Genesis 2:7
God breathed into man and he became a living soul. Dust of the ground with the breath of God = a living soul. When we die our bodies return to dust and the breath of life returns to God and we sleep/not conscience until the resurrection.
This concept is not absurd at all it's what the Bible teaches. Take it up with Jesus as he is the one who referred to death as a sleep.
Absurd? The Bible teaches sleep in reference to the body only. If you include the other scriptures demonstrating that spirits are conscious and aware after death, then the conclusion can only be that sleep is in reference to the body only. Regarding this, consider the following:
"Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Since Jesus and the thief both died that very day, how could Jesus promise the thief that He would be with him in paradise that same day? The answer is that, Jesus was speaking about the departure of their spirits at the time of death and going to the same place of comfort/paradise in Hades where Abraham and Lazarus were. One could hardly experience paradise if the spirit is sleeping/unconscious. Below is another example:
"Suddenly two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with Jesus. They appeared in glory and spoke about His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."
Though Elijah never physically died, Moses certainly did, yet both Moses and Elijah appeared and were speaking with Jesus about His departure. You can't have a conversation with the Lord if you're sleeping. Here's another:
"When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until
the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
Right in the first verse, it is stated that those under the altar had been killed by those on the earth. It is their souls/spirits that are revealed to be under the altar in heaven. They are having a conversation with the Lord and are given white robes to wear. Once again, you would have to be conscious and aware in order to have this taking place.
Revelation 5:2-3 - “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ But no one in heaven, or on earth or
under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.”
Revelation 5:13: - Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and
under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
In the both scriptures above, you have those mentioned "Under the earth" which is referring to those in Hades. It would be hard for those in Hades to sing if they were sleeping, not to mention the fact that Hades always refers to the place of departed spirits. Likewise, the angel is asking "who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll." It would make no sense to mention those "under the earth" as not being worthy to open the scroll if in fact they are sleeping, simply because they would not be conscious to do so.
In order to come to any Biblical conclusion, all scripture's must be considered. The error is that, because you and others just camp out on the reference to "sleeping," applying it to both the body and the spirit, you ignore the other scriptures which demonstrate conscious awareness of the spirit after death, and/or create an apologetic to explain away those scriptures.
The rich man and Lazarus is a good example of adopting or creating an apologetic in order to distort its literal meaning. And that because it completely destroys the idea of soul-sleep and annihilation. Therefore, the need to get rid of it's literal meaning.
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