, Jesus said in response to the rich man’s request that Lazarus return from the dead to warn his brothers, that no, that would not happen. According to Jesus the dead are not permitted to return to communicate with the living.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Luke 16:27-31 “He (the rich man in hell) answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
The following Bible passages clarify that the deceased unbelievers do not have a second chance to be converted, in order to be delivered from their punishment in hell. At death they are judged and put into the prison of hell. There their hope perishes and they find themselves in an eternal fire of punishment that lasts forever. Since it is an eternal fire, there can be no second chance or escape from it.
Hebrews 9:27 Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
1 Peter 3:19, 20 He (Jesus) went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Proverbs 11:7 When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes.
Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
The Bible knows of only two kinds of people, the believers and the unbelievers. The following passages clarify that there cannot be a purgatory into which the deceased descend. The Bible does not teach there is a purgatory where the deceased can be purged of their sins, only that there is a heaven and a hell.
The following verses state the believer has eternal life in heaven. His soul is received there in heaven immediately, not after thousands of years of being in purgatory.
John 5:24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
John 3:16, 18, 36 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Philippians 1:23 I desire to depart and be with Christ.
Acts 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
The next group of verses reveals that at death the unbelievers are judged and cast into the eternal fire, where there is no second chance.
Hebrews 9:27 Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
1 Peter 3:19, 20 He (Jesus) went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Roman Catholic teaching maintains that purgatory is a place where the dead, who were not good enough to get into heaven but not so wicked as to be cast into hell, have the opportunity to purge themselves of their sins and to become perfect and acceptable to God. The following passages reveal the error of this Roman Catholic teaching.
Jesus clarified in his Parable of the Ten Virgins that the Roman Catholic teaching of a chance to be purged of sins after death and to then enter heaven is in error. There simply is no second chance after death for people to be recognized and received into heaven. Just as the door was shut to the five foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable who were not ready for the coming of the bridegroom, so the door of heaven is shut to those outside of heaven and they are not permitted in.
Matthew 25:10-12 While they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 Later the others also came. “Sir! Sir!” they said. “Open the door for us!” 12 But he replied, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.”
1 Corinthians 9:24 reveals that now is the time for us to run the race to receive the prize of eternal life. Later after we have died, contrary to the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory, it is too late.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Isaiah 55:6, 7 tell us that now is the time for us to seek the Lord while he is merciful. Again, after we have died, contrary to the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory, it is too late.
Isaiah 55:6, 7 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Ezekiel 18:30-32 reveals that the time to purge out sin is in this life before death. Contrary to what the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory says, if such purging is not done on earth, there is only death afterwards and no second chance to be purged of sin.
Ezekiel 18:30-32 “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,” declares the Sovereign LORD. “Repent and live!”
In 1 Peter 3:19, 20 the spirits in prison are the dead from the time of Noah, who died in the universal flood. After all the time that had elapsed between the time of the flood and the time of Peter’s writing these verses, they were still there in hell. Unlike what the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory says, they had not purged themselves of their sins and guilt, and they remained in hell.
1 Peter 3:19, 20 Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.
1 John 1:7 states clearly what alone purges and cleanses away sins. Only the blood of Christ purges and cleanses away sin, not the efforts of the dead in a place falsely described as purgatory.
1 John 1:7 If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Regarding this subject of purgatory: The Bible teaches that there are only two places for people to go after death, heaven or hell. The Bible says nothing about a third place, a purgatory, in between them, where people can be cleansed from their sins after their death and delivered from eternal punishment.
The Roman Catholic Church has listed five places which hold the dead: 1 Hell: reserved for the extremely wicked unbelievers. 2 Purgatory: a place next to hell where the souls, that have not yet been purged of their venial sins and have not yet made satisfaction for their temporal punishments before dying in faith in Christ, must labor until their sins are purged away and they can ascend into heaven as purified souls. 3 Limbus Infantum: the place where the souls of unbaptized infants, who because of their original sin suffer the punishment of loss of heavenly joys, yet do not suffer the torments of hell. This place is called limbus, or limbo, because it is at the border or edge of hell. 4 Limbus Patrum: the place where the souls of the patriarchs and Old Testament saints who died before Christ’s coming and suffered the loss of heavenly joys were kept until Christ’s death paid the debt of their original sin and they were able to enter heavenly blessedness. 5 Heaven: the place where the souls of the saints who have been fully purged of all sins reside in blessedness. Hell is said to be at the center of the earth. Purgatory is said to be in the next story above hell. Bordering purgatory is the limbus infantum and limbus partum, which is now empty.
In this eleventh section of this Bible study we have discovered what happens at the time of death. The soul is separated from the body. The body decays and returns to dust. The soul returns to God for judgment. The souls of the believers are received into heaven immediately to await the resurrection of the dead, while the souls of the unbelievers are immediately condemned to hell. There is no place called purgatory between heaven and hell.
12. In this twelfth section of this Bible study we will discover whether the method of a person’s burial makes any difference.
Various methods of burial have been, and are being, used. The body is buried in a coffin. The body is cremated and its ashes are preserved in an urn in a cemetery. Until recently in this area the ashes could be scattered, but a change in the law has stopped this. Now the ashes must be placed in a niche in a cemetery. The Jews laid the body, wrapped in burial clothes with spices, in a cave or tomb hollowed out in the rock and sealed with a stone. The ancient Greeks burned the body on a funeral pyre, a heap or tower of combustible materials. The Norsemen placed a Viking’s corpse in a boat, slipped it out onto the water, and set it ablaze. The North American Indian buried the bodies in burial mounds. Sailors have been buried at sea by slipping their weighted corpse over the side of the ship.
An article appeared on March 13, 1995 in Christian News entitled “In Germany, Death Without a Proper Farewell.” The article stated that a growing number of people were choosing to be buried anonymously. Their ashes were placed underground in nondescript grass-covered areas, which were collection spots for their nameless urns. These anonymous burials were carried out without any religious ritual or parting farewell of the relatives. The article stated that the traditional funeral rites and assistance for mourners were vanishing. It was reported that in some areas of Germany half the population claimed to prefer a nameless burial over traditional funeral rites. “Many of those seeking anonymous burials were people who were forgotten, lonely, suffering from AIDS, or addicted to drugs or alcohol. It was asserted that this lonely type of funeral often marked the end of a life that the deceased themselves had regarded as burdensome and needless. Individuals who never felt valued and loved while they lived had no desire to be remembered after their death. Traditionally the gravesite has been a place that kept the memory of the deceased alive, but the unmarked, anonymous graves make this impossible. The article reported that these anonymous funerals and burial sites could be hard on the surviving relatives and friends. Cemetery workers were said to have observed visitors to the grass-covered urn groves, who could not cope with their grief, wander around aimlessly searching for the place where their relative or friend might be buried. Finally, they randomly laid some flowers down on the ground and walked away.
Scripture does not dictate what must or must not be done in a Christian funeral and burial. This is an adiaphron, a matter of form and method, which is neither commanded nor forbidden in the Bible.
In the past objections were raised against cremation as a manner of burial. Cremation was associated with an ungodly rebellion against the Lord and a defiance to his raising up the body that the flames had burnt up and reduced to ashes. Furthermore, the ashes were spread over vast areas, like the ocean, in a defiant gesture that said, “All right God! Let’s see you raise these ashes from the dead to stand before you!” Where no such rebellion and defiant unbelief are associated with cremation, no offense is given when a believer arranges to have his body cremated after his death.
The overall guiding principle that applies to a Christian funeral and burial is that it be done in a manner consistent with the Christian faith and hope of the resurrection of the body to eternal life.
In this twelfth section of this Bible study we have discovered that the method of burial does not make a difference. The method is an adiaphron. In Christian funerals and burials the guiding principle is that it be conducted in a manner consistent with our Christian faith and hope in the resurrection of the body to eternal life.
13. In this thirteenth section of this Bible study we will discover why the burial places of the dead are called cemeteries.
According to Webster’s unabridged dictionary our English word “cemetery” was derived from the Greek word koimeterion, which is based on the word koiman, meaning to put to sleep. A koimeterion, then, was a sleeping place, a cemetery. Our word “cemetery” means a place set apart for burial and interment; a graveyard; a necropolis, which in Greek means a city of the dead.
Naming the churchyards cemeteries was a confession of the Christian faith that the dead are in a state of sleep from which the Lord will awake them on the last day when he raises up their bodies. Our churchyards, or cemeteries, are places in which individuals sleep. They are sleeping quarters.
The following Bible passages call death a sleep.
Acts 7:59, 60 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Mark 5:39 Jesus went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”
John 11:11-14 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Daniel 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
The New American Standard Bible translation of Isaiah 57:1, 2 is: “The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; And devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken from evil, He enters into peace; They rest in their beds, Each one who walked in his upright way.” These verses give the grave the name “bed.” The grave, then, is the bed where the dead sleep.
Luther stated that for a Christian death is like going to sleep. He said the Fathers called churchyards coemeteria (cemeteries), that is, places in which one sleeps, sleeping quarters, where Christians are buried. To the Fathers the grave was not a tomb but a bed in which the dead sleep until the time comes when they are to be awakened. Luther also stated that churchyards were called bedrooms and beds and a sleeping place as a Christian confession of our waking up to rise on Judgment Day. You can read Luther’s comments in: What Luther Says – An Anthology, Vol.1, p. 378, 379, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, second printing 1972.
In this thirteenth section of this Bible study we have discovered that Christian burial places are called cemeteries because they are the sleeping quarters and beds of the dead. Cemeteries have been given this name as a confession of Scripture and our Christian faith that those who die in the Lord only sleep until he awakes them from the dead on the Last Day.
14. In this fourteenth section of this Bible study we will discover what the nature of death is.
To many people the nature of death is annihilation. There is no immortality of the soul, nor a life after death. At death the deceased ceases to exist. Like the animals, the deceased have no soul that lives after death and is immortal. This is not the true nature of death, however.
To discover what the nature of death is, we must keep in mind what we have learned happens at the time of death. We learned in this Bible study that at death the soul separates from the body. The soul continues to live. It returns to God for judgment and assignment to its eternal dwelling place. The body, on the other hand, is buried and decays. The nature of death, then, is a separation of the soul and body. This is clearly taught in the Bible, as the following verses reveal.
Luke 12:16-20 has recorded Jesus’ parable about the rich man whose landed yielded a bumper crop. Because the rich man intended to live for his wealth and the pleasures that would give him, God called the man a fool. That very night the rich man’s soul would be demanded from him.
Matthew 27:50 recorded that when Jesus died, he gave up his spirit.
In each of the above passages death is clearly the separation and loosening of the soul from its body. Neither the soul nor the body is annihilated. The soul is immortal and lives on forever. The body’s mortal remains rest in the sleep of death to await the awakening and resurrection that will occur on the Last Day.
In this fourteenth section of this Bible study we have discovered that the nature of death is not annihilation, the destruction of the soul and body so they no longer exist. Rather, the nature of death is the separation of the soul and body. Neither is annihilated.
15. In this fifteenth section of this Bible study we will discover why we say the soul is immortal.
The following passages reveal that the soul lives on after death:
John 11:25, 26 states that even though the Christian dies, he, his soul, still lives.
John 11:25, 26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Ecclesiastes 12:7 reveals that at death the spirit, or soul, returns to God. The soul must continue to live and exist, because that which does not live or exist cannot return to God. If it did not exist, there would be nothing to return to God.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust (the body) returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Matthew 10:28 states that the wicked can destroy the body and snuff out its life by murdering it, but the wicked cannot destroy the soul. It lives on. God destroys bodies and souls in hell, both of which exist -- the soul immortally and the body that is raised from the dead.
Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Luke 12:20, as stated above, says the rich man’s soul would be required and demanded of him upon his death that very night.
Luke 12:20 God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life (literally in the original Greek language ”your soul”) will be demanded from you.”
Matthew 27:50 together with Luke 23:43 reveal that at his death Jesus gave up his spirit, his soul, which then proceeded to paradise, as Jesus had told the thief on the cross next to him that it would.
Matthew 27:50 When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
From Scripture we know little about the state of the soul after death until the resurrection of its body. But from Scripture we do know certain things about the soul after death. The following verses reveal what we know about the soul after death:
From Luke 16:22-31 we learn what capabilities and attributes the soul of the rich man had in hell. His soul sensed torment and suffering. It looked up and saw. It recognized others. It spoke, called out, heard, conversed, and understood. It had an intelligence and ability to remember and to reason. It had a will and desire of its own. It had emotions, because it was capable of feeling the torment and agony. Its reasoning was also capable of misconception and being mistaken.
Luke 16:22-31 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
From Revelation 6:9-11 we learn about the capabilities and attributes of the souls of the martyrs under the altar in heaven. Their souls spoke and called out. They had a yearning and longing, a will or desire. Thus they had an intelligence, too, which is also born out by their ability to converse intelligently. They possessed a knowledge, namely that the day of judgment was coming when the Lord would avenge their deaths. They did not know all things, however, for they did not know how long until the day of judgment would come. They were capable of recognizing the Lord. They understood what they were told.
Revelation 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
While it is true that the souls hear, think, and see, we do not understand how they do such things, because their state of being in the next life is different from the state of things in this life. You can read Martin Luther’s comments on the state of the soul in: What Luther Says – An Anthology, Vol.1, p. 384, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, second printing 1972.
In this fifteenth section of this Bible study we have discovered that we say the soul is immortal because the Scriptures clearly teach that the soul lives after death when it is separated from the body. It is capable of seeing, hearing, thinking, conversing, remembering, recognizing. It has an intelligence, a will, and emotions, all of which prove the soul is a separate living individual or person.
16. In this sixteenth section of this Bible study we will discover what part the angels play in our deaths.
The dying have sometimes reported seeing an angel at their bedside or in their room. This being true, it would appear the Lord sends his guardian angels to watch over his believers through death and permits his believers to see visions of them to strengthen their faith in that great hour of trial. Seeing their presence would be comforting and reassuring.
Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the rich man teach us that the angels played an important part in Lazarus’ death by carrying him to heaven, as stated in Luke 16:22.
Luke 16:22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to