The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life

The overthrow of Korah and his company bears directly upon this point. Thus Moses says, "But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit [sheol]; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit [sheol] and the earth closed upon them; and they perished from among the congregation." Num. 16:30-33. Notice that the earth opened her mouth and this company went down into the earth alive. Their houses, their clothing, their bodies, everything pertaining to them, went down into sheol. Sheol, then, is not an immaterial spirit land, but is down in the earth.

Ezekiel's testimony is decisive; he is speaking of the overthrow of certain heathen nations. Of their fall he says, "For they are all delivered into death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave [sheol] I caused a mourning. I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were staid; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him; and all the trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell [sheol] with them that descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into hell [sheol] with him, unto them that he slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen." Ezek. 31:14-17.

Again he says, "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell [sheol] with them that help him; they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company; his graves are about him; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;" Chap. 32:21, 22.

Notice that these mighty men have gone down into sheol, slain with the sword, that they lie there uncircumcised. Thus he describes their condition in sheol: "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell [sheol] with their weapons of war; and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living." Verse 27.

Thus it will be seen that the dead warriors in sheol lie there with their weapons of war under their heads. Sheol, therefore, is certainly a material place.

4. Beasts go into sheol at death. Thus the Psalmist says, "Like sheep they are laid in the grave [sheol], death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave [sheol] from their dwelling." Ps. 49:14.

It will be seen that the Psalmist assumes that beasts go into sheol as though it were an unquestioned fact. Sheol is a place, then, where beasts go as well as men. Here we are shown, to the astonishment and disgust, no doubt, of our Platonic divines and thinkers, that, according to Scripture, beasts go at death to sheol. What is this sheol? Is there an invisible world of ghost animals? Have we not only a nether world where the ghosts of all the men, women, and children who have ever lived are wandering about in possession of their ghostly life; but have we also a nether world where are ghost elephants, ghost horses, ghost sheep, and ghost dogs? What will our immortal soul friends do or say when they find themselves supporting such a theory as this?

5. The soul goes to sheol at death. David came near dying and the Lord healed him, and rescued him from death. "O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave [sheol]; thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." Ps. 30:2, 3.

If the Lord had not kept him alive, his soul would have gone into sheol. In fact the Psalmist asserts that there is not a man living who can save his soul from sheol? "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave [sheol]?" Ps. 89:48. That is to say, just as certain as every man will see death, so his soul will go into sheol. Once more, "For great is thy mercy toward me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest [sheol]." Ps. 86:13. And again, "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [sheol]; for he shall receive me." Ps. 49:15.

The case of Hezekiah proves the same fact. He had been very sick, and the Lord had said he should die; but in mercy he spared his life fifteen years longer. Then this good man returned thanks to God in the following language: "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back: For the grave [sheol] cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth." Isa. 48:17, 18.

If the Lord had not spared him his soul would have gone into the pit of corruption— into sheol.

The soul of our Saviour was taken out of sheol by his resurrection from the dead. Thus Peter says, "He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell [hades], either his flesh did see corruption." Acts 2:31. If the Lord had not raised him, his soul would have been left in sheol, or hades. Comp. Ps. 16:10.

6. Sheol is a place of worms and of darkness. We are not left to guess as to what kind of a place sheol is. Inspiration has described it. If men cannot tell, God certainly knows how it is in sheol. Here is an inspired description of it "If I wait, the grave [sheol] is mine house; I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust." Job 17:13-16. This testimony is very decisive. Sheol was to be his house. When he shall go to dwell in that house he says he shall make his bed in darkness. And then he says that corruption and the worms shall surround him, and he will rest in the dust. No amount of dodging can evade the force of this text. Sheol is a place of corruption, worms, and darkness. And so the prophet Isaiah describes it, "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave [sheol], and the noise of thy viols; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee." Isa. 14:11. Here it will be seen that when a man goes down into sheol, the worms are spread under him, and crawl over him. Who, then, can doubt what kind of a place sheol is.

7. The realm of sheol was dreaded by all the inspired servants of God. It is no wonder that the ancient people of God had a great horror and dread of sheol. They regarded it as the king of terrors. They looked upon it with aversion and fear. They wept and mourned at the thought of going there, and they gave most hearty thanks to God when they were delivered from it. It was represented as being cruel, thus "Jealousy is cruel as sheol." Song 8:6. Says a late learned author, "Notice the wail of the believer in the ancient dispensation when he contemplated going into this dark, silent, lifeless state of hades. . . . Did David imagine he would be alive in hades? No, he knew that he would not. He knew that when he went, as go he knew he must, to that land, he went to a land of utter silence and of utter darkness. "In hades" [sheol], he said in one of his inspired songs, "who shall give thee thanks?" Ps. 6:5. He knew, and tells us, that none would." Hades, p. 108, by Rev. M. Constable.

8. The wicked are silent in sheol. David says, "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. 115:17. From all these declarations it is very evident that every thing is silence and darkness in sheol. No one praises the Lord there. The following declaration upon this point is plain. "For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave [sheol] who shall give thee thanks?" Ps. 6:5. Yes, who shall give thanks in sheol? The implied answer is, No one can. For it is not a place of knowledge. And so thought good king Hezekiah, as we have seen, when he said, "Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption." Then he gives the reason why,—"For sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day." Isa. 38:17-19. Who can fail to see the force of these Scriptures? Every candid reader must admit that they represent sheol as a place utterly void of thought or knowledge.

9. There is no knowledge in sheol. We are now prepared for the positive statements of inspiration that there is no knowledge of any kind in the gloomy realms of sheol. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave [sheol] whither then goest." Eccl. 9:10. This is so plain that a child cannot fail to see it. It utterly precludes all idea of any kind of ccnscicusness for any one in any part of sheol. Where do the Scriptures ever once speak of sheol with its inhabitants as a place of light, life, or intelligence? Every description of it is the very opposite of that. And yet this is the land where the whole man goes, soul and body.

10. All that go into sheol remain there till the resurrection. This is evident from the following language of Job: "As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to the grave [sheol] shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more." Job 7:9, 10. He does not mean that they will never come up, but that they shall never come back in this life; for so he explains further on. "But man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave [sheol] that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me! If a man die shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." Job 14:10-14.

Here he explains what he means. He expected to go into sheol and remain there till the Lord should call him, and bring him up. This shows that in the gloomy realms of sheol lie all the sons and daughters of Adam, whether good or bad. Death reigns over them. The light never reaches them. Not a word of praise ever escapes their silent lips. All cold, silent, and unconscious, they lie there with the ponderous gates of sheol closed upon them. Death's remorseless reign is complete.

11. Sheol delivers up all the dead at the resurrection. This is the only hope of the child of God. Death reigns now, but there is coming a day of deliverance. Jesus has the keys of sheol, and he has promised to come and unlock its gloomy doors, and bring out the pale nations of the dead. The Lord through the ancient prophet said, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave [sheol]; I will redeem them from death. O death I will be thy plagues. O grave [sheol], I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." Hos. 13:14.

Here the Lord represents sheol as an enemy, one whom he had sworn to destroy. "I will ransom them from the power of sheol." "O sheol, I will be thy destruction." This is the premise of the Almighty. Sheol, then, must deliver up by and by. And so the revelator says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades or sheol] delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell [hades or sheol] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Rev. 20:13, 14.

Not only will the sea give up its dead, not only will death release its claim, but sheol will surrender all its captives at the summons of Him who holds the keys of sheol, at the resurrection morn; and sheol itself will be destroyed in the lake of fire.

Paul describes the same event. He says that when the Lord shall come, and the last trump shall sound; and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy sting? O hades [sheol] where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:54, 55.) So from beginning to end sheol is represented as a dreaded enemy, as a victorious foe, who remorselessly swallows up the saints of God, and holds them in his gloomy realms till the resurrection shall rescue them from his power. This, dear reader, is the plain, simple teaching of Inspiration concerning this important subject.

OBJECTIONS TO THE SLEEP OF THE DEAD ANSWERED.

WE have now produced an abundance of Scripture and reason showing that the dead are ashes; yet some people will never be satisfied, however plain the subject is made, until we have answered certain objections which they have in their minds. Hence as we wish to be candid, and thoroughly investigate the subject, we most gladly take up the prominent passages which are always relied upon as proving the conscious state of the dead. We will notice them in the order as they come in the Bible.

First Objection—Rachel's Soul. "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died,) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin." Gen. 35:18. It is claimed that this passage shows that the soul is conscious after the death of the body. Her soul departed. The answer to this is short and easy. Granting that the soul lives after the death of the body, this does not say that it was conscious, that it knew anything, that it went to Heaven or anything of that kind. But what was it that departed? Her soul departed. Turning to the original Hebrew, we find that the word for soul is nephesh. It is thus defined by Hebrew Lexicons. "1. Breath; 2. life; 3. the vital principle in animal bodies." Thus it will be seen that it was simply her life that was departing. The original Greek term is psychee, and is thus defined by Greenfield: "Breath; life, i.e. the animal soul, principle of life, life, i.e. state of being alive, existence, spoken of natural life." In dying, her life departed. Thus a proper understanding of these terms removes all difficulty in this case.

Second objection.—"And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived." 1 Kings 17:22. It is claimed from this again that the soul lives separate from the body. It departed from the body, and came back to it. The answer to the previous passage is the answer to this also, for the case is similar. A child died; his life departed from him. The prophet of God prayed, his life came into him, he revived and lived. The meaning of the word soul here is life, the same as in the chapter previously examined.

Third Objection—The spirit returns to God. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Eccl. 12:7.

This is one of the texts most frequently quoted by our opponents. From this they assume that the spirit immediately goes to Heaven where it lives like an angel in all the bliss of Paradise. But let us look carefully. Notice; if this proves that the spirit of the righteous goes to Heaven, it proves the same for the wicked, for the the declaration stands true for both. So this would prove universal salvation. But look carefully. The dust returns to the earth as it was. To return is to go back to a previous condition or place; to go where it was before. At death the body returns to the dust, as it was, and "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Now the declaration is that at death both elements of man, dust and the spirit, return to where they were before the man lived. The dust returns to dust and the spirit goes to God. Then the spirit at death goes back to the place from which it came at the birth of man. We ask, therefore, did the spirit of man exist in Heaven as a conscious being before it came into this body? We appeal to our readers,—did your spirits live in Heaven as angels before you were born on this earth? You smile at the idea. You know that it is not so. Not one of you believes it. Then you see that this text proves what? simply that the spirit returns to the very condition in which it was before birth. That was an unconscious condition, it is sure. Hence our opponents have chosen the wrong text this time to prove their theory. It says nothing about the spirit going to Heaven. It simply says that it returns to God who gave it. Where is it proved that God brought the spirit down from Heaven, when he put it into the body? He made man of the earth. The original Hebrew term here used for spirit is roo-agh, the very same that is used in Eccl. 3:19, and there translated breath. "Yea, they have all one breath;" and also in scores of other places it is translated breath. When a man dies, his body returns to dust, and the breath, or life which God gave returns to the source from whence God took it, the vital air.

These are the passages in the Old Testament claimed by our opponents as proving the conscious state of the dead. The reader will see that they are very easily explained. No one of them says that the dead are conscious or that any go to Heaven at death, or anything of the kind.