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"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Genesis 2:16-17
Many people have fear and doubts about death
Know the biblical truth about the state of the dead
Protects against deceptions and false doctrines
God said they would die, Satan said "ye shall not surely die"
Death is compared to a sleep - state of unconsciousness
Demons pretend to be the dead to deceive
Dead believers will be resurrected when Jesus returns
The wicked will be resurrected a thousand years later for judgment
The wicked will be burned and turned into ashes
God creates man and warns about death
The dead are unconscious, as if sleeping
Jesus returns and raises the just
The just in heaven judging the wicked
The wicked are raised and judged
The just live forever, the wicked as if they never existed
Summary: God warns about death as a consequence of sin.
Summary: The first lie: 'ye shall not surely die'.
Summary: Living soul = dust of the earth + breath of life.
Summary: For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return – mortality as a consequence of sin.
Summary: The dead know nothing; emotions cease.
Summary: The grave does not praise; the living praise.
Summary: Death compared to sleep; Lazarus.
Summary: In the grave there is no work nor knowledge – absence of activity in death.
Summary: Saul and the medium of En-Dor; spiritual deception.
Summary: Transfiguration – discernment about appearances and doctrine.
Summary: Resurrection unto life and unto condemnation.
Summary: The return of Jesus and the resurrection of the just.
Summary: Millennium, second resurrection and final judgment.
Summary: Jesus brings the reward according to works.
Summary: The wicked will be as ashes.
Summary: They shall be cut off, and they shall be no more.
Summary: After death, comes judgment.
Summary: Life is a vapor; urgency of the decision.
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# Study 9 - State of the Dead
- Foundations
- Genesis 2:16-17 — Warning about death
- Genesis 3:1-5 — First lie: ye shall not surely die
- Genesis 2:7 — Living soul: dust + breath
- Genesis 3:19 — Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return
- State of the Dead
- Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 — The dead know nothing
- Isaiah 38:18-19 — The grave does not praise
- John 11:11-14 — Death as sleep
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 — No activity in the grave
- False Communication
- 1 Samuel 28:3-25 — Saul and the medium
- Matthew 17:1-3 — Transfiguration
- Resurrections
- John 5:28-29 — Life and condemnation
- Daniel 12:2 — Resurrection to life and to shame
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 — Return of Jesus
- Revelation 20:4-6; 7-9; 11-15 — Millennium and judgment
- Final Judgment
- Revelation 22:12 — Reward
- Malachi 4:1, 3 — Ashes
- Obadiah 1:16 — They shall be no more
- Mortality
- Hebrews 9:27 — To die once, then judgment
- James 4:14 — Life is a vapor
Today we will study about the state of the dead. There are people who are afraid of dark places, of ghosts, of walking in front of a cemetery at night, of phantoms, etc. Many things are believed, most of which are legends, because the Word of God is not known.
What happens after death? Where do the dead go? The Bible reveals it clearly.
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Genesis 2:16, 17
God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the forbidden fruit, they would die. Satan said the opposite:
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [...] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die."
Genesis 3:1-5
Important:Cemeteries full of dead bodies prove that God was right. But Satan did not give up insisting on the first lie with which he succeeded in deceiving Eve.
"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."
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6
The dead know nothing, do not communicate with us, nor interfere in our lives. From the text we discover that when a child dies, it does not "become a little angel and go to heaven"; and when an adult dies it does not "go to a better place", as people say.
"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."
Genesis 2:7
Dust of the Earth
Physical body
+
Breath of Life
Power of God
Living Soul
A living human being
"These things said he: and after that he 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. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead."
John 11:11-14
We go to sleep at night and, when we wake up in the morning, we do not remember what happened. So also the dead are totally unconscious of what takes place among us.
Since the dead are unconscious and do not communicate with the living, how is it that people claim to have spoken with the deceased in spiritualist centers, at white and black tables and in the dens of witchcraft?
Account of 1 Samuel 28:3-14 about Saul and the sorceress
Conclusion:It is not the dead, but the demons, who speak in spiritualist centers and similar places. We are children of God, not of Satan.
When Jesus returns
A thousand years later
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
Revelation 22:12
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. [...] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
Malachi 4:1, 3
Important:The wicked will not burn forever. They will be burned proportionally to their works and will die forever, being as if they had never existed.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
Hebrews 9:27
We decide our destiny while we are alive. When death comes, only the reward remains. Therefore, we must now decide to obey God to the end of our lives and seal our fate with the just.
Do you want to be free of the legends and superstitions about the dead and believe the true hope that Jesus will raise the just dead when He returns the second time?
Do you want to obey God by faith in Jesus and remain so until the end, to receive eternal life?
Continue studying the Word of God
Seek God in prayer
Share this truth with others
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." - James 4:14
May we make the right choice today, while there is still time!
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Today we learned what the Bible teaches about death and the hope of the resurrection. In the next study, it is about baptism, the true one.