answer24

QUESTION:

Is there such a thing as Soul Sleep when someone dies?

ANSWER:

   NO. In order to understand the answer to this question we must first have an understanding of death, or the moment at which the soul and spirit leave the human body.

Physicians today have an extreme difficulty defining the exact point in which an individual is medically dead. Thus, making death not only a physical condition, but also a spiritual one. The Bible teaches that, "For as the body without the spirit is dead,..." (James 2:26). The body returns to the dust from which it was created (Genesis 3:19) and the soul and spirit of the      righteous go to Heaven to await the first resurrection, (II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-24; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 6:9-11) while the soul and spirit of the wicked go to Hell to await the second resurrection of the damned (Luke 16:19-31; Isaiah 14:9; Revelation 20:11-15).

We therefore can look at death from three different perspectives:

                     Physical death - the separation of the inner man from the body;
                  Spiritual death - the separation of the inner man from God; and
                 Eternal death - the eternal separation of the inner man an his
                                              resurrected body from God, in an eternal Lake of
                                              Fire.

There are many Scriptures in the Bible which attest to the immortality of the human soul and spirit. Following are just a few of these Scriptures:

(Isaiah 14:9-11) "Hell from beneath is moved for thee
               to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for
                 thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised
               up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All
               they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also
                 become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
                 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise
                 of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the
                 worms cover thee."

(John 3:15-16) "That whosoever believeth in him
                  should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so
                loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
                that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
                  have everlasting life."

(John 6:54) "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
                  blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the
                  last day."

(John 10:28) "And I give unto them eternal life; and
                  they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
                  them out of my hand."

(Matthew 10:28) "And fear not them which kill the
                  body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
                  him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

(Matthew 17:3) "And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with him (Yehsua)."

(Luke 16:19-31) "... And in hell he lift up his eyes,
                  being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and
                  Lazarus in his bosom ..."

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

(I John 2:17) "And the world passeth away, and the
                  lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth
                  for ever."

(I John 5:11-12) "And this is the record, that God hath
                  given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He
                  that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the
                  Son (Yehsua) of God hath not life."

(Mark 12:26-27) "And as touching the dead, that they
                  rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the
                  bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of
                  Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
                  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living:
                  ye therefore do greatly err."

In conclusion, we must never confuse the natural man and his attributes with the spiritual man and his attributes. The natural man was made a lifeless, earthly vessel, while the spiritual man was created, not from the things of this earth, but from the very Breath of God.   "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 (Genesis 2:7)."