Last week we saw why death came to be, and what causes it.

Today we're going to open the Bible to find answers to the question of death. What is it? And what happens when someone dies.

Remember, God has given us the Bible, the manual of life which has answers to these questions.

So let us begin by reading about the story of Lazarus. To fill in a little of the story, word came to Jesus that Lazarus, a good friend of His, was sick. Instead of immediately making way to the side of Lazarus, Jesus abode in the same place for two days.

Now, as Jesus was about to go to Lazarus He said to His disciples:

"...he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." - John 11:11-14

Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping, the disciples thought he must be on the way to recovery then! But Jesus wasn't talking about the sleep we experience at the end of every day, what was he likening to sleep? Yes, Jesus plainly said Lazarus is dead. So Jesus says death is like a sleep.

Now, the same question we are asking about death, is asked in the book of Job:

"But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where [is] he?" - Job 14:10

Isn't this just what we are seeking to discover? Where is the man that dieth? Then we are shown the answer in verse 12:

"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens [be] no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." - Job 14:12

Again death is likened to a man lying down to sleep. But here God gives us a bit more detail. Those that lie down in the sleep of death rise not until when? They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep until the heavens be no more.

When is that time? Does the Bible tell us?

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." - 2. Peter 3:10-13

So when do the "heavens pass away" or "the heavens be no more"? It is at the "coming of the day of God" that the heavens pass away. And eventually God will re-create a new heaven and new earth. These things are important for us to keep in mind as we continue searching the scriptures.

Now let's back track a little bit. What is the sleep of death like?

"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." - Ecclesiastes 9:5

So those that sleep the sleep of death have no memory, they don't know anything. They don't know what is happening under the sun.

"For in death [there is] no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" - Psalms 6:5

Again in death there is no memory, or ability to do anything.

In the book of Acts, Peter speaks:

"Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. ... For David is not ascended into the heavens... - Acts 2:29,34

So we have the example of David who still lies sleeping in the sleep of death.

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

God said to Adam when he sinned "for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19). When man dies he returns to dust. But what does it mean that the spirit returns to God who gave it? When did God give the spirit?

"And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." - Genesis 2:7

In the Hebrew, "Spirit" in Ecclesiastes 12:7 and "Breath" in Genesis 2:7 are both very similar words. Primarily they both mean "wind or breath". So from God came the breath of life that entered Adam's nostrils and made the man of dust a living soul. In death the process is simply reversed. The breath of life leaves man's nostrils, returns to God and man returns to dust, to sleep until the coming of God.

So in summary. The dead lie in sleep where there is no memory, knowledge or feelings until the heavens pass away at the coming of God. But then what happens? What happens to the righteous at that time. Are all the wicked raised at the same time as the righteous?

Stay tuned as we dig even deeper in the word of God next week.