The purpose of this letter is to show by the words written in the Holy Bible that the soul of the chosen people of God are on a journey from the beginning of time until the end of days. We easily accept that men on this journey lived for hundreds of years, Noah died when he was 950 years old. We believe that Enoch by faith was translated to a unknown place without seeing death. God did the same for Elijah. We believe that prophets and apostles of God brought people back to life after their souls had left them. We believe Jesus, (the very person who teaches us that when a person dies, is not dead but sleepeth), died on a cross, laid in a tomb, rose from the dead and lives forever more. There are numerous unexplainable miracles performed like the Red sea parting and over a millions people crossing on dry ground. Why then is it so hard to believe that God, who loved His family so much, devised a plan for them to be taught righteousness throughout the ages? It’s called the grace plan and it started at the fall of Adam. He would first provide a schoolmaster to teach them righteousness and later in time He would bring them to the teachings of faith in His son Jesus Christ. Whether the ages of the Law or the ages of faith, God has been showing mercy and grace in the hope of teaching His children the way of righteousness. We come onto this earth to learn of his ways, are tested and tried. We die and are sent to a judgment where we will receive the things done in the body on the earth, whether it be good or bad. The grave is merely the place to go for your next step on this journey, a place of learning, punishments and rewards. It’s here you will receive your judgments, whether to rest in the grave or rise again.
THE BEGINNING
All souls were either already existing with God (let us make man in our image) or were created in the beginning, on the sixth day when God said let’s create man in “our image” on the sixth day, Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. Genesis 1:31 “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them”. *The word host צָבָא (tsava’), is used more than 400 times in the Old Testament, refers to both human and angelic armies, as well as heavenly bodies and God’s creative and sovereign power over them. It is also used in connection with Yahweh as the “Lord of Hosts,” which highlights His power over mighty angel warriors. Since God said He created “all of them” on the sixth day, I’m going to believe Him because God cannot lie, Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”. God is no longer creating anything. Genesis 2:2 “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made”.
- The Lexham Bible dictionary
Gods time is different from man’s time. 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”. Using Peter’s numbers we could say the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were created in 6000 years. Whether is was 6 days or 6000 years, God finished His work at the end of the sixth day. From Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:4, it’s not possible for man’s mind to understand how much time passed.
THE SOUL
“Every living thing” has a soul, Job 12:10 “In whose hand (speaking of God Almighty) is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind”. Yes, even animals have a soul, Numbers 31:28 “And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves (cattle), and of the asses, and of the sheep”.
When God created man, male and female, on the sixth day, He put a soul into them just like “every living thing” on the earth at that time. These men and woman were living, breathing creatures with souls. God communicated with them and gave them instructions, Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day”.
Genesis 2:4 “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens”. We know, God didn’t mean for “in the day” to be taken as one of the six days of creation. He was talking about a period of time or age, on the earth, when these men and women lived for generations. At some point in time, God desired a family for Himself, Deuteronomy 14:2, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth”. God’s chosen people started with Adam, who He formed from the dust of the ground just like the male and female formed on the sixth day. But there was a difference between the man Adam and the male beast of the field. God personally breathed the breath of life into the first man Adam. Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man (Adam) became a living soul”. When God formed Adam and put a living soul inside his body, He also formed something He had never put into any other living thing. God formed a spirit within Adam, Zechariah 12:1 “(God) which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him”. Adam was formed with a body, soul and spirit. Man was given a free will, the ability to make choices for himself, Isaiah 7:15 “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good”.He gave him a conscience, Hebrews 13:18 “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly”. The living soul became a lively spirit, in one body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
THE ELECT
God needed a help meet for Adam. This entity couldn’t be a female from the living souls He had created on the sixth day, they had no spirit formed in them like Adam. So God took a part of “the body, soul and spirit” of Adam and made Eve, Genesis 2:21 “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”. Genesis 3:20 “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living”. Adam and Eve are the beginning of the chosen family of God, the “peculiar people”, Gods Elect. Every soul that has entered into life from the seed of Adam has been given its own “body, soul and spirit” and Eve is the mother of that body, soul and spirit. Gods desire was for His Elect to live forever in Eden. A place where there would be no death, no sorrow, no pain, no sin. Some might call that place heaven.
God put Adam into Eden and gave him one commandment to obey, Genesis 2:16 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. God appointed man to die when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in Eden and after this, not thousands of years after this, but after they die, their body, soul and spirit would go to a judgment. Romans 5:18 “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation”. This judgment is unto condemnation, not damnation. This condemnation has been going on since the fall of man in Eden. John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil (all the way back to Eden). 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God”. This judgment is not the judgment at the second coming of Jesus on the “day of judgment”. In the judgment when Christ returns, we will only receive one thing, eternal life or eternal damnation. But all souls that die now, or as Jesus said, go to sleep, will go before the judgment seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”. Notice in this judgment the soul will receive “things,” more than one, done in the body. If we have done good, if we have overcome the world, we will rest in the earth, waiting for that glorious day when “the dead in Christ shall rise first”. Daniel 12:13 “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days”. If you are living on this earth, you are going through the fire and being tried. Zechariah 13:9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God”.
Hopefully in this present life you will reach Gods perfection. Our spirit, soul and body will remain together, in the grave, preserved, if found blameless, at the judgment after death. Proverbs 2:21 “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it”. These blameless souls will be protected from the “hour of temptation” which will take place before Christ returns for the eternal judgemnt at the last day, Revelation 3:10 “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”.
AFTER DEATH
So what happens when a soul departs this life? We know the body returns to dust, Genesis 3:19 …”for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”, but what about the spirits in the body at the time of death? There can be many, sorrowful spirits, evil spirits, spirits of judgment, angry spirits, spirits of devils, to mention a few, and of course, your spirit, the one God formed for your soul, Zechariah 12:1 “and formeth the spirit of man”. There’s one more spirit, by the grace and mercy of God, that is in you, 1 John 4:13 … “because he hath given us of his Spirit”. John 14:17 “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you”. What happens to Gods spirit when you die? Ecclesiastes 8:8 “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death”. Because it is “his spirit” it must return to God. That spirit, the Spirit of God “shall return unto God who gave it”, Ecclesiastes 12:7 “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it”. Our spirit, the one God formed within us, will remain with our soul and go before “the judgment seat of Christ”. Micah 7:9 “I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness”. Habakkuk 1:12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Where your soul goes after the judgment seat of Christ is determined by the life you just lived.
SOJOURNING
There are different places a soul and its spirit may go after this judgment. The desired place is to rest in the grave until Jesus returns. Proverbs 2:21 “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it”. Another place is called “paradise”. Jesus told the thief He would take him to a place “today”, called “paradise”, Luke 23:43 “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, “Today” shalt thou be with me in paradise”. We know this paradise is not where the Father is in heaven because after Jesus rose on the third day, He said to Mary, John 20:17 “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father”. Jesus spoke to Mary after He died and was resurrected. Jesus told the thief He would take him to paradise on the day he died. Jesus had not been to heaven yet, but He had shown the thief paradise, the day He died. Paradise and heaven are two different places. I’m not saying there is no paradise in heaven but it’s not the paradise that Jesus showed the thief on the cross.
Abraham was buried in a field, Genesis 25:10 “The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. Is Abrahams grave where the begger was when the rich man saw him in Abraham’s bosom or was Abraham in the same paradise Jesus took the thief? Is paradise a place where overcomers gather together waiting for the end of days? I do not know, Job 37:5 “God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend”. Luke 16:22 “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: (where was Abraham?), the rich man also died, and was buried; (died, buried, judged, found wanting, and sent to prison), 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, (a place of punishment) and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented (punished) in this flame. 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime (the life lived that put him in hell) receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented (punished), 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence (TO GET TO WHERE ABRAHAM IS, YOU HAVE TO OVERCOME THE WORLD BY FAITH). Romans 4:16 “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all”.
There is another place where a soul may go called the “pit”, Psalms 143:7 “Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Job 17:16 “They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust”. Hell is in the pit, Isaiah 14:15 “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit”. Ezekiel 26:20 “When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited”. Though the pit is not a place to be desired, it is a place where man can receive the everlasting mercy of God, Job 33:30 “To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living”. Isaiah 38:17 “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back”, THANK GOD FOR EVERMORE! There is a prison in the pit were Jesus preached to souls who died in the flood, 1 Peter 3:19 “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison”. A point to be made here, if the souls who died in the flood (all mankind, save 8), were to be preached to by Jesus, then they must be given another time to be tried in the world. Daniel 12:10 “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried”. Zechariah 13:9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God”. 1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!
CAN A MAN RETURN TO LIFE AGAIN?
The Bible teaches Jesus returned to life after three days in a borrowed tomb and lives forevermore. The Bible teaches our hope is in the 1st resurrection when Christ and many predestined saints came out of the graves and are alive and with Jesus today. 1 Samuel 2:6 “The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up”. Psalms 31:15 “My times (more than one) are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me”. In the book of John, Jesus was asked by His disciples, John 9:2, “Master, who did sin” this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” These disciples had been taught a person (soul) could enter into life blind because of something done in another time. Jesus answered “neither”. He didn’t act like it was a strange question to ask if this man was born blind because he had sinned in a previous time. Surely Jesus would have corrected them if it were foolishness. Absolutely man can return to life again.
Moses prophesied to the fathers of Gods elect that God would send them a prophet they would harken too, Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken”. God new at that time that His people would fail Him time and time again. How sad it must have been for God to know how evil his children would become. Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not”! The promise Moses made was fulfilled when Peter told the very Israelites who delivered up Christ to be crucified the words that Moses spoke some 1400 years prior to Peter speaking to the Israelites in his day, Acts 3:22 “For Moses truly said unto the fathers (the fathers of Moses’ day), A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you (the fathers of Moses’ day) of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye (the fathers of Moses’ day) hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you” (the fathers of Moses’ day). Jesus had been teaching to the very souls of Moses’ time, hoping they would hear Him. The fulfillment of the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy was fulfilled while these people were still living, not when Jesus preached to the spirits in prison in the pit, but at that very present time. He also warned if they did not hear Him there would be grave consequences, Acts 3:23 “And it shall come to pass, that every soul (notice he said every soul), which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people”. Every soul ever created will have the opportunity to hear the plan of salvation, Isaiah 40:21″Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? Understood what? Ephesians 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”.
THE SOUL AND SPIRIT OF ELIAS (ELIJAH)
Keep in mind what James said about Elijah, James 5:17, “Elijah was a man, subject to like passions as we are”, a great prophet but just a man, like you and me. Elijah did not experience death, 2 Kings 2:11, but “went up by a whirlwind into heaven”, but God had another job for Elijah some 500 years after his ascension. Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return to be on this earth again, Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”, not his spirit, but the prophet Elias (Elijah). Jesus said, Mark 9:13 “But I say unto you, That Elijah is indeed come, and they have done unto him (him, not his spirit) whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him”. It seems as there was some confusion at that time, just as there is at this time, as to whether it was the spirit of Elijah in John the Baptist, or that Elijah was John the Baptist. Let’s let the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, settle it once and for all, Matthew 11:14 “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias (Elijah), which was for to come”, 11:15 “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”. Jesus plainly said that John the Baptist was Elijah. He also confirmed Elijah had been here before and was now here again when He said, “which was for to come”.
Why did Gabriel tell Zechariah that his son John would come in the spirit of Elijah? The man Zechariah was not ready to accept that his son would be Elijah. As it was, Zachariah doubted what the angel just told him, so the angel put a curse on him for not believing what he just told him. His son (who Malachi and Jesus said was Elijah) would be the man that God chose to open the age of “the great and dreadful day of the Lord”, the time for all souls of man created in the beginning to choose for themselves whom they will serve. A time when all souls will have the opportunity to be born again into the Kingdom of God, Luke 1:17 “And he (Elijah in the fleshly body of John) shall go before him (Jesus) in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord”. PRAISE GOD FOREVER MORE! Jesus new that some would not understand nor receive the fact that Elijah would return as John the Baptist. After all, it had been some 500 years since his ascension. Notice how Jesus phrases this verse in Matthew 11:14 “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias (Elijah), which was for to come. “. “If you will receive it”, implies that Jesus is about to reveal a mystery that not all will accept. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” implies it is time for this knowledge to be brought to light. Daniel “12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Prior to the “day of the Lord”, most prophets were not aware the soul could return to live on the earth more than once. John the Baptist denied he was Elijah, John 1:21 “And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No”. Job said in chapter 14:1, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 14:2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not”. Job 14:12, “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep”. We all know stories in the Bible of people who were raised from sleep (dead), the son of the widow woman and Lazarus to mention a few. Jobs statements are not contradictions in the word, Job just didn’t know a soul could be raised from the dead , Acts 1:7 “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power”. But after the day of the Lord, in the New Testament, the time had come for it to be brought to light. Daniel 12:4 “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased”.
THE FULLNESS OF TIMES
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (how many seasons and times has God allowed to complete His purposes for His children?) Ecclesiastes 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; Ecclesiastes 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; Ecclesiastes 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; Ecclesiastes 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace”. All these times were in Gods plan from the beginning.
Nehemiah 9:28 “But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies”. The “rest” spoken of in this verse is the forgiveness and peace God gave to His chosen people after they continually lied and broke their promises to obey Him. Each of these times was for a specific purpose, Ephesians 1:10 “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him”. We’ve all been here at some point in time under judgement and the Law. Ecclesiastes 3:15 “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past”. These times were known as being under the schoolmaster, Galatians 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster”. You might say we’ve been attending school. Hopefully we have heard the schoolmaster and have graduated with honors. God forbid if we have not heard and believed.
WHAT TIME IS IT NOW
This day, today, is the fullness of times. It is exactly as it was in the days of Noe, Matthew 24:38 “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark”. The door of time is about to shut. When Jesus shed His blood on the cross and was given “all power”, the last time started, 1 John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time”. 1 Peter 1:20 “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”.
These verses should put a great fear in anyone who will accept what was written on the previous pages. This age is growing to a rapid close. Time is running out. It’s time to choose, Joshua 24:15 “choose you this day whom ye will serve”. 1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Feb. 28, 2023