DEATH, THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, THE RESURRECTION AND THE FINAL DESTINY — page 8

Two States in “Sheol” or “Hades”

As mentioned, “sheol” or “hades” are general terms related to spirits and souls that have departed without describing their state. They are used in Scripture for the righteous who have departed (Gen. 37:35; Job 14:13; Acts 2:27; 1 Cor. 15:55 – the Greek text), and also for the wicked who have departed (Ps. 9:17, 31:17; Ezek. 31:16-17; Matt. 11:23; Luke 16:23).

With the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world, we had the privilege of knowing beyond what was revealed in the Old Testament about the state outside the body. The Lord taught that there are two opposite states in the world of invisible, bodiless spirits. There is a state of blessedness for the righteous in heaven and a state of torment for those who are lost.

The Lord's description of “Lazarus” and “the rich man” indicates this (Luke 16:19-31). It is not exactly a parable, for it does not bear the marks of His other parables. For example, He never used people's names in His parables, but here He does. The story is rather a real story of two people. It is given in a Jewish setting, because that is His audience, and much symbolism is used. If we take the story literally, we will have all kinds of mistaken ideas. For example, we would think that people in a lost eternity can look up and see the people in heaven, and that they can speak with one another.

Someone who objected might tell us that, if the rich man's eyes and tongue are symbolic, the torments and the flame must be too. And they are right. The physical torments described in this account are symbolic of the spiritual torments that affect the soul and the spirit. They are anthropomorphisms – that is, the use of human characteristics to symbolize certain real things. For example, Scripture speaks of the “eye” of God, or the “hand” of God. God does not have a body with eyes and hands, for He is a spirit (John 4:24). But human characteristics, such as eyes, are used to symbolize the fact that God knows everything (His omniscience). His power is at work everywhere and is often used under the figure of a “hand” (His omnipotence). Likewise, the soul and spirit outside the rich man's body in hades did not have eyes and fingers etc. Such anthropomorphisms are used to describe his torment in terms we can understand.

Some have imagined that their loved ones who have departed to heaven are looking at them living here on Earth, but Scripture does not support that idea. The account of the rich man and Lazarus shows that people in the state outside the body are fully conscious, having memories and emotions etc. However, they have no knowledge of the things currently happening in this world, since they are in another world. Job 14, which has been called “the great Old Testament resurrection chapter,” speaks of people in a state outside the body who have no knowledge of current things on Earth. Verse 21 says: “His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.” Solomon also said: “the dead know not any thing” (Eccl. 9:5). That is, they know nothing of what is happening on Earth. When Samuel was brought out of the world of invisible spirits that have departed, he had to be informed of Israel's current condition (1 Sam. 28:15-19). This is said of Abraham (Isa. 63:16).

Others have mistakenly assumed that these verses we have just cited are teaching that departed souls are asleep or unconscious – the so-called doctrine of “soul sleep.” But they in no way mean that. Luke 16:19-31 shows conclusively that all souls are conscious after death. The Lord Himself said that all the dead “to Him live” (Luke 20:38). The context of Ecclesiastes has to do with what is “under the sun” (Eccl. 1:3, etc.), which is an expression referring to life in this world. Verses like Ecclesiastes 9:5 must be taken in their context. Therefore, the “dead know not any thing” – that is, in connection with what is happening in this world. Likewise, we do not know what is happening right now in Buckingham Palace, because we are not there to take it into account, but that fact does not mean we are unconscious. We are simply not there to know.

As mentioned, there are two opposite conditions in the bodiless state. One is “paradise” (Luke 23:43) and the other is the “prison” (1 Pet. 3:19). The righteous – those who died in faith – are in “paradise”. The unrighteous – those who died without faith – are in the “prison”.

An illustration used by the late Albert Hayhoe is helpful for understanding this division in “sheol” or “hades”. He said that the meeting room in the town where he lived was built in such a way that, upon entering it, you were faced with half a flight of stairs up to the upper floor and half a flight of stairs down to the basement. He said that if we saw someone come down the street and enter that building, that person would disappear behind the doors (which he compared to death), and we would not know where he went; whether he went to the upper floor or the lower floor. The same occurs when a person passes through the condition of death. His body enters the tomb, but his soul and spirit enter “hades” (sheol) – into “paradise” or into the “prison”.