Expert: Sal - 11/27/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sal,
Was looking at the website where u answered a question for Gerald with regards to Catholicism V Adventism. Paying particular attention to the Soul Sleep doctrine can u kindly give me scriptural references to support your teachings as I am aware of a passage of scripture where it states that the dead knows nothing (Eccl. 9:5:  Please assist.

ANSWER: Dear Simone:

In the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) we read of the dead being conscious. In the face of this obvious contradiction to their theology, the SDA claim that this story is a parable; therefore, they do not have to consider what Jesus says as literally true. Even if one accepts this story as a parable, does it follow that one can dismiss what it says? The answer is: no. In what other parable does our Lord use a falsehood to teach truth? The answer is: none. So whether this story is a parable or not the fact remains that Jesus speaks of the dead as conscious, and he never used a falsehood to teach a truth.  

Another passage that shows that Jesus believed that the dead were conscious is found in the story of the Good Thief (Luke 23:39-43). Jesus indicates the consciousness of the dead with his statement, “I assure you: this day you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43). So strong and clear is this statement of our Lord that the SDA tries to manipulate the very words of our Lord. They make a slight, but important change. “I assure you today: you will be with me in paradise.”  It may be informative to know that no Bible scholar translates v. 43 in that manner. Firstly, it would be ridiculous of our Lord to be informing the Good Thief that he was speaking to him this day! Secondly, Jesus uses the phrase, “I assure you” (also translated as “Verily, verily”, “Truly, truly”, or “Amen, amen”) over 70 times in the gospels. Never once does he add to the phrase what day it is that he is speaking. He always uses the phrase followed by a promise or statement of fact. Therefore, the SDA has no legitimate grounds for changing the traditional rendering of this passage.

The two greatest Apostles, Peter and Paul, both believed in the consciousness of the dead. St. Peter tells us what Jesus did while his body lay in the tomb.

“He was put to death as far as earthly existence goes, but was given life in the realm of the spirit. It was in the spirit also that he went to preach to the spirits in prison” (I Peter 3:18b-19).

Peter relates that Jesus went to preach the gospel to those spirits in Hades who had died before his saving ministry began (see also 4:6). St. Paul believed that he would be with the Lord upon death. “I repeat, we are full of confidence and would much rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:7). The nonsense of the SDA’s position on soul sleep is highlighted by: “If on the other hand, I am to go on living in the flesh, that means productive toil for me-and I do not know which I prefer. I am strongly attracted by both; I long to be freed from this life and be with Christ, for this is a far better thing, yet it is more urgent that I remain alive for your sakes” (Philipians 1:22-24).

Could anyone truly believe that St. Paul would consider it “ a far better thing” to be unconscious rather than to be preaching the saving message of his Lord? St. Paul is clear that he believed that upon death one would be “ at home with the Lord” not unconscious.

Even in the Old Testament that did not have the complete revelation (see Hebrews 1:1-2) we still see indications of knowledge of the consciousness of the dead. Isaiah relates how the dead in Hades react to the death of the King of Babylon. “The nether world below is all astir preparing for your coming…All of them speak out and say to you, ‘You too have become weak like us, you are the same as we’” (Isaiah 14:9-10).   Ezekiel relates a similar scene, “Then from the midst of the nether world, the mighty warriors shall speak to Egypt” (Ezekiel 32:20). Further, he tells us that the deceased Pharaoh sees and is comforted (v. 31).

An amazingly clear account of the consciousness of the dead occurs in I Samuel 28. Here the deceased Samuel appears to King Saul. This passage is so clearly opposed to the SDA position that they have taken to saying that Samuel really wasn’t Samuel, but a demon. The text, however, does not even remotely support such an interpretation. The inspired author is extremely clear in his belief that Samuel was Samuel. For example, “When the woman saw Samuel…” (v. 12), “Samuel then said…” (v. 15), “To this Samuel said…” (v. 16), and “…shaken by Samuel’s message” (v. 20). Since the inspired author is so clear we dare not hold a contrary opinion.

A later writer commenting on I Samuel 28 wrote, “Even while he (Samuel) lay buried, his guidance was sought, he made known to the king (Saul) his fate, and from the grave he raised his voice as a prophet, to put an end to wickedness” (Sirach 46:20).

One more passage which disproves Soul Sleep is Matthew 17:1-8. Here Jesus appears on the Mount of Transfiguration speaking to Elijah and Moses. While Elijah may not have died (see II Kings 2:11), Moses certainly did. “So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died…” (Deuteronomy 34:5). Yet we read, “Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them conversing with him” (Matthew 17:3). Once again the evidence is so strong against them that the SDA church resorts to an illogical, unbiblical attempt to keep their doctrine. They state that Moses must have been resurrected! This is nowhere found in the Bible.

I believe that these passages make it abundantly clear that the Bible doesn’t support the SDA doctrine of Soul Sleep. I have a detailed paper on Eccl. 9:5 if you would like to read it just let me know.

God Bless You in Your Study,
Sal




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sal, Thanks for your response. I am still not convinced of your teaching of the doctrine with regards to the State of the Dead. However, i do have another question to ask regarding the Seventh Day Sabbath as well as clean and unclean foods. Hope you could be of some assistance. Thank You and may God guide you in your faith.

Answer
Dear Simone:

You did not actually ask a question about the Sabbath and the food laws. But here is some information on the Sabbath.

Why don’t most Christians observe the 7th day Sabbath? The answer is simply that Sabbath-keeping is not a requirement in the New Covenant. Whatever day one chooses to gather with other believers and to worship together on is acceptable to the Lord. All who worship “the Father in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23) will be blessed. It is acceptable to meet for worship on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, etc. As St. Paul so clearly put it, “One man regards this day as better than that; someone else considers all days alike. Each should be certain in his own conscience. The man who observes the day does so to honor the Lord” (Romans 14:5-6).

Let us note right up front that while the Sabbath is called the sign of God’s covenant with His people in the Old Covenant it is never called such in the New Covenant. The Old Testament contains lists of Sabbath restrictions (see Exodus 16:23, 29; 20:10; 31:14-15; 34:21; 35:3; Nehemiah 13:19; Jeremiah 17:21-22), and the penalty for Sabbath violation-death-is made perfectly clear (see Exodus 31:14-15; 35:2; Numbers 15:35-36). The New Testament, however, contains no list of Sabbath restrictions and never is Sabbath-breaking listed among New Testament sins (see Mark 7:21-22; Romans 1:29-32; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:1-4; Revelation 21:8). St. Paul who wrote much to the Gentile converts never even once mentioned that keeping the Sabbath was of any importance. He also never mentioned to the Gentiles how they were supposed to keep this Jewish weekly festival. All this is strange, indeed, if the 7th day Sabbath is still a requirement in the New Covenant as the SDA claims.

The Ten Commandments were the heart of the Old Covenant. “So Moses stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, without eating food or drinking water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant: the Ten Commandments” (Exodus 34:28). “He proclaimed to you his covenant which he commanded you to keep: the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone” (Deuteronomy 4:13).

The 7th day Sabbath was the sign of the Old Covenant between God and the Israelites. “So shall the Israelites observe the Sabbath, keeping it throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Between me and the Israelites it is to be an everlasting sign” (Exodus 31:16-17; see also Exodus 31:13). “I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, to show that it was I, the Lord, who made them holy” (Ezekiel 20:12; see also Ezekiel 20:20). “For remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and the Lord, your God, brought you from there with his strong hand and outstretched arm. That is why the Lord, your God, has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).

The Old Covenant that contained the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath, was for the Israelites only. The only exception would be Gentile converts and others under the authority of the Israelites (see Exodus 20:10). The entire 613-law covenant was for the Israelites only. “Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:8). “He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done thus for any other nation; his ordinances he has not made known to them” (Psalm 147:19-20). “And I have placed there the ark, in which abides the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the Israelites”(2 Chronicles 6:11).

The Bible is clear that the Mosaic or Old Covenant was between God and the Israelites, and no one else.  This is why God through His prophets never condemns Gentiles for not keeping the Sabbath. It was never God’s plan to have Gentiles, as a people, to observe the Sabbath. The SDA will try to get around this fact by attempting to prove that the Sabbath command did not originate with Moses, but was given to man at Creation. The “Creation Ordinance” theory is extremely weak. The SDA further claims that the 7th day Sabbath was kept by all the great patriarchs-Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, and Abraham. The Bible itself, however, presents a different story. “The Lord, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb (another name for Mount Sinai), not with our fathers did he make this covenant, but with us, all of us who are alive here today” (Deuteronomy 5:2-3). This scripture is clear that no one had the covenant, the sign of which was the Sabbath, prior to Moses and Mount Sinai. “Not with our fathers” is a way of saying “Not with our ancestors” who were considered the “fathers” of the Israelites. There is abundant Biblical evidence that this is precisely what Moses meant. “He has dealt mercifully with our fathers, and remembered the holy covenant He made” (Luke 1:72). “In times past, God spoke in fragmentary and varied ways to our fathers through the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). St. Paul, in speaking of the Exodus, stated, “Brothers, I want you to remember this: our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1). Jesus, also speaking of the Exodus, used the term fathers when referring to ancestors, “Your fathers ate manna in the desert, but they died” (John 6:49). The Book of Acts contains many references to the ancestors of the Jews as fathers (see 2:29; 3:13; 15:10; 22:3, 14; 24:14; 28:17, 25). St. Stephen, in his final discourse, makes no less than eleven such references (see 7:2, 11, 12, 15, 19, 32, 38, 39, 44, 51, 52).  

“On Mount Sinai you came down, you spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, firm laws, good statutes, and commandments. Your holy Sabbath you made known to them, commandments, statutes, and law you prescribed for them, by the hand of Moses your servant” (Nehemiah 9:13-14).

Notice that the Sabbath was “made known” to the Israelites it was not “retold” or “relearned” because it was new. Therefore, it was not a Creation Ordinance as claimed.

St. Paul informs us that the Mosaic Covenant, including the Sabbath, came into being 430 years after the promise of God to Abraham. It was not eternal. Further, St. Paul tells us that the covenant with the Israelites came to an end when Christ came. It was not everlasting.

“My point is this: a covenant formally ratified by God is not set aside as invalid by any law that came into being 430 years later, nor is its promise nullified…it was to be valid only until that descendant or offspring came to whom the promise had been given” (Galatians 3:17, 19).

This is very clear Biblical evidence that the Old Covenant has a beginning and an ending. Therefore, the Sabbath command is no longer valid. The Old Covenant was always “destined to pass away” (2 Corinthians 3:11). If there is any little bit of doubt that this means the Ten Commandments just read v. 7: “If the ministry of death, carved in writing on stone…” No doubt should remain with the honest Bible student that the Ten Commandments, the sign of which is the Sabbath command, are no longer in effect.

The Bible is clear that the Old Covenant is now obsolete. “When he says, ‘a new covenant’, he declares the first obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13). “In other words, he takes away the first covenant to establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9). “In his own flesh he abolished the law with its commands and precepts” (Ephesians 2:15). “He canceled the bond that stood against us with all its claims, snatching it up and nailing to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). Since the Old Covenant is obsolete so must be the sign of that covenant, the 7th day Sabbath.  The Sabbath has no place in the New Covenant. The reality to which the Sabbath pointed has come, therefore, the shadow must disappear.

“No one is free, therefore, to pass judgment on you in terms of what you eat or drink or what you do on yearly or monthly feasts, or on the Sabbath. All these were but a shadow of things to come; the reality is the body of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).

No matter how good the shadow may be, it becomes a hindrance if it remains along side the reality. For example, John the Baptizer’s ministry was good, but it was a mere shadow of the greatness that was to be found in Christ’s ministry. “There is one among you whom you do not recognize-the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to unfasten” (John 1:26-27). John seemed to realize that he would be in the way of people coming to Jesus, the reality that he foreshadowed.  “He must increase, while I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Another illustration from Scripture showing that the Old Covenant, the law and the prophets, is obsolete occurs in Matthew 17. Here Jesus is transfigured before some of his Apostles. “Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them conversing with him” (v.3). After God blesses Jesus with these words, “This is my beloved Son on whom my favor rests. Listen to him” (v.5), the Apostles fell down in fear. Then we have the part of this story, the significance of which is often overlooked. “When they looked up they did not see anyone but Jesus” (v.8). The significance of this is that before God’s people looked to the law and the prophets for salvation. Now Moses, who represents the law, and Elijah, who represents the prophets, are gone. The law and the prophets, in other words, the entire Old Covenant is no longer to be looked to for guidance in all matters. Jesus is now the only one that we are to look to.

The rabbis in Jesus’ day had a saying, “Come to the Sabbath and it will give you rest.” Jesus boldly declared himself to be the fulfillment of the Sabbath when he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your soul will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Our Sabbath rest is now Jesus no longer is it a day. Jesus proclaimed himself “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) because he has authority over it. No longer must we keep a day and look to it for salvation. We now look to Jesus and him alone for the true salvation that only he can bring. “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12). The Old Covenant people of God rested with Him for 24 hours only one day a week. The New Covenant people of God rest in the finished work of Christ 24/7. “Therefore, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). The rest spoken of is not found in a day, for the people of God in the Old Covenant had and kept the 7th day Sabbath yet they failed to enter into the rest of God. The true rest of God is found in the person and work of Christ. “We have indeed heard the good news, as they (the Israelites) did. But the word which they heard did not profit them, for they did not receive it in faith. It is we who have believed who enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:2-3).

Let me point out the further superiority of the Christian rest. The Old Covenant people of God’s rest was one marked by inactivity (see Exodus 16:23; 20:10; 31:14-15; 35:2). The New Covenant people of God emphasize not a day, but the new commandment of our Lord to love one another as he has loved us (see John 13:34-35; 15:12). We show this selfless love by sacrificing ourselves for the most needy (see Matthew 25:31-40). So while the Old Covenant people of God had a physical rest we have a superior spiritual rest.

Let us take seriously St. Paul’s admonishments of the Galatian Christians. “It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!” (Galatians 5:1). “Anyone of you who seeks your justification in the law have severed yourselves from Christ and fallen from God’s favor!” (v.4). What was the big problem that Paul so harshly fought against? The Galatians were being influenced to observe the Jewish Sabbaths. “You even go so far as to keep the ceremonial observances of days, and months, seasons, and years! I fear for you; all my efforts with you may have been wasted” (4:10-11). May Christ’s efforts for us never be wasted!

In conclusion, Christians do not observe the 7th day Sabbath because it is not required of them by Jesus their Lord. The 7th day Sabbath was never meant to be observed by anyone other than the Israelites. One may worship on Saturday if one chooses to (see Romans 14:5), but it is not a salvation issue as the SDA try to make it.  

God Bless You,
Sal