Where Are the Dead

Conclusion of WHY HUMANS DIE

To illustrate:  How would you feel if you raised and cared for a son or a daughter who then disobeyed you in a way that showed that he or she had no respect or love for you?  That would cause you much heartache. Imagine, then, how hurt Jehovah must have felt when both Adam and Eve took a course of action of opposition to him.

Jehovah had no reason to sustain disobedient Adam and Eve forever. They died, just as he had said they would. Adam and Eve ceased to exist.  They did not pass on to a spirit realm. We know this because of what Jehovah said to Adam after confronting him  with his disobedience.  God said:  "You [will]  return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and dust you will return."  (Genesis 3:19) God had made Adam from the dust of the ground.  (Genesis 2:7)  Before that, Adam did not exist. Therefore, when Jehovah said that Adam would return to dust, He meant that Adam would return to a state of nonexistence. Adam would be as lifeless as the dust from when he was made.  

Adam and Eve could have been  alive to day, but they died because they chose to disobey God and thus sinned.  The reason we die is that Adam's sinful condition  as well as death was passed on to all of his descendants.  (Romans 5:12)   That sin is like a terrible  inherited disease from which no one can escape. Its consequence, death, is a curse. Death is an enemy, not a friend.  (1 Corinthians 15:26)  How grateful we can be that Jehovah provided the ransom to rescue us from the dreadful enemy! 

Next time: Where Are the Dead?/KNOWING THE TRUTH ABOUT DEATH IS BENEFICIAL

From the book: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY TEACH?