Study # 5 – What Happens When We Die

State of the Dead & Immortality of the Soul

The Nature of Man - How was man created?

Gen 2:7
7 And the LORD God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.
The word 'soul' has many people
confused. According to the Bible, man
does not have a soul, man is a soul.
Notice that at creation God created a
body and added to it the Spirit or
Breath of Life. Soul = Body + Spirit
The Hebrew word translated as "soul"
is nephesh. All throughout the book of
Genesis, the same word - nephesh - is
used to describe all living
beings. The word is translated
elsewhere as life, creature,
being, person, body, etc. It would
be best to say that man "became
a living being. "
Gen 1:20-24
20 Then God said, "Let the
waters teem with swarms of
living creatures [nephesh] and
let birds fly above the earth in
the open expanse of the
heavens."
21 And God created the great
sea monsters, and every living
creature [nephesh] that moves,
with which the waters swarmed
after their kind, and every winged
bird after its kind; and God saw
that it was good.
22 And God blessed them,
saying, "Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas, and
let birds multiply on the earth."
23 And there was evening and
there was morning, a fifth day.
24 Then God said, "Let the earth
bring forth living creatures
[nephesh] after their kind: cattle
and creeping things and beasts of
the earth after their kind"; and it
was so.

What happens at death?

Eccl 12:5-7
5 Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree
blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes
to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.
6 Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher
by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;
7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave
it .
Ps 146:3-4
3 Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Death is just the reverse of creation. Take away either the body or the breath and the soul ceases to exist. It is
like light. Light (soul) comes from applying electricity (breath) to a light bulb (body). If you take away the bulb
or turn off the electricity, what happens to the light? - The light ceases to exist.
Do the dead know more than the living? Are they bestowed with special knowledge and
understanding? Are the dead even conscious?

Ps 146:3-4
3 Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is
no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very
Eccl 9:5,6,10 day his thoughts perish.
5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do
not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, Ps 115:17
for their memory is forgotten. 17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go
6 Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have down into silence;
already perished, and they will no longer have a share in
all that is done under the sun. Ps 6:4-5
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with 4 Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your
all your might; for there is no activity or planning or mercies' sake!
knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the
grave who will give You thanks?

Is the soul immortal?

1 Tim 6:14-16 Ezek 18:4

14 that you keep this commandment 4 "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of
without spot, blameless until our Lord the father as well as the soul of the son is
Jesus Christ's appearing, Mine. The soul who sins will die.
15 which He will manifest in His
own time, He who is the blessed and Rom 6:23
only Potentate, the King of kings and 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the
Lord of lords, free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
16 who alone has immortality , our Lord .
dwelling in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see, to John 3:16
whom be honor and everlasting power. 16 "For God so loved the world, that He
Amen gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have
eternal life.

The Bible uses the word 'soul' over 1,600 times, but never once says 'immortal soul'. The word ‘mortal’ means
subject to death. As living souls, we are mortal. The Bible says that only God possesses immortality. It also
states that the soul that sins will die. The gift of Jesus to those that follow Him is the gift of eternal life.

What does Jesus call death?

John 11:1-7, 11-15
1 Now a certain man was sick,
Lazarus of Bethany, the village of
Mary and her sister Martha.
2 And it was the Mary who
anointed the Lord with ointment, and
wiped His feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick.
3 The sisters therefore sent to
Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he
whom You love is sick."
4 But when Jesus heard it, He
said, "This sickness is not unto
death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God may be glorified by
it."
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and
her sister, and Lazarus.
12 The disciples therefore said to
6 When therefore He heard that he
Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep,
was sick, He stayed then two days
he will recover."
longer in the place where He was.
13 Now Jesus had spoken of his
7 Then after this He said to the
death, but they thought that He was
disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
speaking of literal sleep .
14 Then Jesus therefore said to
11 This He said, and after that He them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
said to them, "Our friend Lazarus 15 and I am glad for your sakes
has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may that I was not there, so that you may
awaken him out of sleep." believe; but let us go to him."

The Bible calls death a sleep over 50 times. The idea is that at death, we sleep in the grave
reserved for judgement until the resurrection. Surely King David was a righteous man, but
did he go to heaven when he died? See what the bible says about David in the book of Acts,
which was written long after the death and resurrection of Christ.

Acts 2:29-34
29 "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he
both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 "And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an
oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne,
31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither
abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.
32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received
from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you
both see and hear.
34 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord
said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand."

What will eventually happen to the dead that are sleeping in the grave? When will this
happen?

1Thes 4:13-18 with the voice of the archangel, and 1 Cor 15:20-26
13 But we do not want you to be with the trumpet of God; and the 20 But now
uninformed, brethren, about those dead in Christ shall rise first. Christ has been
who are asleep, that you may not 17 Then we who are alive and raised from the
grieve, as do the rest who have no remain shall be caught up together dead, the first
hope. with them in the clouds to meet the fruits of those
14 For if we believe that Jesus Lord in the air, and thus we shall who are asleep.
died and rose again, even so God always be with the Lord. 21 For since by
will bring with Him those who have 18 Therefore comfort one another a man came
fallen asleep in Jesus. with these words. death, by a man
15 For this we say to you by the 1 Cor 15:51-55 also came the
word of the Lord, that we who are 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; resurrection of
alive, and remain until the coming of we shall not all sleep, but we shall the dead.
the Lord, shall not precede those all be changed, 22 For as in
who have fallen asleep. 52 in a moment, in the twinkling Adam all die, so
of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the also in Christ all
trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be made
will be raised imperishable, and we alive.
shall be changed. 23 But each in
53 For this perishable must put on his own order:
the imperishable, and this mortal Christ the first
must put on immortality. fruits, after that
54 But when this perishable will those who are
have put on the imperishable, and Christ's at His
this mortal will have put on coming ,
immortality, then will come about 24 then comes
the saying that is written, "Death is the end , when He
16 For the Lord Himself will swallowed up in victory. delivers up the
descend from heaven with a shout, 55 "O death, where is your kingdom to the
victory? O death, where is your God and Father,
sting?" when He has
abolished all rule
and all authority
and power.
25 For He must
reign until He has
put all His
enemies under
His feet.
26 The last
enemy that will
be abolished is
death.
John 6:39-40
39 "And this is
the will of Him
who sent Me, that
of all that He has
given Me I lose
nothing, but raise
it up on the last
day.
40 "For this is
the will of My
Father, that
everyone who
beholds the Son
and believes in
Him, may have
eternal life; and I
Myself will raise
him up on the last
day .

At the resurrection, the souls are given life back. We already discussed that a soul is a
body plus the Breath of Life (ie. The Holy Spirit that sustains the life of all). If we are
given back the Breath of Life, and we are made alive again as souls, what will our bodies
be like?

1 Cor 15:35-44
35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised?
And with what kind of body do they come?"
36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to
life unless it dies;
37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body
which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of
something else.
38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to
each of the seeds a body of its own.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh
of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of
birds, and another of fish.
40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies,
but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the
earthly is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of
the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs
from star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a
perishable body it is raised an imperishable body
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is
sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual
body.
Phil 3:20-21
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also
we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ ;
21 who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory , by the
exertion of the power that He has even to subject all
things to Himself.

We will have bodies like unto Christ’s glorified body. We see examples of Christ in glorification on the Mount of
Transfiguration, and also as He appeared to His disciples after His death and Resurrection.

Note that the Mount of Transfiguration is a miniature representation of Heaven. There is

Jesus glorified, and Moses - a representative of those who died and were resurrected - and
Elijah - a representative of those who were alive at Jesus return and who were translated
without tasting death. The bible teaches that Moses died but has already been resurrected,
and that Elijah never died, but was translated and taken up to heaven. The bible only talks
about two who have been translated, Enoch and Elijah.

Luke 9:28-31 37 But they were startled and

28 And some eight days after
these sayings, it came about that He
took along Peter and John and
James, and went up to the mountain
to pray.
29 And while He was praying, the
appearance of His face became
different, and His clothing became
white and gleaming.
30 And behold, two men were
talking with Him; and they were
Moses and Elijah,
31 who, appearing in glory , were
speaking of His departure which He
was about to accomplish at
Jerusalem.
Luke 24:36-43
36 And while they were telling
these things, He [Jesus] Himself
stood in their midst. [the disciples on
the day after Jesus' resurection]
frightened and thought that they
were seeing a spirit.
38 And He said to them, "Why are
you troubled, and why do doubts
arise in your hearts?
39 "See My hands and My feet,
that it is I Myself; touch Me and see,
for a spirit does not have flesh and
bones as you see that I have."
40 [And when He had said this,
He showed them His hands and His
feet.]
41 And while they still could not
believe it for joy and were
marveling, He said to them, "Have
you anything here to eat?"
42 And they gave Him a piece of
a broiled fish;
43 and He took it and ate it before
them.
Although Jesus had a glorified body, He still had 'flesh & bones' and He still ate food. Adam and Eve were
never intended to die. God made them to live forever. They died as a result of sin. Our recreated bodies will
probably be very similar to the ones God originally gave to Adam and Eve.

The Bible speaks about two resurrections - the resurrection of the righteous and the
resurrection of the wicked.

John 5:28-29
28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in
the tombs shall hear His voice,
29 and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of
life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment .
Dan 12:1-2
1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the
sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as
never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your
people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
2 "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake,
these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

The book of Revelation adds further detail to this idea of two resurrections. It says that the
two resurrections occur 1000 years apart. The sequence is that the righteous dead are
resurrected and the righteous living are translated and caught up together at Christ’s return.
The wicked dead stay dead at that time, and the wicked living are slain by the brightness of
Christ’s return. The righteous reign with Christ for 1000 years in heaven and are allowed
time to verify the validity of God’s judgements for themselves. Think of Stephen, the first
Christian martyr, as an example of why this would be necessary. At Jesus’ return, Stephen
and Paul will both be resurrected. When Stephen sees Paul, whom he knows only as Saul of
Tarsus - the one who helped put him to death - Stephen is going to instantly think that God
made a mistake. God in His mercy will allow us 1000 years to validate His judgements for
ourselves, before He executes the final death sentence upon the wicked. After the millennium,
The wicked will be resurrected (the second resurrection) and will be sentenced to eternal
death. Revelation 19 depicts Jesus' second coming. It even notes in verse 21 that " the rest
[those who had not accepted Christ] were killed with the sword which came from the mouth
of Him who sat upon the horse." Just following this description of the return of Jesus in
chapter 19, see how chapter 20 describes the first resurrection, the millennial investigative
judgement, the second resurrection, and the second death.

Rev 20:1-15
1 And I saw an angel coming down
from heaven, having the key of the
abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the
serpent of old, who is the devil and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years,
3 and threw him into the abyss, and
shut it and sealed it over him, so that he
should not deceive the nations any
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the
lake of fire and prophet are also; and they will be tormented
day and night forever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon
it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no
place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened; and another
book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead
were judged from the things which were written in the
books, according to their deeds .
longer, until the thousand years were 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and
completed; after these things he must be death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and
released for a short time. they were judged, every one of them according to their
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat deeds .
upon them, and judgment was given to
them. And I saw the souls of those who
had been beheaded because of the
testimony of Jesus and because of the
word of God, and those who had not
worshiped the beast or his image, and
had not received the mark upon their
forehead and upon their hand; and they 14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of
came to life and reigned with Christ for fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire .
a thousand years. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book
5 The rest of the dead did not come to of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
life until the thousand years were Matt 10:28
completed. This is the first resurrection. 28 "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are
6 Blessed and holy is the one who has unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to
a part in the first resurrection; over these destroy both soul and body in hell [The Lake of Fire].
the second death has no power, but they
will be priests of God and of Christ and
will reign with Him for a thousand
years.
7 And when the thousand years are
completed, Satan will be released from
his prison,
8 and will come out to deceive the
nations which are in the four corners of
the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them together for the war; the number of
them is like the sand of the seashore.
9 And they came up on the broad
plain of the earth and surrounded the
camp of the saints and the beloved city,
and fire came down from heaven and
devoured them.

So What? Who Cares?

What difference does it make what we believe about the state of the dead? Who cares if we
believe that we immediately go as departed souls to heaven or hell when we die?

What was Satan’s first lie to man?

Gen 3:1-4
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD
God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of
every tree of the garden'?"
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the
garden;
3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You
shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die."
 Satan has repeated this lie throughout history. There are thousands of people
today who take guidance in their lives from what they believe to be the souls of
their departed loved ones. Millions of devout Catholics, including the Pope
himself, take guidance in their lives from apparitions of Mary. These apparitions
are not the souls of dead relatives and saints. THEY ARE DEMONS - SATAN’S
EVIL ANGELS - AND APPEAR IN ORDER TO LEAD PEOPLE TO
DAMNATION.

What strong warning does God give about consulting mediums and spiritists? Who
should we pray to as the only intercessor between us and God?

Deut 18:9-11 Deut 13:1-5 rebellion against the LORD your

9 "When you enter the land which
the LORD your God gives you, you
shall not learn to imitate the
detestable things of those nations.
10 "There shall not be found
among you anyone who makes his
son or his daughter pass through the
fire, one who uses divination, one
who practices witchcraft, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 or one who casts a spell, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who
calls up the dead.
Isa 8:19-20
19 And when they say to you,
"Consult the mediums and the
spiritists who whisper and mutter,"
should not a people consult their
God? Should they consult the dead
on behalf of the living?
20 To the law and to the
testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, it is because
they have no light in them.
1 Chr 10:13-14
13 So Saul died for his trespass
which he committed against the
LORD, because of the word of the
LORD which he did not keep; and
also because he asked counsel of a
medium, making inquiry of it
14 and did not inquire of the
LORD. Therefore He killed him, and
turned the kingdom to David the son
of Jesse.
1 "If a prophet or a dreamer of
dreams arises among you and gives
you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder
comes true, concerning which he
spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after
other gods (whom you have not
known) and let us serve them,'
3 you shall not listen to the words
of that prophet or that dreamer of
dreams; for the LORD your God is
testing you to find out if you love the
LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul.
4 "You shall follow the LORD
your God and fear Him; and you
shall keep His commandments,
listen to His voice, serve Him, and
cling to Him.
5 "But that prophet or that
dreamer of dreams shall be put to
death, because he has counseled
God who brought you from the land
of Egypt and redeemed you from the
house of slavery, to seduce you from
the way in which the LORD your
God commanded you to walk. So
you shall purge the evil from among
you.
2 Cor 11:13-15
13 For such men are false
apostles, deceitful workers,
disguising themselves as apostles of
Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of
light.
15 Therefore it is not surprising if
his servants also disguise themselves
as servants of righteousness; whose
end shall be according to their deeds.
1 Tim 2:3-6
3 This is good and acceptable in
the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.
5 For there is one God, and one
mediator also between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself as a ransom
for all, the testimony borne at the
proper time.
 So What? Who Cares?
A true biblical understanding of the state of the dead is the key to avoiding Satan’s evil snare of
Spiritism! There are millions of Christians in the world who are taking spiritual guidance from
apparitions of Mary, dead saints, and departed relatives. These apparitions are demons in disguise.
The Bible clearly teaches that the dead sleep until the resurrection when Jesus returns. These
apparitions cannot possible be dead relatives or saints. People who follow the guidance of these
apparitions are being deceived by Satan and his evil angels. God strictly prohibits His people from
seeking the advice of spiritists. King Saul lost his throne and his life because he disregarded God's
instructions in this regard. This is one of Satan's most powerful delusions in these last days.