These days, many people who have lost loved ones believe that their loved ones are looking down at them, or are somehow protecting them. Is there any truth to this? Are the dead really dead? Or do their spirits come back and communicate with the living? This is a subject that has many people confused, bewildered or worried. Let's investigate to find out the facts about this subject. Please look up the references in your Bible, to verify what we are saying here. Don't just take our word for it!

First of all, let go back to the beginning, to the creation of man. Look with us in Genesis, chapter 2:

Verse 7 - 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.

Wait a minute! Did it say "became" a living soul? Is that text saying that: Dust (body) + The Breath of Life = A LIVING SOUL? That's right; this text clearly shows that the soul is not a separate entity from the body; You must have both body AND breath for the soul to exist.

That being established, let's begin where death was first referenced: In the garden of Eden. God was speaking to Adam, after he ate of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is part of the curse that God placed on Adam, and therefore, on the entire human race. Turn to Genesis, chapter 3:

Verse 19 - In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

This indicates that Adam (and thus all humans) was to return to dust. This is also spoken of in Psalm,chapter 104:

Verse 29 - Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

So now we know that the body decays, after death. What happens to the spirit? Ecclesiastes, chapter 12 answers that:

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

Here we see that at death, the spirit (breath) and the body separate; the body goes to the ground, and the spirit (breath) goes back to God. Now, what about consciousness after death? How do we know that the "spirit" has no awareness? Let's look at some other texts, like Ecclesiastes, chapter 9:

Verse 5 - 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.
Verse 6 - Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.
Verse 10 - Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Also see Job, chapter 16:

Verse 22 - When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

From these verses, it shows that after we die, we do not know ANYTHING, neither do we go ANYWHERE. Let's look at Psalms, chapter 146:

Verse 4 - His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

As further proof, also read Psalm,chapter 115:

Verse 17 - The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

See also Psalm, chapter 6:

Verse 5 - For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

In fact, Jesus referred to death as sleep in John, chapter 11:

Verse 11 - These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Verse 12 - Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Verse 13 - Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Verse 14 - Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

This indicates that the dead are not in heaven or in hell or in purgatory, but sleeping in the ground. Let's look in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4 for some more insight:

Verse 16 - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Verse 17 - Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Thus the dead will be raised at the last day, not brought back with Jesus, as some teach. They are resting now in the grave, but soon will rise to meet their maker, as shown in John, chapter 5:

Verse 25 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Verse 28 - Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Verse 29 - And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Also see Revelation, chapter 20:

Verse 12 - And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Verse 13 - And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

But wait, you may say ... I have friends who have said that they have seen their dead relatives come back to warn them, or to give them advice about things. How do you explain this?

The explanation is simple, as found in 2 Cor 11:

Verse 14 - And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

If Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, do you not think it would be pretty easy for him to impersonate a dead friend or relative?

Okay, you may say ... So how do you explain Luke, chapter 23:

Verse 43 - And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The explanation for this misunderstanding is simple: The New Testament of the Bible was written in Greek. In that language, there is no punctuation; hence, punctuation must have been added when the Bible was translated. Here we see that a misplaced comma has changed the whole meaning of the sentence. Instead of saying, "... I say unto thee, Today thou shalt ...", the sentence should actually read, "... I say unto thee today, thou shalt ..." This then says, correctly, that Jesus told him that day, that he would be with Him in Paradise, not before any others, but when all saints are in Heaven with Him.

Friend, take comfort in the fact that if you are suffering, your relatives are not in heaven being tormented, unable to do anything to help you. Nor are they suffering in hell if they died in their sin. Take the Bible's word for it: No matter how they died, in Jesus or in sin, they are sleeping in their graves until the Master calls for them.