The dead are spoken of as sleeping, in both the old, and new testaments. Why would anyone burning in hell, or suffering in torments, or in heaven in the presence of God, be referred to as asleep?
Deut 31:16
16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt
sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Speaking to David, the Lord said-
2 Sam 7:12
12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou
shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
IKing 1:21
21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord
the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
Job 7:21
21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?
for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
Job 14:10-12
10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more,
they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
Ps 13:3
3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes,
lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Jer 51:39
39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice,
and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:57
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men:
and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
IKing 2:10
10
So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
IKing 11:43
43
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
IKing 14:20
20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years:
and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
IKing 14:31
31
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
IKing 15:8
8
And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
Dan 12:2
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.
Matt 9:24
24 He said unto them, Give place:
for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
Mark 5:39
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.
John 11:11-14
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.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead.
Acts 7:60
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this,
he fell asleep.
1 Cor 15:51-52
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Thes 4:13-16
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep.
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:
2 Pet 3:4
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Matt 27:52-53
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the
saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
The dead before and after Christ, are referred to as sleeping. What good would it do to go and preach to a bunch of sleeping people? When one preaches to people that are sleeping in their congregation, they know that they did not get their message across.
Speaking of which, I think I'll go to bed.
Bye for now. Y. b. in C. Keith
