In ancient societies the idea of life after death was seen as a shadowy continuation of life on earth.

As the Elysian Fields was such a place of reward for the righteous dead. The islands of the blessed were reached only by the favorites of the gods.

The Elysian Fields in Greek mythology, was a type of paradise, a place of perfect peace and happiness. Where the righteous dead are free to pursue their favorite activities, free of worry and illness. A place to dwell forever, with grass, trees, gentle breezes and enveloped in rose tinted, perpetual light.. A few of the key elements are missing, but sounds very similar to the popular idea of heaven.

The general belief of Christians is that the souls of the just go immediately to heaven at the time of death.

The idea of going to heaven is not based on scripture. It seems to be like many of our beliefs that have been handed down from generation to generation, come to us from the ancient pagans of long ago. Though I am not sure where the idea of sitting on a cloud, and playing a harp for all eternity comes from. It is not possible to find scriptures in your Bible showing heaven as the reward of the saved, because the verses simply do not exist.

(But if the promise is not heaven, what do you think it is?)

Gen 13:15 “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.”

Gen 12:5-7 ”And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said. Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.”

Matt 5:5 “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”

Rev 20:1-4 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

Rev 5:10 “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.”

John 3:13 “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

(Seems to say that God is coming to this earth and that is where we will reign with him)

( Instead of us going to heaven the Bible speaks of the first resurrection to take place at the time of Christ’s return, when His kingdom will be set up on this earth!)

I Cor 15: is the resurrection chapter

I Cor 15:20 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

(So if Christ was the first to be resurrected then the parable of the rich man and Lazarus has to be set in the future, because Abraham could not be in the Kingdom of Heaven yet.)

Rom 8:29 “…firstborn among many brethren”

I Cor 15:52-55 “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 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ O death where is the sting? O grave, where is they victory.”

I Thes 4:13-17 “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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. 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. 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. 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.”

Eccl 3:19-20 “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they all have one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.”

Job 14:13 “O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave…that thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me.”

Job 14:14-15 “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

(The grave is a waiting place and God will call the dead from the grave, so says Job, in your Bible)

Jesus said John 5:23-29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in 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.”

(Both good and evil are shown as being in their graves, unconscious of the passing of time. They await the time when they will hear the voice of God. FUTURE TIME. They are neither in heaven or in an ever burning hell. They are dead and in their graves.)

Paul said Acts 23:14-15 “…I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets, having a hope in God which these themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”
(will be= future)

Dan 12:2[time of the end] “….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.”

(The dead lie in their graves, oblivious, until a time of the resurrection. There would be no need of a resurrection at all if the dead went immediately to heaven or hell at death)

I Cor 15:22-23 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

(Jesus is the firstfruits, so no-one has preceeded him. Noah, Adam, Abraham, Job, Daniel or David have not gone to heaven.)

Ps 146:4 “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish”

Ps 6:5 “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”

Eccl 9:5 “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they anymore a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”

Heb 11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated [Greek=metatithemi] that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” [Metatithem means carried over-removed]

(Evidently Enoch was removed because he was testifying for God and someone wanted to kill him for doing so. God removed him to another place, on this earth so that he could not be found by those who were looking for him)

(In Hebrews 11 it speaks of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Barach, Sampson, David, Samuel and others.) Heb 11:13 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off…”

Heb 11:39 “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.”

II Kings 2:11 “….it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and part them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

(Elijah did not die and go to heaven. What Elisha saw, was a miracle from God- of Elijah being taken up into the air and out of Elisha’s sight! Several years later Jehoram received a letter from Elijah.)

II Chron 21:12-15 “And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, ‘Thus saith the Eternal God of David the father, “Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehosaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of the father’s house, which were better than thyself; Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children and thy wives, and, all thy goods. And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.”

(It was a vision)

Matt 16:28 “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

(All of the apostles died without seeing Christ come in His kingdom! But three of them did see this six days later in vision. They saw Moses, Elijah, and Christ as if they were spirit beings, already in God’s Kingdom.)

Matt 17:9 “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the VISION to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.”

(Even Jesus said that this was merely a vision)

Luke 16:19-31 “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously everyday: And there was a certain beggar names Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died and was buried, And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar all, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said. Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said. Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

(A parable is an analogy- which could even be a fable, just as long as it is used to illustrate the truth.)

(Like all the patriarchs Abraham is awaiting in his grave the return of Christ and the resurrection. So this can’t be already happening now, or have happened in the past.)

Heb 11:13 “These all died in faith, NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES.”

I COR 15:22-23 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming”

(Lazarus also will not be resurrected until Christ returns.)

(The rest of the dead do not live again until the thousand year reign of Christ on this earth is finished. So the rich man will not be resurrected until the thousand years are completed.)

Rev 20:5 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished….”

(At the end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ there is to be a great general resurrection. The rest of the dead are all human beings who were never converted. They are the majority of mankind.)

Rev 20:11-12 “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

(The span of this parable is over many years. This parable was not given to show actual happenings, but rather a warning dealing with love and compassion, giving, and helping, when a brother is in need.)