sleeping and falling asleep

The characteristic metaphor in the Bible for death is undoubtedly sleep. Throughout the entire Bible, this image is used more than seventy times to describe the condition of the dead. Why is that?

First of all, sleep—just like death—is only temporary. A person sleeps in order to awaken and rise again after a period of time. Analogously, Scripture teaches that the dead are sleeping, until the moment they are awakened and rise (cf. Ephesians 5:14).

Secondly, the one who sleeps is completely unaware of their surroundings. Whoever sleeps sees nothing, hears nothing, and perceives nothing (cf. 1 Samuel 26:12). Paul also describes it this way when he metaphorically (!) says of Israel that it is sleeping (Romans 11:8). That a person regularly dreams during sleep may be true, but this plays no role in the metaphor anywhere in the Bible. If one still wishes to draw a conclusion from the phenomenon of dreaming, then one would have to say that the dead merely experience a virtual reality. The point, however, is that not the dream, but the sleep is the image of death.

Furthermore, it is important to note that the Bible never says that the body sleeps, but the person themselves. Jesus did not say: Lazarus’ body is sleeping. No, He said: “Lazarus has fallen asleep.”

It is also highly significant that when Jesus raises Lazarus (and several others) from the sleep of death, we hear nothing of disappointment from the former dead because they were called back from a glorious place. Not a single word about wondrous experiences during their being dead. None of that! Why not? The simple answer is: these people were sleeping, and therefore they saw nothing, heard nothing, and perceived nothing.

In short, the universal biblical image of sleep is a magnificent illustration and confirmation of the word in Ecclesiastes: “the dead know nothing.”

Delen: