6) Difficult Texts About Death
Understanding biblical passages that seem to contradict the teaching about the state of the dead
Throughout this study, we have seen dozens of biblical texts that clearly teach that the dead are unconscious until the resurrection. Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Job, Paul, and Jesus Himself all confirm this truth.
However, there are half a dozen passages that, at first glance, seem to contradict this teaching. Critics often cite these texts to defend the immortality of the soul. But are they really contradictory?
In this lesson, we will examine these “difficult texts” and discover that, when correctly understood, all of them harmonize with the biblical teaching about death.
Important principle: The Bible does not contradict itself. When a few texts seem to disagree with many others, we must interpret the few in the light of the many, not the other way around.
1. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
What is the story of the rich man and Lazarus?
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Answer: A parable using imagery familiar to that time
Luke 16:19-31: "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
Jesus often used parables, fictional stories that taught spiritual truths. This passage belongs to a sequence of parables, such as the prodigal son and the unjust steward.
If it were literal, we would face serious problems:
- Would heaven and hell be so close that people could talk across them?
- Would the saved watch the suffering of the lost for all eternity?
- Would all the saved literally fit in Abraham’s bosom?
- Would the dead have physical bodies, with tongues and fingers, before the resurrection?
The point of the parable is not to describe the geography of the afterlife, but:
- Warn the Pharisees who rejected “Moses and the prophets” ()
- Criticize prosperity theology: the Pharisees believed wealth was a sign of divine blessing and poverty was a curse. Jesus reverses this — the poor man is comforted, and the rich man is tormented.
“In this parable Christ was meeting the people on their own ground. The doctrine of a conscious state of existence between death and the resurrection was held by many of those who were listening to Christ’s words. The Saviour knew of their ideas, and He designed His parable so as to inculcate important truths through these preconceived opinions.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 263, par. 2.
What was the true purpose of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?
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Answer: To warn against rejecting God's Word, Moses and the prophets
Luke 16:29-31: "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
2. The Thief on the Cross (Luke 23:43)
Did Jesus go to paradise on the same day He died?
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Answer: No. Three days later He told Mary, 'I am not yet ascended to my Father'
John 20:17: "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
If Jesus promised to be with the thief in paradise “today,” but three days later said He had not yet ascended to the Father, is there a contradiction?
No. The issue is punctuation. The original Greek manuscripts had no commas, and the placement of the comma changes the meaning.
When Mary tried to hold Him after the resurrection, Jesus said, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” (). If Jesus had gone to paradise on Friday, why would He say on Sunday that He had not yet ascended?
- Wrong: “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise”
- Correct: “Verily I say unto thee to day, shalt thou be with me in paradise”
In the second reading, “today” refers to the time of the promise, not the time of fulfillment. Jesus was saying, “Today, on this dark day of apparent defeat, I assure you: you will be with Me in paradise.”
“Christ did not promise that the thief should be with Him in Paradise that day. He Himself did not go that day to Paradise. He slept in the tomb, and on the morning of the resurrection He said, ‘I am not yet ascended to My Father.’” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 751, par. 3.
When will the thief actually be with Jesus in paradise?
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Answer: At the resurrection, when Jesus returns
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: "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: 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."
3. Moses at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3)
Did Moses appear at the transfiguration because the dead are conscious?
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Answer: No. Moses was resurrected, a special case
Matthew 17:1-3: "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him."
Moses died and was buried by God (). So how did he appear at the transfiguration?
reveals that there was a dispute over Moses’ body. Why would there be a dispute over a body?
The Bible does not detail the whole outcome of this controversy. But the biblical picture points to a special intervention by God: Moses died and was buried (), there was a dispute over his body (), and later he appears beside Elijah, conversing with Jesus on the mountain (). For this reason we understand that Moses was resurrected by divine intervention.
The conclusion is straightforward: Moses was resurrected, a special case that anticipated the power of the cross. At the transfiguration, Jesus was visited by representatives of two groups: the resurrected, Moses, and the translated, Elijah, who did not die ().
This confirms, rather than contradicts, the doctrine of resurrection as the only form of life after death.
“Moses passed through death, but Michael came down and gave him life before his body had seen corruption. Satan tried to hold the body, claiming it as his; but Michael resurrected Moses and took him to heaven.” — Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 164, par. 2.
Why does the appearance of Moses and Elijah confirm the doctrine of resurrection?
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Answer: Because Moses was resurrected and Elijah was translated without dying
Jude 1:9: "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."
4. Spirits in Prison (1 Peter 3:18-20)
When did Christ preach to the 'spirits in prison'?
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Answer: In the days of Noah, through the Spirit
1 Peter 3:19-20: "By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
The text says that Christ preached “unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah” (vv. 19-20).
The key is : the Spirit of Christ was working through the prophets. Christ preached, by the Spirit, through Noah to the people of that generation. Those people were “in prison,” not in a literal prison of disembodied souls, but in the spiritual prison of sin and rebellion.
confirms: “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” The Spirit was active in Noah’s day, calling people to repentance.
completes the picture: Noah was “a preacher of righteousness.” He was the human instrument through whom Christ preached to that rebellious generation.
“Noah preached to the people of his time that God would give them one hundred and twenty years in which to repent of their sins and find refuge in the ark, but they refused the gracious invitation.” — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 308, par. 3.
5. To Depart and Be with Christ (Philippians 1:23)
Paul desired to depart and be with Christ. Does this prove immediate consciousness after death?
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Answer: No. Paul focuses on the final result, not on the interval
Philippians 1:23: "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:"
Paul desired “to depart, and to be with Christ” (). At first glance, it may seem immediate. But notice what Paul does not say:
- He does not describe what happens between death and being with Christ.
- He does not mention a soul going to heaven.
- He does not contradict what he taught elsewhere.
In , the same Paul writes that the dead in Christ will rise first, and then the saved will be with the Lord. Being with Christ happens at the resurrection.
So why does “depart and be” seem immediate? Because for the person who dies, it is. The dead have no consciousness of time (). From Paul’s point of view, closing his eyes in death would mean opening them at the resurrection, without perceiving the centuries between one moment and the other.
It is like anesthesia: you fall asleep and, in the next instant from your point of view, you wake up, even if hours have passed.
“To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment. To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 787, par. 1.
Why does 'to depart and be with Christ' seem instantaneous for those who die?
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Answer: Because the dead have no consciousness of time
Ecclesiastes 9:5: "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."
6. Souls Under the Altar (Revelation 6:9-10)
Are the 'souls under the altar' in Revelation 6 literally conscious people in heaven?
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Answer: No. It is symbolic language, like Abel's blood crying out
Revelation 6:9-10: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"
Revelation is the most symbolic book of the Bible. In it we find:
- A Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes ()
- A red dragon with seven heads ()
- A woman clothed with the sun ()
- Locusts with human faces and scorpion tails ()
No one interprets these symbols literally. Why, then, interpret the “souls under the altar” literally?
The biblical parallel is : “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” Abel’s blood was not literally speaking. The expression means that injustice cries out for justice before God.
In the same way, the martyrs “crying out” symbolizes that their shed blood calls for justice. It does not mean they are consciously living beneath a literal altar in heaven.
Also note: they receive “white robes” (v. 11). Do disembodied souls wear physical clothes? The symbolism is evident.
What biblical parallel helps us understand the 'souls crying out' in Revelation 6?
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Answer: Abel's blood crying out from the ground
Genesis 4:10: "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground."
The Principle That Resolves Everything
By examining these difficult texts, we discover that none of them truly contradicts the Bible’s teaching about death. Each one, when understood in context, harmonizes with the many clear passages we have already studied.
Summary of the resolutions:
| Text | Resolution |
|---|---|
| Rich Man and Lazarus | A parable, not a literal description of the afterlife |
| Thief on the cross | A matter of punctuation; “today” modifies the promise |
| Moses at the transfiguration | Moses was resurrected, a special case |
| Spirits in prison | Christ preached through Noah to the living |
| To depart and be with Christ | For the dead, there is no awareness of time |
| Souls under the altar | Symbolic language, like Abel’s blood crying out |
The basic hermeneutical principle:
When a few difficult texts seem to conflict with many clear texts, we interpret the few in the light of the many, never the other way around. The Bible is its own interpreter, and God does not contradict Himself.
“The truths most plainly revealed in the Bible have been involved in doubt and darkness by learned men, who, with a pretense of great wisdom, teach that the Scriptures have a mystical, a secret, spiritual meaning not apparent in the language employed.” — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 598, par. 3.
What Now?
As you conclude this lesson about difficult texts, you are equipped to:
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Rest in the truth — Your loved ones who died in Christ sleep in peace, awaiting the glorious resurrection.
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Answer with confidence — When someone cites these “difficult texts,” you will know how to explain their true meaning.
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Reject deception — The doctrine of the immortality of the soul opens doors to spiritualism and communication with supposed “dead” who are, in reality, deceiving spirits.
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Live with hope — The resurrection is not an abstract concept, but the concrete promise of reunion with those who sleep in Christ.
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Trust the Word — The Bible is coherent from Genesis to Revelation. When there seems to be a contradiction, the problem is in our understanding, not in the sacred text.
My Decision
I believe that the Bible is consistent and does not contradict itself. I accept that these difficult texts, when rightly understood, confirm the truth about death: the dead sleep unconsciously until the resurrection. I reject interpretations that contradict the clear testimony of Scripture and look forward with hope to the day when Jesus will awaken those who sleep.