The Intermediate State

WHEN Jacob mourned the loss of Joseph he said, "For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning" (Gen 37:35). The Hebrew for "grave" is sheol, translated "hell" 31 times, and equivalent to the Greek word hades. Jacob did not mean a hole in the ground, for he thought his son devoured by animals, nor could he consider him to be in the hell of the damned. This first use of sheol gives us a clue to its meaning, namely, the place of departed spirits. The word "hell" in the New Testament is a translation of three Greek words — hades, the temporary place of departed spirits; gehenna, the eternal hell, the everlasting prison-house of the impenitent wicked; and tartarus (2 Peter 2:4). From the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), we gather that hades was a place of two compartments, and, comparing Luke 23:43 and 2 Peter 2:4 it appears that the upper was called Paradise and the lower Tartarus. Between them is an uncrossable gulf. The upper region brings comfort, the lower torment. This discrimination between good and evil men implies a judgement. May not this be the judgement that follows death, as stated in Hebrews 9:27?

But Paul speaks of paradise above, and calls it "the third heaven" (2 Cor 12:2,4); this is "the Paradise of God" (Rev 2:7). What has happened? When our Lord rose from the dead He "spoiled principalities and powers" (Col 2:15) and "led captivity captive" in His ascension (Eph 4:8, Psalm 68:18), taking "the prisoners of hope" (Job 3:17,118, Zech 9:12) from Hades to Heaven. The souls of the righteous are "before the Throne of God" in praiseful fellowship with each other and with Christ (Rev 7:9,10). Paul's experience in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, traced back 14 years from AD60 to AD46 leads us back to Lystra (Acts 14:19) where his lifeless body was dragged out of the city, but his spirit was in Heaven, where he heard "unspeakable words". Dr J.H.Bernard comments in The Expositor's Greek Testament,

"The words distinctly indicate St Paul's belief that perception is possible for a disembodied spirit".

But it was an ineffable experience—too much for repetition.

The Intermediate State is a state of rest (Rev 14:13): a release from the toils of earthly life until the final settling of our place in the eternal purpose of God.

The Intermediate State is a time of waiting. See how the Lord quiets the impatience of newly departed souls: they are to "rest for a little season" (Rev 6:11). The short time is eti chronon _ but Heaven's chronology is different from ours.

The Intermediate State is a time of less-than-perfection, there is still more to happen. "That which is perfect" (1 Cor 13:10) can only speak of "the spirits of just men made perfect". God's grand purpose for us is that we may be "glorified" (Rom 8:30), a term which applies to the whole man. Our souls are now being "changed from glory to glory" into the image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18); our spirits will be glorified at death, perfected to function in spiritual apprehension; at the Second Advent our bodies will be glorified (Phil 3:21) to enable us to enjoy eternal life in its fullness as a complete human being — body, soul and spirit (I Thess 5:23). Of the departed, Alford says: "their spirits are perfect…. but awaiting only for bodily perfection also".

Here arises an interesting question.
2 Corinthians 5:2-4 speaks of death as the disrobing of the soul, yet in Revelation 3:5, 6:11 & 7:9,13 we read of departed saints as being "clothed in white raiment". The answer may be that there is an inner clothing of the soul, which renders it a visible identifiable entity in realms supernal. The word "naked" in Scripture can mean "lightly clad". David danced before the Lord "girded with a linen ephod". His wife looked upon this as a state of undress (2 Sam 6:14,20). See also 1 Cor 4:11 and James 2:15, where gymnos "naked" means "without an outer garment, without which a decent person did not appear in public" (Arndt and Gingrich). This inner garment is the human spirit quickened at death to provide an acceptable, but not final, covering of the soul; an undergarment over which the beauty of the glorified body will finally adorn the redeemed of the Lord. It appears then that corporeality and spirituality may exist in the same personality. Van Oosterzee puts it: "The departed spirit shapes and forms for itself a body" (Christian Dogmatics, p779). Delitzsch, in his System of Biblical Psychology, quotes Macarius:

"As the angels have form and likeness, and as the outward man has a definite external appearance, thus also the inner man has an angel-like form, and on the other hand, a form like to the outer man" p503.

Jesus spoke of resurrection-man as being "equal unto the angels" Luke 20:36, where the Greek isangelos implies similarity in nature, in form and in degree of status. Delitzsch gives his own view thus:

"The white robes promised by Christ to those who overcome temporarily supply the place to them of the glorification of their bodies"(p520). May we not draw a distinction between sarx and soma? Sarx is the body of flesh, the outward man, the physical structure that clothes the soul; soma is the true body, the organising principle that links flesh with life, that directs the processes of physical existence, the formative element that gives DNA its pattern. The soma, coming from God, is permanent; the sarx is perishable. In the Intermediate State the soma is manifest as giving the soul ontological identity — a visible, audible, recognisable entity.

The Intermediate State is a state of development. While the ungodly dead exist in earth-bound passions and concepts (Luke 16:24,27), the godly grow in appreciation of God. The word "perfect" in Hebrews 12:23 contains the idea of spiritual faculties quickened to enable the soul to "apprehend that for which they were apprehended" by Christ (Phil 3:12). Being in Paradise suggests bliss beyond all earthly understanding.

Speaking of development, what of those who die as babies? A baby will mature in spirit, and rise with a mature body. A Christian mother may not again cuddle the baby she knew, but she will recognise in the perfected being the offspring of her womb and be happy. What of the mentally retarded? They will experience the growing delight of emergent intelligence, of light and sanity breaking in on their darkness. The atoning death of Christ will cover all whose physical or mental condition deprived them of responsible judgement. God's mercy is as wide as the universe and as long as eternity.

To sum up, the Intermediate state of the blessed will be a state of self-conscious existence, of recognisable identity, of corporeal visibility, of sensible audibility, of intelligent communication, of rest from earthly toil, of progressive development and of patient waiting for fulfilment.

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Appeared in Issue June -- 1999
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3