READING • ECCLESIASTES 3
After death — what?
People have offered many different answers to this question: reincarnation, an immortal soul continuing elsewhere, no future life at all, or resurrection and judgement. This lesson asks us to test these ideas against the Bible.
What does the Bible say about death?
Part I showed that the Bible describes death as the end of conscious human life. Ecclesiastes states this plainly:
“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. 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.”
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 • King James Version
If death were the final word, humanity would have no hope beyond the grave. But the Gospel gives a very different answer: God has provided resurrection through His Son.
The promise of resurrection and everlasting life
Jesus warned that sin leads to death, but he also taught that God offers life through him. The well-known words of John 3 place salvation firmly in God’s love and purpose:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 • King James Version
Everlasting life is therefore God’s gift, not something human beings possess naturally. Jesus repeatedly connected that hope with resurrection “at the last day”.
“And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:40 • King James Version
The Bible’s hope
The Christian hope is not that an immortal soul escapes from the body at death. It is that God will raise the dead through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Resurrection will be followed by judgement
Jesus taught that the dead will be called from their graves. His words show both resurrection and accountability:
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
John 5:28-29 • King James Version
Daniel had spoken in similar terms centuries earlier: “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”, some to everlasting life and some to shame (Daniel 12:2).
Jesus is the appointed judge
Paul describes the return of Christ as the time when judgement will take place:
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.”
2 Timothy 4:1 • King James Version
In the King James Version, “quick” here means living. The passage therefore includes both those alive when Christ appears and those raised from the dead.
The reward is life in God’s Kingdom
Those accepted by the Lord are invited to inherit the Kingdom prepared by God:
“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Matthew 25:34 • King James Version
Jesus also explains that those who receive the life of the resurrection will no longer be subject to death:
“Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”
Luke 20:36 • King James Version
Resurrection, judgement, immortality
The sequence is important: the dead are raised, judgement follows, and everlasting life is given to those whom Christ accepts. Immortality is a reward from God, not a possession every person already has.
What does “hell” mean in the King James Bible?
The original lesson rightly asks us to look beneath the English word “hell”. In the King James Version, “hell” translates more than one underlying Bible word. They should not all be treated as though they meant exactly the same thing.
BIBLE WORD
WHERE IT OCCURS
HOW IT IS USED
Sheol
Old Testament — Hebrew
The realm or state of the dead; the KJV sometimes renders it “hell” and sometimes “grave” or “pit”.
Hades
New Testament — Greek
The realm of the dead. The KJV translates it “hell” in passages such as Acts 2:27 and Revelation 1:18, and “grave” in 1 Corinthians 15:55.
Gehenna
New Testament — Greek
A different word, derived from the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem and used by Jesus in warnings about divine judgement and destruction.
English “hell”
King James Version
Because several source words are translated by the same English word, the meaning must be established from the context.
Sheol: the power of the grave
Psalm 49 gives a good example. The Hebrew word is Sheol, but the KJV translates it “grave”:
“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.”
Psalm 49:15 • King James Version
The hope in this Psalm is rescue from the power of death. This fits the wider Bible teaching that future life depends upon God’s saving action.
Hades and the resurrection of Christ
In Acts 2 Peter quotes Psalm 16 and applies it to Jesus. The KJV uses the word “hell” where the Greek text has Hades:
“Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
Acts 2:27 • King James Version
Peter then explains the quotation: David “spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption” (Acts 2:31). Jesus really died, but God did not leave him in the state of death.
A more precise conclusion
It is too simple to say that every occurrence of the English word “hell” means only “the grave”. The KJV uses “hell” for several different source words. Christadelphians understand these passages consistently with the Bible’s teaching that the dead are unconscious and that the hope of life is resurrection.
Jesus has authority over death and Hades
The risen Lord speaks of his victory over death in Revelation:
“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
Revelation 1:18 • King James Version
The picture of keys is one of authority. Jesus has been raised from the dead, and God has given him the power to call others from their graves when the appointed time comes.
What about “hell fire” and Gehenna?
Mark 9 uses a different Greek word — Gehenna. Jesus warned:
“It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.”
Mark 9:43 • King James Version
Gehenna is connected with the Valley of Hinnom beside Jerusalem. The Old Testament associates that valley with the terrible practice of child sacrifice. King Josiah later defiled Topheth there so that such sacrifices would cease (2 Kings 23:10). The prophets also used the valley as an image of divine judgement.
A historical correction
A common explanation says that the Valley of Hinnom was Jerusalem’s continuously burning rubbish dump in the time of Jesus. That claim is often repeated, but it is not securely established by contemporary archaeological or literary evidence. The Bible itself gives enough background: the valley had become a powerful image of judgement and destruction.
Christadelphians therefore understand Jesus’ Gehenna warnings as warnings of final judgement and destruction, not as proof that immortal souls remain consciously tormented for ever. The warning is serious precisely because rejecting God’s way leads to the loss of life.
The choice is between life and death
The contrast throughout the lesson is not between two forms of everlasting conscious existence. It is between perishing and receiving everlasting life. The resurrection of Jesus guarantees that death need not have the final victory for those who belong to him.
The hope that changes how we live now
The Bible’s teaching about death is not meant merely to settle a theological argument. It gives urgency to the Gospel. Our present life is temporary, but God offers resurrection and everlasting life through Jesus Christ.
That hope calls us to believe God, repent, be baptized into Christ, and live in readiness for his return. The promise of resurrection is therefore both a comfort and a responsibility.
The central message
Death is real, but it is not stronger than God. Jesus has been raised. When he returns, those who belong to him can be raised and, if accepted at judgement, receive everlasting life in God’s Kingdom.
SUMMARY
1
Death ends conscious human life.
Ecclesiastes describes the dead as knowing nothing and no longer taking part in life “under the sun”.
2
God offers life through Jesus.
Everlasting life is His gift, made possible through the death and resurrection of His Son.
3
The dead will be raised.
Jesus speaks of those in the graves hearing his voice and coming forth.
4
Resurrection is followed by judgement.
Christ will judge at his appearing and his Kingdom, and the accepted will receive everlasting life.
5
The KJV word “hell” translates different Bible words.
Sheol, Hades and Gehenna must be understood from their individual contexts.
6
Hades is connected with death and resurrection.
Acts 2 says that Christ was not left in Hades; God raised him from the dead.
7
Gehenna is a warning of divine judgement.
It is connected with the Valley of Hinnom and, in Christadelphian understanding, points to final destruction rather than eternal conscious torment.
Chapter to read
John 11:1-45; review 1 Corinthians 15
LEARN BY HEART • 1 CORINTHIANS 15:22-23
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
1 Corinthians 15:22-23 • King James Version
Christadelphian Bible Mission • Box CBM, 404 Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham B28 8SZ, England
CHRISTADELPHIAN BIBLE MISSION • 5
CHRISTADELPHIAN BIBLE MISSION • 1