Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: SOD
Program Code: SOD000008
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00:01 If a man dies, shall he live again?
00:07 What does it mean to be absent from the body 00:09 and present with the Lord? 00:13 Did Jesus go with a thief to paradise on Good Friday? 00:18 Did the souls of dead people 00:21 really cry out from below the altar? 00:25 Pastor Bohr answers these questions 00:27 and more in the amazing series. 00:35 Shall we bow our heads for prayer? 00:38 Father in heaven, what a joy it is to be in Your presence. 00:42 We are so thankful that You have given us Your word 00:46 which is a sure guide in a world 00:49 that seems to be spinning out of control. 00:53 Father, we ask that as we study today 00:55 about two very important words in the Old and New Testament 01:00 that Your Holy Spirit will be with us 01:02 open our minds and our hearts to receive the seed of truth. 01:06 I thank you, Lord, 01:07 for the privilege of speaking your truth. 01:11 I ask Lord that you will give me divine wisdom 01:14 for I ask it in the precious name 01:16 of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen. 01:22 Today, we are going to study two very important words 01:27 one in the Old Testament and another in the New Testament. 01:32 However before we get into the study of these two words 01:36 before I tell you what they are I would like to say 01:39 that the New Testament authors had a very frustrating time 01:47 trying to transmit correct ideas about the state of the dead 01:52 and I will explain the reason why. 01:55 The word spirit the word soul and the word Hades, 02:01 which is one of the words that we are going to study tonight, 02:04 were very prevalent and common 02:06 in the world in which the New Testament authors wrote. 02:10 The only problem is those words 02:13 had a different connotation in Greek philosophy. 02:17 You see the word Psyche, the word Pneuma, the word Hades 02:23 were very commonly used by the Greeks 02:25 to express an immortal soul 02:27 and to express a place of eternal burning. 02:31 Now the New Testament authors had to use the same terminology 02:35 because they were writing in Greek. 02:38 However, the words that they used 02:42 were the same as the words in the Greek world 02:45 but the connotation was not the connotation 02:47 of the Greek language, the connotation was 02:51 that of the equivalent Hebrew words in the Old Testament. 02:56 In other words we are not to understand the word Psyche, 03:00 the word Pneuma, and the word Hades. 03:03 In the light of the way it was understood 03:06 by the people in Christ day as a result of Greek philosophy 03:11 these words are to be understood 03:13 according to the Hebrew equivalent in the Old Testament. 03:17 And of course the equivalent of the word Pneuma 03:20 is Ruach and Neshama. 03:23 The equivalent of the word Psyche is Nephesh 03:26 and we are going to notice that the equivalent of the word Hades 03:30 in the Old Testament is Sheol. 03:32 So basically we need to understand 03:35 that the background to these New Testament words 03:38 is not to be found in the way 03:40 they were used in Greek Philosophy, 03:42 it is to be found in the way in which the equivalent words 03:46 were used in the Hebrew language. 03:49 Now, with this in mind I would like to say that 03:52 we are going to study two key words in the Bible. 03:57 One is in the Old Testament 03:59 and the other is in the New Testament. 04:02 Let's take a look first of all 04:03 at the Hebrew word Sheol, that's S-H-E-O-L. 04:11 The Hebrew word Sheol appears approximately 61 times 04:16 or 60 plus times in the Old Testament. 04:20 In the King James Version it is translated 04:23 with the word, grave 30 times. 04:27 It is translated with the word, hell 31 times, 04:33 and a handful of times in the King James Version 04:37 of the Old Testament it is translated, pit. 04:41 The key verses that we want to notice are the 61 times 04:46 where in the King James the word Sheol, 04:48 is translated as grave or as hell. 04:53 Now in the overwhelming majority of the cases 04:57 where the King James translates the word Sheol as hell, 05:01 the King James could have just as well 05:04 translated grave instead of hell. 05:07 We are going to notice that uniformly 05:09 through out the Old Testament this word Sheol 05:12 should really be translated grave or sepulcher. 05:18 But for some strange reason the King James translators 05:21 decided that they were translate 30 references as grave 05:27 and 31 references as hell, 05:30 when really all of the references 05:32 should be translated as grave or sepulcher. 05:36 Now what I would like to do is go through several texts 05:39 that we find in the Old Testament 05:41 where the word Sheol is used and we are going to-- 05:46 we are going to read first of all text 05:49 where the King James translates 05:51 the word Sheol with the word grave. 05:55 Let's got to 1 Samuel 2:6, 1 Samuel 2:6. 06:02 Remember that this is-- 06:05 where the King James translates the word Sheol as grave. 06:10 It says there 06:13 and notice the synonymous parallelism. 06:15 "The Lord kills and makes alive, 06:21 He brings down to the grave and brings up." 06:25 Do you see the synonymous parallelism there? 06:27 The second line repeating 06:29 the same thought of the first line. 06:31 Once again, "The Lord kills and makes alive, 06:34 He brings down to the grave" 06:36 that's the word Sheol "and brings up." 06:39 There the King James translators 06:41 have translated correctly the word Sheol as grave. 06:45 And by the way all of the texts that I am reading 06:47 are from the New King James unless I mention otherwise. 06:52 Now let's go to Psalm 49:14,15, Psalm 49:14,15, 06:59 another verse where the King James 07:01 translates grave, the word Sheol. 07:04 It says there in Psalm 49:14 07:07 "Like sheep they are laid in the grave," 07:11 that's the word Sheol. 07:13 "Like sheep they are laid in the grave, 07:16 death shall feed on them." 07:18 So what happens in the grave, you are what? 07:21 You are dead, that's right, "Death shall feed on them, 07:25 the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, 07:28 and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, 07:32 far from their dwelling. 07:34 But God will redeem my soul" 07:38 it's the word Nephesh we studies this word already. 07:41 "God will redeem my soul," that is my life 07:43 "from the power of the--" what? 07:45 "From the power of the grave," there is the word Sheol again, 07:48 "from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me." 07:53 So you will noticed here that 07:55 God is going to redeem his life from where? 07:58 From the grave not from hell, not from a place of a burning 08:02 but from the grave where we are told here 08:05 that death feeds upon them. 08:08 So the King James has translated correctly here 08:11 the word Sheol it means grave. 08:14 Notice Psalm 89:48. 08:17 We are gonna read several text 08:18 because I don't want you to think 08:20 that I am just taking a sampling of text 08:22 that are convenient to my point of view. 08:25 We could actually read all of them 08:27 and you would see that in all of them the word Sheol 08:31 could actually be translated grave or sepulcher. 08:34 Psalm 89:48 08:38 "What man can live and not see death? 08:44 Can he deliver his life" 08:47 by the way that's the word nephesh again. 08:49 It could be translated Soul. 08:51 "Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?" 08:56 Do you notice the synonymous parallelism again? 08:59 The word grave is coupled with which word? 09:02 It is coupled with the word, death. 09:05 "What man can live and not see death? 09:09 Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?" 09:14 So once again grave is linked with the word death. 09:20 Notice Ecclesiastes 9:10, Ecclesiastes 9:10. 09:27 This is a very well know verse. 09:29 It's used very frequently by Seventh-day Adventist 09:31 when we are talking about the state of the dead 09:33 it says there, "Whatever your hand finds to do, 09:37 do it with your might, for there is no work or device 09:43 or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." 09:49 In Sheol where you are going. 09:52 Once again the King James translates correctly grave 09:54 but notice that in the grave 09:56 there is no work no device no knowledge and no wisdom. 10:01 Turn with me now to Isaiah 38:10, 10:05 Isaiah 38:10 and I want you to notice 10:09 how once again the word Sheol is referring to the place 10:15 that people go to when their life is shorten by death. 10:20 It says there "I said, 'In the prime of my life 10:25 I shall go to the gates of Sheol'" 10:28 I want you to remember the word gates 10:29 that's important its linked with the word Sheol. 10:32 And by the way the word Sheol here 10:34 is translated the grave in the King James Version. 10:38 "I said, 'In the prime of my life 10:40 I shall go to the gates of Sheol." 10:42 Now what does that mean to go to the gates of Sheol? 10:45 Notice the explanation. 10:46 "I am deprived of the remainder of my years." 10:51 What does that mean to go to Sheol? 10:53 It means that you are deprived of the remainder of your years. 10:56 In other words you life is shortened 11:00 by the experience of death. 11:02 Notice Isaiah 38:18. 11:05 We are right there so we should be able to read this quickly. 11:08 It says in Isaiah 38:18. 11:10 "For Sheol" this is the New King James 11:13 that actually transliterate the word 11:16 "For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You, 11:22 those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth." 11:27 Three ideas linked here. 11:29 The word Sheol, the word death and the word pit. 11:34 And you will notice that those who are going to Sheol 11:36 or the grave cannot thank God, they cannot praise God, 11:42 and those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Gods truth. 11:48 Notice Psalms 6:5, Psalms 6:5. 11:54 Once again you have the same idea 11:56 of death being linked with Sheol 12:00 or being linked with the grave. 12:02 It says there in Psalms 6:5, 12:04 "For in death there is no remembrance of You." 12:09 And then notice the synonymous parallelism 12:12 in the second part of the verse. 12:14 Says "For in death there is no remembrance of You. 12:17 In the grave who will give You thanks?" 12:22 And of course the question is what? 12:24 The question is answered how? 12:26 No one will give you thanks in the grave. 12:30 So once again death and grave or Sheol are coupled together. 12:36 Now go with me to Job 14:10-15. 12:39 We are still noticing verses 12:41 where the King James Version translates the word grave. 12:46 And by the way the New King James 12:48 sometimes simply transliterates the word 12:50 and puts Sheol as it appears in the Hebrew. 12:53 Notice Job 14:10-15. 12:56 Here Job is describing his experience. 12:59 "But man dies and is laid away, 13:04 Indeed he breathes his last" 13:07 what happens when a person dies? 13:09 They what? They breathe their last. 13:12 "And where is he?" Is what Job asks. 13:15 "As water disappears from the sea, 13:18 And a river becomes parched and dried up, 13:23 So man lies down" where do you lie down by the way? 13:28 In the grave of course when you die. 13:31 "So man lies down and does not rise." 13:34 Until when? "Till the heavens are no more, 13:39 they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep." 13:45 Is that the hope of resurrection 13:46 according to Job? Absolutely. 13:49 Then he says this "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave," 13:54 that's the word Sheol. 13:55 So did Job in his suffering want to go to Sheol? 13:59 Obviously he didn't want to go to hell. 14:03 He was not saying Oh, that You would hide me in the hell, 14:05 the word Sheol cannot mean hell there 14:08 because Job wouldn't want to go there. 14:10 And so it says, "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave," 14:13 that isn't Sheol "that You would conceal me 14:16 until Your wrath is past, 14:19 that you would appoint me a set time and remember me. 14:23 If a man dies, shall he live again? 14:27 All the days of my hard service I will wait, 14:31 till my change comes. 14:32 You shall call, and I will answer You; 14:36 You shall desire the work of Your hands." 14:40 Glorious passage on the resurrection 14:43 and Job actually in a suffering he is saying, 14:45 oh, Lord, if you would just hide me in Sheol. 14:49 Is he actually begging God to send him to hell? 14:52 Of course not, he is saying 14:53 I wish that you would place me where? 14:55 Resting, sleeping, he speaks about sleep, death as sleep. 14:59 I wish you would put me to sleep in the grave. 15:01 And then when You come and You call 15:03 I would answer Your voice. 15:06 Let's read one more Job 7:9 15:09 where the King James Version translates with the word grave. 15:14 Job 7:9 it says here 15:19 "As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, 15:25 so he who goes down to the grave" 15:29 that is to Sheol "does not come up." 15:33 So when you go to Sheol what happens to you? 15:36 You are like a cloud that disappears and what? 15:39 And Vanishes away, because in the grave 15:42 what happens to our body? We disintegrate. 15:47 Now let's notice a few examples 15:50 where the King James Version translates with the word hell. 15:54 By the way, I'm a great admirer of the King James Version 15:59 but I must say as I have said before 16:02 in previous lectures that when it come to the state of the dead 16:07 the New International Version is a better translation. 16:10 It's closer to the intention that God had 16:14 when he is speaking about the state of man in death. 16:17 Now that doesn't mean that 16:18 everything in the NIV is good and perfect, 16:21 because they leave out several passages, 16:24 they have mistranslations. 16:25 What I am saying is that every translation 16:28 has its pros and its cons. 16:30 But when it comes to the state of the dead 16:32 the King James actually is very confusing 16:36 when it speaks about the word Sheol 16:38 and we will also notice that it's very confusing 16:40 when it comes to the word Hades in the New Testament. 16:43 Now let's notice similar text where the King James 16:46 translates the word Sheol with hell 16:48 and you tell me if the King James translators 16:51 could have used the word grave, just as well. 16:53 Notice Psalm 116:3, Psalm 116:3 17:01 for some unexplained reason the King James translators 17:04 thought that they need to translate 17:05 the word Sheol 31 times with the word hell. 17:08 When it could have very well been translated grave. 17:11 It says in Psalm 116:3, 17:14 "The pains of death surrounded me, 17:19 and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me, 17:22 I found trouble and sorrow." 17:25 Let me ask you could the word Sheol 17:27 have been very well translated grave there? 17:30 Of course, it's coupled once again with what word? 17:34 Death, just like the other verses. 17:36 So the King James could have said 17:38 "The pains of death surrounded me, 17:40 and the pangs of Sheol" 17:42 which it actually says hell in the King James. 17:45 I'm reading from the New King James 17:47 "has laid hold of me and I found trouble and sorrow." 17:50 Very well the word Sheol could have been 17:52 translated grave there by the King James Version. 17:56 Proverb 7:27, Proverb 7:27. 18:01 I want you to notice the synonymous parallelism 18:05 that we have here in this verse. 18:08 It says there in Proverb 7:27, "Her house" 18:12 speaking about the evil woman, 18:14 the evil and the wicked woman, says, 18:16 "Her house is the way to hell," 18:21 even the New King James translates hell here. 18:24 "Her house is the way to hell," 18:26 better translation would be what? The grave. 18:30 "Descending to the chambers of" what? "Death." 18:34 So once again Sheol is coupled with death. 18:39 It could have very well been translated that 18:41 "Her house is the way to the grave, 18:46 descending to the chambers of death." 18:48 There is no need to link this with hell, or to link it fire. 18:53 Notice Proverbs 5:5, Proverbs 5:5. 18:59 And I want you to underline, 19:01 the synonymous parallelism again. 19:04 It says there speaking about the strange woman 19:06 who tries to entice men into sin. 19:09 It says, "Her feet go down to death, 19:15 her steps lay hold of hell." 19:20 Once again death and Sheol are linked together, 19:24 would it be proper to translate this 19:26 "Her feet go down to death, her step lay hold of the grave." 19:34 Yes, once again the two ideas are I linked together. 19:38 By the way do you notice that feet go down to death 19:41 is the same as her steps lay hold of hell. 19:44 It is a synonymous parallelism. 19:47 Notice Proverbs 15:24, Proverbs 15:24 19:53 and here we have antithetical parallelism. 19:56 Another words, what is said in the first line 19:58 the opposite is said in the second line. 20:02 It says there in Proverbs 15:24, 20:04 "The way of life winds upward for the wise, 20:11 that he may turn away" from where "from hell below". 20:18 Could that have been translated form the grave below? 20:22 Of course, the contrast is between above and below. 20:26 The contrast is not between heaven and hell. 20:30 And so it says, "The way of life winds upward for the wise, 20:36 that he may turn away from the grave below." 20:41 Notice Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:15. 20:48 Again notice the synonymous parallelism in this verse. 20:52 It says in Isaiah 28:15, "Because you have said, 20:59 we have made a covenant with death, 21:04 and with Sheol we are in agreement." 21:11 The New King James transliterates Sheol 21:14 but the King James Version translates hell. 21:16 In another words the King James says 21:17 we have made a covenant with death, 21:20 and with hell we are in agreement. 21:22 But the fact is that the phrase, 21:25 we have made a covenant with death, 21:28 is exactly parallel to with Sheol we are in agreement. 21:33 A covenant is a what? Is an agreement. 21:37 And once again the idea of Sheol is connected 21:40 not with life in hell it's connected with what? 21:44 With death in that verse once again. 21:47 let's read two more verses 21:52 and then we move on to the New Testament. 21:54 Amos 9:2, 21:58 speaking about the wicked in Israel 22:02 that says, though they dig into hell. 22:06 By the way where do we dig into? 22:09 We dig to open up a hole for the grave, right? 22:13 So it says, "Though they dig into" 22:15 and the New King, the King James Version 22:17 and the New King James version says hell there. 22:20 Could it be translated the grave? Of course it could. 22:24 "Though they dig into grave, 22:26 from there My hand shall take them, 22:29 though they climb up to heaven, 22:31 from there I will bring them down." 22:34 Very acceptable to translate the word Sheol here 22:39 not hell like the King James Version 22:42 and the New King James Version do 22:44 but rather translate grave. 22:47 One further verse Jonah 2:2, Jonah 2:2. 22:54 Here Jonah is in the belly of the fish. 22:56 And by the way he is not dead, he is crying out to the Lord 22:59 and notice what he says in Jonah2:2, and he said, 23:06 "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, 23:10 and He answered me. 23:12 Out of the belly of Sheol" 23:15 that's translated hell in the King James Version. 23:19 "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, 23:22 and You heard my voice." 23:24 Was Jonah in hell at that point? 23:27 No, he was in the belly of a great fish. 23:30 It was dark down there. It was like he was where? 23:34 He was in a living grave if you please. 23:38 So he was not in hell. 23:39 A proper translation would be "Out of the belly of the grave 23:44 I cried, and You heard my voice." 23:47 And by the way we know that its the grave 23:48 because Jesus referred to this later on about speaking 23:52 when he spoke about being in the heart of the earth 23:54 for three days and for three nights. 23:57 Now, let's notice what the New Testament 23:59 has to say about the word Sheol. 24:03 And you say well pastor, but the word Sheol is in Hebrew, 24:06 the New Testament wouldn't use that same Hebrew word? 24:09 Obviously not, but the New Testament has 24:12 an exactly equivalent Greek word to the word Sheol. 24:17 And you say, which word is equivalent 24:20 to the word Sheol from the Old Testament? 24:23 Well, before I tell you let me give you some statistics. 24:27 The word Hades which is the word 24:30 that we are going to refer to 24:32 is used 11 times in the New Testament. 24:36 Only once in those 11 times 24:40 in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus 24:42 which we have already discussed in this series 24:44 where Jesus is not trying to teach truth. 24:47 He is using the ideas of the people to express an idea 24:53 He is using their view of Hades and of hell. 24:57 He doesn't believe it He is using 24:59 their frame of reference to teach the truth. 25:02 Only in that one reference 25:04 do you find the word Hades linked 25:08 or connected with a place of burning. 25:12 Actually in all of the other 10 references 25:15 the word Hades could be translated with grave. 25:20 Now let me tell you something 25:21 about the New King James Version. 25:24 The New King James Version 25:26 transliterates the word Hades all the 11 times. 25:30 In other words it doesn't translate the word 25:32 it simply puts Hades when that word appears. 25:36 The King James Version on the other hand 25:39 10 times translates the words Hades, hell 25:44 and only one time does the King James Version 25:47 translate the word Hades with grave. 25:51 Let's talk for a moment about the New International Version 25:55 of the 11 times, that the word Hades 25:58 appears in the New Testament 25:59 twice the New International Version 26:03 translates deaths three times. 26:07 The New International Version translates 26:09 the word Hades with the word grave 26:13 and five times the New International Version 26:15 translates the word Hades- 26:17 actually it doesn't even translate it, 26:19 it transliterates the word. 26:21 And only once in the New International Version 26:24 is the word Hades translated hell 26:28 and that's in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. 26:31 So its interesting that the NIV translates the word Hades 26:36 10 times differently than hell 26:39 and only one time hell was the King James Version 26:42 translates the word 10 times hell 26:45 and one time differently than the word hell 26:48 it translates it with the word grave. 26:51 Now you say, how do we know, Pastor Bohr, 26:53 that the word Sheol in the Old Testament 26:56 is equivalent to the word Hades in the New Testament? 27:00 It's very simple. 27:01 You see there are two texts in the New Testament 27:04 that allude to or quote verses from the Old Testament. 27:10 So when you go to the New Testament 27:12 and you read those verse 27:13 that are quoted from the Old Testament 27:15 you can know what word in Greek 27:18 is equivalent to the Hebrew Sheol. 27:21 Now, let's go to our first text that uses the word Sheol 27:24 and then we will go to the New Testament text 27:26 where this same verse is used but in the Greek language. 27:30 It says in Hosea 13:14 27:34 if you go with me Hosea 13:14 the following, 27:41 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave," 27:46 that's the word Sheol incidentally 27:49 "I will redeem them from death." 27:52 See the synonymous parallelism again, 27:54 He is going to redeem them from the power-- 27:56 ransom them from the power of the grave that Sheol. 27:59 I will redeem them from death and then notice this 28:02 "O Death, I will be your plagues! 28:05 O Grave," that is O Sheol "I will be your destruction. 28:10 Pity is hidden from My eyes." 28:13 So notice here that you have, 28:16 "O Death, I will be your plagues 28:18 O Grave, I will be your destruction". 28:21 Now let's go to 1 Corinthians 15:54, 55, 28:27 1 Corinthians 15:54, 55 where this verse in Hosea 28:32 is very clearly alluded to. 28:34 1 Corinthians 15:54 and 55, 28:38 "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, 28:43 and this mortal has put on immortality, 28:46 then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 28:50 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 28:53 O Death, where is your sting? 28:56 O Hades, where is your victory?" 29:00 Do you see the allusion to Hosea 13:14? 29:04 It's interesting when it says "O Death, where is your sting?" 29:08 Death is used in Hosea Chapter 13. 29:11 But instead of the word Sheol the second word that is used 29:15 in verse 55 of 1 Corinthians is 29:18 "O Hades, where is your victory?" 29:21 And by the way this is the only verse 29:23 that the King James Version translates with the word, grave. 29:28 1 Corinthians 15:55, because they knew 29:32 that it would be foolish to say, O hell, where is your victory? 29:36 As if somehow the righteous had been in hell 29:39 and Jesus had come to rescue them from hell. 29:42 So they knew that they had to translate 29:44 the word Hades here with grave 29:46 but the other 10 times that translate the word Hades 29:49 in the King James Version with the word hell. 29:51 So it become very complicated 29:53 for people who are reading the Bible 29:54 because they assume that Sheol and Hades are a place 29:58 where people are sent to burn. 30:01 Now notice the other text in the New Testament 30:04 that is actually quoting from a passage in the Old Testament. 30:09 Let's go to the Old Testament passage first 30:11 and then we will go to the New Testament passage. 30:14 Psalms 16:8-10, Psalms 16:8-10. 30:20 This is a Masonic prophecy about the resurrection of Jesus. 30:25 It says here "I have set the Lord always before me, 30:29 because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 30:33 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices, 30:37 my flesh" notice, "my flesh also will rest in hope." 30:43 Jesus is speaking prophetically. 30:45 He says, my flesh will also rest in hope. 30:48 Verse 10 "For You will not leave my soul in soul," 30:52 that's the word Nephesh that we studied, 30:55 "You will not leave my soul in sheol" 30:58 it says in the New King James. 31:00 By the way in the King James it says, 31:02 "You will not leave my soul in Hell, 31:05 Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." 31:11 Now I want you to notice the synonymous parallelism 31:13 that we have in this verse. 31:16 Notice that "thou will not leave my soul in hell," 31:22 is parallel to "thou will not leave the holy one to see" 31:27 what? "Corruption." 31:29 So what is it that you see in hell? 31:32 Supposedly you see what? Corruption. 31:35 Now what is it that corrupts? It is the body. 31:41 Did you notice that Jesus said "My flesh will rest in hope" 31:46 because it will not see corruption. 31:48 Now the New International Version 31:50 translates this correctly, It says, 31:54 "You will not leave me in the grave 31:58 and you will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption." 32:03 So in other words the soul is Jesus, 32:05 the person of Jesus 32:06 and the word Hades is translated the grave. 32:11 Jesus is saying, you are not going to leave me in the grave 32:14 and I my flesh is not going to see what? 32:17 Is not going to see corruption. 32:20 Now let's notice how this passage 32:22 is quoted in the New Testament. 32:24 Go with me to Acts 2:25-27. 32:28 This is on the Day of Pentecost, 32:30 the Apostle Peter is preaching his Pentecostal sermon 32:33 and it says there in Acts 2:25 32:39 "For David says concerning Him," 32:41 that is concerning Jesus, "'I foresaw the Lord 32:45 always before my face, for He is at my right hand, 32:50 that I may not be shaken, therefore my heart rejoiced, 32:54 and my tongue was glad, 32:55 moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 33:00 For" why will his flesh rest in hope? 33:02 "For You will not leave my soul in Hades," 33:07 this is the New King James, or as the NIV says, 33:12 "You will not leave me in Hades, 33:15 nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." 33:18 Now did you notice that the word that is used in Psalm 16 33:23 where it says, "You will not leave my soul in Sheol" 33:27 the equivalent in the New Testament is, 33:30 "You will not leave my soul in Hades." 33:32 So the question is, is Sheol equivalent to the word Hades? 33:37 Of course, in two different languages. 33:41 Now let's notice other references 33:43 to the word Hades in the New Testament. 33:46 We have noticed two of them, we read from 1 Corinthians 15. 33:50 We also read from the passage in Psalm 16. 33:55 But now let's notice the other references 33:57 to Hades in the New Testament. 33:59 Go with me to Revelation 6:8 34:01 and you are going to notice that the word Hades 34:03 like in the Old Testament is coupled with death. 34:07 It says there in Revelation 6:8 34:10 speaking about the fourth horse of Revelation. 34:13 Says "So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. 34:18 And the name of him who sat on it was Death, 34:22 and Hades followed him." 34:26 You will notice that the New King James 34:27 simply transliterates the word Hades. 34:30 Could this very well be translated, 34:32 "Him who sat on it was Death, and grave followed with him." 34:38 Of course, what is that that follows after death? 34:40 What comes immediately after death? 34:42 You are what? You are buried in the grave. 34:45 And then of course it says, "And power was given to them 34:49 over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, 34:51 with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth." 34:54 And so once again the word Hades here 34:57 can very well be translated as grave. 35:01 Notice Matthew 16:18, Matthew 16:18. 35:08 This is the famous verse where Jesus is speaking to Peter 35:14 about the keys of the kingdom. 35:16 Notice Matthew 16:18, 35:19 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, 35:24 and on this rock I will build My church." 35:27 Jesus is not saying that Peter is the rock, 35:29 Jesus is saying, you are Peter 35:31 you are a little pebble but upon this rock, 35:34 that is upon myself I will build my church. 35:39 And then it says, "And the gates of Hades" 35:42 do you remember that text from the Old Testament 35:44 that I told you to remember? The gates of Sheol. 35:46 Now we find a text in the New Testament 35:48 that speaks about the gates of Hades. 35:50 "And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." 35:55 Let me ask you why is it that the gates of Hades 35:58 will not prevail against the church? 36:00 If you look at the context it's because Jesus says 36:02 I am going to Jerusalem, I am going to die 36:05 and I am going to resurrect the third day. 36:07 Therefore the church is gonna rebuilt upon a living person, 36:11 one who died and yet is alive. 36:14 So this can very well be translated 36:16 the gates of the grave or the gates of the sepulcher 36:22 will not be able to prevail against it 36:24 because I died and I resurrected. 36:28 Notice Luke 10:15 36:30 another reference to Hades in the New Testament. 36:33 Luke 10:15, Jesus is speaking here 36:39 about the Capernaum and He says, 36:41 "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be" 36:47 what? "Thrust down to Hades". 36:52 The King James Version says, 36:54 "You will be thrust down to Hell". 36:58 But what is Jesus really saying? 37:00 He is saying though you exalted yourself to heaven, 37:02 you would be thrust down to the grave, the place of death. 37:08 The word there is Hades. 37:11 Let me ask you what are the two main 37:13 characteristics of the grave? 37:17 That it has two great characteristics 37:19 number one it is a place of absolute silence 37:24 and secondly it is a place of perfect darkness. 37:28 Let's read a couple of verses on that. 37:30 Go with me to Psalm 115:17, 37:34 Psalm 115:17 it says there, 37:41 "The dead do not praise the Lord, 37:47 nor any who go down into" what? "Into silence." 37:54 Notice Job 17:13, 14, Job 17:13, 14. 38:01 It says there, "If I wait for the grave" that Sheol, 38:06 "as my house, if I make my bed" 38:10 In what? "In darkness. 38:14 If I say to corruption, 'You are my father,' 38:18 and to the worm, 'You are my mother and my sister.'" 38:22 So what happens when you go down to Sheol or the grave? 38:26 You are in absolute what? 38:27 Absolute silence and absolute darkness 38:31 and the Bible says that the worms are there. 38:35 Now what do the worms eat? Do they eat your soul? 38:39 Of course, not. They eat the body. 38:42 They eat the person, right. 38:43 The material substance of the person. 38:47 Now I want you to image just for a few moments 38:50 the analogy that I want to share with you about the grave. 38:57 I want you to imagine, that Satan is the jailer, 39:01 the grave is the jail, the dead are the prisoners. 39:07 By the way this is a biblical analogy. 39:09 The dead are the prisoners. 39:11 The jailer is inside the grave and he has the keys inside. 39:18 And he says to Jesus, 39:20 I dare You to come here in here and grab the keys. 39:25 And what does Jesus do? 39:27 Jesus dies, He goes into the grave, 39:33 metaphorically grabs the keys from the jailer. 39:37 He says, give those keys. 39:39 And unlocks the door from inside and comes out. 39:44 Now you say, is that a biblical analogy? 39:46 It most certainly is. Notice Revelation 1:17,18. 39:51 Revelation 1:17, 18. 39:54 No mater how silent and dark the grave is, 39:57 Jesus the Bible tells us, has the keys 40:01 and the word Hades is used in these two verses 40:04 that we are going to read now. 40:06 Revelation 1:17, 18, 40:09 "And when I saw Him, I fell at dead at his feet. 40:13 But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, 40:17 "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. 40:21 I am He" who what? 40:24 "Who lives, and was dead, and behold, 40:29 I am alive forevermore. Amen." 40:33 And now notice "And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." 40:40 What is Jesus saying? 40:42 He is saying. I have the keys of where? 40:44 I have the keys of grave and of the death. 40:48 Listen folks, when Jesus Christ went into the grave 40:51 the devil dared Him. 40:52 He said, I dare You to die in coming to the grave. 40:55 Jesus says, okay, I'll accept your dare. 40:57 So Jesus dies, He goes into the grave, 41:00 He grabs the keys, 41:02 He opens the door from the inside 41:04 and He comes out and He says 41:06 I am the resurrection and the life 41:08 because I live, you will live also. 41:12 Jesus doesn't have the keys to hell, 41:14 as if He opens and closes hell 41:17 and keeps people burning and then lets them out 41:19 when they are burning. 41:20 As if the Bible talks some idea of purgatory? 41:24 Absolutely not. 41:25 When Revelation 1:17, 18 says that Jesus 41:28 Jesus has the keys of Hades, 41:30 it means that He has the keys to what? 41:33 He has the keys to the grave. 41:36 Notice Revelation 1:5, Revelation 1:5. 41:43 We have a very interesting expression here about Jesus. 41:46 Revelation 1:5 it says, 41:49 "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness," 41:53 the what? 41:55 "The firstborn from the dead, 41:58 and the ruler over the kings of the earth." 42:01 Now it says, Jesus is the first born from the dead. 42:04 Was Jesus is the first person to resurrect from the dead? 42:08 No, we had three people in the Old Testament 42:10 that resurrected from the dead. 42:12 We have of course Mosses, 42:14 we have also the widow's son in the days of Elijah 42:18 and we have that strange episode 42:20 where an individual was thrown into a pit 42:22 and he touched the bones of Elijah and he resurrected. 42:26 In the New Testament before Jesus died 42:28 and resurrected there were also three resurrections. 42:31 The son of widow of Nain resurrected, 42:35 Jarius daughter and Lazarus were resurrected by Jesus. 42:40 So first born from the dead doesn't mean 42:42 that Jesus is the first to resurrect. 42:44 What this expression means is that 42:47 the death and resurrection of Jesus determines 42:51 the possibility of us resurrecting if we should die. 42:56 In other words, our hope is centered in Him 42:58 because Jesus went into the grave, 43:00 He grabs the keys and now He can open the grave 43:03 for His children who died in Christ. 43:07 The Bible tells us that the hope of God's people 43:09 is not found in some immortal soul that fly's off 43:13 to heaven at the moment of death. 43:15 The Bible tells us that the hope of the Christian is found 43:18 in the resurrection of the dead 43:20 not the immortality of the soul. 43:23 Go with me to 1 Corinthians 15:16-22, 43:28 1 Corinthians 15:16-22. 43:32 Notice that the resurrection is the key to eternal life. 43:37 If when we died our soul flew off to heaven 43:40 and our soul were immortal what importance 43:43 would there be that Jesus should die 43:45 and resurrect to give us life 43:47 if we already have immortal life 43:49 with in ourselves which we don't. 43:51 It says there in 1 Corinthians 15, 43:54 "For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 43:58 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, 44:01 you are still in your sins! 44:02 Then also those who have fallen asleep 44:05 in Christ have perished." 44:08 How could they have perished 44:10 if supposedly they went to heaven when they died? 44:12 Makes no sense. 44:14 Verse 19, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, 44:18 we are of all men the most pitiable, 44:21 but now Christ is risen from the dead, 44:25 and has become the first fruits" there it is again, 44:28 "of those who have fallen asleep. 44:30 For since by man came death, 44:32 by Man also came the resurrection of the dead, 44:35 for as in Adam all die, 44:37 even so in Christ all shall be made alive." 44:42 In fact you have some what of a paradox in the idea 44:47 that Jesus overcame death by death. 44:51 By the way how do you neutralize 44:53 the venom of a serpent? 44:56 You neutralize it by using anti-venom. 44:58 And what is anti-venom made from? 45:01 It is made from venom. 45:02 In other word venom over comes and conquers venom. 45:07 Jesus by death over came death. 45:10 Notice Hebrews 2:14, 5, 45:14 Hebrews 2:14, 15. 45:20 It says there, "Inasmuch then 45:22 as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, 45:27 He Himself likewise shared in the same," 45:31 and here comes the key portion. 45:32 "That through death He might destroy him 45:36 who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 45:40 and release those who through fear of death 45:43 were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 45:47 Notice this is no reason to feel death anymore 45:49 because this text says us-- 45:51 tell us that Jesus threw death overcame 45:55 he who has the power of death. 45:58 By the way it reminds me of that story of the serpent 46:01 that was raised up in the wilderness. 46:03 You know in the Bible usually the serpent represents 46:06 the power of Satan and sin. 46:10 And yet a serpent is used to illustrate Jesus. 46:13 Jesus says, as the serpent was raised 46:15 in the wilderness so must the son of man be raised up. 46:19 So that as the people looked upon the serpent. 46:22 They lived as people look upon Me, 46:24 Jesus says they shall live. 46:26 Why would a serpent be used to illustrate Jesus 46:29 when the serpent represents 46:31 the power of Satan and the power of sin? 46:33 The simple reason is that 46:34 Jesus the Bible tells us be came sin. 46:38 Jesus came and died so that by becoming sin 46:44 and by dying for sin, He could overcome death 46:47 and He could give us everlasting life. 46:51 Now let's go to Revelation 20:13-15 46:56 where we find the last two references 46:59 to the word Hades in the New Testament. 47:02 Revelation 20:13-15. 47:07 It says here "The sea gave up the dead who were in it" 47:11 those who were in the sea were what? 47:14 Dead, very well. 47:16 "And Death and Hades delivered up the dead 47:21 who were in them." 47:23 Who were the once in Hades? 47:26 The dead, not those who are living and writhing 47:29 in pain in the flames, in misery, in hell. 47:33 It's not what it says. 47:35 It says that "The sea gave up the dead who were in it, 47:37 and Death and Hades delivered up the dead 47:40 who were in them." 47:41 By the way how could you translate the word Hades there? 47:45 The grave, very simply. 47:47 And it says, "And they were judged, 47:50 each one according to his works." 47:53 Verse 14, "Then Death and Hades" 47:57 that is death and the grave were what? 48:00 "Were cast into the lake of fire." 48:03 See it says, sea, Hades does have to deal with fire. 48:07 Yeah, but Hades that's not the place where the fire burns. 48:10 The Bible says that Hades is thrown into the fire that burns. 48:14 Are you with me? 48:16 So, if you say that Hades is hell then you are saying 48:19 that hell was thrown into hell. 48:22 The fact is that Hades is what? 48:24 Hades is the grave. 48:26 So what it says in verse 14, 48:27 "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire." 48:31 This is the what? "The second death." 48:34 That is final death from which there will be no resurrection. 48:37 "And anyone not found" written in the Book of Life 48:40 "was cast into the lake of fire." 48:42 By the way this is the reason why the Bible tells us 48:45 in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that the last enemy 48:50 that will be destroyed is what? 48:53 "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." 48:57 Because Jesus has overcome death. 49:00 Jesus has overcome the grave. 49:02 He went in and came out 49:05 with the keys according to Scripture. 49:07 And that's the reason why after death is destroyed 49:11 in the Lake of Fire, after the grave is destroyed 49:14 in the Lake of Fire then God is gonna make 49:17 a new heaven and new earth. 49:18 Let's read about it in Revelation 21:4, 49:21 Revelation 21:4 it says, 49:24 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, 49:29 there shall be" no more what? 49:31 "No more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. 49:34 There shall be no more pain," 49:36 for the former things have what? 49:38 "For the former things have passed away." 49:43 By the way Jesus illustrated the glorious destiny 49:47 awaiting God's people when He went up 49:49 to the Mount of Transfiguration with three of His disciples. 49:54 You probably know the story Jesus went up there 49:57 and He was transfigured in the sight of the disciples. 50:01 That is, He was glorified like 50:03 He is gonna look at His second coming. 50:07 And the Bible tells us that there on the mount appeared 50:10 two individuals speaking with Jesus. 50:14 The Bible identifies them as Mosses and Elijah. 50:19 Now if you examine scripture carefully 50:21 you are gonna notice by comparing Deuteronomy 34:5, 6 50:26 with the Book of Jude, 50:28 Verse 9 that when Mosses died 50:31 Michael the archangel came to call Mosses out of the tomb. 50:36 In other words, Mosses died resurrected 50:39 and was taken to heaven. 50:43 And of course we all know about Elijah. 50:45 Elijah was translated to heaven in a chariot of fire 50:49 with out experiencing what? 50:51 With experiencing death. 50:53 Now Jesus had something 50:55 very interesting to the disciples. 50:57 He immediately before he was transfigured He says, 51:00 there are some of you here who will not taste death 51:03 until you see the son of man coming in his kingdom. 51:09 And even Albert Schweitzer that great philanthropist 51:12 they worked so many years in Africa, 51:14 well, some are confused he said, 51:15 you know, Jesus believed that He was going to establish 51:17 the kingdom and He told his disciples 51:20 that they were going to see His kingdom 51:21 before they died. 51:22 But Jesus was simply wrong. 51:25 He was deluded fanatic, is what he says. 51:28 Because he believed that He was gonna bring the kingdom 51:30 but He actually never brought the kingdom 51:33 His hopes never materialized. 51:36 There is another way of looking at that. 51:38 You see immediately after Jesus said 51:41 that some of those who are here will not die 51:44 speaking to all of the disciples, 51:46 some of those, were the three 51:47 by the way that went up to the mount, 51:48 some of those who are here will not die 51:52 until you have seen the son of man coming in his kingdom. 51:55 Those three went up to the top of the mountain 51:58 which where Peter, James and John 52:00 and they saw Jesus transfigured 52:02 as He would look at His second coming. 52:05 And by the way on that Mount was represented 52:08 in miniature Christ total kingdom. 52:12 First of all you have Jesus in the centre 52:14 the one who went into the tomb, 52:17 grabbed the keys from the devil and came out and said 52:20 because I live you will live also. 52:22 But also there was Mosses representing those 52:27 who die in Christ and will be resurrected. 52:30 And you had also Elijah who was translated to heaven 52:34 from among the living. 52:36 The Apostle Paul described this 52:38 in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 where he said, 52:40 "That the Lord Himself will descend 52:42 from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel 52:45 and with the trumpet of God, 52:47 and the dead in Christ will rise first." 52:49 And then it speaks about the dead and the living 52:51 being caught up together 52:53 in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air 52:56 and thus we shall ever be with the Lord. 53:00 In other words on the Mount of Transfiguration 53:03 you have a mini kingdom. 53:06 You have a representation of what it's gonna be like 53:09 when Jesus comes in power and glory to rescue 53:13 His living saints and to rescue those 53:15 who have died in Jesus Christ. 53:18 So we have studied two very important words 53:21 that we find in the Old and New Testament. 53:24 We found the word Sheol in the Old Testament 53:27 and we analyzed the word Hades in the New Testament. 53:31 You tell me in the light of what we have studied 53:33 should the word Sheol be translated grave? 53:37 Absolutely. 53:39 Should the word Hades be translated grave as well 53:43 with the exception of the story 53:44 of the Rich Man and Lazarus where Jesus is using 53:47 their believes according to what we studies 53:50 to transmit a great truth. 53:52 In the other 10 references should the word 53:55 Hades be translated, grave? 53:57 Absolutely. 53:59 So what I am saying is that we are not to fear the grave. 54:06 We are not to fear a moment of silence. 54:09 We are not to fear a place of absolute pitch darkness 54:14 because Jesus has taken the sting out of deaths. 54:20 The Bible uses sleep as a symbol of death. 54:23 How many of you are afraid of going to sleep tonight? 54:27 Oh, it's terrifying. 54:29 I have to go to sleep tonight, of course not. 54:33 Well, death shouldn't scare you any more than sleep. 54:35 It's just that you sleep a little bit longer that's all. 54:39 But as there is awakening from sleep, 54:41 there will be an awakening from death. 54:44 The Apostle Paul says that death now is like 54:48 a wasp with out a stinger. 54:50 Let me ask you how much damage can a wasp do 54:54 with out a stinger? 54:55 He can do you absolutely no damage whatsoever. 54:58 The Bible says that death is like a shadow. 55:01 "Yea, though I walk through 55:03 the valley of the shadow of death, 55:05 I shall fear no evil." 55:08 The question is, how afraid are you of a shadow? 55:11 A shadow can do you a lot of damage, right. 55:14 If somebody moves his arm and the shadow crosses you, 55:17 uh that's going to hurt you bad. 55:19 Of course not. 55:21 You see death is a conquered form 55:24 because Jesus has concord the devil, 55:26 the grateful who is the prince of death 55:30 according to Scripture. 55:32 Now, I'd like to end by reading one verse Romans 8:11. 55:37 And here is the critical point, 55:40 the most important point of everything 55:42 that we have taken a look at in the last hour. 55:45 Romans 8:11, "But if the Spirit of him 55:52 who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 55:58 he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life 56:03 to your mortal bodies through His spirit 56:07 who dwells in you." 56:09 In other words if we have the spirit of Jesus 56:12 in our lives that same spirit who resurrected 56:16 Jesus will resurrect us if we should die. 56:21 That is the glorious hope folks of Christians. 56:26 The hope of Christians is not that, 56:28 you know when you die you go to heaven 56:31 to be happy with the Lord. 56:33 You know, if that was the hope 56:35 then when you have a funeral people shouldn't be crying, 56:38 they should be shouting Hallelujah, 56:40 praise the Lord. 56:41 They should be having a party 56:43 because all my relatives is enjoying that banquet 56:46 with Jesus in heaven. 56:49 But you see people, no that that's not the case 56:52 and so they have this long sad face 56:55 and they are crying. 56:56 You know, if our relative went to heaven 56:58 we should be overjoyed and happy at it. 57:01 But the fact is that the hope of the Christian 57:03 is not found in the immortality of the soul. 57:06 The hope of the Christian is found 57:09 in the resurrection of the dead. 57:11 And if Jesus is our Savior and our Lord folks, 57:15 we can be absolutely certain that even 57:17 if we should die this night, that when Jesus comes 57:20 on the clouds of heaven He will call and we will answer. 57:24 I hope that this is our glorious hope today. |
Revised 2014-12-17