Where Are The Dead?

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” – John 11:25

We have studied how sin entered this world and how it brought sickness and death. You will recall that Satan
lied to Eve in the garden of Eden when he said, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). To this very day,
Satan tries to make us believe that, when people die, they do not really die.

In our memory verse, Jesus states that even if a man dies, he will live again if he believes in Him. When we go
to the Bible to learn about the dead and where they are, we are reading the words of Jesus – the all-knowing
One who can raise the dead to life again.

1. What do people fear the most and understand the least?

“But a man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he?... If a man dies, shall he live
again?” – Job 14:10, 14

Death is feared more than anything else because so few people understand what it is and what happens to a
person when he dies. It reaches into every home, town, and country. A home may be filled with happiness
tonight but may be filled with sorrow the following morning. The little babe may be cooing in the morning and
be dead at night. Death is everywhere: in hospitals, on highways, and on the battlefield. How sad it makes us to
receive a message stating that a loved one has suddenly died!

As you read these Bible texts, you can know for sure what takes place at death. You will not need to be
confused or worried. How thankful we should be that, in the Bible, God has given an answer to these difficult
questions. Let us take the Bible as our only guide and believe it just as it reads.

2. Where will the dead be resting until the resurrection day?

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ‘and come
forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection
of condemnation.” – John 5:28-29
This is a very important verse coming directly from the lips of Jesus. He tells us that the dead are in their
graves and that they will remain therein until He calls them forth in the resurrection, which takes place at His
second coming.

3. According to Job, when will the dead be raised out of their sleep?

“So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from
their sleep… If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change
comes.” – Job 14:12, 14

The dead lie in their graves and remain there until the clouds roll back as Jesus comes the second time. Job
fully believed in a resurrection of the bodies of the dead. He said:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this
I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not
another. How my heart yearns within me!” – Job 19:25-27

Job looked forward to the resurrection in the latter day when his Redeemer will come to awake him. He looked
forward to the resurrection when he will have a living body again and see God. What a wonderful hope and
how real it is!

ARE THE DEAD IN HEAVEN NOW?

4. How does David emphasize the fact that dead are not yet in heaven?

“The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence.” – Psalm 115:17

“For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks? – Psalm 6:5

This states plainly that the dead are in their graves and not in heaven praising Jesus.

5. Long after David’s death, what did Peter say about him?
“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
tomb is with us to this day… For David did not ascend into the heavens…” – Acts 2:29, 34

The Bible speaks of David as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), yet even David is not in heaven for he
is still in his grave.

ARE THE DEAD CONSCIOUS?

6. What happens to man’s thoughts when he dies?

“His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish.” – Psalm 146:4

“For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the
memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will
they have a share in anything done under the sun... Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for
there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” – Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,
10

These are two texts that you should always remember. They explain so clearly what takes place at death: (1)
The breath [called spirit] goes forth – the man breaths his last; (2) He is buried and returns to dust; (3) That
very day, his thought perishes; (4) In death, there is no memory of the past; (5) The dead know not anything.

7. To what does Jesus compare death?

“These things He said, and after that He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him
up.’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, Jesus spoke of His death, but they
thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’”
– John 11:11-14

The Bible speaks of death as sleep for fifty-four times. When one has a good night’s sleep, morning seems to
come in just a moment, doesn’t it? When a person dies, all thought stops. When he awakens at the call of Jesus
in the resurrection morning, it will seem to him that he has been asleep for a moment.
The Bible does not present that death is an end but a pause. This pause is a cessation of life to those who are in
Christ that will experience death. But they will be resurrected at the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus offered
the same experience to Lazarus. He gives back life – a resurrection assured to God’s children.

8. When a man dies, does he know anything?

Have you ever seen a person knocked unconscious by a speeding automobile? As he lies on the street
completely unconscious, how much does he know? You answer, nothing. Now, suppose a truck should come
along and runs over him and kills him, what would he think about and how much would he know? Some may
answer, after he is dead, he would know everything, whereas while he was unconscious, he knew nothing.

But the Bible says, “…In that very day his plans perish.” The dead know not anything. They are in their
graves, resting in an unconscious sleep. None of the dead are now in heaven or suffering in hell. How
wonderful to know that our dear ones who have died are not living now in some spirit world, looking down
upon us as we pass through life’s sorrows and heartaches. No, they are resting in their graves, awaiting the call
of Jesus, the Life-giver.

SPIRITISM

9. What strong warning has been given against trying to talk to the dead?

“There shall not be found among you anyone… who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord…” – Deuteronomy 18:10-12

“A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone
them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.” – Leviticus 20:27

In Bible times, there were spirit mediums who were called witches, wizards, and necromancers who profess to
be able to talk to the dead. This was a satanic deception, even as it is today, for God stated plainly that the dead
are dead. They do not know anything. They are not in heaven or in some spirit world. So dangerous and
terrible is the deception that God decreed that spirit mediums be put to death.

Saul, the first king of Israel, was slain because he disobeyed God and tried to talk to the dead through a spirit
medium (1 Samuel 28 and 1 Chronicles 10:13-14). If someone urges you to attend a spirit meeting, do not go.
The messages which spirit mediums bring are from Satan’s evil angels and not from the dead.
OUR HOPE – THE RESURRECTION

10. Who alone can redeem us from death and the grave?

“I am He that lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades
and of Death.” – Revelation 1:18

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life…” – John 3:36

Yes, it is Jesus who alone holds the key to the grave. If you believe in Him and obey His word, you have the
assurance of the resurrection power and the promise of eternal life in heaven.