The only real answer to this question must come from the Bible, because no one else knows for sure—apart from the Bible. Everyone has an OPINION! But they are not worth much. You certainly can’t stake your soul on an opinion; there are so many and they are so different.
Proverbs 23:18 says, “SURELY THERE IS A HEREAFTER.” Again, Ecclesiastes 3:11, says that GOD HAS PUT ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS.
Romans 11:15-WHAT WILL THEIR ACCEPTANCE BE BUT LIFE AFTER DEATH. The Bible teaches that there is life after death.
Only one time does God give us a picture of what happens to us after death and that is in Luke 16. Many people THINK this is a parable, but I don’t agree. First because the Lord did not say so, and second because one of the people in the story has a name—Lazarus. I believe God is giving us a glimpse of what happens to us immediately after death. There are two main people in this story: a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. The rich man is rich in material things but not rich toward God. Lazarus sits just outside the rich man’s house begging for food but the rich man seems to ignore him. He does not offer him any help whatsoever. The rich man shows no compassion, no generosity, no love toward those who are in need.
In the story, Lazarus dies first. And God says that the ANGELS carry his soul into a place of “paradise”. Abraham is there. It says that Lazarus is being “comforted” after living a painful life as a beggar.
Then the rich man dies. All it says about him is that when he opened his eyes again after death, he was in a place of torment. He looks (up?). And sees Lazarus with Abraham ( Abraham was a beloved ancestor (father) of the Jewish people.). He calls out to Abraham and asks him to send Lazarus down to him with a “drop of water” for his tongue because he is in anguish in flames. But Abraham replies that he cannot do that because there is a “great gulf “ between where he is and where the rich man is. He said no one can cross over from one side to the other. Then the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn his 5 brothers who are still living on earth, so that they will not come to the place where he, the rich man, is. But Abraham says, no. They have the scriptures (Old Testament). If they won’t listen to the scriptures, they won’t listen to someone that comes back from the dead.
There are so many lessons and “truths” that we can glean from this story. Remember Jesus is the one who tells the story. Does Jesus lie? No, never. So I have no doubt the story is true, even if it is a parable.
The word hades means the “unseen world of the dead.” It seems that all souls go there when they die. From this story it seems that Hades is divided into 2 parts—a place of paradise where Abraham is and a place of torment. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says that “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit will return to God who gave it.” God is the one who will decide in which place your spirit (soul) will go. This seems to be the place all souls wait until the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. Then there will be a judgement of everyone who has ever lived—good and bad. Everyone will be judged by “the things written in the books (the Bible). Revelation 20:12. If you have never read chapters 20-22 of Revelation, you really need to read them. But keep in mind that the book is symbolic in nature and you can’t take all the numbers and symbols as real. Many times they are just symbols for something real. But the judgement scene and the descriptions of heaven and hell we can understand.
There is not a lot of scripture that tells us what will happen after death, but there is enough for us to get a pretty good idea. We just need to be careful to stick with what the Bible tells us and not let our imaginations run wild.
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