Finding answers about this taboo subject is what brought me to a new appreciation of the Bible. Having been raised with the church's teaching of an immortal soul, a mountain of questions were buzzing around in my head when my father died suddenly without warning. My heart was screaming out to God....WHY??? This was a good man who loved and cared for his family....the church had no satisfying answers, and I didn't know enough about the Bible to find them myself. I knew there had to be answers in there because I knew God existed. I just wanted to understand.
I was angry that God could take a good family man and leave the rotten ones still alive....it made no sense to me that a loving God would leave a family devastated because 'he wanted another angel in heaven'.....or because 'only the good die young'.
The platitudes just made me more angry. I wanted answers that would fill that awful void and make the pain go away.
When JW's came to my door, I normally just sent them on their way, but because I was mad at God I asked them (sarcastically) "where are the dead?" Imagining that they would just do what all the others churches had done...tell me "they go to heaven to be with the Lord"....unless they were wicked and God sent them to hell".
That just made no sense to me at all.
I said, "if the good go to heaven, do they suffer the same anguish of separation that we do?" "How can heaven be a happy place if they are grieving for us like we are grieving for them?"
They assured me that the Bible could answer all my questions and turned to a scripture that I will never forget....Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 which says.....
"5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten......10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave, where you are going."
I had never seen anything like that in the Bible before. So I pointed out that this was just the OT....what about the NT and what Jesus taught?
They showed me John 11:11-14.......
"11 After he said these things, he added: “Lazʹa·rus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am traveling there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples then said to him: “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, had spoken about his death. But they imagined he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly: “Lazʹa·rus has died"
Where did Jesus say Lazarus was? Not in heaven.....he was "sleeping", just as it says in Ecclesiastes....he was in an unconscious state in his tomb....not capable of thinking or planning anything. Jesus said he was going to wake him up.
This was such a new thought to me, but I had to admit that it made me feel comforted somehow. I had imagined my father being without us and being in pain like we were at the separation...we had no time to say goodbye. One minute he was with us and the next moment, he was gone. There was no time to prepare and so much left unsaid. But now, my heart started to process this new thought. If my father was not conscious, then he was in no anguish at all. If he was sleeping, then we carried all the pain, but he was not aware of it. I could deal with that because I had family support...we were all going through it together and we survived....it was a slow process, but time makes it more tolerable.
Do I fear death? Do I fear going to sleep? No.....sometimes it is a welcome relief for many....especially those who suffer a lingering death. But those asleep have to awaken. Jesus promised to do just that once he cleaned up the earth and assumed his role as King.
He said in John 5:28-29.....
"28 Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment"
This is Jesus calling "all" in their graves to come out of them. He does not call the righteous from heaven, nor does he call the unrighteousness from any place of punishment....but he calls them all from their resting place, wherever that may be....to resume their lives on earth. Some will already be believers and some will need an education because of never hearing Christ's message.
All the resurrections performed in the Bible were giving these loved ones back to their families.
This is what I look forward to......a wonderful reunion with all those I have lost, right here on earth where God put us in the first place.
And if I lose my own life before the kingdom comes, time will cease to exist for me and when I awaken, it will be just as if I closed my eyes only a moment ago.
So my entire view of death changed and now I have no fear at all.....and actually see it as sort of journeying to the same destination as my family in a large train, with some in the sleeping compartment and some seated in the lead carriages.....there is plenty of room on the train, and all are welcome to come aboard.
Sorry for the length of this, but it is my story.
