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I have people ask me constantly, "Where are you going to go when you die?" "Heaven, or Hell?" Of course my answer is, "Neither!" This is an answer that most people cannot understand, so let me use the Miqra (Tanakh) to try to explain death, and what happens when we die.
Sefer Bereshit *Genesis* 2:7 reads, "And YHWH, the true God, fashioned mankind from dry earth out of the ground and breath into their nostrils the breath of life, and they became mankind, living souls."
What purpose does this serve to explain what happens after death? I hope that the above explains a little bit better on what I view a soul to be? As you can see I believe a soul to be the combination of the dust of the earth (also known as flesh), and the breath of life (also known as the spirit).
As to what happens at death let me explain a little be clearer to the way that I see things. Do I believe in resurrection of the dead? Yes. Do I believe in immortality of the soul? No. Dawidh in one of his Tehillim (Psalms) prayed unto YHWH the following:
Sefer Tehillim *Psalms* 6:6 reads, "For in death there is no memorial of You, in Sheol who will praise You?" What did Dawidh mean by this comment made to YHWH? I see it as showing that in death mankind does not praise YHWH, for there is no knowledge of YHWH in the grave.
Death is explained quite well in Sefer Qohelet *Ecclesiates* 12:7 which reads, "And returns the dry earth to the land, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." The problem here is what is this spirit? I think that it is no more than the breath of life that YHWH gave unto the original man, and woman, and all of mankind after that. Does this spirit, or breath of life, have a life of its own outside of the body? I do not think that it does, and I think that there are several verses that show this to be the case:
Sefer Qohelet *Ecclesiastes* 9:4, 5 reads, "For he who is reckoned among all the living there is trust, for a living dog is better than a lion dead, for the living know they will die, but the dead know nothing, and there is no more reward for them, for their rememberence is forgotten." As we can see the dead know nothing! This is also made apparent in the words found in Sefer Tehillim *Psalms* 146:3-4 which reads, "Do not put your trust in nobles, in the son of mankind, for in him is no deliverence, his spirit goes out, he returns to the dust of his ground, in that day his thoughts perish."
What does this tell us about death in general?
I think that it makes quite clear that in death we cease to live, to exist as living beings. We are in a sleep like state, and this is why Dawidh refers to death as the sleep of death. (Sefer Tehillim *Psalms* 13:4) The next question is this our eternal fate, or is there something more for us, an afterlife?
I think that throughout the Miqra we find hints to a concept that is called resurrection of the dead. Is this immortality of the soul? No. Rather it is a revival of that which is dead into something that is alive again. (Sefer Yishayahu *Isaiah* 26:19; Sefer Yekhez'qel *Ezekiel* 37:1-4, 12; Sefer Iyyov *Job* 19:25; Sefer Daniyyel *Daniel 12:1-3) I would compare it to waking up in the morning after a long
nights sleep.
According to the Miqra, the above is the way in which I look at death. I do not get caught up in thinking about whether, or not I am going to heaven, or hell when I die, because the Miqra does not claim that I am. Rather, when YHWH so decides, I will die and cease to exist until such a time when He would like for me to exist again, that if it be His will to wake me up from the sleep of death.
Here concludes this article, and I pray that you learn as much from reading it as I have while trying to prepare it, and may YHWH bless you and keep you!