What Happens When We Die?

​In this blog post, we explore what happens when we die.

In the Old Testament, the intermediate state is depicted as an unconscious existence in which the dead are silent. David wrote that God’s name is not mentioned by the dead, nor do they praise Him (Psalm 6:5). Psalm 115:17 states that the dead do not praise God, and that death is a place of silence. Ecclesiastes 9:10 states that in death, there is no work, thought, knowledge or wisdom. In celebrating his recovery from illness, King Hezekiah said that death cannot praise God, that the dead cannot hope for God’s faithfulness, and that it is the living who will praise God (Isaiah 38:18-19). When the deceased prophet Samuel was unlawfully summoned by the medium at the behest of Saul, he asked Saul why he had “disturbed” him by bringing him up, which implies that in death, prior to being summoned, Samuel was enjoying rest/sleep from which he was “disturbed” (1 Samuel 28:15). There are other passages that poetically depict activity in death, but this is figurative rather than literal. For example, in Isaiah 14:9-10 the dead are said to rise up to mock the fallen king of Babylon who dominated nations but is now powerless, and in Ezekiel 32:21 Egypt, which has been judged by God, is mockingly welcomed to the grave by the dead. At death, the spirit is said to return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). In this verse, “the spirit” is a reference to our “breath” as per the New Revised Standard Version’s rendering of this verse. The Hebrew word for “spirit” can refer to breath, wind or a spirit depending on the context. This verse is stating that our breath to God at death.
In the New Testament, Jesus referred to death as falling asleep which is consistent with the Old Testament’s portrayal of the dead as unconscious (John 11:11-13). Jesus didn’t believe His disciples would go to heaven when they die. In John 14:1-3, Jesus told His disciples that He would come again and take them to heaven despite knowing that His disciples would die before He returns. That He knew they would die before His return is evident from Him prophesying Peter’s death (John 21:18-19). Yet, Jesus plainly stated that it is when He returns that they will join Him in heaven. Jesus didn’t say to them that they would enter His Father’s house when they die, He said that it is when He “comes again” that He will take them there.

Paul also referred to death as falling asleep (1 Corinthians 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15). Like Jesus, Paul didn’t think that believers go to heaven when they die. In 1 Corinthians 15:16-18 he stated that if the dead will not rise, then dead believers have “perished”. If Paul believed that dead believers were alive in heaven, the absence of a bodily resurrection in the future would not result in them perishing as they would already be alive in heaven with Christ. However, if he believed that the dead were sleeping in the grave, and not alive in heaven, then if there was no future resurrection, they have indeed perished. Paul also went on to say that his persecutions would be for nothing if there was no resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:32). If Paul believed that we immediately go and live in heaven when we die, even before we have been resurrected, his argument makes no sense. If it were the case that we immediately go to heaven when we die, then Paul wouldn’t need a future resurrection for his persecutions to not be pointless. After all, he would simply go to heaven immediately after death and receive his reward. However, Paul didn’t believe that. He believed that the afterlife begins with the resurrection. That’s why he maintained that without the future resurrection his persecutions were of no advantage to him. It is when we are raised from the dead, and only then, that we will stand before God’s throne victoriously.

Whilst there may be thousands of years between a person dying and the day of resurrection, it won’t feel that way to the dead person. When we fall asleep each night, the next thing we consciously experience is waking up. We are not aware of many hours passing whilst we are asleep. The same will be the case when the dead are raised. As such, from the vantage point of our conscious experience, after death, the next thing we consciously experience is the sounding of God’s trumpet as we rise to meet Christ in the air at his return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Therefore, from the vantage point of our experience, to die is to immediately “depart and be with Christ” as Paul put it in Philippians 1:23. However, whilst it will feel immediate, it actually won’t be.

Despite the Bible’s clear statements that the dead are unconscious until the day of resurrection, many Christians believe that at death, people continue their conscience existence in either heaven or hell. This is due to interpreting symbolic passages literally. For example, Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 is often interpreted as a literal description of the immediate afterlife. However, it isn’t. It is a parable, and a parable is a fictional story intended to teach spiritual lessons. In this case, it is a warning about ignoring the poor and not heeding the writings of Moses and Prophets which instruct us to care for the poor. Furthermore, by giving the poor man Lazarus a name whilst not giving the rich man a name, Jesus shows that God honours those society despises and doesn’t necessarily honour those whom society esteems. As this story is a parable rather actual history, it should not be read as a literal description of the intermediate state.

Another example is Revelation 6:9-10 which describes the souls of the martyrs under the heavenly altar asking God how long it will be before He avenges their blood. They are told to rest a little while longer until the number of those destined to likewise die is complete. This shouldn’t be read as a literal description of the intermediate state. The book of Revelation belongs to a genre of Jewish writing known as “apocalyptic literature”, which makes use of symbolic imagery which is not intended to be interpreted literally. The symbolic imagery of Revelation 6:9-10 is intended to highlight that there will be more martyrs, but God will take vengeance at the proper time. We are not to think that there are literally souls underneath an altar talking to God, as it is symbolic imagery. Even so, the fact that they are told to rest “a little longer” indicates that before they asked God how long it would be, they were resting, and now they are told to revert to their rest.

For a more thorough treatment of death, including other verses, please see my book, Hell Is Not What You Think: What the Bible Really Teaches About Death, Hell, and Annihilation.