| FLOYD HAYES |
| RELIGION |
| WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? Page 2 1 Samuel 28:15 -- "And Samuel [who was dead] said to Saul [during his visit to the woman of En-dor], Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do." (Does God permit us to communicate with the dead? The context of the story is stated in 1 Samuel 28:5-25. Saul sought a "woman that hath a familiar spirit" at En-dor [verses 7 and 8] and asked her to "Bring me up Samuel" [verse 11]. The woman "saw gods ascending out of the earth" [verse 13]. Saul inquired "What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel,..." [verse 14]. Did Saul actually see or speak with Samuel, or merely "perceived that it was Samuel"? Did Saul believe that what he was doing was wrong [e.g., Leviticus 19:31, 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11]? If not, then why had he "disguised himself" [verse 8], and why did the woman protest that Saul "hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land" [verse 9]? 1 Samuel 28:18, 19 -- "Because thou [Saul, according to Samuel, who was dead] obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." (These were the words of Samuel, who had died, conveyed to Saul through the woman of En-dor. The prediction that Saul and his sons would die in battle came true [1 Samuel 31:1-4]. Could Samuel's spirit speak and accurately predict the future? Was God speaking through the woman of En-do, or Satan? Can God alone accurately predict the future, or can Satan also, especially when he is in control of people who have abandoned God? When Samuel stated "tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me," was he speaking from heaven, hell or the grave?) 2 Samuel 7:12 -- "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom." (If the Bible describes death as "sleep," does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) 1 Kings 17:21, 22 -- "And he [Elijah] stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again." (Can the soul live apart from the body after death?) 1 Kings 22:20-22 -- "And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on ths manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, ad said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so." (Do evil spirits exist who lie?) Job 4:17 -- "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?" (Is man immortal?) Job 7:9, 10 -- "As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more." (Can the dead return to communicate with loved ones or haunt houses?) Job 14:10-12 -- "But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." (Do they dead go to heaven immediately after death? If the Bible describes death as "sleep," does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) Job 14:21 -- "His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." (Does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) Job 19:25-27 -- "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." (Did Job believe he would go to heaven and "see God" as a soul after he died or in the "flesh" "at the latter day" when Jesus, his "redeemer," returns?) Job 21:32 -- "Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb." (Does the dead go to heaven or hell immediately after death?) Psalm 6:4, 5 -- "Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee [referring to God]: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" (Can the dead go straight to heaven yet have "no remembrance" of God or be unable to give thanks to God?) Psalm 13:3 -- "Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." (If the Bible describes death as "sleep," does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) Psalm 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." Psalm 115:17 -- "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down in silence." (Can the dead go straight to heaven yet "praise not the Lord"?) Psalm 146:4 -- "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." (Does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) Isaiah 8:19, 20 -- "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: shoul not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Does God permit us to communicate with the dead?) Isaiah 26:14 -- "They [the wicked] are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory perish." (Does a conscious soul exist after the body dies?) Isaiah 26:19 -- "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." (Can the spirit go to heaven without the body?) Isaiah 38:18 -- "For the grave can not praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit can not hope for thy truth." (Do the dead go straight to heaven or do they get a second chance?) |
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