Are the Dead Really Dead?
By Arthur L. Manous
"I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive." Eccl. 4:2. IN spite of the teachings of popular theology that the dead are more alive than dead after the breath leaves the body, there are a number of passages or cases recorded in the "Scriptures of truth," which bear double testimony, so to speak, to the fact that "the dead which are already dead," are truly dead, or dead in fact. Of these we may note the following: The record of Abel's death at the hand of his wicked brother, is given in the Old Testament in the following terms: "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper? And He said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." Gen. 4:8-10. And some four thousand years after his murder, the New Testament bears testimony to the fact that Abel is still dead, and not more alive than when breath was in his body. Note the record: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Heb. 11:4. Others render the latter part of this verse as follows:
(a) "And through it [faith] he yet speaks, altho dead." (Fenton's Translation.)
(b) "And through this faith, altho dead, he still speaketh." (Weekes's Translation.)
(c) "And through it, he being dead, doth yet speak." (Young's Translation.)
(d) "And through it, tho he is dead, he still speaks." (Weymouth's Translation.) These two inspired records from the "Scriptures of truth," one from the Old Testament, and the other from the New Testament, are absolute proof that Abel, the first man to lose his life, and that early in this world's history, was still dead in the apostolic days, some four thousand years after his murder, and not in heaven, where men may be said to be more alive, if possible, than when living on earth. "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." 2 Cor. 13:1.7 Concerning the death of the good old "patriarch Abraham," "the friend of God," we have the following record: "And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife." Gen. 25:7-10. And when we come down to the New Testament times, we find the Jews acknowledging that the prophets, and their "father Abraham" according to the flesh, are still dead. Note the words of Jesus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto Him, Now we know that Thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and Thou sayest, If a man keep My saying, he shall never taste of death. Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead! and the prophets are dead; whom makest Thou Thyself?" John 8:51-53. Another text of interest in connection with the case of Abraham is the words of Christ: "Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Luke 20:37, 38. God is here speaking prospectively of the resurrection, when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shall be "raised," even as "Moses showed at the bush." For God "calleth those things which be not as tho they were." Rom. 4:17. Mr. Rotherham translates this passage thus: "But, that the dead are to be raised, even Moses disclosed at the bush, when he calls [the] Lord . . . the God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. Now He is not God of [the] dead, but of [the] living; for all to Him are to live." Mr. Rotherham has the following interesting note on this passage: "It seems fair and safe to give this verb the same prospective turn as that which the verb 'raise' clearly has in the previous verse. 'To be raised' and 'to live' are plainly correlative." (Note on Luke 20:38.) Another writer remarks on this point as follows: "Christ declared to His hearers that if there were no resurrection of the dead, the Scriptures which they professed to believe, would be of no avail. He said, 'But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.' God counts the things that are not, as tho they were. He sees the end from the beginning, and beholds the result of His work as tho it were now accomplished. The precious dead, from Adam down to the last saint who dies, will hear the voice of the Son of God, and will come forth from the grave to immortal life. God will be their God, and they shall be His people. There will be a close and tender relationship between God and the risen saints. This condition, which is anticipated in His purpose, He beholds as if it were already existing. The dead live unto Him." ("The Desire of Ages," by Mrs. E. G. White, chap. 66, par. 19, p. 606, trade edition, 1898.) The record of King David's death is briefly stated thus: "So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David." "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." 1 Kings 2:10; Acts 13:36. The New Testament bears testimony to the fact that good old patriarch David was, in the apostolic times, still dead, even tho many centuries had passed since he fell asleep. Briefly we read: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day." Acts 2:29. Altho David was a man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13:14); and altho he turned not aside from following the Lord all the days of his life, save only in one point (1 Kings 15:5), the record further says: "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool." Acts 2:34, 35. Altho the "sweet psalmist of Israel" (2 Sam. 23:1) is still sleeping in the grave, it is the firm conviction of the writer that the time "is near, even at the doors" (Matt. 24:33), when he, with all the saints who are sleeping in their graves, shall hear the Saviour's "voice, and shall come forth" (John 5:28, 29) "out of their sleep" (Job 14:12) to "be caught up together," "to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17.