V. Man At Death

A. Does The Bible Call Death Man’s Enemy?

1 Corinthians 15:

    25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

    26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

    54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

    55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Hebrews 2:

    14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

B. Where Do All Men Go At Death?

1. Do All Men Go To The Grave?

Job 14:

    10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

    13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

Job 30:

    23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

Job 17:

    13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

Job 33:

    22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

TEXTS OF INTEREST

Job 14:

    14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

1 Corinthians 15:

    51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

    52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

    53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

    54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Job 7:

    9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

    Let’s look at the Bible’s record of David.

Psalms 30:

    2 O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

    3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

NOTE:

    Notice in verse 2 that David was healed and in verse 3 he refers to the fact that his soul was brought up from the grave. Why didn’t he say my soul was brought down from heaven?

1 Kings 2:

    1 NOW the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

    2 I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

Acts 2: NIV

    25 David said about him: “’I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

    26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope,

    27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

    31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.

    29 Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.

    34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “’The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand

NOTE:

    This was several years after Christ had come and gone and David was not in heaven yet.

    The “hope” mentioned in verse 26 above, is the future resurrection which is made clear by 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. David knows that he would not be abandoned in the grave because he would be called from his sleep on resurrection day.

Job 3:

    19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

    22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

Ecclesiastes 9:

    10 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, whither thou goest.

Isaiah 38:

    18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

Psalms 88:

    11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

    12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

John 5:

    28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

    29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Job 5:

    26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

Job 10:

    19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Job 31:

    32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

2. Do We Go Back To Dust?

See section IV - B - 1

C. Does The Bible Say That Death Is Like A Sleep?

Psalms 13:

    3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Acts 7:

    59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (4151)

    60 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.

NOTE:

    The Greek word interpreted “spirit” in verse 59 is (4151 pneuma) which means: “a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze.”
This is the equivalent to the Hebrew word for “spirit” (7307 ruwach). This is the “breath of life,” mentioned in Genesis 2:7, which God receives back at our death.

John 11:

    11 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

    12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

    13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

    14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

NOTE:

    Here Jesus gives us His understanding of death. Jesus compares the condition of man at death to that of a sleep. It is always safe to follow Jesus!

Matthew 9:

    24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Mark 5:

    39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

NOTE:

    Above is the story of Jairus’ daughter that Jesus brought back to life.

Job 17:

    13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

1 Corinthians 15:

    6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

    18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

    20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

    51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1 Thessalonians 4:

    13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

    14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

    15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

Daniel 12:

    2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Jeremiah 51:

    39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord.

    57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,
saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

Acts 13:

    36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

1 Kings 2:

    10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

TEXT OF INTEREST:

Acts 2:

    34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

1 Kings 11:

    43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 14:

    20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

    31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 15:

    8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles 21:

    1 NOW Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles 26:

    23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

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.

TEXTS OF INTEREST:

Revelation 6:

    14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

    17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Job 7:

    21 And why dost thou not pardon mine transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

2 Peter 3:

    4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Psalms 90:

    5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

Job 3:

    13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

    17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

    18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

Revelation 14:

    13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Psalms 17:

    15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

Ephesians 5:

    14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

1 Corinthians 11:

    30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

1 Thessalonians 5:

    10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

D. How Does Death Compare With Sleep?

Sleep is a condition of unconsciousness.

Ecclesiastes 9:

    5 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.

Conscious thought is dormant.

Psalms 146:

    4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Brings an end to the days activities.

Ecclesiastes 9:

    10 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, whither thou goest.

Sleep dissociates us from those who are awake, and from there activities.

Ecclesiastes 9:

    6 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.

Normal sleep renders the emotions inactive.

Ecclesiastes 9:

    6 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.

In sleep men do not praise God.

Psalms 115:

    17 The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.

Sleep is transitory and presupposes an awakening.

Job 14:

    15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

John 5:

    28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

    29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

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