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What does the Bible and Book of Mormon say about dead people?  Where do people go when they die?   What does the Bible say about the dead?  The dead know not anything.  “For the living know that they shall die:  but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”  (Eccles. 9: 5, 6, 10)  “And his sons come to honour him, and he knoweth not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.”  (Job 14:21) 

The dead are asleep.  “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 7:21)   “So man lieth down, and riseth not: til the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.”  (Job 14:12)  “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”  (Psalms 13:3)   “And he knelled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.  And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”  (Acts 7:60)   “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:”  (Acts 13:36)   “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep….Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished….But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept…Behold, I shew you a mystery;  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”  (1 Cor. 15: 6, 18, 20, 51)   “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.”  (1 Thess. 4:13)  

The Bible plainly teaches that the dead are not in heaven.  “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”  (John 3:13)   “Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go, ye cannot come.”  (John 8:21)   “Little children, yet a little while I am with you.  Ye shall seek me:  and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.”  (John 13: 33)   “For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand.” (Acts 2:34) 

The dead are not in hell.  “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?  They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.”  (Job 21:30)   “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” (2 Peter 2:9) 

The dead are in the grave.  “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”  (John 5:28, 29)  “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.”  (Acts 2:29) 

The grave is a place of silence, darkness, and repose.  “Why died I not from the womb?  Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?  Why did the knees prevent me?  Or why the breast that I should suck?  For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,  With kings and counselors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;  Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:  Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.  There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.  There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.  The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.” (Job 3: 11-19)   “Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;  A land of darkness, as darkness itself:  and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.”  (Job 10:21-22)   “Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?  And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?”  (Psalms 88:12)   “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might:  for there is not work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”  (Ecclesiastes 9:10) 

When a person dies immediately and unexpectedly, the spirit sleeps.  This is what happened to Apostle Marvin Ely back in 1988 in Independence, Missouri when he was calling seven new apostles for the Church of Christ -- Temple Lot.  What was the "message" for all those who know what was happening at the time?  For years the RLDS and LDS churches have operated with 15 Apostles (Quorum of 12 + First Presidency).  The 7 new apostles created 13 for this congregation.  Back in 1926 many RLDS leaders joined this "Temple Lot" congregation because the Grandson of Joseph Smith Jr. made a declaration that he was the only voice for the church, removing "common consent".  The same happened for the LDS Church in 1923 when President Heber J. Grant created a Utah Corporate Sole with supreme control over the members and the church operation.  LDS President Harold B. Lee dissolved this Utah Corporate Sole on November 19, 1973.  It seems like the Lord is in charge and uses "special witnesses" to use free agency, like Apostle Paul, Alma the Younger and others to repent and correct any errors.

Until the Second Death happens a person can live many times on this earth in the flesh so as to learn about Jesus being God, the Eternal Heavenly Father.   This is what Alma the Younger learned during a three day coma and being taught by the Lord.  A person lives several times in the flesh before the judgment day of the Lord.  “Behold, I say unto you, that there is no resurrection---or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption---until after the coming of Christ. Behold, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead. But behold, my son (sinning Corianton), the resurrection is not yet.  Now, I unfold unto you a mystery; nevertheless, there are many mysteries which are kept, that no one knoweth them save God himself.  But I show unto you one thing which I have inquired diligently of God that I might know --- that is concerning the resurrection.  Behold there is a time appointed that all shall come forth from the dead.  Now when this time cometh no one knows; but God knoweth the time which is appointed.  Now, whether there shall be one time, or a second time, or a third time, that men shall come forth from the dead, it mattereth not; for God knoweth all these things; and it sufficeth me to know that this is the case --- that there is a time appointed that all shall rise from the dead.  Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection.  And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death to the time appointed for the resurrection?  Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time is only measured unto men….”  (Alma 40:2-8)

Even before the birth and death/resurrection of Jesus Christ, the mysteries of God can be given only to the faithful about this fact of coming to this earth several times.  “…It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.  And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full….And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to the thing pertaining unto righteousness.” (Alma 12:9-10, 16)

The Angel Gabriel told the Prophet Daniel about the last days and the dead:  “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.”  (Daniel 12:2)  When Christ comes again, “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.”  (Matthew 27:52)  Baptism for those of sleep is needed because, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:14) and “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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…the sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through or Lord Jesus Christ.”  (I Corinthians 15: 51-52, 56-57)

Why does the Lord cause certain “persons” to experience a three day coma (or loss of sight) and not death?  What are they like after this experience, preserving their life with direct communication with heaven?  How many people have experienced this three day coma by the Lord?  Alma the Younger in the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 27:11-24);  Saul in the New Testament (Acts 9:3-18)  and a pure 10 year-old boy (October 29-31, 1960) was told to restore the Original Book of Mormon message that Jesus is Heavenly Father. Mormon was also called by the Lord as a 10 year-old. A type and shadow that the Lord will call ANYONE He chooses who has a pure heart. The Original Book of Mormon IS the Stone cut without hands (unaltered by man) that will fill the earth with the knowledge that Jesus Christ IS the Eternal Father and the importance of baptism, even baptism for the dead who sleep to be awakened unto God.