If we go to Heaven when we die, Why does the Bible say that the dead is conscious of nothing at all?

Question

Ecc. 9:5, 10 -
5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten.
10) All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in She′ol(common grave), the place to which you are going.

So, I can't understand how the belief of heaven is where everyone goes when they die. And how people say, "They are looking down on you right now!" I don't get that. The bible doesn't say that. If it does please let me know where?

Please no rude comments or remarks. We are discussing the Bible here. Thanks.

Answer 1

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT DEATH

Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.—1 Corinthians 15:6.


The Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.—John 11:11.
The account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, did not deny this miracle.

Think about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it?— And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place?— Of course not!

Yet, many people say that we have a soul, and they say that the soul lives on after the body dies. They say that Lazarus’ soul was alive somewhere. But the Bible does not say that. It says that God made the first man Adam “a living soul.” Gen. 2:7, Adam was a soul. The Bible also says that when Adam sinned, he died. He became a “dead soul,” and he returned to the dust from which he had been made. The Bible also says that all Adam’s offspring inherited sin and death too.

The Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:23, 24) Likewise, Lazarus himself related no experiences of some afterlife. There was nothing to report.

Clearly, according to the Bible, the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection.

Answer 2

Several people ask this.

First of all, your reading Old Testament. Don't do that. Nobody is in heaven yet. This post will be long, but well worth it. You will see where the Old Testament Jews are Raptured.

You know there are many people who believe that when people die, they go into the ground and they sleep there till the coming of the Lord. Is that true or isn’t that true, Soul Sleep…?
No, it’s not true at all and it’s a very erroneous doctrine.

James 2:26 says, “As the body without the spirit dead…” Where does that spirit go? 2 Corinthians 5:8 says, “Absent from the body… present with the Lord”. That’s why Paul said, “To die is gain”. Now, when the Lord returns in I Thessalonians 4:16-18, he brings the dead with him to come after the dead, for the dead in Christ rise first. What part does he bring with him? – The spirit that left the body, that’s been there to join the body. There is no soul-sleep in this book.

A lot of people use Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 & 2, where there is a great cloud of witnesses, and they think that means that they are sitting in the heavenlies watching us and every move we make. But that is not so. The great cloud of witnesses are the great heroes of the faith of chapter 11. And because of the way they lived, we are to follow their example, but they can not look down from heaven and see what is going on in this earth, if they could it would make heaven hell, because they’d see so much heartache, even among their children and grandchildren, etc.

Now, the Bible teaches that there will come a time when we are like Christ. In Acts 15:18 it says, “known unto God are all His works...” And Christ is the 2nd member of the Trinity, and now in His heavenly body, He knows everything about everything, because He is God. That means He is Omniscient, knowing all things about all things. When we are raptured, then we get bodies and minds like His. That’s why David said in Psalms 17:15, “I shall be satisfied when I awaken with your likeness.” And when we see Jesus we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, I John 3:2. So there’s an hour coming when we get these new bodies and new minds, and then we will be all knowing. And not until then. So nobody in the heavenlies now can see what’s going on.

In Luke 15, whenever anyone is converted upon the earth, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 sinner that repents, because the message is relayed to the angels, and the angels relay it throughout the heavenlies. So that if a mother’s son finds Christ, and one for whom she’s prayed for years, there is joy because the message has been related. It’s not because she knows everything, she won’t until she gets that body, the new glorified body of the resurrection. So, I hope that answers the question, because it is exactly what the Word of God teaches. And oh, Jesus is coming soon, and we’ll have that great mind in the near future.

Answer 3

Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 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. 6 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. When a Born again Christian goes to heaven they have no memory of their life on earth because there is no sadness or tears or pain in heaven. They do go to heaven and they know and recognize it after their soul leaves their body.

Answer 4

There is no verse in the Bible that states we go to heaven-- actually Revelation is quite clear that our Father will make His home here on earth with man.. ppl like to believe that as soon as we die we go to heaven.. or hell if that is the case, but it is not biblical at all... along with many other misconceptions like the rapture... however, the word does say that to be absent from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord..I would imagine or my thought has always been that the physical body dies and is no longer conscious as it says.. but maybe that part of us that is us-- the soul if you wish ..does go to God for safekeeping until the time of the resurrection ...

Answer 5

You are correct. There are churches out there that twist scriptures to supposedly prove we go to heaven, but even in the beatitudes it says that the meek shall inherit the earth. And in II Peter 3 verse 13, Revelations 14 verse 3, and Revelations 21 verse 1 it talks about a new heaven and a new earth.

Answer 6

A common misconception, by most christian denomination. The dead are just that DEAD. What would the purpose of judgement day be if everyone goes straight to heaven or hell?

It probpably started of as a sensitive way to tell kids what happened to their deceased relatives. After a while they started believing it aswell.

Answer 7

After a person dies, they are buried into the ground, they have no present knowledge, or wisdom left to give on this earth when they die! Their past knowledge & wisdom will be carried on by others! Their bodies are buried on this earth and their spirits are blessed by God, When judgement day arrives. God will decide if they will go to hell, or live up in the beautiful heavens of eternity with him, Forever!
God Bless You!!!

Answer 8

That's very cool. I have one you should add to that.
Why do people think hell exists? The English word hell comes from Germanic mythology, now used in the Judeo-Christian sense to translate the Hebrew word "Gehinnom," which was a valley outside Jerusalem used for burning refuse (basically a landfill), and the Greek Hades and Tartarus.

Answer 9

It says that, because a large work of fiction usually has multiple authors and its very hard to keep the entire story straight. Just look at Seinfeld. George's parents live in a house, yet when his mother hurt her back, she said she called "The Super". People who live in houses don't have a super. This is what happens when you have multiple authors on a large work of fiction.

Answer 10

Our spirit man is waiting for the sound of the trumpets! Jesus left the earth ascending into the clouds and the way he lefted is the way he is coming back. That's why people say look up for ur redemption draws near. This is biblical also.