—— Part #4 ——
By: General James Green
Plato’s View
REMEMBER WHAT the late Clark Pinnock, evangelical theologian from Canada, who shifted his orthodox view of Hell in 1987, who called Hell a “torture chamber” (“Fire, Then Nothing”, Christianity Today, March 20, 1987, pg.40) said? He said that immortality stems more from Plato than the Bible. As I’ve already stated, it is hard to find an explicit text (like 1 Tim. 6:16) that says men have immortality; yet there are dozens of implicit texts that say men do.
᾽Αθανασία is primarily a literary term found in Greek from the time of Plato and Isocrates. It means “immortality.” According to Greek belief, this is proper to the gods, the ἀθάνατοι. Whether it is also true of the human soul is another subject of debate. Plato tries to prove that it is (Plat. Phaedr., 24a), and in his school the immortality of the soul becomes a characteristic dogma, so that later Christian Apologists refer to Plato and claim that he took his teaching from Moses (see Just. Ap., 1, 44, 9). (taken from Kittel / Fredrich’s Theo. Dict. of N.T., p. 22).
Professor Rudolf Bultman points to the LXX apocrypha where the above Gk. word (immortality) is used to describe the expected “eternal life” of the righteous (see Wisdom 3:4; 15:3; 4 Macc. 14:5—through the Gk. transl. this Gk. word has also come into the text of Sir. 17:30; 51:9 A in the sense of “immortal.” In Wis. 8:13, 17 it is not wholly clear; in 4:1 it is “mnemonic” immortality).
᾽Αθανασία is common in Philo. We’ve already seen the N.T. texts: 1 Cor. 15:53 and 1 Tim. 6:16. The first defines it (as found also in Hellenistic Judaism) in its sense as a “thought,” being not merely that of “eternal duration” — no end — but also of a mode of divine existence different from that of σάρξ and αἶμα (but of ζωή = zoe/life) and equivalent to what is elsewhere called δόξα. In 1 Tim. 6:16, “immortality” is used of God, as already shown.
Heaven vs. Hell
WE HAVE ALSO SHOWN that those conscious in Heaven are an antithesis to those conscious in Hell-fire—eternally! If one really wants to do his/her own in-depth study, one could start with the concepts of life after death in literary and non-literary Gk. in general; in philosophical usage; older philosophy; Aristotle; the later Hellenistic period; the O.T. era; Palestinian Judaism; the Dead Sea Scrolls; the Talmudic and Midrashic writings; Hellenistic Judaism; Gk. O.T. (LXX); Josephus; Philo; other Hellenistic Jewish works; N.T. writings on “corruptible”/ “incorruptible,” etc.
You’ll find the same thing that I have found, that the words “destroy,” “burn up” “perish” etc. mean “to ruin” and “to mar,” never annihilation. When the Bible speaks of the “lost” it never means the extinct, but those who lost out from God’s eternal grace; for the righteous, grace will be in incorruptibility, increasingly, with those who love and obey Jesus Christ the Lord. With ζωή, ἀΦθαρσία is the “future eternal life” which Christ Jesus has brought as a light into the dark, corruptible, world,(see 2 Tim. 1:10). There is eternal salvation now, here on earth (Jn. 3:16) and the Bible shows it exclusively in eschatological terms, which will be manifested only with the “parousia” (see 1 Cor. 15:42, 50, 53). The incorruptibility we all wait for is that of our mortal bodies, which, at this point, are still subject to death and decay.
Temple of God
WE, AS CHRISTIANS, are the Temple of God, He dwells in us; He dwells in each member in particular, and in all of us as a whole, which equals God’s Holy Nation. Although we are born again of incorruptible seed (Christ), we still are not fully redeemed until our bodies are glorified. Φθορά means “corruptibility”—we hope for “immortality” and “incorruptibility” for the whole man.
Man has an enemy, that is DEATH! Salvation is a power of life at the heart of this world of death. For the sinner there is NO ESCAPE outside of Christ’s redemptive power over death. But by His grace and our faith in Him, we can experience a kind of immortality now, and hope for the prepared dimension of immortality, then.
7th Day Adventists
THESE PEOPLE BELIEVE in the doctrine of “soul sleep.” Martin Luther, in His Commentary on Genesis stated, “In the interim [between death and resurrection], the soul does not sleep, but is awake and enjoys the vision of angels and of God, and has converse with them” (Works, XXV, p. 321). What changed Luther’s mind? Before the above confession, he stated that he could not support the doctrine of immortality of the soul, which he called one of the “endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of Decretals” (Weimar edition of Luther’s Works, Vol. VIII, pp. 131-32). Well, we can’t base our interpretation of Scripture on Gk. scholars, even though they may be good at that language—it must be on God’s Word. In my years of studying “competent” Gk. (or Heb.) scholars, I find they are awfully divided on certain topics.
Whole Man
THE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS BELIEVE that the “soul” represents the whole man, not a particular part independent of the other component parts of man’s nature. They believe that the soul cannot exist apart from the body, therefore, at death, the soul sleeps, is not active (look up their Questions on Doctrine). Let us do a text study and see if they are right:
John 11:25, 26, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Jesus dealt with the words “life” and “dead”/“die.” Jesus was referring to the future resurrection of course, but to console Martha (her brother being dead), He was also referring to that occasion. No soul sleep here.
The root meanings for “death”/“life” in the N.T. Gk. = “death” Thanatos, in its verb form apothnesko, and “life”, Zoe, or its verb form zac are respectively “separation or to separate”, from communion/fellowship. There is natural death and spiritual death, the former=the separation of the body from the soul, the latter=the separation of the soul from God (as a result of sin).
Life also has two kinds, physical (bios)=union/communion of body and soul, and spiritual (zoe)=union/communion of soul with God.
1 John 5:11-13
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
In the grammar/context of the above verses, “eternal life” (eionion zoes) is the present possession of every believer, “eternal life” includes conscious union/communion with God. Scholars point out that the present indicative active tense of the verb “echo,” expressing present, continuous action, hence, the believer, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, already possesses never-ending life as a CONTINUING QUALITY of conscious existence. Dr. Martin makes mention of John 11: 25 & 26: “The Gk. is extremely powerful in v. 26 for the Lord deliberately used the double negative, a construction which intensifies with great emphasis that to which it is applied. Jesus could not grammatically have been more emphatic in stating that the believer, who is alive both physically and spiritually, can never experience loss of communion of fellowship as a spiritual entity, though his body may become ‘dead”’ (Kingdom of Cults., Page 388). I need to add my two cents worth to that, the Christian who keeps his/her salvation till death, for one, CAN LOSE it if they are not diligent. This breaks that fellowship. But the principle is correct, even the sinner in Hell/Hades (Lk. 16) was conscious, his soul was awake, not asleep. I know most folks, esp. Calvinists, don’t want to believe that a soul that has been “born again,” received eternal life, can, because of unrepentant sin(s), “die again” spiritually.
So Far
TWO NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES provide the clearest definition of Hell that we have. Second Thessalonians 1:9 says, “And these [who do not know God or obey the gospel] will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (NASB). The other passage, Matthew 25:41 and 46 states: “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels’;…And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (NASB).
From these (and other) verses we see that the essence of hell is the end of a road away from God, love, and anything of real value. It is banishment from the very presence of God and from the type of life we were made to live. Heaven, which is full of God’s presence, is a place of supreme happiness, where we can cultivate our freely chosen friendship with God and others who love Him, where we can grow in our knowledge of and intimacy with God and others who love Him, and where we can serve God and others who love Him. Hell is the opposite of all this.
The Bible describes hell primarily in relational terms—it is “away from” God. Therefore, it involves banishment from His presence, His purposes, and His followers. Like Heaven, Hell is a freely chosen destination. What we decide to believe and do in this life sets us on a road leading to a final destination in the next.
Hell is also a place of shame, sorrow, regret, and anguish. This intense pain is not actively produced by God; He is not a cosmic torturer. Undoubtedly, anguish and torment will exist in hell. And because we will have both body and soul in the resurrected state, the anguish experienced can be both mental and physical. But the pain suffered will be due to the shame and sorrow resulting from the punishment of final, ultimate, unending banishment from God, His Kingdom, and the good life for which we were created in the first place. Hell’s occupants will deeply and tragically regret all that they lost. As Jesus said, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
Finally, Hell was not a part of the original creation. It was not part of what God made and declared “good” (Gen. 1). Hell is a later addition meant to accommodate the banishment of the Evil One and his rule over fallen angels and people who have rebelled against God.
The Bible uses several words to describe this place of pain. In the Old Testament, Sheol is the main word used. It sometimes means the grave itself, but more often it refers to the nether world, the realm of the dead. Sheol was seen as a shadowy, dark mode of existence (Job 10;21-22; Ps. 143:3) and a place where one could talk with others (Isa. 14:9-20) and be reunited with friends (Gen. 15:15; 37:35). It was pictured with two compartments (Gen. 37:35; Deut. 32:22—the lowest part and the highest one (also called, prior to Christ’s resurrection, “Abraham’s bosom” in Luke 16:22 and “paradise” in Luke 23:43). Thus, Sheol contained both unbelievers and believers, and therefore, cannot be identified as the place of the wicked’s final punishment.
In the New Testament, Hades takes the place of Sheol, and it appears that Christ’s resurrection changed the nature of Hades (Eph. 4:8-9; 1 Peter 3:1:18-22). Before Christ’s resurrection, Hades is used as a synonym for Sheol as a whole, including the lowest and highest components. However, after Christ’s resurrection, Hades becomes identified with the lowest part of Sheol only (Luke 16:23). Hades, then, becomes viewed as a temporary place of banishment during the unbeliever’s intermediate state (2 Peter 2:9), which will be done away with at the final judgment (Rev. 20:13-15). During the intermediate state, people remain conscious and disembodied, as they await the final resurrection of their bodies and the final judgment.
The New Testament also uses Tartarus (only in 2 Peter 2:4), Gehenna, and the lake of fire to stand interchangeably for the final state of the banished, brought about at the final judgment at the end of the world (Matt. 23:33; Rev. 20:1-15). In Gehenna, people will have bodies as well as souls (Matt. 5:22; 10:28), and they will experience conscious, everlasting banishment from Heaven.
Finally, the Bible describes Hell’s occupants as experiencing different degrees of punishment. Just as there are different degrees of rewards for believers in Heaven (2 Cor. 5:10), so there are different degrees of judgment and shame of unbelievers, “according to the works” that have been done in this life (Matt. 11:21-24; Luke 12:47-48; Matt. 23:23; and, perhaps, James 3:1; Rev. 20:12-13).
The Bible’s picture of Hell, therefore, indicates that upon death, some people will be translated into a different, nonspatial mode of existence. They will be conscious, and they will await the resurrection of their bodies, at which time they will be banished from heaven and secured in hell where they will experience unending, conscious exclusion from God, His people, and anything of value. This banishment will include conscious sorrow, shame, and anguish to differing degrees, depending on the person’s life on earth.
This is a good place to say something about the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. Catholics and Protestants agree on a great deal regarding God, Jesus Christ, and the afterlife. However, we and our fellow Protestants cannot bring ourselves to accept the full-blown notion of purgatory. Very roughly, the notion of purgatory includes the following: Purgatory is closely associated with the idea of temporal punishment. According to tradition, it is a place where certain people go immediately after death to prepare themselves for heaven. It is a temporary state of misery, suffering, and punishment. In purgatory, people are punished for certain sins committed in this life, they make reparation and amends for those sins through repentance and penance (acts of self-abasement and devotion that earn God’s forgiveness and establish restoration with God and others), and they are purified and made righteous again in God’s sight. Theologian Loraine Boettner gives a helpful summary of the doctrine of purgatory:
“The Roman Catholic church has built up a doctrine in which it is held that all who die at peace with the church, but who are not perfect, must undergo penal and purifying suffering in an intermediate realm known as purgatory. Only those believers who have attained a state of Christian perfection go immediately to Heaven. All unbaptized adults and those who after baptism have committed mortal sin go immediately to Hell. The great mass of partially sanctified Christians dying in fellowship with the church, but who nevertheless are encumbered with some degree of sin, go to purgatory where, for a longer or shorter time, they suffer until all sin is purged away, after which they are translated to Heaven” (Boettner, Immorality, p. 124).
Also, one does not develop a doctrine from figures of speech (like “soul sleep”), but upon sound Biblical principles/hermeneutics, contextual analysis, and linguistic exegesis. Sadly, for most of us who are not Bible scholars, we do our best to search out the meanings of certain passages.
“Eternal life” and “immortality” confuses many. I can’t help but believe that man in the beginning was formed from the earth (body) and was given spiritual life by the breath of God, which I believe is spirit, therefore, can’t be annihilated. The “fall” was none other than man falling out of fellowship/favor with his/her creator, but in no wise spiritually annihilated.
Before sin entered into man, he/she was immortal, in a state of deathlessness; sin “marred,” “ruined” man, especially his body, which became subject to physical death. At the final resurrection, regenerated man will once again receive “immortality” of the body—in this life, the saved already possess “eternal life,” i.e., a spiritual quality of existence which will at length, be united with the physical quality of “incorruptibility” which Scripture speaks of as “immortality.”
1 Cor. 12:1 and 1 Jn. 3:2 speak of “we shall be like Him (resurrected, glorified Christ), for we shall see Him as He is.”
Some scholars argue that “eternal life” and “immortality” are not synonymous, nor interchangeable. I agree, to an extent, as already stated. This is what I’ve gathered in all my hours and hours of study, although some Gk. scholars disagree. We are talking about both quality and quantity of life. You can’t have one without the other. If I possess eternal life now, and I do, this Eternal Life is both a type of spiritual life (as opposed to natural / fallen life), and also contains never-ending-ness (endless duration). Can’t we say the same for immortality?
2 Tim. 1:10
“BUT IS NOW MADE MANIFEST by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
Paul moves from God’s eternal plan and the grace resident in Christ to the manifestation of that grace in the appearing of Christ as the Savior who accomplished “salvation” by abolishing “death” and providing life (zoe) and “immortality.” DEATH is not the goal of creation, but everlasting life. LIFE and IMMORTALITY are linked together as two aspects of ONE reality.
Most see that “life” pertains to this world and “immortality” to the next. Most see and understand “life” as a certainty, but “immortality” as a hope, but our text says that Christ has bridged the gap between these two aspects of man’s experience. Both “eternal life” and “immortality” are credible. God did not deem “extinction” for His children, but everlasting life, abundant life; everlasting punishment was not deemed either, but God’s justice demands it. I didn’t make this rule! Eternal life/immortality are continuous enrichments of fellowship/favor with our Creator/Savior. If men don’t want it—get it—keep it, it is man’s fault, not God’s.
Our Savior
PAUL MAKES IT CLEAR FOR US, if we know the cultural background of his day, that “Savior” is used against the “gods” in the Hellenistic religions. 1 Tim. 1:1 starts out like this: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.” 2 Tim. 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul wanted his readers/listeners to understand that Jesus was not just another god of the emperor cult—as over against all other gods/saviors stands the Christian Savior, Jesus Christ.
Many in those days (as in ours) believed that Emperors were God (Greeks had gods, Romans had gods, most pagan religions had gods),and that they were “immortal.” Paul preached Jesus Christ as the Savior, in that He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light. “The quite non-Hebraic character of this statement of the function of “saviorhood” with its Gk. use of “life” and “light” and “immortality” further suggests that we are dealing with the language of the mysteries” (Dr. F.D. Gealy, Exegesis of II Tim. p. 470).
Dr. A.T. Robertson (Word Pictures, p. 58) states that, “Life and incorruption are the opposite of ‘death’ and mean an unchangeable life” (Ref. 2 Tim. 1:10). The life that is brought is not physical—men already had that—but spiritual life, and immortality itself speaks of life beyond physical death. Therefore, “death” here is spiritual death associated with sin (Rom. 6:6, the same verb; 7:24; 8:2).
Life (ζωήν) here is the supernatural life that was promised to believers in Christ (1:1). Christ embodies life (He speaks of Himself, as we recall, as the life in Jn. 11:25; Col. 3:4) and brings it to give to others (Rom. 5:17; 6:4; 2 Cor. 4:10, 11; 1 Jn. 5:11, 12). Here Paul joins the two Gk. words ζωήν, ἀΦθαρσίαν (see also Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:42, 50, 53, 54; Eph. 6:24). Immortality=incorruptibility provides the appropriate eternal dimension, just as Paul sometimes adds the word “eternal.”
Dead in Christ
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18 GIVES US INSIGHT on what the “dead in Christ” means. The intermediate state is not “soul sleeping” but the opposite. The key is the preposition sun (Gk.) which carries the primary meaning of “together with.” V. 14 tells us that He intends to bring with Him (sun auto), that is, with Jesus at His second coming (not pre-trib. rapture which is a false concept, write for our 4 Rapture booklets) believing Christians who have died physically. “Sleep” is merely another word for “dead,” a common metaphor. But the soul/spirit of the believer is not dead.
Verse 17, which tells us that saved believers who survive to the coming of Christ will be “caught up,” i.e., “raptured into the Spirit realm” with them (sun autois), that is, with the dead in Christ (oinekroien Christe). The word “air” does not mean Heaven somewhere “up,” but “air” means “Spirit.” So, at His second coming, the resurrection of those already dead (bodies in grave, soul/spirit with God) will join those who are still alive at His coming. Note the words “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” The dead’s soul/spirit, which is already WITH God/Christ in the Spirit dimension, will come to receive their resurrected, glorified bodies—those alive will be transformed, translated, body/soul/spirit into that Spirit realm of immortality forever!
Immortality of Soul?
SINCE THE RESURRECTED BODY receives immortality, why do we think the soul has not received the same at the new birth? “Being born again” (Jn. cpt. 3) literally means, “regenerated.” What is regenerated? The soul or the body? Isn’t being “born again” a type of spiritual resurrection? It is! And isn’t being “quickened” (Eph. 2:1, 5, 6) being “resurrected” from “spiritual death?” Ζoopoleo (Gk)= “made alive, give life.” Since man’s soul/spirit was DEAD in trespasses and sins, the new birth experience is likened to a resurrection, “And hath RAISED US UP TOGETHER, and made us sit together in heavenly (“Spirit”) places in Christ Jesus” (v. 6). The wording is similar to 1 Thes. 4, 17.
Eph. 2:1-6 is an expansion of the words Paul penned in Col. 2:13, “You, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him.”—the “dead”=man’s sinful life, cut off from God, Who is the source of all true godly, holy life.
So, as Christ was raised from physical death, so the sinner is in a condition of spiritual death, from which they were to be raised/resurrected by the life-giving power of “God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9).
Some ask: “If I am immortal by reason of my simply being a man, and if immortality connotes blessedness, why do I need to take sin serious, or, for that matter, God?” It is implied in dozens of passages that the soul of man is alive, yet dead in sin—if the body dies, the soul (spirit included) lives on, in Heaven or Hell. This we find in Scripture. The new birth brings man out of spiritual death, e.g., being separated from God’s favor, into favor and into a quality of life totally different from a life of sin. Sin “ruined,” “marred” the sinner’s life, but being born again rids us of that destruction.
The Account!
THE ACCOUNT BETWEEN SINFUL MEN and the Holy God must be and will be settled!! The psalmist once said, “Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee,” (Ps. 73:25). Hell needs to be avoided at all costs.
God’s judgments were in the O.T., they are here now, and they will be in the future, final judgment=Lake of Fire.
John 5:28, 29 says, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Did you get it? If not, try Heb. 9:27.
The preacher Kierkegaard wrote the following: “We can speak rightly about immortality only when we speak of the judgment; and naturally when we speak of the judgment, we speak of immortality…immortality is the judgment. There is not a word more to be said about it. He who says one more word, as a word which has another slant, let him beware of the judgment” (Christian Discourses, 1939, p. 213).
Most scholars view the resurrection as a present reality, as I do. We who have been “born again” have been resurrected out of spiritual darkness/death. Sure, the resurrection of the body follows, but for now we have immortality of soul/spirit. Verse 5, 6 (Eph. 2) tells us that this “quickened” experience is NOW, not some future expectation, but a present spiritual transformation already made effective in Christ our Savior.
The 3 verbs—“made alive”, “raised up”, and “made us sit” are all compounded with the preposition σύν (“with,” “together with”), to bring out the thought that these are shared experiences, shared both with Christ and with all other born again Christians.
Wages of Sin = Death
FRIENDS, WE GET our pay check some day. Eph.2:5 and Rom. 6:23 go together—the wages are earned; the free gift (of salvation) is all of grace. Amen!
Death and resurrection are both present realities, not future altogether. The Ekklesia (Gk. for church) of God is a RESURRECTED society, imperfect as it may be. This resurrected life brings man into communication with Holy Deity.
So, we have “resurrection” now for our soul/spirit (usually called the “saving of the soul”) and eschatologically speaking, in the future for our mortal bodies. We can experience Heaven NOW (in a limited sense) and Heaven beyond the grave. Paul, knowing this, said, “I am in a strait betwixt the two.” “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:23, 21).
The Ekklesia of God is a spiritual society/nation of reborn relationship, with both God and men. It can be called a “Holy Home”…a Heaven now, a foretaste of the perfect (mature/completed) home of eternity.
What About Eccl. 9:5,6?
OH, YES, MANY LEAN UPON THESE texts to prove “soul sleeping,” like the Seventh day Adventists. Let’s look into these verses for a moment. “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”
The dead (physically) are “cut off” from life…their day of probation has ended, and therefore, they can have no further reward in living a holy life; nor can they be liable to any further punishment for crimes in a state of probation, that being ended. Verse 6 speaks in reference only to life in this world, not to extinction or soul sleep after physical death.
Job 14:21 reads, “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” When dead, he is equally indifferent and unconscious whether his children have met with a good or bad lot in life; for as to this world, when man dies, in that day all his thoughts perish.
Isa. 63:16 says, “Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting” (see Cpt. 51:1, 2; also Matt. 8:11, 12; Jn. 8:39-42; Rom. 2:28, 29). Here in Isaiah, Abraham and Jacob lie DEAD in Sheol (Heb. word for grave for body and metaphor for the place of departed souls after death) and belong to the dim past, but God is Israel’s Father for ALL time.
The alternative rendering for “and Israel does not acknowledge us” is, “does not recognize us” (see Dt. 33:9). Both Abraham and Israel (Jacob) were alive in Sheol, their bodies long dead—all this language is speaking about is what is transpiring upon earth, not in Sheol.
Some use Eccl. 9:5 and 6 as their proof texts for “soul sleep,” especially “for the memory of them is forgotten,” (v. 5) (see also Job 7:8, 9, 10 read those). Dr. Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A. has some good commentary (and critical) notes on those verses (see p. 828, vol. 3, Job). Death is described as “the cloud is consumed and vanished away; so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more” (v. 9). the “cloud”=”breath” of man, the physically dead (not the eternal living) will no more sojourn with the living. There is NOTHING in those 3 verses that even hints at annihilation (or “soul sleeping”), but it simply says that the dead shall never more become an inhabitant of the earth (unless it is a miracle like Lazarus).
We find also this theme in Isa. 26:14: “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.” We’ve already looked at how the words “destroy” and “perish” are used—they never mean “annihilation.” The language is that of the physical body dying, not the soul/spirit.
Ecclesiastes 12:6,7
“OR EVER THE SILVER CORD be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Here we have another presentation of life being extinguished, e.g., physical death. The metaphors for cord/bowl/pitcher/wheel all relate to apparatus of water drawing and light. The lamp attached to the ceiling by a silver cord and that of the broken pitcher at the well/fountain. “Broken” as applied to the lamp is doubtless a hyperbole describing the crashing of the “bowl” to the ground and the spilling of the oil. Light and water are well-known symbols of life. The “cessation” of natural life here represented by the perishing of those vessels which contain oil (for light) and water (to aid man’s thirst, also represents the water of life).
Verse 7 explains v. 6—“Then shall the dust (dead body) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” The spirit is the “breath of life” (remember Genesis?) which goes back or unites in the spirit world with God. Nowhere is annihilation mentioned. Chapter 12 describes life, youth—dying in old age.
The N.T. teaches, as we’ve learned, that the immaterial nature of man (soul/spirit) is separate from the body (again see Matt. 10:28; Lk. 8:55; 1 Thess. 5;23; Heb. 4:12; Rev. 16:3); that it is independent of man’s material form, and departs from that form at death, to go either into the Lord’s presence (Phil. 1:23) or into Hell (Lk. 16).
Jesus, in Lk. 23:46, committed His spirit unto His Father. The soul and spirit of man do not terminate at death (see also where Jesus spoke to the thief on the cross, “Today thou shalt be with Me in paradise”—their souls/spirits were going to be in paradise).
Again, it is argued that “eternal life” and “immortality” are not the same. Plainly, “immortality” is mentioned in connection with the resurrected body, but could it be assumed that the soul/spirit (of the Christian) already had immortality, so no need to make mention of it? They knew their bodies didn’t have it so they looked unto the second Advent for it? Some Gk. scholars use “immortality” and “eternal life” interchangeably. Frankly, I see no need for a huge debate over these two terms, they both mean endless duration, and also a quality of life, the antithesis of corruption and they both disprove annihilation.
As we have seen “aphthartos”=not liable to corruption or decay, incorruptible, and it is used of God (Rom. 1:23; 1 Tim. 1:17 (A.V.,=”immortal”); the resurrected dead (1 Cor. 15:52); rewards given to the saints hereafter, metaphorically described as a “crown” (1 Cor. 9:25); the eternal inheritance of the saints (1 Pet. 1:4); the Word of God, as incorruptible seed (1 Pet. 1:23); a meek and quiet spirit, metaphorically spoken of as incorruptible apparel (1 Pet. 3:4).