Proof Of Soul Sleep

[TK Burk]

Here is a copy of a study I recently taught to our church family.



Asleep in the Grave, Awakened to Everlasting Life

The resurrection of the dead gives hope to the Christian. Yet when asked how it takes place and in what manner it will occur, many of these same saints may feel hopeless to explain. Understanding the time and nature of the resurrection will affect how you view God’s Word. That is why it’s of paramount importance that every child of God has a clear understanding of what the Bible says about this subject.

When we look in our Bible we see the promise of never seeing “the grave” or “death” is aligned with a believer being “transformed” from their body in a “spiritual resurrection.” This is the difference between reanimation of flesh and transformation from flesh. But before the resurrection came into fruition, deceased saints are described in the Bible as being in a state of “sleep” (See Deu 31:16; 1Ki 1:21; Acts 13:36; 1Co 15:51; 1Th 4:14). Daniel spoke of this…

Daniel 12:2
And MANY OF THEM THAT SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel placed those in the grave in a place of rest while waiting for the prophesied time when they would awaken to eternal life. Concerning “dust,” the Bible says that a dead body returns to the same substance from which it was made.

Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Job 34:14-15
If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

Psalms 90:3 KJV
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Look at this same verse in Psalms is translated in the English Standard Version.

Psalms 90:3 ESV
You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!"

Psalms 104:29-30
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

Psalms 146:4
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

The timeframe Daniel placed for those sleeping to awake to everlasting life is found in the following verse:

Daniel 12:7
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him that liveth forever that IT SHALL BE FOR A TIME, TIMES, AND A HALF; and when he shall have accomplished TO SCATTER THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE, all these things shall be finished.

"Time, times, and a half" is prophetic language for “1-year,” “2-years,” and “½ year,” which equates to 3½ years, 42 months, or 1260 days. Each of these times is used in the Bible to refer to the 3½ year AD70 siege and destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple. The Temple was burnt August 10, AD70 (the Jewish Ninth of Av), the exact day and month on which it had been burnt by the king of Babylon many years before.

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