Bible Studies

Part Six

There are no souls in any corpse on a death bed, accident scene, crime scene, or in a morgue, funeral parlor, casket, urn, or cemetery. The soul departed from the body at the moment of physical death.

The departed souls of all born-again believers that are “resting in peace” are doing so in the 3rd Heaven (2Cor. 5: 8), in interim bodies (2Cor. 5: 1), until the Rapture (1Thess. 4: 16) takes place.

 The departed souls of all unbelievers are suffering in the Torments of Hades, evidently in some type of body (Luke 16: 24), as well, and will do so until the Rev. 20: 13,15 event takes place, when they will be tossed into the lake of fire for all of eternity future.

The rising of the bodies from out of the graves (1Thess. 4: 16) refers to what’s left of the decaying bodily remains (or dust) of born-again believers being raised up in resurrected form and reunited with the soul that left it behind at the moment of physical death.

From the moment of their departure until the moment of the Rapture, the departed souls of born-again believers are in interim bodies (2Cor. 5: 1) in the Third Heaven (2Cor. 5: 6). These interim bodies are exchanged for their resurrected bodies when the Rapture takes place. Believers who are alive on the Earth at the time of the Rapture will never receive an interim body, but will have their natural bodies transformed into resurrected bodies, when they are taken away in the Rapture.

During the Church Age, should the bodily remains of a born-again believer be unavailable for burial or other customary dispositions, does NOT impact where the departed soul has gone, nor does it impact God’s ability to raise the bodily remains up in a resurrected form when the Rapture takes place.

There are many cultural and religious teachings and practices, regarding the disposition of the soul and the bodily remains that have evolved within and outside of the Christian Community at large, that have no Biblical foundation.  

A grave site, being the last point of contact with the bodily remains, is often visited by the remaining survivors, but the truth is, the soul of the departed one was never, and never will be there.

Interesting to note that while cemeteries are generally viewed by many as being holy ground, physical contact with a grave during the Old Testament dispensation rendered the individual “ceremonially defiled” for a period of seven days, calling for a purification process, and restricting his or her ability to participate in certain religious activities (Numbers 19: 16) until the purification process and period was completed. See Numbers 19: 13, 16 for more details.

Acknowledging that the departed soul of the born-again believer is in Heaven (and not in a grave or anywhere else) is what the departed soul of an edified disciple would want the focus of attention to be on the part of the ones he or she left behind.

There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that anything can be done in behalf of a departed soul that can change where he or she has already gone, and what he or she is experiencing.  

A departed soul cannot be prayed into Heaven or out of Hell. The location and environment that the soul experiences after departing the body was self-determined by the choices that he or she made (John 3: 16, 18/Matt. 16: 24) during his or her time here on Earth.

Obituaries and eulogies generally cast the departed one in the best possible light that human viewpoint has to offer, but I believe that if the departed soul of an unbeliever were permitted to appear and speak at his or her own funeral, his or her ominous message would be, “You don’t want to be where I am now.”

Because of the strong emotions associated with the passing of a loved one, it becomes an area of great interest of the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil in the realm of spiritual combat, keeping in mind that at the heart of spiritual combat here in the Church Age, is the promotion of the Great Commission verses the promotion of false information and accompanying rituals.

One can be easily deceived when he or she is emotionally upset. Therefore, it is very wise to make all possible end of life and after-death final arrangements ahead of time, when one has a clear and calm mind, and not pressured by the urgency of the need for choices to be made. 

Taking care of business before the need arises is a great departing gift that one can give to those he or she leaves behind, eliminating any doubts about what one’s final arrangements were to be.

One’s attitude towards death and the choices one makes concerning his or her end of life and after death arrangements, speaks volumes about what he or she claimed to have believed throughout his or her lifetime.

I have known the devastating pain that the departure of loved ones can bring to us, especially when they were not expected.  

Letting go and moving on can be a difficult, but necessary, part of the grieving process, as it requires one to acknowledge the period of separation that physical death brings, but it is also great comfort to have the reassurance of the reunion that all born-again believers will mutually share when the appointed time for our own departure presents itself.

The way David carried on, pleading for God to spare the life of his infant son, caused much concern for what David might do to himself, for those involved had to confirm that the child had in fact passed away. They were equally amazed by David’s sudden recovery. See 2Sam 2: 16-23.

Our m-e-m-o-r-i-e-s, and not their presence, of the departed soul, be they good, bad, or a mixed bag of emotions, are what stay with us. 

Human souls are not omnipresent, and are incapable of be in two places (the 3rd Heaven AND here with us) at the same time. If God wanted a departed soul to be a part of the present activity here on Earth, He would have not called them home beforehand.

More than one person I know, have confided in me of encountering a recently-departed loved one, who assured them that everything was good with him or her.  

While I find no Biblical basis for such an event, the ones involved had no reason to fabricate these similar occurrences. One of them was afraid to speak of it, in fear of what people would think.

We shouldn’t put God in a box, placing limits on what we decide God can do or allow to take place. The only things that God cannot do, is to act contrary to His own character, nature, and Word.

It might be just me, but I don’t see how Heaven would be a place of rest with no more sorrow, if we are going to spend the first few years looking down and seeing all the pain and suffering that the loved ones we left behind are going to go through before their own time of departure presents itself. That is, unless perhaps the focus of our attention will be on the Heavenly experience awaiting those among them who are born-again.

End of Part Six