The Dead - Part 3

Well, before we try to understand the place where the saints who were raised from the dead, have gone, let's try to understand the true nature of the place in the heart of the earth where they were asleep in their graves.

In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words used to refer to the place in the heart of the earth where the dead are going. These two words are SHEOL and SHACHATH. 

SHEOL
The Hebrew word 'sheol' means 'UNDERWORLD' or 'HELL'. However, in the English translation, in certain places, the word 'GRAVE' has also been used to replace the Hebrew word - 'sheol'.

Nevertheless, the total area in the heart of the earth where all dead souls are placed are referred to as SHEOL or HELL.

Proverbs 27:20
Hell (SHEOL) and destruction are never full;

 

SHACHATH

The Hebrew word 'shachath' means 'GRAVE' or 'PIT'. But this grave or pit is not the grave or pit or tomb (sepulchre) we see in the cemetery. 

The Hebrew word 'qĕbuwrah' is used to mean the grave or tomb in the cemetery. Look at the below scriptures:

Genesis 35:20
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave (qĕbuwrah): that is the pillar of Rachel's grave  (qĕbuwrah) unto this day.

 

Genesis 47:30
But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace(qĕbuwrah). And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

Deuteronomy 34:5-6

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

SHACHATH shows a restricted area in SHEOL (HELL) for a dead soul. Look at the below scriptures where SHACHATH has been used:

Job 33:18
He keepeth back his soul from the pit (shachath), and his life from perishing by the sword.

Job 33:22
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave (shachath), and his life to the destroyers. 

Every dead soul has a place called SHACHATH in SHEOL. In other words, every dead soul has a grave in hell, which is located in the heart of the earth. King Solomon refers to these graves as the chambers of death in hell. 

Proverbs 7:27
Her house is the way to hell (sheol ),going down to the chambers of death.

 

When Adam died, his soul came to a state of sleep. Then his dead soul was placed in his grave (shachath) in hell (sheol), which is in the centre of the earth. From Adam, every soul up to Moses, who faced death, was in the state of sleep in their graves in hell.

Romans 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 

The above verse reveals the fact that those who did not sin were sleeping in their graves up to Moses. In the sense, these are the saints who were among the dead.

Why did death reign only up to Moses?

Read Part 4...