The Dead Are Dead Until the Rapture or Resurrection (Endnotes)

1. Since science cannot examine “soul,” we do not know exactly what happens to the soul life of the egg and sperm in fertilization. Does one die and the other provide the life for the new individual, or do the soul life of the egg and sperm somehow blend? We do not know. We do know that the sin nature in mankind is passed on through the male side, which is how Jesus could be born of a woman yet be without the sin nature inherited by all the rest of Adam’s descendants. Close

2. In the Hebrew text, Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, and 30 clearly show that animals have a soul. The Hebrew word is nephesh, Strong’s number 5315. Many modern versions do not even use “soul” for the verses regarding mankind either. Studying this subject in the KJV helps somewhat, because it does use “soul” quite often, but a tool such as: The Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament, (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, MA, reprinted 2006) [which is in English, not Hebrew] is most helpful. Close

3. We put “hell” in quotes because the concept of a place where people are eternally tortured is not biblical. For more information visit TruthOrTradition.com/hell and see Edward Fudge, The Fire that Consumes (Providential Press, Houston, TX, 1982). Close

4. God is the great source of spirit, and when a person gets saved, God gives us a part of His spirit. Acts 2:17 and 18 do not say, as per many versions that God will pour out “my Spirit.” The literal is like the KJV, that God will pour out “of my Spirit,” i.e. a part of His spirit (cp. 1 John 4:13). The measure of holy spirit that any Christian receives is the fullness of what God makes available in this Grace Administration. Thus, every Christian, while receiving a part of God’s great reservoir of spirit, still receives a full measure of holy spirit. Close

5. We say Rapture or Resurrection because Christians will be in the Rapture, while others will get up in one of the two resurrections. Close

6. One book that covers the state of the dead in more detail is our book, Is There Death After Life? Also there is some important material on the subject in another of our books, The Christian’s Hope: The Anchor of the Soul, pp. 127-135. Also, in this short article we do not mention all the different Judgments, such as the Sheep and Goat Judgment (Matt. 25:31-46), but have kept the subject to the Rapture and the two major resurrections that will occur in the future. Close

7. We add “Paradise” here because many theologians recognize that no person could “go to heaven” before Jesus did, for if so, his death was not really necessary. Thus what is commonly taught is that before Jesus made heaven available, the righteous people went to “Paradise,” and then all the “immortal souls” in Paradise went to heaven after Jesus died and rose from the dead. Close

8. We use the KJV here because it uses “sleep.” In different verses the Hebrew text uses different words to convey the state of sleep. In this case and context, the Hebrew means “to lie down in sleep,” so many versions say “lie down” instead of “sleep.” Close

9. There are three times when people rise from the dead: the Rapture, for Christians (1 Thess. 4:16-18); the First Resurrection, or the Resurrection of the Just, for the righteous who died before Pentecost or after the Rapture (Rev. 20:5); the Second Resurrection, or the Resurrection of the Unjust, for all others (John 5:29; Rev. 20:11-15). Close

11. John 3:13 is a very important verse in letting us know the dead are dead. It appears in red letters in most versions, but should not be. It was not spoken by Jesus, but narrated by John. This point is made much clearer in versions such as the KJV: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” By the time John narrated the gospel of John, Jesus was in heaven, as the KJV says. It seems likely that as the tradition developed that it was Jesus who had spoken these words, the last phrase was dropped by copyists, because it made no sense to them that Jesus could be on earth speaking with Nicodemus and in heaven at the same time. Most modern versions translate the verse in its shorter version, because that seems to make the most sense to them also. Bullinger has some good notes about this section in The Companion Bible. Close

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