By Gillian Bethel
If you die, what difference would it make to you if you went straight to heaven upon death, or were unconscious until the resurrection and then went to heaven? Either way, your next conscious experience would be going to heaven, wouldn’t it?
But if you’ve lost beloved family members, which would you prefer: to believe your loved ones are in heaven, or to believe they are “sleeping” until the resurrection at Christ’s second coming? Many would say it’s more comforting to believe they are in heaven. But why is it more comforting if it will be all the same for the deceased? Could one answer be that it offers the possibility that the dead could still communicate in some way with the living?
Losing loved ones in death is very difficult. The emptiness and finality can seem unbearable. Suddenly, people are not accessible anymore and won’t be back. It’s natural to miss them and to long for continuing relationships with them. Believing they are conscious and happy somewhere is comforting, and even more comforting is the thought that they can see us and possibly communicate with us, and we with them. A mother shared, “My son has been dead for one month now. I know he’s in heaven because he asked Christ to come into his heart and asked for forgiveness of sin. My husband and I both at different times have heard his voice, very faint, calling out to me, his mom. He says, ‘Hey, Mom….’ When my husband heard it, he cried; when I heard it, I felt like I was floating. It happens when we least expect it.”
Surely an experience like this would be very comforting to grieving parents. It means relationship and communication are continuing in some measure. Or are they?
Among Christians there are two main views of what happens after death and two ways of looking at experiences like the one above. While it might not matter much to the dead, the view of what happens after death is hugely significant to the living.
The first of these two views is well known. At death the immortal soul is believed to go to heaven, hell, or purgatory according to the choices the person made in life. Some believe souls in heaven will return with Christ in the future and be reunited with resurrected and immortal bodies. Many believe souls in heaven can observe and even communicate with people on Earth.
The second view is less familiar. A person is not believed to possess innate immortality, but at death “sleeps” in an unconscious state until Christ’s second coming and the resurrection of the righteous, or until after the millennium when Christ resurrects the wicked. Then the wicked receive judgment and the second death, which is total annihilation, but the righteous enjoy eternal life with Christ in the new earth.
When all the biblical evidence is reviewed carefully, it heavily favors the second view, although verses can be found which apparently lend support to the first. However, careful examination of the context of these verses shows that they are being misapplied. For example, pastor and author Jack Wellman, who favors the first view, nevertheless admits, “Many use the verse in Hebrews 12:1, ‘Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,’ as evidence that their loved ones can see them from heaven, but is that what this verse is really about? I don’t believe it is.”1
He then gives a contextual study of the verse showing that this cannot be what it is referring to. He concludes as follows: “I could find no conclusive Bible evidence that our lost loved ones can see us from heaven. We can only speculate at best. Where the Bible is silent, I believe we ought to be. Where the Bible doesn’t speak specifically on the subject, then we should not speak specifically on the subject.”2
Good counsel! Yet the desire to find Bible verses that apparently support the view that the dead are in heaven is strong because many people want to believe it’s true. Unfortunately, there is a vast difference between looking for Bible verses to support a desired belief and basing one’s beliefs on a thorough study of the Word of God with a desire for truth, wherever it may lead.
But what if our preferred belief is backed up by personal experience, like hearing a dead son speak? If God’s Word clearly says one thing, but can be construed differently to match a person’s desire and experience, it creates a dangerous situation. Why dangerous? Consider what happened in a beautiful garden long ago.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Gen. 2:16, 17.
Eve knew this well. When quizzed by the serpent she recited it almost perfectly. But the serpent responded with something Eve never suspected—a beautiful lie: “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Gen. 3:4, 5.
This was a direct contradiction of God’s words. Why did Eve believe the serpent’s lie?
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Gen. 3:6.
The serpent tempted her to desire the fruit for two appealing reasons: it was good food and a source of wisdom. Eve chose her desires over God’s word. When Eve tempted Adam, there was even more reason to disbelieve God’s word—experience. Eve hadn’t died! They chose desire and experience over the clear word of God, and that seemingly little choice triggered the moral equivalent of a nuclear explosion.
Sin entered, starting a chain reaction that is still going on with horrifying consequences. Far from providing wisdom, their “little” choice resulted in moral blindness and put them under the deadly power of the enemy of truth—Satan.
We are the most vulnerable to beautiful lies when we grieve the loss of loved ones.
Satan is a master of beautiful lies. He knows how to appeal to our desires (often not bad in themselves) and how to help us misinterpret our experiences to match them. There was nothing wrong with desiring good food and wisdom, but they were not to be found by disobeying God’s command. And the experience was misinterpreted. The fact that Eve did not immediately die was due to the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8.
There was already a plan of salvation in place, already a Savior, so there could immediately be mercy because God would come in human flesh to bear the justice—the full penalty for sin. God’s words about the tree were true. God’s words are always true, and anything that contradicts them, no matter how appealing, is always false—even comforting, beautiful lies. Believing these lies is truly dangerous because of the blindness it creates and because of whose power of suggestion it puts us under.
Our only safety from beautiful lies is the truth accessible in God’s Word. Our desires and reasoning are not safe ground. Even our experience can be misleading. We are repeating the mistake that Eve made when we entertain whispered assurances of love from deceased loved ones, as the Bible clearly states: “For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
The Bible clearly forbids communication with the dead, but it’s very tempting to dismiss that plain command if we believe the dead are communicating with us. See Deut. 18:9–14. We need to remember that God’s Word is a protection. If the dead are unconscious, who is really communicating? The author of beautiful lies—the master of disguise who is even able to transform himself into an angel of light. See 2 Cor. 11:14. Cruel, isn’t it?
Only those who pin their faith on what the Bible says, despite their feelings or senses, will be safe from deception.
There’s one more twist to this. It has implications for the final generation. Jesus warned us that at the end of time, deception would be very great: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matt. 24:24.
A message contradicting the Bible from a deceased child, parent, or spouse could be an overwhelming deception for those who believe their loved ones still exist in some sphere. Only those who pin their faith on what the Bible says, rather than what their desires and experience tell them, will be safe from the beautiful lies of the last days. Christ has told us beforehand, but will we believe His words against all appearances? It will take very clear spiritual perception, so it’s important not to have these perceptions dulled by falling for beautiful lies.
The first humans were deceived into being disloyal to God and forfeiting paradise. The last generation of humans will also face a test of loyalty that could cost them paradise if they fall for the deceptions and choose experiences and desires over God’s plain words.3
Spending time studying the Bible carefully for ourselves is not optional when it comes to avoiding beautiful lies. It’s encouraging to recall this promise: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all liberally, and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5. We don’t need any “forbidden fruit” to get wisdom. If we ask God, any of us can find out what the Bible really says because He gives us the Holy Spirit to “guide [us] into all truth.” John 16:13. God is ready and waiting to give us the ultimate experience and desire of our hearts—His beautiful truth!
All Scriptures taken from the New King James Version.
Image credit: © Shutterstock.com
Jack Wellman, “Can our loved ones see us from heaven?” What Christians Want to Know, www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com.
Ibid.
See Revelation 14:6-12 and Last Generation’s special issue on the mark of the beast at www.lastgen.net.
