(Continued from page 22.)

Chapter X. The Portion of the Just and of the Wicked in Sheol

If now we accept the fact-abundantly made evident in the Old Testament, as we have seen- that death does not end all; that at death men enter on another condition of conscious existence, an interesting and important question naturally arises:What is the difference between the portion of the righteous and of the wicked in the place of departed spirits ?

In answering this question we must remember that the Old Testament does not give the full light of the New, yet here and there we find statements which hint at what is the portion of the dead. We must also remember that the Old Testament treats of man's spirit as that which constitutes him a self-conscious, intelligent being. This is implied, and indeed involved, in being created in the image of God. As Proverbs 20:27 expresses it, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." And since our spirit is a conscious spirit in us now, it is but natural that it remain so in the time of separation from the body, with memory, realization of sin and guilt, and responsibility to God.

If, then, there has been no repentance before death, no taking refuge in the mercy of God, the spirit remains alienated from God and under His wrath in its new condition, and is sensible of it. Of those who died in faith I shall speak later; but, excepting these, there is nothing in the Old Testament to indicate that in Sheol they have not the same sense of guilt as they experienced upon earth. There is nothing whatever to militate against this inference, logically drawn from the nature and characteristics of the human spirit.

But we cannot leave it here; nor do the Old Testament Scriptures permit us to leave it here, for they contain very many allusions to Sheol. Anyone who will take pains to collect all the passages in the Old Testament referring to Sheol will find nothing to indicate that its inhabitants are in any way exposed to the temptations of Satan or to any interference by him. He may practice his delusive arts on men in this life, but not in the world of the dead. He may blind the eyes of men here, but he can do nothing there. Whatever influence he has wielded among the angels of heaven, and controls and uses those who have become evil spirits, it does not appear that access to the departed spirits of men is permitted him. When the dust returns to the dust, and the spirit to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7), it is with God it has to do, not Satan.

I think we may accept it without hesitation that when the spirit is set free from the clogs of the material and the blinding influences of Satan, it then has a greatly enhanced realization of its sin and guilt. In this life, too, the energies of the spirit are largely taken up with pursuits in which much thought and labor are necessarily expended-things ordained of God as needful for men in this present world. We need to eat and drink, to sow and reap, to plant and build-all of them needful and sinless occupations. Caring for the physical and moral welfare of families are plain duties. In all these, and many other sinless pursuits, the mind is largely absorbed; and this mental absorption, according to its intensity, affords much relief from the burden of guilt with which the conscience is oppressed. If "the expectation of the wicked is wrath" (Prov. ii:23), whether it be as to time or eternity, relief from it is found in the occupations and cares of this life.
As we have seen, the Old Testament shows that when men die they are at rest as regards all this toil and exercise. We must infer, I think, that in that state there is no relief for those who die in their sins; but a constant memory of their sin and guilt, with the sense of God's disfavor and wrath.

In this life men often plunge into sinful pleasures to drown the voice of conscience, which ever and anon reminds them of their sin and God's reprobation of it. We may affirm, from what we have seen, that the departed are not able to seek relief in this way. No indulgence in the pleasures of sin are there; no opportunity to drown the voice of conscience; no means to efface the stains of sin and of outrage done to God, from whose wrath there can be no escape since His mercy was refused.

We have also seen that the Old Testament shows that death is but temporary; that the dead are to be raised. True, it says very little about the eternal state, yet it clearly implies, as we have seen, a permanent state of existence for both the righteous and the wicked, in which the spirit will not be apart from the body. The spirits of the departed constantly anticipate this final and permanent state of existence, but it gives no solace to the wicked dead.

Whether warned or unwarned the wicked die in their iniquity (see Ezek. 3:19; 33:9, 13). Death does not end the link with sin. To be of the seed or generation of Satan is a spiritual connection, and continues after the death of the body; they are still of his face when raised. They will be raised in their iniquity-not actively engaged in sinning, of course, but dying in their iniquity they continue to be of Satan's race, and subjects of God's wrath without hope of deliverance. The reflection that they refused what would have led them to reconciliation with the God they had sinned against will only make their condition the more bitter. The justice of God in abandoning them to eternal wrath must be an element of continual torture to the wicked dead – even to those of Old Testament times.

Without any other witness, death itself testified to God's disfavor; it was the sign of His wrath. Quickly after sin came in, God announced a hope of eternal life; those who laid not hold on this hope died with no hope of deliverance after death. No intimation of any such deliverance is given anywhere in the Old Testament. It teaches a resurrection, both of the just and of the unjust, but no hope for those who laid not hold on the promise.

It is true the full reality of what comes after death is n< t declared in the Old Testament, but there are numerous hints of it. Many passages imply that the state of the wicked dead is one of distress and misery, that they are waiting for the reunion of the soul and body, and for a final and eternal recompense.

But we pass on to consider the condition of the departed righteous, as set forth in the Old Testament. It is certain that those who embraced the hope of eternal life, which God announced with the promised woman's Seed, did not die in despair. They did not lose their hope when they died, clearly. We have seen there was sufficient light for them to know that Sheol would not be a condition of unconsciousness, and that man's spirit must necessarily carry its knowledge with it while in Sheol; the spirit evidently retains the faculty of memory.

By way of illustration we may take the case of Abel. In the acceptance of his offering he must have seen his own acceptance. In coming to God with his sacrifice he could not doubt God's acceptance of him when he saw the sacrifice accepted. He could and must have reasoned thus:Inasmuch as God has accepted me on the ground of the sacrifice I have presented, God accounts to me a righteousness which entitles me to a place of favor before His face. This surely was his confidence-the faith in which he died, to which he was a martyr.

But can we think he lost his faith when he was slain by the hand of Cain ? Could his spirit, passing into Sheol, forget the hope that his faith had laid hold of ? Ah, no. Abel in Sheol cannot be tortured or oppressed by the sense of guilt; but appreciates rather, values, and rejoices in the grace and favor of God which his soul had realized before he died.

Of course they carried into Sheol only what light God had revealed before they died. We cannot speculate on what may be given them there. We have no pronouncement on that subject in the Old Testament. But we are fully warranted in thinking of the righteous and the wicked in contrasted portions, widely separated morally from each other; the one abiding in the consciousness of divine disfavor, without hope of deliverance; the other enjoying the favor of God, waiting in confidence for a resurrection in which both soul and body will share in eternal blessedness.

As further illustrative of the contrasted portions of the just and the unjust in Sheol from Old Testament testimony, we may mention the great fathers of Israel. We have already seen that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob regarded themselves as pilgrims throughout their earthly life. They knew themselves to be the objects of divine favor; they had revelations from God which not only secured to them great earthly blessing, but implied also eternal blessedness. They died without either having been fulfilled to them. They did not die in despair and un belief. " They died in faith." They carried their hopes with them into Sheol, both earthly and heavenly.

Abraham certainly knew that God accounted him righteous (Gen. 15:6). Could he forget it in the disembodied state ? It is certain Abraham learned to believe in the resurrection. If God did not definitely declare it to him, He gave him numerous indications of it, besides all the testimony to it that came down to him from the times before him. The hopes of blessing beyond resurrection, which God had implanted in his breast while on earth, would surely be an ever-present cheer to him in the land of the departed-they could not be obliterated.

Again, Abraham and succeeding believers could have believed in the passing away of the old creation and the bringing in of a new. God certainly hinted at this in Gen. 8:22, when He said, "While the earth remaineth," or, more literally, "All the days of the earth." Faith, even in Old Testament times, could anticipate, not only the resurrection of the body, but also a final and permanent condition for creation-a new heaven and a new earth. This knowledge and hope remained with them when they died.

The conclusions we have reached, founded on divine testimony, make it unnecessary, in our judgment, to look for further testimony, so far as our present purpose is concerned. Later revelations cannot contradict, but enlarge upon, those we have contemplated. We do not say that God's children in Old Testament times conceived and realized the full reality of eternal things, but we do maintain that there is ample evidence to say there is a wide difference in the portion of those who passed from earth into Sheol; some passing to an unrelieved misery, which undoubtedly we cannot describe, but intensified by having no hope of a better portion; others, having received the revelation of God, carried with them the comfort of God's favor in which they stood as having received His word.
C. Crain

(To be continued.)