Soul Sleeping? What does scripture say happens to us when we die.

All I can state is when we die as believers we are in the presence of God... and that is an ecstatic state of being not even comparable to sleep.

The stoning of Stephen makes it clear that the soul does not enter a sleep state.

In the sense of being passed out like dead, no I don't think so either. A lot of people believing soul sleep actually agree with you and do not believe conscienceness is lost as in being dead. Even though Stephen said while still alive. I think just mind becomes still before God in bliss like you say ("be still and know that i am God"). Stillness and resting with God is merely compared to sleep.

If you will go back and look at my original/first post on this subject you will find a lot of quoted scripture about this issue.
Honestly all I know and understand is what scripture and the research of it has revealed to me with the help of the Holy Spirit.

To start off with I want to say that "THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE PLACE/SCRIPTURE IN THE WORD OF GOD THAT TELLS US OR GUARANTEES US THAT WE GO STRIEGHT TO HEAVEN AS SOON AS WE DIE.
The word sleep and rest are used many times in scripture and Christ used the word sleep to describe a dead persons state of being.
Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
At this point we know that Lazarus was already dead and in the grave.
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Now we all know that Lazarus was in fact supposed to be dead. But Christ stated that Lazarus was sleeping. So the question is, Why would Jesus describe Lazarus as being in a state of sleep and not in a state of death?? The answer is that the body was in fact dead and beginning to rot but the soul of Lazarus was not dead. It was resting just as the Bible says Lazarus was doing after he died.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Notice how this verse says that Lazarus was "carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" after he died. But the rich man was not carried by angels after he died. Luke 16:22 simply says that the rich man was buried. Lazarus was also buried but the difference is what happened to the soul after the body died. The soul of Lazarus who had embraced the Gospel and was saved, was carried away by angels to Abraham's bosom where scripture says he was "comforted". But the soul of the rich man didn't go to the Bosom of Abraham, he went to a place of torment which is called Gehenna.
Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Notice how Lazarus doesn't speak a single word throughout the conversation between the rich man and Abraham. That is because Lazarus was sleeping just as John 11:11 says he was. In fact Jesus stated that it was time for Him to awaken Lazarus out of sleep.
Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Here is another time when Christ describes a person who had died as being in a state of sleep and Jesus actually declares that the Damsel is not dead but is actually asleep.
Mar 5:39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
Act 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
In the book of Daniel scripture state that those Who sleep in the dust shall awaken.
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
In 1 Samuel King Saul new that the soul of Samuel was not dead but was only asleep when he asked the witch of Endor bring Samual UP.
1Sa 28:8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him UP, whom I shall name unto thee.
1Sa 28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. Even the witch knew that the soul of Samual could be BROUGHT UP from the dead.
And when Samuel was awakened and brought up he was upset because he had been disturbed.
1Sa 28:15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. In this verse the word "disquieted" means "disturbed". Which tells us that the soul of Samual was in a place of great comfort but his body was in the grave rotting.
In the book of Daniel God tells Daniel to go his way and rest. God dosn't tell Daniel to go his way and die, God tells Daniel to go and rest.
Dan 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. In this verse the word"rest" translated from the Hebrew means "sleep".
As we can see from this verse, Daniel is right know "resting" and is not dead though his body has rotted in the Grave. We can also see from what this verse says that Daniel will stand in his lot at the end of days. In other words Daniel will return and Prophecy once more during the end of days. I believe that Daniel is one of the two witnesses.
When Jesus was no the cross He told the thief that he would be with Jesus in Paradise.
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
So the question is "Where is Paradise located?" According to Paul Christ first descended down into the lower parts of the earth.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
So this verse is telling us that the location of Paradise is in the lower parts of the earth.
We need to remember that when the NT was written it focused Jewish customs and beliefs. The Jewish belief was that Paradise was that part of Hades was the abode of the souls of the pious until Resurrection day. This means that the Jewish people believed that when we are saved and we die we do not go to heaven but actually stay in Paradise until Christ returns to raise us from the grave.
Hence the parable about the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus who was saved and who embraced the Gospel died and was carried away by angels to the Bosom of Abraham which is also known as Paradise.
Here is a question I like to ask folks, If when we die our body goes back to the dust from which it came from.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
What is the rich man doing roasting in hell with eyeballs and a tongue???
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 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 in this flame. The body of the rich man stayed in the grave where it turned back into the dust from which it came, but the soul of the rich man could feel all of the pain and torments just as though he still had a body of flesh
If when we die our body turns back to the dust, how could the rich man have had eyeballs and a tongue and how could he feel heat and torments???
The answer is that if when we die we are in Christ we do not go to heaven. We go to Pardise/The Bosom of Abraham just like Lazarus, the thief and Christ did before He was raised from the grave by God. And we sleep in Paradise until the Resurrection DAY. If we are unrepentant like the rich man was we go immediatly to Gehenna which was where the rich man was placed after his death. Our bodies die and rot but our souls live on to suffer pain and torments or we are comforted just as Lazrus was.

@massorite
I wish @Magenta would join in, she's been studying this extensively for a while, and thanks to her and after some time going through the Scriptures back and forth I am now also a believer that this is likely and this state is called the Paradise of God...
The main thing is that this "sleep" is different state of being than we normally imagine sleep to be.
Most often brought up objection is the saints from Revelation crying to God to avenge them. But if blood of Abel can cry out to God from the ground, why couldn't someone who is asleep? God's perception of things isn't the same as ours.

The world is a big place. Not everybody goes to the same place when they leave their body. I believe there are two of us one for the flesh and one for the spirit. One of us dies and goes back to dust the other continues living at a place slightly higher (toward heaven) or slightly lower (toward death and hades) than where we were on earth when we die but those left behind cannot see us. These realms are earth like realms that have the same appearance as earth. Some of us continue living without even realizing at the outset that we died while others are resting until the resurrection. This means that our spirit has a multidimensional state of being. We can be at multiple locations at the same time. Part of the blessing about the great wedding banquet in the sky is that this is at a time and place where all these multidimensional roads meet and we will become aware of all of our experiences we had in these other places and these experiences will converge into a great reunion with all our loved ones. What an exciting time! Can't wait!

As it should be.
Most believe according to what others say or have experienced.
We should seek God, as you have done, with and open mind and a sincere desire to know the truth, when looking for the same.

I really think it is so important to understand the expressive style of other languages this would certainly avoid the construction of this erroneous doctrine of soul sleep.

So your saying that God didn't take into consideration the structure of the Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic languages when these scriptures were written at the instruction of God? Are you saying that God didn't have any control over how these scriptures were written? In this day and time the most accurate bible in my opinion is the KJV or the NKJV and I have studied several different bible and what I found in them cause me to determine that the KJV or the NKJV or the Geneva bible are about the best we have.
O are you just coming up with some sort of lame reasoning to fight against what the Word Of God actually teaches about sleeping after death.
Mat 9:24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
Seems to me that it pretty clear that Jesus Himself said that"the maid is not dead, but sleepeth" and He said the the maid was "sleeping" even everybody else knew that she had stopped breathing and her bowels and urine cut loose as after she died and her muscles relaxed. Or are you saying that Christ didn't really mean it when He said she was not dead?
Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Are you saying that again Christ didn't realize that Lazarus was dead when Christ stated that He was going to wake Lazarus up?
Joh 11:12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Joh 11:13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Here in John 11:13 Christ's disciples thought Jesus was actually saying that Lazarus was actually taking a nap and the is when Christ had to clarify that Lazarus was actually dead because they didn't understand that when a believer dies he goes to sleep.
Or are you again saying that Christ didn't know what He was taking about.
But wait a minute! Lazarus had already been in the grave already 4 days when Jesus came to wake him up!
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Nice try but Scripture says what it says. But there are a lot of folks like you who have a really hard time believing that they have been taught some that can not be proven with scripture. Unfortunately like you do a lot of doubt casting about the truth of what scripture says by casting doubt on the integrity of that part of the Word of God you are refusing to believe and are unable to prove me wrong by using scripture to prove me wrong.

Do the epistles all have the same voice, tone, expressive style. No

I never even came close to stating God did not have control as the scriptures were written, yet these men wrote in the language they knew and God used that language to reveal Himself. It is up to us to understand it in context of the expressive style of that language which no doubt can be difficult.

Sleep refers to the the death of the body.
The Bible teaches death is not a cessation of existence, but a separation of existence so you need to keep that in mind.

Here is some help for you regrading figurative and literal expression and Jesus employed both very skillfully.

Figurative language is that based on appearances regardless of the facts; literal language is that based on the facts regardless of appearances.

Jesus used figurative language because when a person is dead he "appears" to be asleep.
The people did not recognize the figurative language but thought he was speaking literally, as in she is sleeping, and they laughed at him to scorn.


How about rather than offering the standard proof texts for this faulty doctrine you actually deal with the texts that refute it.

Then he [Stephen] knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:60).

Sleep being death of the body only!

Do the epistles all have the same voice, tone, expressive style. No

I never even came close to stating God did not have control as the scriptures were written, yet these men wrote in the language they knew and God used that language to reveal Himself. It is up to us to understand it in context of the expressive style of that language which no doubt can be difficult.

Sleep refers to the the death of the body.
The Bible teaches death is not a cessation of existence, but a separation of existence so you need to keep that in mind.

Here is some help for you regrading figurative and literal expression and Jesus employed both very skillfully.

Figurative language is that based on appearances regardless of the facts; literal language is that based on the facts regardless of appearances.

Jesus used figurative language because when a person is dead he "appears" to be asleep.
The people did not recognize the figurative language but thought he was speaking literally, as in she is sleeping, and they laughed at him to scorn.


How about rather than offering the standard proof texts for this faulty doctrine you actually deal with the texts that refute it.

Then he [Stephen] knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:60).

Sleep being death of the body only!

Again I disagree. Sleep doesn't have anything to do with the body and you can't prove your right by using scripture to do it.
But I can prove that I am right by using scripture.
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he STINKETH: for he hath been dead four days.
Notice the word "stinketh" ???? the word "stinketh" means that the body of Lazarus was already beginning to rot and stink after 4 days in the grave.

Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus SLEEPETH ; but I go, that I may AWAKE him out of SLEEP.
Notice the words "sleepeth, awake and sleep" in verse 11??? The body begins to rot the very second of death and by the end of 4 days it would be looking pretty nasty.

• 24-72 hours after death — the internal organs decompose.
• 3-5 days after death — the body starts to bloat and blood-containing foam leaks from the mouth and nose.

The body rots in the grave but it is the soul that goes to sleep and lives for ever or until it is cast into the lake of fire.

To be absent from the body is to present with the Lord

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 CORINTHIANS 5:8).

You have changed this verse as follows:

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and is to be present with the Lord."

While Jesus' body was in the tomb, he was not in heaven in the presence of God yet. He did not immediately go to heaven (JOHN 20:17).

Peter the apostle raised Tabitha again from the dead (Acts 9:40).

I find it hard to believe that Peter would take Tabitha away from the presence of the Lord, with no more tears, no more pain, to bring her back to this evil world and back into her body to suffer in the flesh again.

Mine falls asleep when I read some of the threads and posts on here

Sleep is a euphemism. Jesus said at John 11:11 "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep". Jesus was not lying. He was putting things in a euphemistic way. Later He says, plainly, "Lazarus is dead" (Jn.11:14).

The only way these two things can be true is if "sleeping" is a euphemism.

Jesus never once mentions Lazarus's soul you are adding to the text.

Where does scripture state the soul goes to sleep?