Dear Philip,

Thank you so much for your question. You wrote:

I am studying the doctrine of whether or not we go to heaven when we die. In one of your articles relating to heaven you write 'David was saved and went to heaven'. Yet we read in Acts 2:34 it clearly states that David (a man after God's own heart) did not ascend to heaven. Isn't it true that the dead know nothing (Eccles 9:5) until the resurrection? So the dead (even the righteous dead) are not in heaven but in the grave awaiting a resurrection?

Or am I missing something?

I think that the first thing that you are missing is that the soul and the body are two different things.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

In this verse we see two things. First you can be absent from the body. This is talking about when you die your soul seperates from the body.

The second thing we learn from this verse is that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Of course the qualifier there is if you are saved.

When you die your body goes to the grave awaiting a resurrection and your soul goes either to heaven or to hell.

Your soul does not sleep. We see this over and over again in scripture. A good example is in Luke Chapter 16. Two men die and look what happens to them.

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;

In verse 22 we read that their bodies were 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.

In verse 16 it is obvious that we are not talking about their bodies because they are still in a grave. What we are reading about is the soul that is seperated from the fleshly body. And we see that after you die your soul does have bodily form even though it is not the new glorified body. That happens at the last trump.

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.

Lazarus was still recognizable as Lazarus and he still had a finger. The rich man could feel and was tormented.

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.

Lazarus is in Paradise and the rich man is in torment.

Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.

And after you die you can not get out of torment.

Another example is the mount of transfiguration.

Luk 9:28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

Luk 9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment [was] white [and] glistering.

Luk 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:

Luk 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

Luk 9:32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

Moses who died thousands of years previously came and talked with Jesus on the mountain. His soul had bodily form. He was recognizable as a man and talked with Jesus. Again this is not Moses in a glorified body because Jesus has not yet come back. This is Moses' soul and it is not asleep in a grave.

Another example should be sufficient.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Here we have souls of men that were slain for their testimony and their souls are not in a grave but in heaven and they are talking and asking God a question.

The Bible is clear, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (That is if you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior. You are saved by faith and not by works.)

I think that the second thing that you are missing is the context of the verses you cite.

As far as Acts 2:34 you must always look at a verse in its context.

What is the verse before it and after it talking about. How does it fit into the topic at hand? The context is talking about how Jesus rose from the grave and asended in a resurrected body. David nor anyone else has done this. Acts 2:34 is talking about David's body not David's soul.

Albert Barnes puts it this way:

For David is not ascended into the heavens - That is, David has not risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. This further shows that Psa_16:1-11 could not refer to David, but must refer to the Messiah. Great as they esteemed David, and much as they were accustomed to apply these expressions of the Scripture to him, yet they could not be applicable to him. They must refer to some other being; and especially that passage which Peter now proceeds to quote. It was of great importance to show that these expressions could not apply to David, and also that David bore testimony to the exalted character and dignity of the Messiah. Hence, Peter here adduces David himself as affirming that the Messiah was to be exalted to a dignity far above his own. This does not affirm that David was not saved, or that his spirit had not ascended to heaven, but that he had not been exalted in the heavens in the sense in which Peter was speaking of the Messiah.

As far as Eccles 9:5 lets look at the context.

Ecc 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecc 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.

We have seen in all the examples that I gave earlier that the dead do know quite a bit. We saw that they remember, and talk, and reason. They are awake and aware. So the phrase in verse 5 "the dead know not any thing" cannot mean what you imply.

The context clears is up. What you have to ask is; what exactly is the any thing in verse 5 referring to. For example I can say that I do not know anything about racing cars. (That is true by the way) But that does not mean that I don't know anything at all. You have to know what is the anything referring to.

Verse 6 answers that. "...neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." The anything is specifically that which is done under the sun. (A reference to the earth).

They cannot earn any more reward (verse 5). Their emotions and activity on the earth is finished. They are not in heaven or hell reading the daily newspaper or watching the news on T.V.

Philip I do hope that this helps clear up the issue for you. And I thank you for the opportunity to give you an answer.

Bryan

1 John 3:18