Are the dead in heaven or in the grave?

[CaptWalker]

This question is about Daniel-12:2..."And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." I mean it seems pretty straightforward, but maybe there is another meaning or it's just a bad translation? 

But i always wondered exactly what this meant, since had assumed that all believers were already in heaven with the Lord. (2nd Corinthians-5:8) And there is also Ecclesiastes-12:7..."Then shall the dust return to the earth that it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it." And i have also heard death bed stories of people seeing dead relatives from the "other side" right before they passed on. So what's that all about, and is there such a thing as soul sleep?

Edited July 22, 2020 by CaptWalker

[missmuffet]

48 minutes ago, CaptWalker said:

This question is about Daniel-12:2..."And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." I mean it seems pretty straightforward, but maybe there is another meaning or it's just a bad translation? 

But i always wondered exactly what this meant, since had assumed that all believers were already in heaven with the Lord. (2nd Corinthians-5:8) And there is also Ecclesiastes-12:7..."Then shall the dust return to the earth that it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it." And i have also heard death bed stories of people seeing dead relatives from the "other side" right before they passed on. So what's that all about, and is there such a thing as soul sleep?

In the Bible sleep is another word for dead. The bodies of all those who have died are in the grave.Those bodies will some day be resurrected.  Their souls are either in heaven if they were a believer or hades if they were not a believer. 

[Who me]

On 7/22/2020 at 5:39 PM, CaptWalker said:

had assumed that all believers were already in heaven with the Lord.

 

God is outside of time, he is not bound by it as it is his creation so as far as we are concerned the day of judgement has not happen but for God he can experience the day of creation as well as the day of judgement at the same moment.

God looks after his people, that is all we need to know.

[R. Hartono]

In the story of poor Lazarus n the stingy rich, Jesus told us Abraham is in Sheol.

Edited August 30, 2020 by R. Hartono

[JohnD]

Remember we are body soul spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

The body is in the grave or urn on earth. 

The soul (the buffer between the two realities that are us) ceases to exist.

The spirit goes either to heaven for believers (on this side of the cross of Christ)

or to Sheol for unbelievers.

Before the cross of Christ all spirits went to Sheol (which has three compartments all

described in Luke 16:19-31):

It is the waiting place / holding pattern for the spirits of dead men and imprisoned

fallen angels until Judgement day.

Abraham's Bosom has been empty since the day Jesus died on the cross...

Ephesians 4:8–10 (AV)
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

So, for all believers who die in Christ we know:

2 Corinthians 5:8 (AV)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

These disembodies spirits are who will be with the Lord Jesus when he returns (Jude 14, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Believers who are alive at that point will be changed immediately after this event (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).

 

 

 

[Leonardo Von]

They are in Hades: those who believe in Jesus are in Abraham's bosom; those who don't believe, are in the hell (Luke 16:22,23).

[Butch5]

On 7/22/2020 at 12:39 PM, CaptWalker said:

This question is about Daniel-12:2..."And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." I mean it seems pretty straightforward, but maybe there is another meaning or it's just a bad translation? 

But i always wondered exactly what this meant, since had assumed that all believers were already in heaven with the Lord. (2nd Corinthians-5:8) And there is also Ecclesiastes-12:7..."Then shall the dust return to the earth that it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it." And i have also heard death bed stories of people seeing dead relatives from the "other side" right before they passed on. So what's that all about, and is there such a thing as soul sleep?

The Bible is clear that the dead are dead. They are in the grave. The problem is that Greek philosophical ideas have entered into the faith and many Christians have accepted these ideas. It was the Greeks, in Jesus day, that taught that man was an immortal spirit and/or soul that lived forever and would ascend into the heavens after leaving the body. This idea is foreign to the Scriptures. So, to answer your question about Daniel 12:2, yes they are dead. They will rise at the resurrection.