To start off with I want to say that "THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE PLACE/SCRIPTURE IN THE WORD OF GOD THAT TELLS US OR GUARANTEES US THAT WE GO STRIEGHT TO HEAVEN AS SOON AS WE DIE.
The word sleep and rest are used many times in scripture and Christ used the word sleep to describe a dead persons state of being.
Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
At this point we know that Lazarus was already dead and in the grave.
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Now we all know that Lazarus was in fact supposed to be dead. But Christ stated that Lazarus was sleeping. So the question is, Why would Jesus describe Lazarus as being in a state of sleep and not in a state of death?? The answer is that the body was in fact dead and beginning to rot but the soul of Lazarus was not dead. It was resting just as the Bible says Lazarus was doing after he died.
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;
Notice how this verse says that Lazarus was "carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" after he died. But the rich man was not carried by angels after he died. Luke 16:22 simply says that the rich man was buried. Lazarus was also buried but the difference is what happened to the soul after the body died. The soul of Lazarus who had embraced the Gospel and was saved, was carried away by angels to Abraham's bosom where scripture says he was "comforted". But the soul of the rich man didn't go to the Bosom of Abraham, he went to a place of torment which is called Gehenna.
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.
Notice how Lazarus doesn't speak a single word throughout the conversation between the rich man and Abraham. That is because Lazarus was sleeping just as John 11:11 says he was. In fact Jesus stated that it was time for Him to awaken Lazarus out of sleep.
Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Here is another time when Christ describes a person who had died as being in a state of sleep and Jesus actually declares that the Damsel is not dead but is actually asleep.
Mar 5:39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
Act 13:36 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:
In the book of Daniel scripture state that those Who sleep in the dust shall awaken.
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
In 1 Samuel King Saul new that the soul of Samuel was not dead but was only asleep when he asked the witch of Endor bring Samual UP.
1Sa 28:8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him UP, whom I shall name unto thee.
1Sa 28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. Even the witch knew that the soul of Samual could be BROUGHT UP from the dead.
And when Samuel was awakened and brought up he was upset because he had been disturbed.
1Sa 28:15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. In this verse the word "disquieted" means "disturbed". Which tells us that the soul of Samual was in a place of great comfort but his body was in the grave rotting.
In the book of Daniel God tells Daniel to go his way and rest. God dosn't tell Daniel to go his way and die, God tells Daniel to go and rest.
Dan 12:13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. In this verse the word"rest" translated from the Hebrew means "sleep".
As we can see from this verse, Daniel is right know "resting" and is not dead though his body has rotted in the Grave. We can also see from what this verse says that Daniel will stand in his lot at the end of days. In other words Daniel will return and Prophecy once more during the end of days. I believe that Daniel is one of the two witnesses.
When Jesus was no the cross He told the thief that he would be with Jesus in Paradise.
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
So the question is "Where is Paradise located?" According to Paul Christ first descended down into the lower parts of the earth.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
So this verse is telling us that the location of Paradise is in the lower parts of the earth.
We need to remember that when the NT was written it focused Jewish customs and beliefs. The Jewish belief was that Paradise was that part of Hades was the abode of the souls of the pious until Resurrection day. This means that the Jewish people believed that when we are saved and we die we do not go to heaven but actually stay in Paradise until Christ returns to raise us from the grave.
Hence the parable about the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus who was saved and who embraced the Gospel died and was carried away by angels to the Bosom of Abraham which is also known as Paradise.
Here is a question I like to ask folks, If when we die our body goes back to the dust from which it came from.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
What is the rich man doing roasting in hell with eyeballs and a tongue???
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;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
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. The body of the rich man stayed in the grave where it turned back into the dust from which it came, but the soul of the rich man could feel all of the pain and torments just as though he still had a body of flesh
If when we die our body turns back to the dust, how could the rich man have had eyeballs and a tongue and how could he feel heat and torments???
The answer is that if when we die we are in Christ we do not go to heaven. We go to Pardise/The Bosom of Abraham just like Lazarus, the thief and Christ did before He was raised from the grave by God. And we sleep in Paradise until the Resurrection DAY. If we are unrepentant like the rich man was we go immediatly to Gehenna which was where the rich man was placed after his death. Our bodies die and rot but our souls live on to suffer pain and torments or we are comforted just as Lazrus was.
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