Sheol

[thilipsis]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

Isaiah 66:22–24 (NASB95)
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure.
23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD.
24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

There's a lot more in the Old Testament than most realize.

I know what your saying, it sounds like you have seen the rabbinical teachings on the subject. I have a tendency to dwell on the literary features, something about Hebrew that makes it compelling. This is one of my favorite verses in Scripture:

Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame. (Song of Songs 8:6)

Those are wedding vows and by the way, the groom doesn't speak, she is telling him what his wedding vows are. But seriously, notice 'death' and the 'grave' are used synonymously. The Old Testament believers knew about the resurrection and seemed to have some awareness of our existence beyond the grave, I think most cultures do. What was revealed in the New Testament was final judgment and Jesus said some astonishing things about hell and final judgment unlike anything you will get from the Law and the Prophets.

Speaking of the resurrection Peter had this to say:

David said about him:

I saw the Lord always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand,
    I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.  (Acts 2:25-29)

I'm not expert the the 'the realm of the dead' has to be Sheol, aka the grave. I do realize that the Old Testament was not oblivious to life beyond the grave but Sheol is synonymous with death and the grave, even if there is more to it then the cessation of vital functions. 

Grace and peace,
Mark