in that very day his thoughts perish’ (Psalms 146:4). So this verse says that when someone dies, their ‘breath goeth forth’ (which means that his spirit goes back to God), his body goes back to the ground, and on that day his thoughts – which is his consciousness – perish. This information now gives us a good foundation to conclude our discussion on death being a type of sleep, which will give us a fuller understanding of what happens when we die.
The question could be asked, so why is death likened to sleep? My reply to this logical enquiry would be, what happens after you are done sleeping in your bed? Well, you wake up! In the book of Job it says ‘But man dieth and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? … So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep’ (Job 14:10, 12). These verses tell us that until ‘the heavens be no more’ (which is the end of the world), the dead will ‘not awake’ or be ‘raised out of their sleep’. So in other words, the dead will only be woken up out of their sleep at the end of the world. The book of Daniel supports this view and provides additional information. It says ‘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’ (Daniel 12:2). This verse tells us that there will be a time when those that are dead and asleep will wake up, but he goes on to say that there will be two classes of people waking up: the first class are those with ‘everlasting life’, while the second class are those with ‘shame and everlasting contempt’. So in other words, the first class are the righteous, and the second class are the unrighteous. This ‘awakening’ is also called a resurrection, and we find in the Bible that there will be two separate resurrections for the two different classes of people. Jesus Christ Himself taught this truth in the book of John where He says ‘Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation’ (John 5:28, 29). The book of Acts supports the teaching of Jesus, saying ‘And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both the just and the
unjust’ (Acts 24:15). The resurrection of the just, or righteous, will result in them receiving everlasting life, which they will spend with their creator. On the other hand, the resurrection of the unrighteous will result in them being judged and condemned, and then they will experience the second death, where they will be put out of existence. In the book of Revelation it says ‘And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire’ (Revelation 20:14, 15).
So from this short study, we have found that: when someone dies, they cannot come back in this lifetime; the dead are unconscious and do not possess any abilities which the living have; the living soul is a product of the body and spirit being united, therefore, when someone dies, they separate and do not exist apart from one another; the spirit goes back to God; death is a type of sleep; the dead will be awoken's second coming--or resurrected--with two possible consequences. There is so much more detail that could be written on this subject, but despite this, I hope you have benefitted from this study.
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’
-Daniel 12:2