Where are the Dead?

This new major catastrophe by the hurricane Helene easily brings to mind the question of where are the dead? It is estimated that 106 people die per minute worldwide. Think about that. Every minute multitudes of people go to face their maker for the good or the bad. Let us not speculate, nor let us not rely on fictitious authorities such as spiritualists. We must look to see what the Bible says about this topic.

In the Old Testament people were said to go to a place that was referred to as “what is beyond.” Or they are said to join their fathers after death. However, before Christ Sheol was the place of the dead. That word has been translated to several words mainly which means hell. However, this does not mean that righteous people went to a place of torment. It simply means they departed somewhere not among the living. In the New Testament the Greek word Hades is also translated in the same way. One word that only appears in 11 Peter 2:4 refers to a place in the Greeks called Tartarus. That is the place where fallen Angels are kept in chains until their own judgment.

Jesus gives a description of the place in Luke 16 for the righteous and the unrighteous. He said there was a  great gulf fixed where the unrighteous were located while on this side of the great gulf fixed was a place of the righteous. This description by Jesus cannot be brushed off as a parable because the context of how Jesus spoke did not meet such a description. The Bible tells us when Christ died, he went to a place called Paradise which undoubtedly was the same place for the righteous we’ve already mentioned.

When Christ was resurrected, a change took place in that location of Sheol-Hades. Before his resurrection everyone was said to have gone down but after his resurrection the righteous are said to have gone up. In Philippians 1:23 Paul said that he desired to “depart to be with Christ.” That gives us the explanation that Christ, of course, is in heaven and those who know him as Savior will join him after their death.

There is one more word used that has been translated hell. It is the Greek word Gehenna or lake of fire. The Hebrew equivalent is Tophet. It is a future place for Satan, his conspirators, and all those who elect not to accept Christ as Savior. This is why the Bible says those just mentioned will be cast into everlasting fire. We must emphasize that human beings have the choice to accept Christ and go to heaven or refuse him and by their own will go to hell. In that location is no presence of God’s blessing or support.

By the same Scripture in Luke 16 and others, we can easily conclude that angels do minister to the righteous before and even after death. The Bible says that after Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, angels ministered unto him. The righteous Lazarus died angels escorted him. Believers need not to be afraid of death but to realize that when it occurs there will be heavenly beings to escort them into the presence of the Lord. We must emphasize that there is no turning back from death. The departed will instantly find themselves in the place that they have selected for themselves to be in all eternity.