No one wants to talk about death. If folks knew what it means and what is to come then maybe it would have been a topic of conversation started long ago. This lack of knowledge has made talking about death some sort of taboo. By not talking about it many are satisfied with speculation and children grow up not knowing any better.
There are different ways that death occurs: natural, by illness or suddenly, for example: expected and unexpected. Each one affects us differently emotionally but physical death is the same for everyone and what happens afterwards is the same for everyone until the return of Messiah. Many will be shocked to learn that we don't die and immediately go to heaven to be greeted by St. Peter at the pearly gates! Others don't automatically end up in hell either.Quote from Life Hope and Truth:While it may be comforting to those struggling to cope with the death of loved ones to think of them as 'looking down from heaven', this belief is false. Instead, God’s Word comforts us with the fact that there is no suffering in the grave. And since those (who have died no longer think or feel) there can be no awareness on their part of the passage of time. When they are resurrected, it will be as though they have awakened from sleep. (end quote)
Matthew 24:29...the 7th Trumpet is sounded. The earth is ready for harvest. Set Apart believers are removed from the earth temporarily for if their time was not shortened they would not be able to witness, understand and survive the heart breaking destruction to come, the final 7 cups of Wrath.
And immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shine its light. And the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then will be seen the sign of the Son of man in heaven... :31 And he will send his Messengers (angels) with a large trumpet and they will gather His chosen ones from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. (His Set Apart believers are rescued before the darkness and gloom)
Our Father has taught us to not put our trust in mortal man who cannot save. Our breath will depart at our physical death and our bodies decompose back into dust. It is appointed for all of us to die but when His Son Yahshua returns on that last day, his followers, both those who have died and those still living, will be raised up and gathered together to receive eternal life. (Psalm 146:3)
John 5:28 ~~ Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming when all those who are in the grave will hear his voice!
John 6:39-40: (Yahshua is speaking) “This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
If we study Scriptures we learn the truth about what happens after we die = we rest in peace, sleep, until Messiah returns. We learn there will be two resurrections and we best hope we are part of the first one.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 ... the living know they will die but the dead know nothing, they have no more recompense.... Their loves, hates, jealousies have long since perished and they have no more share till the end of time (when Yahshua returns) in all that goes on under the sun.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 ... you should not mourn over them who have fallen asleep (died), like other people who have no hope... :14 For if we believe that Yahshua died and rose again, even those who sleep will The Father, by His Son, bring with him. :15 and this we say to you by the word of Messiah, that we who may survive and be alive at the coming of Messiah, will not precede them who have slept (died before us) :16 Because our Messiah will descend from heaven with a mandate and with the voice of the chief Messenger and with the trumpet of Yahweh; and the dead who are in Messiah will rise first and then we who survive and are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet our Messiah... And so comfort yourselves one another with these words...We cannot 'rise' to meet Messiah when he returns if we are already in heaven. The dead who were believers rise first and the living believers witness this before they are gathered up with them. This is the first resurrection. The Apostle Paul clearly teaches that the first resurrection and the 'catching up' will occur at the return of the Anointed One, the Son of Yahweh. The sounding of a trumpet signals his return. All eyes will see and understand that the Day of Wrath has come. Many things will happen before the sounding of that last trumpet. We have been told these things beforehand so we will know what to expect that we Set Apart believers not be taken by surprise, as if by a thief in the night. Yahshua returns on the Last Day. And this, my friends, also proves there is no 'rapture' prior to the end of the world as we know it. We will be blessed to be gathered up prior to the final cups of Yah's Wrath that will be poured out upon the earth and those left behind. They will be part of the second resurrection.
Quote from Bible Info:The Bible compares death to sleep more than fifty times. After death we are asleep, we are unconscious; we are not aware of the passing of time or of what is going on around us. That is what death is like as well. It makes sense that after Lazarus was raised from the dead, he doesn’t share what he saw or experienced. He didn’t have anything to tell, except that once he was dead, and now he is alive! He didn’t experience hell or heaven. He was simply “sleeping” in his tomb.
Revelation 20:5 ~ This is the first resurrection. Blessed and Set Apart is he that has part in this first resurrection; over them the second death has no dominion....
John 5:24 ~ I (Yahshua) say to you that whoever hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has life that is eternal, and does not come into judgment but has passed from death into life. :29 And those who have done good things will go forth to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil things to the resurrection of judgment.
Death is part of life. We should live our lives knowing some day death will come and we need to teach our children the same so when death does comes it won't be such a shocker to those still living. We know sudden death is more dramatic to deal with compared to waiting on one who is dying of an illness or expecting one to pass on from old age which gives us time to 'reflect' and prepare; yet knowing a day will come when believers will be reunited should help ease one's mind and comfort one's heart. This is not to say we won't feel sadness at the loss of a loved one, but we should not allow that sadness or grief to control us for days or months or years to come. We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that we should not mourn over them who have 'fallen asleep' like other people who have no hope. Satan will use grief to snagged us and we must not let it run our lives. This is what happens to those who don't understand death, who have no hope. Knowledge and Understanding are strong allies to our mental state of being. We are both physical and spiritual and it is the spiritual that goes on living in the Promised Land during Yahshua's thousand year reign as King and High Priest on this earth. No one has 'gone to heaven' yet.
Let us boast about our troubles because we know
Trouble produces Endurance
Endurance produces Character
Character produces Hope
