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Are the
Dead Asleep?
Can They
Think?
Can They Communicate?
The answer is
"yes,"
"yes," and
"yes!"
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In the previous lesson on Body, Soul, and
Spirit, I think that the scriptures
demonstrated that there is a difference between the
physical body, the soul, and the spirit. When you
fall asleep, your body is considered to be in an
unconscious state, however, you still dream, don't
you? Your mind is still active, isn't it?
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Some people have received creative ideas from their dreams.
In fact, some people have seen a glimpse of a future event
in a dream. Now, we should not live our lives according to
dreams, and that is not what I am advocating here. What I am
saying is that when we are asleep, we do not cease to think,
nor do we cease to exist. In fact, according to the bible,
God sometimes uses our state of sleep to communicate to us
through our dreams:
Matthew 2:12-14 And being
warned of God in a dream that they should not
return to Herod, they departed into their own country
another way. And when they were departed, behold, the
angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream,
saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother,
and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee
word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by
night, and departed into Egypt...
So, although our body is unconscious while we are asleep,
our mind (spirit) can communicate with other spirits in our
state of sleep. On the subject of death as it relates
to "sleep", the bible refers to
death as a state of sleep. Consider this
scripture:
Job 14:12 So man lieth
down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they
shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
Even Jesus referred to the dead as asleep.
John 11:11-13
Jesus...saith
unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go,
that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his
disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit
Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he
had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Lazarus was dead, but Jesus referred to him as
"sleeping." Okay, we have established the dead are
"asleep" but it is allot more complex that. Obviously, a
dead body is unconscious, and it can no longer communicate
here on earth. But, is that to say that their mind, soul,
and spirit (all one in the same) is not somewhere else?
communicating with people somewhere else?
Get ready for this... Did you know that when Jesus
died on the cross, while
His body lay in the tomb, he
preached to people who had died hundred of years
earlier in Noah's flood! "What?" you
ask. Yes, Jesus, while his body was "asleep" and dead in the
tomb, apparently still able to think and communicate, (not
in His bodily form, but a spiritual form) went to a
place - a prison (which we will discuss in another later)
and He communicated with people who
were already
dead! He
preached to them. Obviously, one does not preach to
people if they are totally
unconscious!! Right? Consider this
scripture:
1 Peter 3:18-20 For Christ
...being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison which sometime were
disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in
the days of Noah...
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Do you see that although He was put to death in
body, he was still alive in the spirit? He was
"quickened" or made alive by the Spirit so that his
spirit went to a place and preached
to other
spirits
in prison who were killed by Noah's
flood.
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Now, there are certain people who are sometimes referred
to as the
soul-sleepers. They think that when
you die, you are asleep and therefore you are totally
unconscious - you know nothing - nothingness - blank. How do
they handle that scripture? (1 Peter 3:18-20) Well, they
explain it away asserting that Jesus appeared in the flesh
(not the spirit) during the days before Noah's flood and
preached to the people BEFORE they died, before the flood.
No, no, no! I am sorry, it
does not say that! The soul-sleepers
have to twist that scripture all around to make it say want
they think it should say.
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That is
what
I refer to as
Bible
Gymnastics!
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It says what it says:
Jesus was
1) put to death in the
flesh,
2) made alive by the
Spirit, and 3)
preached unto the spirits in
prison from the days of Noah.
The soul-sleepers use the following scripture to prove
that the dead are totally unaware, blank, and
unconscious...
Ecclesiastes 9:6 For the
living know that they shall die: but the dead know not
any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for
the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and
their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither
have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that
is done under the sun.
First of all, when you study the bible, you have to look
at the scriptures in their totality. You cannot pull out
one thing and run with it. You have to consider
all of the other scriptures
pertaining to that subject. Otherwise, you may
mis-interpret
the meaning. For example, there is a verse that says that
Jesus tells us to hate people...
Luke 14:26 If any man come
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
To look at that statement alone, and not within context,
to not compare it with his other teachings
- is an error! Jesus also says
that the greatest commandment is to
love God and
love others Mark
12:30-31.
Obviously, that verse means that you should never put
anyone, not your mother, not your father, not yourself
first. To be a disciple, you must follow Jesus first. If
your mother or father or anyone tries to keep you from being
a disciple, then you should "hate" that obstruction.
So, my point is that you cannot take one verse and
base your whole belief system on that. If you look at that
particular scripture closely, you will see that it is
speaking of the earthly realm
anyway...
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Ecclesiastes 9:6 ... the
dead know not any thing...the memory of them is
forgotten...neither have they any more a portion
for ever in any thing that is done under the
sun (on earth).
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I would conclude from this scripture he dead body knows
nothing. It cannot partake of anything under the sun -
on earth.
Now, some would argue that Jesus was a "special" case and
we are not to be compared to Jesus. After all Jesus
performed many miracles, even raising the dead. In fact,
there are many examples in the bible of everyday people,
just like you and me, who remain conscious in their state
of death. Consider the story of the rich man and
Lazarus. Now, some argue that the following story is only a
parable, and we should not assume that the dead are
conscious because -after all, it is a only parable. Hey,
people, our God is not a God of confusion!
1 Corinthians 14:33 For
God is not the author of confusion...
A parable is a story that demonstrates
truth!
It is a teaching tool. It helps us understand. Whether
Lazarus is/was a real person, or whether he is a fictional
character as part of a parable, the biblical truths of the
whole story remain the same! Jesus would not tell us a story
that is all wrong. The whole point of
a parable is to explain the truth. Let's examine
story of the rich man and Lazarus for ourselves.
Luke 16:19-31 There was a
certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid
at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with
the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover
the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom: the rich man also died, and was
buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom.
And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue;
for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and
likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted,
and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us
and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they
pass to us, that would come from thence.
Then he said, I pray thee
therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my
father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may
testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of
torment.
Abraham saith unto him, They
have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he
said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from
the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Whooow! This
parable, or real-life account,
teaches us several things. First, the
rich man was dead. Although his body was dead,
apparently his soul/spirit was still wide awake.
Second, he was suffering. He
experienced pain. He was in a place of torment.
Third, he communicated with
Abraham, another spirit.
Fourth, he remembered those on
earth and was concerned about his brothers who were still
alive on earth. The beggar, Lazarus, was also fully
aware of his surroundings. He, on the other hand, was
experiencing comfort. I will discuss this in detail later.
The point here is that although dead, they were both fully
aware of their circumstances and they were able to
communicate in the afterlife.
If the soul-sleepers try to conclude that this parable
was about the need for the rich to feed the poor, then they
understood only one small part of that teaching.
Rather, it tells us allot about what happens to us after we
die.
Come on soul-sleepers,
wake up!
Thus, so far, we see that according to scriptures, Jesus
was able to communicate after His body was dead. Likewise,
the rich man and Lazarus, ordinary people like you and me,
are also able to communicate
after their body
was dead.
Consider that the "soul-sleepers" tell you only the FIRST
PART of the story in reference to the following
scripture:
Psalms 115:17 The dead
praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into
silence.
The dead go down to silence, but what about the
next part of that scripture...
Psalm 115:18 But we
will bless the LORD from this time forth and for
evermore.
Obviously, the dead ARE silent - from OUR viewpoint. The
"silence" spoken of here is the silence of a dead body. This
scripture is not dealing with the spirit. Have you ever gone
to a graveyard and carried on a two-way conversation with a
dead person? I hope not! The
dead go down to silence. From the second part of that
scripture, we see that some
people praise the Lord now and
forever!
The "soul-sleepers" say that the dead praise not the Lord
because they can do nothing while dead and buried. Why then
are there countless scriptures that speak of
praising God
forever?
Consider the story of Stephen who was stoned to death.
His spirit, being full of The Holy Spirit, looked up to
heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus, and he prayed,
"Lord, receive my spirit." The scripture says that he
fell asleep. Although his body
was asleep in death, why would he ask God to receive
his spirit? They are obviously
two separate entities.
Acts 7:59-60 And they
stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,
receive my
spirit. And he kneeled
down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin
to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell
asleep.
Finally, please consider reading my study on the
resurrection. Speaking of the resurrection, maybe the next
scripture will peak your interest. Notice that on an
appointed day the dead will experience a change.
Job 14:10-14 But man
dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost,
and where is he? ... O that thou wouldest hide me in the
grave... until thy wrath be past ...If a man die, shall
he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I
wait, till my change come.
It sounds to me as if at death, we change - not that we
cease to exist!
Now that I have given you these examples, I lead you to my
next question:
Can the
living
talk to the
dead?
Go to the next study. Click here for Can
We Talk to The Dead?
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