12. DO SOULS GO STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH?
This question is continually controversial among Christian denominations. Some say there has never been a single human being's soul in heaven. Others state human beings' souls go straight to heaven after death.
Let us look at what the bible says. The bible tells us of people who were transported to heaven as corporeal beings. The first person believed to have been taken by God straight to heaven is Enoch. Read Genesis 5:24 He spent his life in fellowship with God. And then he disappeared, because God took him away. (GNB) The second person who spent some time with God and thereafter disappeared was Moses, but sadly no one could tell whether Moses was taken straight to heaven by God or not, for nothing of that is stated in the bible. The bible states that God buried him yet no one saw his grave. Deuteronomy 34:6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial. (GNB) Moses too could have been translated to heaven. The third one to be transported to heaven is Elijah. His transportation is quite dramatic. He rode on a chariot of fire which was pulled by horses of fire in a whirlwind. 2 Kings 2:11.
The soul of a criminal, was also taken to heaven. Read Luke 23:42-43 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Yet others dispute the fact that the criminal's soul was taken straight to heaven by Jesus. They state without any support from the bible that Jesus only took that man's soul to a certain beautifully prepared park or garden in heaven.
The criminal asked for Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. All Christians believe that the Kingdom of Jesus is in heaven. Jesus never disputed or corrected that criminal saying; “Truly speaking I could not take you to my kingdom but to my garden or my park.” Jesus never said that. Jesus undoubtedly understood the man's question very well. What Jesus said is what He meant. Jesus could not give the man false assurance. Lord God had warned peopled against that. Jesus swore in front of all who were there that He would take that man together with Him to heaven.
If the bible is the authority of Christians, then the last one to ascend straight to heaven was Jesus Christ Himself. Furthermore, on the cross the speech of Jesus was somehow weird. He did not call upon Lord God or Father but to Eli or Eloi. Eli or Eloi meant My God. Some people there thought He was calling for Elijah. Jesus promised the criminal that that very day He would be with him in Paradise. Some people even to this day think Jesus promised to take the criminal to a park or garden. Park, garden and Elijah attest to the misunderstanding people commonly share. Even what is written is in most cases misunderstood.
Most churches claim without any support from the bible, that when Jesus died His soul went down to Hades. What is Hades? Hades is also called Sheol as well as Gehenna. The Dictionary of the Bible by Hastings et al has information on Gehenna. It states that traditional Judaic belief is, Gehenna is under the earth. Those who are neither great saints nor great sinners have to be purified by the fire of Gehenna. All the greatest sinners get condemned there to eternal fire. Jesus too had to be purified in Gehenna. So it means he was neither the saint nor the great sinner. The Apostles' Creed and The Nicean Creed concur that Jesus Christ had first to go down to Sheol. The Creed continues that thereafter He ascended to Heaven.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us.” 1John 1:8 (GNB) All souls then have, as in accordance with Judaic traditional belief, first to descend to Hades for purification before ascending to heaven. Jesus too then had no alternative. The presumption should be that He took with Him the criminal. When Jesus was on the cross He promised to take a criminal to Paradise. As Jesus could not tell a lie, it could be deduced that that very day from Hades, they went straight to heaven. It could also be implied that Jesus brought the criminal to one of his many mansions in heaven which automatically became his paradise. (John 14:2). Jesus might have spent some time with the criminal updating him about heaven hence He never got time to go up, from where they were, to His father. John 20:17; Jesus said to her, 'Don't touch me, for I haven't yet ascended to my Father.” On the third day early in the morning Jesus' soul had to be back in his body in his grave. The bible states that angels accompanied Him down to his grave (John 20:12; Luke 24:4; Mark 16:5).
I have not even the least found a verse which states that the SOULS of the dead remain in their graves waiting for the Judgement day. Surprisingly almost all people the world over would tell you that souls of the dead are in the graves. The bible has only one rare case, of not clearly identified people except that they were holy, who happened to be raised out from their graves. Read Matthew 27:52-53 “…the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into holy city and appeared to many.” It is Matthew only who comes up with this incident. It could not be far-fetched that those who were raised were taken up by Jesus Christ from Sheol on His way to paradise. So for them to be human beings once more, their souls had to enter their bodies that were only bones in their graves. God Almighty could have easily done that. The prophet Ezekiel once saw it happening right in front of his eyes. (Ezekiel 37)
Even Paul never states that the souls of the dead wait in their graves together with their bodies to be raised on Judgement Day. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 has this to say: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (NKJV)
According to Paul those who would be raised would be those who died in Christ and not all the dead. It then needs not be mentioned that those who did not die in Christ would not be raised. The second incident would be that those who would be living, in Christ, would then be snatched to join Jesus Christ in the firmament.
What about non Christians?
Unfortunately the bible says nothing about them. During the Dooms Day only the chosen Jews “of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (NKJV) who would be bearing a seal on their foreheads, and numbering one hundred and forty-four thousand, would be seen entering the gates of heaven. Read Revelation 7:3-8. It is unbelievable that most non-Jewish Christians count themselves literally among the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of the children of Jacob.
The bible then states that all non-Jews would stand a distance from the throne of God, all in white robes. Read Revelation 7:9-10 After these things I looked, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, people, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (NKJV)
They would not be bearing a seal on their foreheads like the 144,000 Israelites. But they would be in white robes that had been washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is then clear that Christians from all over the world would assemble a distance from the throne of God. The bible states without any reservations that the biggest tent one could think of would be erected to accommodate them. Read Revelation 7:15 . Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. (The Holy Bible Revised Version) New versions of the bible avoid using words like; “…will spread His tabernacle over them.”
It is now clear that souls could only be in the throne of God Almighty (those of the 144 000 Jews) or before His throne (those of all people all over the world who have washed their clothes in the blood of Jesus) after the Lamb has opened the sixth seal.
Where does a soul go to after a person has died?
The book of Ecclesiastes 12:7 puts it so vivid: “Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us.” (GNB) Whether some souls will go via Sheol and some not, but the fact is they are all on their way to heaven where they came from. The book of Revelation states that souls will only enter the throne of God Almighty or stand before it after the sixth seal has been opened by Jesus Christ. So all souls go to heaven, and those of Christians enter the mansions of Jesus Christ. Other souls would be kept where they should be in heaven. But not a single soul up to now is in the throne of God Almighty or in front of it.