"To Dust You Will Return"

Jehovah clearly explained what death would mean for the sinner Adam. God said: "In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return." (Genesis 3:19) Adam would return where? To the ground, to the dust from which he had created at death. At death Adam would simply cease to exist!

In this regard, human death does not differ from that of the animals. They too are souls, and the same spirit, or life force, energizes them. (Genesis 1:24) At Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20, the wise man Solomon tells us: "As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that [in death] there is no superiority of the man over the beast....They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust." Man was superior to the beasts in that he was created in God's image, reflecting the qualities of Jehovah. (Genesis 1:26,27) Yet, at death humans and animals alike return to the dust.

Solomon further explained what death means, saying: "The living are conscious that they will die." But as for the dead they are conscious of nothing at all. Yes, the dead know absolutely nothing. In view of this, Solomon urged: "All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place in which you are going." Ecclesiastes 9:5,10 Where do the dead go? To Sheol (Hebrew, she'ohl'), the common grave of mankind. Our dead loved ones are not conscious of anything. They are not suffering, and they cannot affect us in any way.

Must all of us and our loved ones live only a few years and then cease to exist forever? Not according to the Bible. At the time of Adam's rebellion, Jehovah God immediately instituted arrangements to reverse the terrible consequences of human sin. Death was not part of God's purpose for mankind (Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9) Hence, death does not have to be final for us or for our loved ones.

Next time: "Gone To Rest"