(This was preached at  Hamilton Church of Christ in New Zealand on the 10^th April 2011 )

(Luke 16:19 – 31 & Rev 6:9 – 11)

Introduction

Last Sunday we talked about what God might have meant when he said to Adam and Eve “you will surely die” in Genesis 2:17. We considered all that we could on this subject by doing searches on the relevant words such as, death, die, spirit, soul, heaven and hell to conclude that nowhere in the OT do we find support for the notion that a human being’s personality leaves their body to continue on consciously, somewhere, after death. This point is more widely accepted by biblical scholars today than what we might realize. McNamara writes – “The general consensus [that of contemporary biblical scholars] is that the OT rejected any natural or innate immortality.”

Martin McNamara, Miltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin, Ireland (1997).

However, there are two places, that I am aware of, that have been used from the OT to challenge this assertion which I should just quickly make comment on before moving into considering what the Jews believed in the 400 year period that separates the Old and New Testaments.

In the first of these two places, Isaiah 14:9, we are told that sheol, or the grave, is all a-stir by the rousing of the spirits of the departed to greet the king of Babylon who will be brought down there.  The chapter is not to be taken literally but is not untypical of Isaiah and the prophets in personifying lifeless items or places. Trees clap their hands and deserts feel the emotion of gladness etc. Just as the King of Babylon is said to have been dwelling in the heights of heaven during his reign (v. 12) he is now said to be laid down on a bed of maggots in sheol (v.11). This is non-literal, poetic, prophetic language.

The second place in the OT which might challenge the view that the dead are dead is found in 1 Samuel 28 where we read of King Saul consulting a medium to bring up the spirit of the deceased Samuel. We must remember that in Deuteronomy 18:11 Israel was warned to never attempt to use a medium to try and contact the dead.  Why would that be?

In the chapter Saul has a conversation with this “spirit” which we are told throughout the chapter is Samuel back from the dead. It is noteworthy that the medium never calls him Samuel only Saul does. In verse 19 “Samuel” tells Saul that the next day he will die at the hands of the Philistines in battle and join him in sheol. Clearly God had already abandoned Saul and would not reveal his will to him in any way no matter how hard Saul sought it. Therefore, in attempting to solicit the dead do we think that this really was Samuel rather than an impersonating spirit? According to the account in Chronicles when Saul was wounded the next day he in fact committed suicide by falling on his own sword.

Apart from these two questionable references the dead are dead in the OT until the resurrection of the dead. [Read more...]