Much of what you are about to read goes against the common beliefs of most Christians. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be with you before you continue reading so you can receive "the word with all readiness of mind" (Acts 17:11) and be prepared to "follow the Lamb whithersoever" He leads you (Revelation 14:4). As Christians we desire the truth over fables so "when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). Praise our Lord!
Do you believe we will see King David in heaven? I do. Do you think he's already there? Not according to scripture. The following was spoken by Peter on the day of Pentecost which followed the crucifixion:
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens...
So David isn't in heaven yet. When will he go? Let's ask Jesus:
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
One reason for the common misconception that people go straight to heaven shortly after death is the account of the thief who was crucified and died alongside Jesus. He said to Jesus "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42) and here was Jesus' response as it's written in our English language translations:
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
People read that and presume both the thief and Jesus were in heaven before the end of the day. But there's a problem, an apparent contradiction with a what Jesus said to Mary Magdalene on the day He resurrected:
John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
See the problem? Both Jesus and the thief died on a Friday, but the following Sunday Jesus said He hadn't gone to heaven yet. So how could the thief have been with Jesus in heaven that same day? After all Luke 23:43 says "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Actually the way to reconcile this is pretty easy. The original Greek didn't have any punctuation marks so all the comma's, period's, colon's, etc in our English language bibles were added by the translators to fit our rules of grammar. A mistake in the punctuation of a verse could drastically change the meaning of it.
The following is a well-known example of punctuation changing the meaning of what was written. I found this at the following website: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-examples-of-sentences-where-punctuation-changes-the-meaning. Word for word both of these sentences are exactly the same, only the punctuation has been changed.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
A woman without her man is nothing.
Quite a difference right?
Getting back to Luke 23:43, the words in the original Greek were perfect, inspired by God. But the punctuation in English was a was a work by man, very well done but not 100% perfect. Here's the verse again with the comma moved from before to after the word "Today."
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.
In modern English it could be re-worded "Today I say to you, in time you will be with me in paradise."
This has to be the case otherwise it not only contradicts John 20:17 but also everything the bible says about the resurrection of the dead including this from statement from Paul:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Did you catch the sequence of events? Jesus returns at the Second Coming and then "the dead in Christ shall rise." After that the resurrected saints and those who were already alive at Christ's return all go to heaven together. This perfectly matches John 6:40 which I will post again here:
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Amazing that so many people think we go to heaven (or hell for that matter) at the time of death when the bible says otherwise. Lazarus' sister Martha knew the truth as demonstrated in John chapter 11. After Lazarus had been dead for four days Jesus reassured Martha her brother would rise again. Check out her response:
John 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
You know the story. Jesus resurrected Lazarus right then and there but both King David and the thief on the cross will not rise again until the resurrection at the Second Coming. In the bible there were a few exceptions of people who went to heaven early. I'll talk about that in part 2 which will follow soon. I will also talk about what it means when it says "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). It does not mean what you think it means.
Thanks for reading. God Bless.
============
Click here for Part 2
Click here for Part 3
Click here for Part 4
Do you believe we will see King David in heaven? I do. Do you think he's already there? Not according to scripture. The following was spoken by Peter on the day of Pentecost which followed the crucifixion:
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens...
So David isn't in heaven yet. When will he go? Let's ask Jesus:
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
One reason for the common misconception that people go straight to heaven shortly after death is the account of the thief who was crucified and died alongside Jesus. He said to Jesus "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42) and here was Jesus' response as it's written in our English language translations:
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
People read that and presume both the thief and Jesus were in heaven before the end of the day. But there's a problem, an apparent contradiction with a what Jesus said to Mary Magdalene on the day He resurrected:
John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
See the problem? Both Jesus and the thief died on a Friday, but the following Sunday Jesus said He hadn't gone to heaven yet. So how could the thief have been with Jesus in heaven that same day? After all Luke 23:43 says "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Actually the way to reconcile this is pretty easy. The original Greek didn't have any punctuation marks so all the comma's, period's, colon's, etc in our English language bibles were added by the translators to fit our rules of grammar. A mistake in the punctuation of a verse could drastically change the meaning of it.
The following is a well-known example of punctuation changing the meaning of what was written. I found this at the following website: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-examples-of-sentences-where-punctuation-changes-the-meaning. Word for word both of these sentences are exactly the same, only the punctuation has been changed.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
A woman without her man is nothing.
Quite a difference right?
Getting back to Luke 23:43, the words in the original Greek were perfect, inspired by God. But the punctuation in English was a was a work by man, very well done but not 100% perfect. Here's the verse again with the comma moved from before to after the word "Today."
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.
In modern English it could be re-worded "Today I say to you, in time you will be with me in paradise."
This has to be the case otherwise it not only contradicts John 20:17 but also everything the bible says about the resurrection of the dead including this from statement from Paul:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Did you catch the sequence of events? Jesus returns at the Second Coming and then "the dead in Christ shall rise." After that the resurrected saints and those who were already alive at Christ's return all go to heaven together. This perfectly matches John 6:40 which I will post again here:
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Amazing that so many people think we go to heaven (or hell for that matter) at the time of death when the bible says otherwise. Lazarus' sister Martha knew the truth as demonstrated in John chapter 11. After Lazarus had been dead for four days Jesus reassured Martha her brother would rise again. Check out her response:
John 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
You know the story. Jesus resurrected Lazarus right then and there but both King David and the thief on the cross will not rise again until the resurrection at the Second Coming. In the bible there were a few exceptions of people who went to heaven early. I'll talk about that in part 2 which will follow soon. I will also talk about what it means when it says "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). It does not mean what you think it means.
Thanks for reading. God Bless.
============
Click here for Part 2
Click here for Part 3
Click here for Part 4
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