Having looked at the doctrines of Christ, repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, baptisms, and laying on of hands, we shall now review the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead (Hebrews 6:1-2). Resurrection presupposes death; therefore, this part one of our study will focus on the origin of death and where people go when they die.

After God creating Adam, God commanded him saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Sadly, Adam disobeyed God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6). Immediately thereafter, God pronounced a just sentence on him saying, “. . . dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Nine hundred and thirty years later, Adam died. And “through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). When our father Adam sinned, we also sinned in him. Therefore, since death was the consequence of sin, Adam died and so do all his children.

Enoch and Elijah were the first exceptions to the rule – they did not die. However, concerning Elijah, it is believed that he too will taste death if he is one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 who ‘prophesy’ in Jerusalem three and a half years leading to the return of Jesus. The Anti-Christ will later kill them but they will be resurrected three and a half days later and will ascend to heaven. Concerning Enoch, it is my opinion that Enoch will never taste death, because he is the ‘Old Testament’ type of the New Testament saints – another exception – who will be alive at the coming of Jesus and shall be raptured – not having died – to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The other exception (those who will escape death) “are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). I believe that Apostle John is one of these people (John 21:20-22) who, if we are to believe Jesus’ words, are still alive somewhere – and he (Apostle John) will remain so until the coming of the Lord when he too shall be raptured together with those who will be alive at the coming of the Lord.

Now concerning where the dead go, we know that their bodies end up in the ground or water. As for the destination of their spirits and souls, there are three places: Sheol (Hades), heaven, and the lake of fire.

Before Jesus came and died for man’s sin, all departed spirits went to a place in the heart or lower parts of the earth called Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27; Matthew 12:40; Ephesians 4:9). Sheol or Hades had two sections; one section was of comfort for the righteous dead and it was called Abraham’s bosom or Paradise, and the other section was of torment for the evil dead (Luke 16:19-31). Jesus’ spirit also went to Sheol or Hades, together with the spirit of the repentant criminal with whom he died (Acts 2:27; Luke 23:42-43).

When Jesus came up out of Sheol and His body resurrected from the tomb, the righteous souls who were in Sheol came up out of it with Him, and “graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had been asleep were raised . .. . coming out of the graves” (Matthew 27:50-53). And when Jesus ascended back to heaven, He went with those souls or spirits of the righteous who had come up out of Sheol. Hence it is written: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity (the righteous dead who were kept in Sheol) captive” (Ephesians 4:8). This was after “He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth (Sheol)” (Ephesians 4:9). Consequently, the section of Sheol called Abraham’s bosom or Paradise that was the waiting abode of the saints was then also translated to heaven. (In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul referred to the third heaven – the heaven which he visited where God is, as Paradise, the place where Jesus went together with the repentant criminal upon death. And we know that all righteous spirits were at that time going to Sheol). Since the taking up of the saints and Paradise to heaven from Sheol, all saints who die now go straight to heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Acts 7:59)as they wait for the resurrection of their bodies.

Concerning the unrighteous spirits like the rich man of Luke 16:19-31 who were in the torment section of Sheol, they are still there suffering. Jesus left that section of Sheol under the earth, together with its inhabitants. And it is to the same place (commonly called hell) that sinners still go today upon death. Sadly, they will be there until after the one thousand year reign of Christ, when (more sadly) they will be cast into the lake of fire. As it is written, “Then Death and Hades (Sheol) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15).

Let us thank God for loving us so much in that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to die for our sins and thereby deliver us from eternal judgment in the lake of fire. Hallelujah! Let us also go forth and snatch the unsaved from the pending lake of fire, by telling them that Jesus died for them too. Let us live in holiness, as we wait for His coming when He will resurrect the bodies of the dead saints to reunite them with their spirits and souls. And let us remember that “. . . our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).

God bless you.

PS: It is interesting that this study of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is ‘corresponding’ with the beginning of the New Year and the opening of the country after the Covid-19 lockdown! I did not plan this when, a few weeks ago, I began to teach and write on the foundational doctrines of our faith. I believe God worked it out this way as a sign that 2022 will be a year of the resurrection of all the ‘God things’ (not people!) in our lives that died because of Covid-19. Let us believe Him for that. Amen.