The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 1 – 10
What happens when you die? You’ve heard many opinions in your life, but do you know what the Bible REALLY says? This question is of VITAL importance to you! If you are going to go to all this effort to get “saved”, shouldn’t you know what “saved” really means? How do you know you’ll LIKE eternity, if you don’t know anything about what you’ll be doing in it?
There is only one place to find detailed, authoritative answers to these questions. Only one Being who really KNOWS what will happen then – have you ever asked HIM what it will be like? Or have you just trusted the traditions you’ve received and blindly accepted the beliefs your church taught you?
Everyone has an OPINION on this subject – Plato, Dante, Milton all had their say… as did John Calvin, Martin Luther, Billy Graham, and Benny Hinn – but who really KNOWS the answer? Who has actually BEEN dead for a few days and then come back to tell about it?
Who actually KNOWS where man will spend eternity? Only the Being who created man! And that Being, and the writings He left us, disagree violently with the opinions of ALL those men. But don’t believe me. Ask your Bible…
WHO HAS GONE TO HEAVEN?
Has ANY MAN ascended to heaven except Jesus Christ? John 3:13. Is David dead and buried? Acts 2:29. Has David gone to heaven? Acts 2:34. Is David now “asleep” in the grave? Acts 13:36. And are all the rest of the dead in the same place? 1 Thessalonians 4:14-15. ALL of the righteous men in the Bible – men like Moses, Abraham, Noah and David – have THEY ALL DIED and NOT yet received the promises of eternal life? Hebrews 11:13, 39-40.
That’s pretty shocking, but it’s what your Bible says. It says plainly that NO MAN has ascended up to heaven; not your grandparents, not your friends, not the saints – no one has ascended to heaven yet! Jesus PERSONALLY said NO man had been there – except Him. And surely Jesus would have NOTICED if Abraham and Daniel and Noah were wandering around up in heaven someplace!
Surely Jesus is QUALIFIED to tell us NO ONE has died and ascended to heaven! Surely Peter had it on GOOD AUTHORITY that David was IN THE GRAVE – and his soul had NOT YET ascended to the heavens! Do you believe them? If not, why be a Christian?
Think about it! If what Jesus says isn’t true, you can’t trust Him to answer your prayers, to rescue you from enemies, or do ANYTHING for you. Much less count on Him for salvation! So either believe what He says, or don’t call yourself a Christian – you can’t do both! (Luke 6:46). But if you believe Jesus when He says the dead are not in heaven, then WHERE are they? 2
Are the dead conscious? Ecclesiastes 9:5. When you die, do your thoughts continue? Psalms 146:4. In the grave, can anyone give God thanks? Psalms 6:5. Do the dead have knowledge? Are they wise? Are they doing any sort of work? Ecclesiastes 9:10. To what does the Bible compare death? Psalms 13:3. Did Jesus also say that death was like sleep? John 11:11-13. And did Paul likewise teach the same? 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
Did God say that when Moses died, he would sleep – like his dead ancestors were doing? Deuteronomy 31:16. Did God say the same thing to David? 2 Samuel 7:12. Was this common knowledge in Israel at the time? 1 Kings 1:21. Did Job say this “sleep of death” takes place in the grave? Job 7:21.
So clearly, the dead are just that – dead. No thoughts, no wisdom, no worshiping, no working, no sitting on a cloud and playing a harp – just a deep, dreamless sleep of oblivion. Rather like the way a computer feels when it’s turned off.
Now if God didn’t intervene, would this sleep go on forever – that is, a permanent death? Jeremiah 51:57. If you cut down a tree, can it come back to life? Job 14:7-9. But can a man come back to life the same way? Job 14:10-12. But WILL God intervene and wake those sleeping? Daniel 12:2.
Does Job ask God to do that for him? And where does Job ask to be “hidden” while he waits for that to happen? Job 14:13. And finally Job asks the question on everyone’s mind: Verse 14. And does he conclude that he will wait, until a CHANGE comes? (Same verse). And when that happens, how does Job describe the experience? Verse 15.
And where will he be brought to life FROM – heaven, or the grave? John 5:28-29. Did Jesus say the dead were in heaven, or in graves? Did He teach that those in the graves had ALREADY risen, or that an hour was coming in the FUTURE when they WOULD rise from the graves? Did He say the dead heard His voice now… or that the hour was still in the FUTURE when they would hear His voice? (All questions, same verse).
THE RESURRECTION
No verse in the Bible says we will go to heaven when we die. Don’t believe me, look for it yourself – or ask your preacher where it is. If he turns to the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, read my free booklet about it (digital subscribers will find it in the supplementary material in your online account).
Until then, notice that the word “heaven” is not even used in that parable! Luke 16:19-31. Remember the rule: a dubious interpretation of a parable cannot trump clear scripture! Dozens of clear verses say the dead are asleep, and know nothing. One confusing parable can’t dismiss those just because it happens to agree with what you already believe!
The Bible speaks of a resurrection over FORTY times. Why have a resurrection if you’re already alive forever in heaven? Why be brought back from heaven, just to be put back in a physical body, so you can go back to heaven again and get your spiritual body (which you already had)? Isn’t that rather silly?
Has the resurrection already happened? 2 Timothy 2:18. When will it happen? 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Will it happen at the same time Jesus returns to rule the world? Revelation 11:15-18. So if the dead rise ONLY through a resurrection, and that resurrection hasn’t happened yet, who can argue the fact that the dead are still dead, sleeping in their graves? 3
What IS this resurrection? Why do we need it? What does it do? Job spoke of a “change” that would happen to him while he was in the grave, when God “will desire the work of His hands” (Job 14:14-15). Paul devotes all of 1 Corinthians 15 to explaining this “change” at the resurrection.
He starts in verses 3-4 by saying Jesus died, was buried, and then rose again, setting up a pattern for what he is going to say later. Verses 12-17 prove that if there is no resurrection from the dead, we have no Savior. Then in verses 18-19 we see this is a pattern which applies directly to those who “have fallen asleep in Christ”, that is, the saved dead. Those people would perish, UNLESS there was a resurrection from the dead (verse 18).
Ask yourself WHY would the dead perish UNLESS there is a resurrection from the dead?? If the dead are already in heaven, what possible risk is there of them PERISHING without a resurrection? There could be none! But if the dead are unconscious in the graves, then they WILL perish unless there is a resurrection! (Job 14:12).
Most of the righteous dead have died and are buried, sleeping, awaiting their “change” when God will give them their reward. When do they receive this reward? Daniel 12:13. We saw the verses already that said the “last trump”, when is that? Revelation 8:6, 11:15-18. And at that point, does Jesus return and gather the saved dead, along with those faithful who are still alive? Matthew 24:30-31. Does that scripture say He actually sets foot on Earth – or only that they SEE Him?
(I know it seems like a moot point, but it is important. Every verse that speaks of this event makes it clear that when Jesus returns to resurrect the saints, every eye SEES Him – but no mention is made at this time of Him actually STANDING on the Earth.)
When we are resurrected, where do we meet Jesus? In heaven? On Earth?
Or neither? 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. If they were already in heaven, why would they RISE to meet Him “in the air”? When He returns, is it a secret – or does EVERY eye see Him? Revelation 1:7. Is it possible to “miss” His coming? Matthew 24:27.
All these verses speak ONLY of Jesus being SEEN, coming “in clouds”, and sending angels to gather together all the saints – the saved dead. Then at that resurrection we are changed into spirit (1 Corinthians 15:52). And when does all this happen? Job 19:25-27. Job’s Redeemer will stand on the Earth in the LATTER DAYS – at the END TIME, when Jesus returns, as so many other scriptures attest! Then what happens?
Do the newly resurrected dead go to the marriage supper of the Lamb to become, collectively, the bride of Christ? Revelation 19:5-9. Then, once they are officially vested with authority by this marriage, do they return with Christ to the final battle? Revelation 19:11-16. Are the “armies of heaven” the same as the “saints” from verses 5-9? Compare verses 8 and 14.
But when Jesus comes BACK to Earth after the marriage supper, are the saints with him? Jude 1:14. When He returns this time, does He come ALL the way to Earth, with ALL the saints behind Him? And do His feet stand on the Earth? Zechariah 14:1-5. And is that when the battle of Armageddon finally takes place? Revelation 19:17-21.
Is this final battle the very last thing to happen, just as Jesus returns to Earth with the saints? Revelation 16:14-21 (especially verse 17). Then what happens, after the battle is won? Revelation 20:1-3. Then what does John see happening next? Revelation 20:4-6. 4
Much to be said about that last passage, but we’ll get to that. For now I want you to notice that the salvation of the saints is called the “first resurrection”. Also, that it specifically says no one else is resurrected until 1,000 years later!
If these people had been saved, they’d have been resurrected with the saints when Jesus returned. So this NEXT resurrection, the second resurrection, can only be for the unsaved dead! Why they are resurrected will be studied in the next lesson. For now, it’s enough to know that they will be.
HOW TO HARMONIZE OBJECTIONS
There is a massive weight of scripture proving we do not go to heaven when we die; tons of scriptures which speak of the resurrection from the dead. But if you show these scriptures to anyone, they are going to fall back on a few verses which seem to say something else – so we need to see if we can harmonize those with what the merged verses say.
We haven’t had to harmonize much in these lessons, since most things simply fall together if you merge them. Adding them together they usually just make sense. But there are times when there are scriptures that don’t seem to quite fit with the vast majority. And this subject has several of those “problem verses”.
To harmonize, first we make sure the scripture is really THERE – several key scriptures on this subject are conveniently misquoted. Never give, or accept, answers like “oh, I know it’s in there somewhere!” because more often than not, it isn’t!
When you speak with someone about this subject or any other, remember: you are able to show them the scriptures that prove your position; it’s only fair that they show you theirs. If they can’t do that, feel free to ignore their arguments. Then ask them why they haven’t “proved all things” as you have (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and why they aren’t READY to give you an answer (1 Peter 3:15, 2 Timothy 2:15).
After establishing that the controversial verse exists, next we read the CONTEXT – what is the author talking about at the time? Then we read the scripture carefully and see EXACTLY what it says, comparing several different translations to be sure we have a good understanding of it.
That works 90% of the time and makes them fit seamlessly. Obviously, if it ultimately can’t be harmonized, then we need to rethink the original conclusion and see if we merged the scriptures in a way that wasn’t intended.
Every contradictory verse needs to be understood and explained, and most of the time it isn’t that hard. But until you can, you have to go with what makes sense of the bulk of the Bible, not use one vague scripture to ignore a dozen clear ones, as so many do today!
Now let’s put this method to work resolving some common objections about the scriptures you’ve read today, the ones that say the dead are not in heaven.
- “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”
I’m sure you’ve heard this one a lot. And if you assume it’s scripture, it does seem to indicate that when we die we go to heaven – but do you know where the verse is? If your preacher can’t give you the chapter/verse reference, you need a new preacher! The fact is, this verse is always misquoted – just enough to skew the meaning. This is the original verse: 5
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing RATHER to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Now that looks similar, but is it the same as the quote you hear? Paul didn’t say “to be absent from the body IS to be present with the Lord”! He said he would RATHER be absent from the body and be present with the Lord. There is a difference! Now get the context; back up in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. Paul speaks of our PRESENT, physical body contrasted to our future, SPIRITUAL body!
Get that carefully! Verse 4 says the new body we receive will OVERCOME DEATH. That means we have to die to get it! Verses 5-6 say while we have THIS body, we are absent from the Lord. Of course we are! Because flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the KINGDOM of God (1 Corinthians 15:50), nor even SEE GOD (Exodus 33:20), so with our present body we CANNOT be where God is! Now, we walk by FAITH in God – not SEEING Him! (2 Corinthians 5:7).
At this point, having read the context, when the scripture in question comes up in verse 8 it is easy to see Paul is contrasting the present life in this body, with the life we will have in our FUTURE body. But the key question is WHEN! Does this scripture say Paul expected to go IMMEDIATELY to heaven on his death? Or does he speak ONLY of the life he will have when he receives his NEW body?
And when did Paul himself say to these same Corinthians he would receive that new body he speaks of here? The one he’d rather have than his present body? When would that CHANGE happen? 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.
Paul said he would RATHER be present with the Lord – but WHEN did Paul say he WOULD be present with the Lord? At the instant of death? Or AT JESUS’ SECOND COMING? 1 Thessalonians 2:19. Consider this verse harmonized!
- The thief on the cross
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
This one is a bit more difficult; the logic obviously being if this man was to be with Jesus TODAY in paradise, clearly he was going to go to heaven the instant he died! But again, back up and get the context. Verses 32-33 speak of these two criminals crucified at the same time He was. Remember that! Their crucifixion began at the SAME TIME as His!
Then in verses 39-41, one began to mock Jesus and the other to defend Him; then notice carefully exactly what the thief asks Jesus to do in verse 42 – and WHEN he asks Him to do it! He says “remember me WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM”!
Did Jesus “come into His kingdom” that same day? Had He, even three days later, gone to heaven to get the Kingdom? John 20:17. When will Jesus come into His Kingdom? Revelation 11:15. And what happens at that EXACT SAME TIME? Revelation 11:17-18. Get that! The dead are resurrected and the saints rewarded, WHEN JESUS TAKES to Himself GREAT POWER, and rules the nations!
Is Jesus’ Kingdom a part of this world? John 18:36. When His Kingdom comes, it will smash in pieces all nations! (Daniel 2:44). So EVEN NOW, Jesus’ Kingdom hasn’t come, and so the thief STILL has not been resurrected, for he asked “remember me WHEN thou comest into thy kingdom” (Verse 42). Since that hasn’t happened yet, Jesus hasn’t “remembered” that thief yet! 6
Now remember the thieves began their crucifixion at the same time as Jesus. Crucifixion was a very slow and painful way to die, because it seldom took less than three days for the condemned to die – sometimes as long as a week!
We know Jesus died at about 3 PM (Mark 15:34-37 – “the ninth hour”, in Roman time, was 3 PM our time), after only about six hours on the cross. He was buried just before sundown, very late in the day (Mark 15:42-43). When the family went to get the body from Pilate, what did Pilate say? Mark 15:44-45.
Do you see the importance of that! It was UNHEARD OF for someone to die after only six hours! Jesus was obviously a rare exception – and Jesus definitely died before the thieves! (John 19:32-33). Is it plausible then, that Jesus (who certainly knew all of this) would tell the thief, who would still be suffering for several DAYS before he eventually died, that he would be with Him in heaven (and therefore, dead) THIS SAME DAY????
For one more proof of this point, EVEN JESUS didn’t go to heaven that day! So the thief couldn’t POSSIBLY have been “with Him in paradise” BECAUSE JESUS WASN’T THERE ON THAT DAY! And didn’t go there for THREE MORE DAYS! (Mark 8:31).
We’ve proven it cannot mean what people think it means; but what DOES it mean? Why did Jesus say “to day you shall be with Me in paradise”? To answer that, remember God inspired this part of the Bible to be written in Greek; and Greek has no spacing or punctuation. All punctuation was added by uninspired men in the past 2,000 years. Most of the time they’ve done a pretty good job, but sometimes because they didn’t understand the very Bible they were punctuating, they put the comma in the wrong spot. This is one of those times.
The entire phrase changes meaning when you move the comma from before the word “today” to AFTER it! Because the meaning shifts from “I say to you, TODAY you will be with me…” (which supports going to heaven at death) to “I say to you TODAY, you will be with me…” (which agrees with all the other scriptures)! Rotherham correctly translates this verse:
Luke 23:43 (Rotherham) And he said unto him—Verily, I say unto thee this day: With me, shalt thou be in Paradise.
You see how that totally changes the meaning from “Today you’ll be with me in paradise”, to “I’m telling you today, that you will be with me in paradise!”
Remember, you have HUNDREDS of scriptures that show Jesus gives the righteous dead their reward WHEN HE RETURNS. Others that say the dead know not ANYTHING, and that NO MAN has ascended to heaven. A vast assortment of CLEAR scriptures, some in the immediate context, show this man CANNOT be with Jesus TODAY in paradise! And the many clear scriptures must ALWAYS be used to interpret a single unclear scripture!
- What about Elijah?
As always, start with the facts – read the verse for yourself: 2 Kings 2:11. This says Elijah went up into heaven. The context supports this, as do the other translations. But this verse says that is impossible: John 3:13. So which one is right? Does the Bible disagree with itself? John 10:35. 7
Both are true; so what did God mean when He said Elijah went to HEAVEN? To find out, we must see where the word “heaven” is used in the Bible, and see if there is only ONE heaven mentioned – or MORE than one!
Are there stars in heaven? Genesis 1:15. Are there ALSO birds in heaven? Genesis 1:20. When God finished the creation, did He say there was only ONE heaven… or MORE than one? Genesis 2:1. So is there one heaven where the birds fly, and another where the stars are? Is there a THIRD heaven mentioned anywhere? 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.
Repeatedly throughout the Bible it speaks of birds and rain and manna falling out of the “heaven”. And elsewhere it speaks of the stars of heaven; and it speaks of the angels of heaven, and the throne of God in heaven.
And without CONTEXT it is impossible to know WHICH of these three heavens is meant!
- The first heaven, where the birds and rain are, is our atmosphere.
- The second heaven is where the stars and galaxies are.
- The third heaven is where the throne room of God is – above and beyond the other two.
So when it says Elijah was taken into HEAVEN, we must ask WHICH heaven? We know he didn’t go to the third heaven, since Jesus was there and yet 900 years later He explicitly said that NO MAN – not Elijah, NO ONE – had ascended to that heaven!
Can a whirlwind, made of AIR, have any power BEYOND the atmosphere where air does not exist? A whirlwind couldn’t have left the first heaven! So if he wasn’t beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, WHERE DID HE GO?
As always, the Bible gives us a simple answer! Because FOUR YEARS LATER, Elijah sent a LETTER to the king of Judah! 2 Chronicles 21:12. By reading that carefully, it is clear the letter was written AFTER the events took place, events which happened after Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind! He speaks of all the events as PAST, and the disease as FUTURE.
Now if Elijah had been taken to heaven and was now a spirit, surely he would have come personally, or else appeared as a dream! For a spirit doesn’t need to bother with sending physical letters! (John 3:8). This only makes sense if Elijah had NOT ascended up to the THIRD heaven, had not been made spirit, but only had ascended to the FIRST heaven and then descended again in another part of the Earth!
Merge this concept – a man being lifted up by wind, being “seen no more” and deposited in another place on Earth (2 Kings 2:11-12), with Acts 8:39-40. What is this “spirit of the Lord” that picked Philip up and dropped him off somewhere else on the Earth? So that those who were with him “saw him no more”? Then read Ezekiel 8:3.
In each of these cases, the spirit of the Lord was used to move someone above the Earth and put them somewhere else. Just like happened to Elijah! So what exactly was the “spirit” that moved Philip and Ezekiel?
“Spirit” simply means air – both in archaic English and in the Greek word this was translated from. Air, breath, wind, etc. Most commonly this refers to the spirit of God, the “breath of His nostrils”. See Exodus 15:8 where God’s spirit is specifically compared to a great wind which blew back the Red Sea. 8
By merging all of these examples, the only possible conclusion is that the “spirit of the Lord” that moved Philip and Ezekiel was a divinely-sent whirlwind, just like the one that moved Elijah! And that like them, he was only lifted up and placed somewhere else, for he was seen again by other people!Elijah was still a physical man and died like every other man eventually, he was simply MOVED around in the atmosphere by the whirlwind – moved to somewhere else ON THE EARTH – so he had to send a LETTER! Doesn’t that make ALL the scriptures agree, and do violence to none of them?
- Where Is Enoch?
A similar argument is made for Enoch; the verses in question are Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5. Once again, we KNOW he isn’t in heaven, because Jesus said so; further, Jesus is the FIRSTBORN from the dead (Colossians 1:18), so that He would have the PREEMINENCE in all things! He had to be the FIRST ONE to gain immortality after being a man, otherwise ENOCH would have the preeminence!
With that said, what do those admittedly strange verses mean? Where do we start? Read the verse, see what it actually says, then get the context! Literally 90% of false doctrines would fall apart by themselves if people only did that one simple thing!
In Genesis 5:21, it says Enoch lived 65 years and then had a son. It does not say he lived 70 years, or that he lived SOME years, it says he lived 65 years and THAT YEAR had a son. Verse 22 says he walked with God for 300 years after that. Not for 301 years, nor for eternity, but SPECIFICALLY for ONLY 300 years.
Verse 23 then says that ALL THE DAYS of Enoch were 365 years. How many days did Enoch have, then? Did he continue to live for 400 years? Some would say he is still alive today, never having died! But they must believe the Bible is a lie, for it clearly said ALL OF THE DAYS THAT
ENOCH HAD were contained in those 365 years!
Finally, verse 24 says, (Douay translation) “And he walked with God, and was SEEN no more: because God took him.”
Think carefully about that. Does the Bible say Enoch is STILL walking with God? OR does it say, past tense, “he WALKED with God”? And how long does verse 23 say Enoch walked with God? Does it say Enoch NEVER DIED? Or does it JUST say that at some point, DURING those 300 years, WHILE he was walking with God, God “took him”, and he was seen no more?
And where did God take him? Everyone assumes God took him to heaven, but it doesn’t say that! It only says God took him “so that he wouldn’t see death”. There again, everyone assumes that meant he would NEVER see death, but it doesn’t say that either!
Does the world like hearing the truth? John 3:20. Have prophets and other men of God been well liked by the unconverted? Acts 7:52. Does Jesus prophesy that we will also be hated by the world? Luke 21:17. Is it to be expected that if you obey God, those not obeying God will persecute you? 2 Timothy 3:12. If they hate God, will they like you if you serve God? John 15:18, Matthew 10:22-25. But does God promise to deliver you out of their hands? 2 Peter 2:7-9, Psalms 34:15-19.
What exactly did Enoch teach? Was his message a message of hope, love, and joy? Jude 1:14-15. Look at how condemnatory Enoch was! He cannot have been popular with the “ungodly”! He was harsh, critical, and made enemies! 9
These men of faith in Hebrews 11, a list which explicitly includes Enoch, were they loved by the world – or persecuted? Hebrews 11:33-38. And did those very men, like Enoch, who had these things happen to them, RECEIVE the promises? Did they INHERIT the Kingdom of God? Verse 39. Have they been perfected yet? Are they waiting for US, so that they can be perfected, until the same time that WE are perfected? Verse 40.
Now read Hebrews 11:5 again. The word “translated” comes from the Greek word metathesis and its root word is metatithemi. Strong’s Bible concordance says this word metatithemi primarily means “to transfer, i.e. (LITERALLY) TRANSPORT”. The most accurate translation is…
Hebrews 11:5 (ABPE) By faith, Enoch was transported away and he did not taste death, neither was he found, because God transported him away; for before he was to transport him, there was this testimony concerning him: “He pleased God.”
So Enoch was not “translated”, not changed into spirit, but TRANSFERRED OUT OF DANGER! TRANSPORTED from one place to another! Just as Elijah, Philip, Ezekiel, and no doubt many others were transported elsewhere on Earth!
Enoch was, like all preachers of truth, persecuted by those who rejected God, because he testified of their evil deeds! (John 7:7). And as reward for his obedience and his faith, he was MOVED someplace SAFER on the Earth so he would not see death AT THAT TIME!
And by being moved, those wicked men who were out to kill him SAW HIM NO MORE! So he “was not found” by those who sought his life! And in due time Enoch died the death all men MUST die (Hebrews 9:27) and now sleeps, awaiting the change that will happen when Christ receives His Kingdom!
- The transfiguration
This is very easy. Matthew 17:1-8 is the story. Read it, then ask yourself: Does this mean that Elijah (who died) and Moses (who died) were now resurrected, before Jesus was even dead? To get the answer, read verse 9 – the context. Jesus said to tell the VISION to no man! A vision is something you SEE – not something that really happens, but something that is only APPARENTLY happening!
A vision is like a dream (Job 33:15). Did Ananias have a vision in Acts 9:10? And did Paul (then Saul) have a vision at the same time? Verse 12. Did God say that Paul had ALREADY seen Ananias coming IN A VISION? Before Ananias had even been sent?
So then it’s easy to see, visions show things that are not YET REAL! But things which WILL be real one day! Perhaps in a few minutes, perhaps a few millennia, but a vision is a thing NOT REALLY HAPPENING! And Moses and Elijah were not being resurrected and glorified with Christ YET!
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Heaven, as believed today, is quite similar to Greek, Chinese, Egyptian, and many other pre-Christian ideas of the afterlife. It is, however, not what the Bible teaches. The dead are sleeping, awaiting their reward. The Bible simply doesn’t teach that the saved dead are in heaven looking down on us.
Many of today’s ideas of heaven adapted from those expressed in Dante’s Divine Comedy. He openly borrowed from the Roman poet Virgil, who in turn openly borrowed from the Greek poet Homer, who wrote roughly 1,000 years BC. In each of those writers you will see a clear parallel to the allegedly Christian beliefs in heaven and hell taught today.
As always, one verse in the Bible says everything I said in this lesson – if you’d only believed it:
John 3:13 (GWV) No one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man, who came from heaven.
God wouldn’t want to be the last one resurrected, being the new kid that just showed up thousands of years after wise sages had already been there. So He made sure that when the saints are resurrected, all are resurrected at the same time so that all are equal (Hebrews 11:39-40).
That is, after all, what the Golden Rule requires Him to do – so that ALL are brethren, and none but Him have the preeminence.
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