Some of my brothers in Christ, who believe in "Abraham's bosom," and that no one will be in Heaven or Hell unto after the judgment, use this and other scriptures to prove the soul or spirit, the only part of a person they think will ever be in Heaven, goes to Heaven at death.
In there own words: "And I wondered why my dear brother did not see the verse just preceding it, which says, 'And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Where was Jesus? Stephen saw him alive at the right hand of God. Where could Jesus receive his spirit? He could receive his spirit only where he was.
Where does the spirit go? Eccl. 12:7, 'Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who give it.' That immortal principle of the human family that never dies. So they killed the body of Stephen, but Stephen prayed for the Lord to receive his spirit where he was" L S White, Russell-White Debate, Page 51, 1912, F. L.
Rowe Publisher.
When he answered his own question of where is Stephen now before the resurrection, he said Stephen is now in Heaven, therefore he is saying Stephen is not now in "Abraham's bosom" unto the resurrection. Sometimes Stephen is said to be in ―Abraham‘s bosom‖ and sometimes the same preachers say Stephen is now in Heaven. I think where they put Stephen depends on what they are trying to prove at that time. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says the bodies of all returned to the earth and the spirit [ruach] of all returned to God. Can my brothers not see that if the only part of a person he believe is immortal and is the only part of a person he believe will be saved or lost, if this is the part that goes back to God who gives it, He has all, both the saved and the unsaved, going back to God in Heaven at the time of death? What happened to his "Hell?" he is saying no one goes to Hell at death and no one goes to Abraham’s bosom at death for all, that both the saved and the lost return to God. What happened to "Abraham's bosom," the second coming of 102
Christ, the resurrection, the judgment, and the second death? If no one goes to Heaven at death, which is what those who believe in "Abraham's bosom" believe, how is it that this immortal part of a person, which will not go to Heaven unto after the judgment will go back to God at death?
"Do not all go to one place?" [Ecclesiastes 6:6]. The whole chapter of Ecclesiastes 12 is speaking to all mankind, not just to the saved. All are admonished to remember God in their youth before the evil days of old age, then all shall return to dust and the spirit of all shall return to God. No reference is made to their being good or evil at the time of their death. If the spirit of all goes back to God at death is an immortal soul, then the immortal soul of no one will not go to Hell. There is nothing in the spirit returning to God that makes those who are saved any different from those who are not saved. The spirit of all returns to God; yet, those who use this to prove a person has an immortal soul say, "No, Solomon was wrong. The spirit of the lost does not return to God at death, some says it goes to Hell at death and others says it goes the bad side of hades at death."
Where do they send the “soul” at death?
1. Does the spirit (or soul) of the lost go to Hell at death?
2. Or does the spirit (or soul) of the lost go to the bad side of hades (Abraham‘s bosom)?
3. Or does the spirit (or soul) of all, the lost and the saved, return to God?
Has the zeal to prove Plato's immortal soul, which needs no resurrection, blinded him so he does not see that he is going both ways at the same time? He believes that after the soul is freed from the body by death [as Plato put it, freed from its earthly prison] that it is just as alive as it will ever be, and when a person dies, he believes that person has everything that is ever going to be dead, already dead; and everything that will be alive after the resurrection is already alive and immortal from birth, the soul, the only part of a person that he believes will ever be immortal he believes is just as alive and just as immortal before death as it will be after death and after the resurrection.
The Hebrew word translated ―spirit‖ in Ecclesiastes 12:7 is from Ruach, not from nehphesh, which is the word that is translated ―soul.‖ Ruach is translated breath, wind, spirit, etc., but never translated ―soul.‖ It is the breath of life [Genesis 2:7] that came from God and made man “a living being” and that returns to God. In Ecclesiastes 11:4 it is, “He who watches the wind
[ruach].” If Ecclesiastes 12:7 did prove that a person has an immortal soul that returns to God in Heaven, then it proves that the same immortal souls preexisted with God in Heaven before the birth of the body. By misusing this verse to prove a person now has a part that is immortal and it is this immortal part of a person goes back to God at death then it would prove more than they want to prove. If the spirit that returns to God is an inward part of a person that is immortal, and it came from God, this inward immortal part of a person had to preexist in Heaven with God before the person was born. Most do not want preexistence before birth of ALL, neither do they want ALL, both the saved and the lost going back to Heaven unto second coming of Christ; but if their view were right, that the spirit is an immortal inter part of a person that came from and them returns to God at death, there would be no way around it. The incorrect use of this passage to prove a person is born with an immortal soul undeniably implies the preexistence of that soul and that at death all souls, the saved and the unsaved, also the souls of animals, returns to God who is in Heaven.
It would prove:
1. Before birth: The preexistence of ALL in Heaven. In the part of eternity before birth ALL would have been safe in Heaven.
2. At birth: ALL were put out of Heaven and sent down to earth.
3. From death unto the resurrection the body: At their death ALL will go back to Heaven with God unto the judgment. Some of the lost will be in Heaven for thousands of years before the judgment.
4. At second coming: ALL sent back to earth for judgment.
5. After judgment: ALL go to Heaven or Hell, the ―many‖ in Hell. According to their teaching many who preexisted in Heaven before their birth (most of mankind) will go to Hell after the judgment. In the part of eternity that will be after the judgment, they will end up in Hell with God forever tormenting them. If this view 103
were true, why did God not leave them in Heaven? Did He want most to be lost where He could torment them forever?
If the spirits that came from God is man‘s immortal soul then:
Birth is changed to be only a moving day from Heaven to earth for a soul that preexisted in Heaven before birth.
Death is changed to be only a moving day from earth to Heaven or Hell for a soul that preexisted in Heaven but had moved to earth.
From the resurrection onward: For many Protestants nothing happens; the saved are resurrected only to return to Heaven where they were before the resurrection and the lost are resurrected only to return to Hell where they were before the resurrection. Both the saved, and the unsaved would have to be judged at death to know whether they would go to Heaven or Hell. They say they believe in the resurrection and the judgment day, but by their teaching they deny both the Day of Judgment and the Resurrection by making both impossible.
Both the saved and the lost preexisted in Heaven but most of them will never return to Heaven after the judgment.
It is the "spirit," not "an immortal soul" that returns to God. What is the spirit? "Then the Lord God formed a man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man [the body of dust] became a living being [a soul-nehphesh." - Genesis 2:7]. A body made of dust + the spirit, the breath of life from God [Genesis 2:7] = a soul, a living creature whether it is a person or an animal. The spirit (breath of life) all life comes from God whether a person or animal and returns to God. When the life returns to God, the body returns to dust and we will have no work, device, knowledge, or wisdom [Ecclesiastes 9:10] unto the resurrection when life comes from God. All life is from God.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 is the reverse of the process in Genesis 2:7.
Body from the ground + breath of life from God = a soul, a living being [Genesis 2:7].
Dust returns to the ground - spirit returns to God = a dead being (soul) [Ecclesiastes 12:7].
Body minus the spirit = a dead soul (a dead being, a person or animal) [James 2:26].
Today's theology tells us two conflicting things
1. It says that most souls go to Hell at death and that some souls return to God at death
2. And at the same time it uses Ecclesiastes 12:7 to say all souls returns to God at death The way Ecclesiastes 12:7 is misused to prove a person has an immortal part that cannot die makes this passage prove:
1. Before birth: Today's theology makes the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be. The view of many implies the spirit that came from God was an immortal, conscious, independent and an intelligent being before it came from God to man, before birth.
2. From birth to death: They make the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be.
3. From death unto the resurrection: They make the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be.
4. From the resurrection onward: They make the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be. Soul and spirit are used as if they are the same thing.
According to today's theology the only thing that can change for the soul is its location. Birth, death, and the resurrection are only three moving days for it. There could not be a real death for an immortal soul or a real resurrection for a soul that was not dead.
Proves Universalism, but not the same Universalism taught by the Universalist. If this "spirit"
that returns to God is an immortal soul, they prove all, both good and bad will go to Heaven at death without the "attitude adjustments" taught by the Universalism; but it may not last forever for, according to their doctrine, ALL will be taken out of Heaven and return to earth at the judgment; then if one is a Christian or not a Christian, his spirit that came from God at birth goes back to Heaven to God at death, but all will leave Heaven for judgment and only some will go 104
back. If the ―spirit‖ that came from God were an immortal part (soul) of a person them most of the all that was with God in Heaven before their birth will end up in Hell, even if they do not believe what their incorrect use of this passage would prove, it would still prove it.
Job said, "If He should gather to Himself His spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust" [Job 34:14-15]. The breath of life came from God and returns to God, it was not a conscious immortal being before it came from God and is not a conscious immortal being after it returns to God. The spirit that returns to God at death is not an immortal soul. The spirit that returns to God at death is not the spiritual body that the dead in Christ will put on at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:44]. In Genesis 2:7 Adam was made from the earth, then God breathed into Adam the breath of life and Adam, not part of Adam became a living being (soul), in Ecclesiastes 12:7 when Adam returned to the earth the spirit, breath of life, returned to God.
Most Eastern religions, most New Age believers, and many Christians believe in the preexistence of the soul, literally billions. Many Christians believe God creates a new soul for each at birth, some at the time of conception, some at the time of the first breath, which they believe to be only a part of a person that is immortal, and it is only this immaterial something in a person that will be in Heaven or Hell. However, if Ecclesiastes 12:7 is used to prove a person has an immortal soul that will live forever, there is no way to get around preexistence of the soul that came from Heaven at birth, or that all (the saved, the lost, and all beasts) will go back to Heaven at death.
It is said that the dead do not know anything was only, "The way the world perceives the dead" at the time Solomon wrote this, but that is not true. Most of the world at that time, other than the Jews, believed in reincarnation and the dead had some kind of life and thoughts in the underworld until they were reincarnated. Egypt where the Jews had come from believed the dead lived and had always lived and would always live, therefore, they would have had thoughts and known something. Many Pagans believed the soul has always existed and must always exist, that the soul is self-existence; it has always been reincarnated and always will be. If a person has an immortal soul that came from God and will go back to God; it lived before the person was born and will live when the person is dead. The inescapable conclusion would be that the pagans were right, and all that I am; all that I think and do is just a temporary passing thing just as my body is.
It is only the soul that existed before me and was put in a prison in my body for a short time and it (not me) will always exist. This is no surprise for it is just what the pagans teach and is the source from which the church fathers brought this teaching into the church.
Old age and death are the subject in Ecclesiastes 12:7. All are born and all die and when "it"
the spirit [Ruach-breath of life-See Job 27:3; 33:4] of both men and animals returns to God.
Solomon says it is a vanity, not a blessed event of going home to God [Ecclesiastes 12:7-8].
Those who use the spirit returning to God to prove a person has an immortal soul that returns to God at death overlook verse 8.
Solomon called the "spirit" an "it." Ecclesiastes 12:7 "And the spirit [ruach] returns to God who give it." Psalms 104:29-30 "You take away their breath [ruach-sea creature and animals - see verses 24-25], they die, and return to their dust. You send forth Your spirit [ruach-sea creature and animals]; they are created." Psalms 146:4 " His breath [ruach-spirit] goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." If a persons thoughts perishes when the body perishes, if there were an immortal soul, would that not make it have no thoughts? If the thinking part of a person is the earthly person and this thinking part perishes at death, then if the soul lived after the death of the person, it would be a thoughtless something like plants. If there were an inner something in a person that continues to think after the death of the person than his thoughts do not perish. It is not possible to reconcile today's immortal soul theology or immortal spirit theology with God's word.
Summary: If this spirit that returns to God were an immortal soul, it would undeniable be in conflict with the teaching of today's theology that lost souls go to hell immediately at 105
death and not to Heaven. Why is this one of the most used passages to teach a person has an immortal soul? Maybe because there is no passage that really teaches it, and this is the best that can be found.
[8] THE SPIRIT OF MAN AND THE SPIRIT OF BEAST
Ecclesiastes 3:21
If this SPIRIT [ruach] were an immortal soul, then it is like Ecclesiastes 12:7 above in that it would prove ALL are saved at death. See notes above.
"They all have the same breath [ruach] and there is no advantage for man over beast"
" Who knows that the spirit [ruach] of man" goes up when the body return to the dust?
" Who knows that the spirit [ruach] of beast" goes down when the body return to the dust?
There is an old saying, "That which proves to much proves nothing." The spirit of a person going up after his death is used to prove a person has a soul that does not die when his body dies; therefore, this soul is immortal. If it does, then the beast having a spirit that goes down after its death would prove that the beast has a soul just as immortal as a person's soul and that it does not die when it body of the beast dies, therefore, its soul is immortal. The "spirit [ruach] of a beast"
and the "spirit [ruach] of a man" are in the same sentence and both times “spirit” is from the same Hebrew word, therefore, there is no way to make one "spirit" be an immortal something that cannot die and the other "spirit" be only the life of the body that is not immortal. If a beast has a soul or spirit that separates from its body and goes anywhere after its death, then it is just as alive after its death as the soul of a person would be after it separated from its body. If the spirit going up proves it is immortal, then the spirit going down would prove that it is immortal.
This is spoken of all men, not just the good ones. If it is an immortal spirit going to Heaven, then both the good and the bad go to Heaven at death, and this was before the death of Christ. If all were going to Heaven ["up" which they say is back to God in Heaven] at death before and without the death of Christ, before anyone had ascended to Heaven, why did Christ die? Has not the death of Christ been made useless?
This is a question that Solomon asked but did not give an answer. Yet, many give their own answer and say, ―Yes I know where the spirit of man goes, it goes to up all the way to Heaven,‖ and then use their uninspired answer to prove that Solomon said a person has an immortal soul that goes up to God in Heaven or down to Hell at death. That the lost are transported directly down to Hell at death much be added, for if not, they have made this passage teach all will be saved at death, and that before and without the death of Christ.
But was Solomon asking whether anyone knows that the dead go to Heaven? In the time of Solomon the Pagans that were all around Israel believed in reincarnation. The doctrine of an immortal soul as taught today is not in the Old Testament and did not come about unto the Dark Age. His question might have been to the Pagans asking them how do they know about reincarnation, how do they know a spirit, or soul of a person or beast goes anywhere after death and is reincarnated. According to Pagan teaching, all, both persons and beasts do have an immortal soul and they believe this soul goes somewhere after death. He asked by what authority do you know this; how did they know some reincarnated down to a lower life and some up to a higher life? Their only answer would be none. They had no revelation, no way to know about reincarnation but human reasoning.
Unconditional immortality must change what Solomon said. He said, "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath [ruach] and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place, All come from the dust and all return to the dust. [After clearly saying man and beast go to the same place, he is made to say in the next sentence that they do not go to the same place].
Who knows that the breath [ruach] of man ascends upward and the breath [ruach] of beast descends downward to the earth?" His question must be changed into a statement of fact that is a direct contradiction of what he had just said for it to teach today's theology. Solomon says the 106
living knows something, but the dead do not know anything. [Ecclesiastes 9:5]. He did not say,
"Dead bodies do not know anything." There is no way anyone can say the dead know anything unless they say Solomon did not tell the truth for if the dead go immediately to Heaven or Hell at death they do know something. How could they be in torment in Hell if those in Hell do not know anything?
[9] LIFE DEPARTING AND RETURNING 1 Kings 17:2
"Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord, and said, 'O
Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's life [nehphesh] return to him.'" [1 Kings 17:21 New American Standard Version]. The same Hebrew word is used in Genesis 1:30. "And to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life [nehphesh]." Nehphesh is translated "life" or
"lives" 108 times in the King James Version. A person having an immortal part that is not subject to death is not in this passage. Since the child later died again, he was still mortal after this resurrection, just as mortal as before.
Passages that speak of life departing and returning (to the body)
1 Kings 17:21
"And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let the child's soul [life-nehphesh] come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul [life-nehphesh] of the child came into him again, and he revived" King James Version.
"Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord, and said, 'O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's life [nehphesh] return to him,' And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life
[nehphesh] of the child returned to him and he revived" New American Standard Bible.
"Then he stretched himself out on the body three times and cried to the Lord, 'O Lord my God, let this boy's
life [nehphesh] return to him!' The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life [nehphesh] returned to him and he lived" New International Version.
"He called out to the Lord: 'O Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?' Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and called out to the Lord: 'O Lord, my God, let the life breath [nehphesh] return to the body of this child.' The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the
life breath [nehphesh] returned to the child's body and he revived" The New American Bible.
Genesis 35:18
"And it came to pass as her soul [life-nehphesh] was in departing (for she died)" King James Version.
"As she breathed her last [nehphesh] -for she was dying" New International Version.
"Then with her last breath [nehphesh], as she was dying" Revised English Bible.
"As she lay dying [nehphesh], she named the boy" New Century Version.
"Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath [nehphesh] she named him Bensni" New Living Bible.
"With her last breath [nehphesh]...for she was at the point of death" The New American Bible.
An immortal undying part of a person can be read into this only by applying today's meaning of the English word "soul" to the Hebrew word "nehphesh" See Acts 20:9-10. It was " life" that departed, not some inter immortal part of a person that cannot die departing for Heaven or Hell before and without the Judgment. Psalm 104:29-30 "You take away their spirit [ruach-sea creature and animals-see verses 24-25], they expire, and return to their dust. You send forth Your
spirit [ruach-sea creature and animals] they are created." When the life [ruach] of beasts and creeping things depart [Genesis 9:5], no one believes it is an immortal soul departing.
[10] GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE Genesis 25:8-9
See chapter three.
[11] DAVID'S SON 2 Samuel 12:23
"I shall go to him, but he will not return to me" 2 Samuel 12:23. How and where did David think he would go to his son? See [10] above. Many years after David's death, Peter said David has not gone to Heaven [Acts 2:29].
[12] SAMUEL OR A DEMON 1 Samuel 28:7-28
From the days of the "church fathers" it has been debated whether this was Samuel or a demon. Those who believe in an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" say this was Samuel to prove all are living after death. If it were Samuel, then it proves he was in the earth or 107
the ground [in sheol-the grave]. Whether it was Samuel or a demon, he "came up out of the earth." Saul said, "Bring UP Samuel," not "Bring down Samuel from Heaven." "And the woman said to Saul, I see a divine being coming up out of the earth," not coming down from Heaven [1
Samuel 28:13]. This being did not come from Heaven or Hell. An immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" being in the earth is not what is believe by many today and she would not have been able to see an invisible spirit. If it were Samuel, instead of proving he was