Beliefs about the Afterlife (xviii)

As promised earlier we will give further evidence to show that "sheol" cannot be strictly a reference to the grave, to the place where a dead body is placed. Sometimes the grave is the thing focused upon when sheol is spoken of, for that is the place of the dead when focus is upon the body of a person. But, when the person's inner person is the focus, sheol is the place of departed spirits. Though both the place of the body and the place of the spirit are called sheol, yet they are but subdivisions of the same world, as we have previously asserted. Further, there was another word that was the foremost used to refer to the grave, the Hebrew word "queber." 

Sheol is found 64 times in the old testament. If we look at each of those passages to see what we can discover about the usage of the word, what would be our definition of it?

Sheol is translated “hell,” “grave,” and “pit” (KJV). It simply means "place of the dead" or "unseen world of the dead," or something similar. If we would substitute the words "place of the dead" in every place where Sheol is used, it would be better understood. Further, the above words (which are intended to give the English translation of the Hebrew word and idea) can refer either to the grave, where the body is concealed (unseen) after burial, or to the spirit world, which is invisible to mortal eyes. It is a place where people "go" when they die.

As we stated in earlier chapters, Sheol may refer either to the grave or to what is below the grave, to the place of departed spirits. When the body is the subject, Sheol denotes the grave, the place where the body or bodily ashes are located. When the soul or spirit is the subject or focus, the grave is not meant, but rather the place of departed spirits. 

For instance, when I think of my beloved father, who departed this life several years ago, I sometimes think of him as in the grave of a cemetery near Trenton, Ohio, a place where other relatives are buried. I also think of his body, his face, his facial gestures, his physical features, and can almost hear his voice. However, most of the time I am thinking of his spirit (soul or psyche or pneuma), his inner self, I am picturing him with Christ in conscious bliss in Heaven. Further, I can both say in truth 1) "father is buried in the cemetery in Trenton" and 2) "my father is with the Lord in Heaven." I can also affirm that his physical brain is no longer living, thinking, or conscious, but I can also affirm that his disembodied spirit has intellect, thinking ability, consciousness and self awareness. We may also, similarly, think of the wicked dead as being in the grave and also in the place of departed wicked spirits. 

As was indicated in previous chapters, in our diagrams of how Christ and the old testament writers described the realm of Sheol, we saw how Sheol (Hades) was a divided place with sections or compartments, much like what we see in prisons among men. We also mentioned how the Latin word "limbus" denoted what was the outer limb or boundary of Sheol or Hades. 

Further, when the grave was referred to as Sheol, it is often viewed as the entering point of Sheol, the gates, door, or mouth of Sheol. I therefore envision the grave as the uppermost section of Sheol, the place where the body died and the spirit departed becoming the mouth or entry gate for entering the place of the dead. The psalmist speaks of “bones” being “scattered at the mouth of sheol.” (Ps. 141:7, kjv). Isaiah says "sheol has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure." (Isa. 5: 14) "Mouth" denotes the "opening" into the Underworld of Sheol. God asks Job - "Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?" (Job 38: 17) So, rather than believing in two kinds of Sheol, one for the body and one for the soul, I rather think they are two sections of Sheol. Therefore "Sheol" and "Hades" do not mean "grave" only. The most important thing to emphasize is the fact that - 

The Lazarus Story Defines Sheol

The teaching of Christ in Luke 16 about the state of the dead in Hades is the right interpretation of what the Old Testament scriptures taught about the afterlife. That is why I introduced it early on in this series on the afterlife and discussed it in some depth. 

Clearly, by the teaching of Christ, Sheol or Hades is a place where both righteous and unrighteous souls go, and that each group has a designated place within the Underworld, and that the place of the righteous is Edenic and paradisaical, a place of festivity, joy and comfort, and that the place of the wicked is one of suffering. This story thus denies the teaching of the Sadducees for it teaches an afterlife where the spirits of the dead go and dwell when they leave their human bodies. It shows that Sheol does not refer strictly and only to the grave, to the place where the dead body is buried.  

In "Hell, Sheol, Hades, Paradise, and the Grave" by W. Edward Bedore, Th.D. we have an excellent apologetic writing wherein Bedore shows that it is an error to say that "Sheol" or "Hades" refers strictly to the grave. Let us notice some of the things he says therein. Says Bedore: (See here - emphasis mine)

"Hades is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament word Sheol. The Greek and Hebrew words speak of the same place, the present Hell. However, this is problematic because Sheol has been translated “grave” as often as it has “hell” and some have mistakenly taught that Sheol and Hades are only references to the grave rather than Hell. This erroneous teaching leads to the denial of the existence of an immediate or present Hell. The false doctrine of soul-sleep, and other ideas that teach the unconscious state of the dead between death and resurrection, spring from this error."

Said Bedore further:

"The common word for “grave” in the Old Testament is queber. Of the sixty-four times it is used, it is translated “grave” thirty-four times, “sepulcher” twenty-six times, and “burying place” four times. Queber is used five additional times as part of a place name, Kibroth-hattaavah, which means “graves of lust.” As we said earlier, Sheol is found sixty-four times, being rendered “grave” thirty-one times, “hell” thirty-one times, and “pit” three times."

Obviously translators realize that Sheol cannot be limited in meaning to the grave. 

Said Bedore:

"A comparison of how Sheol and queber are used reveals eight points of contrast that tell us that they are not the same thing. 

1. Sheol is never used in plural form. Queber is used in the plural 29 times. 

2. It is never said that the body goes to Sheol. Queber speaks of the body going there 37 times. 

3. Sheol is never said to be located on the face of the earth. Queber is mentioned 32 times as being located on the earth. 

4. An individual’s Sheol is never mentioned. An individual’s queber is mentioned 5 times. 

5. Man is never said to put anyone into Sheol. Individuals are put into a queber by man (33 times). 

6. Man is never said to have dug or fashioned a Sheol. Man is said to have dug, or fashioned, a queber (6 times). 

7. Man is never said to have touched Sheol. Man touches, or can touch, a queber (5 times). 

8. It is never said that man is able to possess a Sheol. Man is spoken of as being able to possess a queber (7 times). 

(These eight points of comparison are adapted from “Life and Death” by Caleb J. Baker, Bible Institute Colportage Ass’n, 1941). From the differences between how Sheol and queber are used in Scripture, it is obvious that they are not the same thing."

So, are Sheol and Queber synonyms? I think not. Though both are sometimes translated into English as "grave," they are not the same. The grave is but the opening entry hall of greater Sheol. 

Said Bedore:

"Words associated with queber are quabar and qeburah. Quabar is a verb meaning to bury or to be buried and qeburah is a noun meaning a grave or place of burial. The use of these related words helps to reinforce the difference between queber and Sheol, as they clearly have to do with the grave as a burial place, while Sheol does not."

That is what I have concluded also in my study of the words and ideas. Sheol and Hades occasionally can be translated "grave" but not always. Queber, however, always means "grave" where the body goes. Sheol and Queber are not used interchangeably.

Said Bedore:

"While we have not exhausted the subject by looking at every passage that Sheol is found in, it is clear from these examples that Sheol is not simply the grave but is located at the center of the earth and is the abode of the souls of the unrighteous dead who are awaiting their resurrection unto condemnation. It is equally clear that those in Sheol/Hades are not in an unconscious state of existence but are quite aware of what is going on around them. There is memory, recognition, and communication there."

Again, this is what we have seen is the teaching of the holy scriptures.

Said Bedore:

"While Paradise is not now a part of Sheol/Hades it will be mentioned here because it was located in Sheol/Hades at one time. Before the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ everybody who died went to Sheol/Hades, which was at that time divided into at least two compartments. One was a place of torment while the other was a place of blessing, which was referred to as Abraham’s Bosom (Lk. 16:22-25). As we mentioned before, Tartarus may be a specific place in Sheol/Hades."

This is what we have also seen in the previous chapters.

Said Bedore:

"We know that Jesus Christ went “into the lower parts of the earth” (Eph. 4:9), that is to Sheol/Hades, “in the heart of the earth,” for three days and nights while his body was in the grave (Mat. 12:40). The Lord Jesus told the repentant thief that he would join Him in Paradise that same day (Lk. 23:42,43). This tells us that Paradise was located in Sheol/Hades at that time. We believe that this was the same place referred to as Abraham’s Bosom in Luke 16. However, after Jesus Christ rose from the dead He ascended to the Father, taking the saints who were in Abraham’s Bosom to heaven with Him. Thus, He took “captivity captive” (see Eph. 4:8-10)."

That is what I have become convinced is the teaching of scripture, except that I don't believe that Abraham's Bosom was Paradise proper.

Said Bedore:

"That Paradise was moved to heaven is confirmed to us by the Apostle Paul who speaks of a man who was “caught up into Paradise” where he “heard unspeakable words” (II Cor. 12:3,4). With Jesus Christ’s work complete, the believers who had been confined to Sheol/Hades were now taken to Heaven to wait in God’s presence until the time of their resurrection to enter His Kingdom on Earth. Since that time, at death all believers go to Paradise in Heaven to await the time of their resurrection." 

While I do not say that "Paradise was moved to heaven," believing that Paradise and the "third heaven" have always been the same, I do rather say that the place known as "Abraham's Bosom," though not Paradise, yet was Edenic and paradisaical.  It is like saying some place on earth is "heavenly," meaning that it is not Heaven proper, but like heaven.

In Genesis 37: 35 Jacob said, "For I will go down into the grave (Sheol) unto my son mourning."

From this text we can see how Sheol cannot mean grave, and so is a mistranslation and misleading. Jacob's son, for whom he mourns, is Joseph who Jacob believes (by the lie his other sons told to him) has been devoured and eaten by wild beasts. So, Joseph did not have a grave and so Jacob could not have meant grave (or place where his body lay). He must mean "the place of departed spirits," or the Underworld. 

Said John Gill in commentary upon this verse (emphasis mine):

"...the meaning is, not that he would by any means hasten his own death, or go down to his son in the grave, strictly and literally taken; since, according to his apprehension of his son's death he could have no grave, being torn to pieces by a wild beast; but either that he should go into the state of the dead, where his son was, mourning all along till he came thither..."

Thus, in the story of the rich man (Dives) and Lazarus, Dives is said to have died and been buried and then "in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments," and we can say that the body of Dives had been buried in the grave (Queber) but his disembodied spirit was in the Underworld of departed spirits of the dead and of fallen angels (Hades and Tartarus).

When king David realized that his infant son had died (for which he had been fasting and praying for healing of his infant son) he said to those around him:

"But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (II Sam. 12: 23)

This is similar language to that of Jacob in regard to Joseph. It can hardly be interpreted to mean that David thinks of being joined to his son in the graveyard. The idea of once again conversing with his son, though in the Underworld, was expected and longed for.