The Intermediate State of the Believer and the Garden of God
This topic became very personal to me in 2020 when my 18-year-old daughter went to be with the Lord. The trauma of her chronic life-long illness and her subsequent passing broke me emotionally, wore me down physically, and has forever shaped me, for better or worse. She passed away close to midnight in our home while undergoing Hospice care. Once her physical remains were taken, I remember feeling so exhausted that I fell onto a pull-out couch and slept heavily for many hours. The next night, I had anxiety and couldn’t sleep. Every night for many years (other than nights in the hospital) I cared for Hannah’s medical needs. It was a routine that stretched me in many ways. There were times I didn’t feel like doing it, but it was always an honor and labor of love to care for her. Once she passed into the care of our Lord, I was not sure what to do with my time and excess nervous energy. This led to insomnia and anxiety.
I began to obsess with thoughts about Hannah’s current state. Where was she?[1] Was heaven a place in another dimension? What was her perception of time? Was she fully conscious? Did she go through a period of regret for things left undone on earth? Does she have an intermediate body? Is it possible that she is experiencing a more profound counterpart to her earthly love of nature? Is she able to eat or drink? Can she sing or dance? Are these just silly questions that have no earthly answer?
My first instinct was to revisit and dig deeper, studying all the Scriptures that dealt with this subject. Most of the references to the afterlife deal with the resurrection or life after the resurrection. As far as I can tell, our bodily resurrection is much later on the eschatological timeline. This is alluded to when Martha said to Jesus (concerning her brother Lazarus), “I know he’ll rise at the resurrection at the last day.” Both Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles talk about a resurrection of the dead. The New Testament speaks in connection with “the last trumpet.” Of course, we are looking at this from a different perspective than we will later, but it seems that there will be some sort of chronological gap between our physical passing on this earth and a future bodily resurrection.
A good place to start is with the concept that once we become Christians, we have eternal life.
“He that believeth in Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).
It is not some future reality to be grasped. It is now. Our spirits awaken within. Our lives begin to change as evidence. Logically, it does not make sense that we would enter into a state that some refer to as “soul sleep” for eons of time until the resurrection. Yet, there are enough people that hold to this view, that it is worth a closer look.
Soul Sleep
Many Jews believe in this doctrine; some Christians do as well. I have a good friend that does. In fact, he lent me a book on the topic and somehow, I lost it, but not before reading it (sorry, Joe). I also did more research on the topic over the years. Here are a few key passages to which proponents of soul sleep refer:
“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7).
“The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence” (Ps. 115:17).
“For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise (Ps. 6:5)?
“When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish” (Ps. 146:4).[2]
There are a few other passages with similar statements. Without giving a proper exegetical treatment of these passages, it would be difficult to justify dismissing them as not meaning what they seem to say, but it is not within the scope of this paper to treat each of these references as such. Rather, I wanted to make the reader aware that this is a position held by some believers, and that this position is not without some biblical support. In short, while there are passages in Scripture, that seem to support soul sleep before the resurrection, the New Testament clearly teaches something else.
If Christians who hold to this position are correct, it should not be a major cause of concern. From the perspective of a believer, she would go to sleep and wake up with a new body. There would be no remembrance of the interim period; one would pass through a dreamless sleep and awake more refreshed than ever. If soul sleep is the reality of the intermediate state, the soul rests in the hands of an almighty, all-wise, loving God who has promised to raise it anew in the future.
It has also been suggested that this was similar to the reality of those who died before the resurrection and/or ascension of Christ. Could that be implied in Jesus’ statement: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (Jn. 3:13)?[3] This passage does not support soul sleep; it is saying something about the unique nature of Christ. Even if the case can be made before the ascension of Jesus, this would no longer apply to the New Testament believer (John 20:17; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9; Eph. 4:7-10).
Despite the fact that there are some people who find biblical support for soul sleep, the weight of biblical evidence points elsewhere. While the purpose of this paper is not to refute every argument in favor of soul sleep, it will present a brief thesis that the New Testament use of the term "Paradise" points to the view that many second temple Jews and early Christians believed that they would be conscious after physical death.
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 is informative.[4] Here, Jesus paints a picture of the place of the dead having a compartment referred to as Abraham’s bosom in which the poor man, who died justified, was conscious and in a state of comfort. This would imply a conscious state, even if the story is to be interpreted as a parable.
Another passage that points to a conscious awareness of the redeemed even before the ascension is found in the statement that Jesus made to the thief on the cross. Jesus told him, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). While there is nothing stated here that depicts a fully conscious state, Jesus meant this as a comforting promise to the man who was suffering near him. He also used the word, “Paradise,” which in itself had comforting connotations. This term only appears two other times in the New Testament, both of which refer to a heavenly realm of conscious existence (2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7). We shall look at them both.
Etymology and Biblical Usage of Paradise
“Paradise” is a term with a rich and ancient history. It is one of those terms, used once each by Jesus, Paul, and John, that needed no explanation to their respective Jewish or Greek audiences. It is believed to have roots in an old Iranian form, going back many centuries before the time of Christ. It literally meant “walled enclosure.” Later, by the 6th century B.C., the First Persian Empire used the term “pardesu” to describe their large walled gardens. The term found its way into many other languages. In Greek, the term was used as a “park for animals” by Xenophon around 400 B.C. in Anabasis.
Hebrew usage is limited, yet relevant. The Hebrew term “pardes” is found in Song of Solomon 4:13, Ecclesiastes 2:5, and Nehemiah 2:8. The Nehemiah passage related to rebuilding the city and walls of Jerusalem. The Ecclesiastes usage referred to gardens. In the Song of Solomon the term is used as a metaphorical garden in this love poem. The Greek Septuagint used the term “παράδεισος” (paradeisos) to translate the Hebrew term “pardes” as well as the term “gan” which we translate in English as “garden.” The term “παράδεισος” is used in the Genesis account as well as Ezekiel looking back to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8 and Ez. 18:13).
The Hebrew and Aramaic scholar, Chaim Bentorah, has intriguing insight on this term. He wrote,
"The Aramaic word is pardaisa, which is the same as the Greek, meaning “a walled garden.” The Persian root is pard which means to separate or flee. It is a root word used in modern Semitic languages for atomic particles which separate to form matter. . . . it would be a word for apeiron, which in first century scientific thought was the primal principle of all matter. It was an attempt by ancient scientist(s) who rejected the supernatural and sought to find an origin of matter. With the education that Paul had he would have been exposed to the Greek principle of apeiron and probably used the word pardaisa to explain a place where all things of the physical world originated."
Dr. Bentorah is laying the groundwork for his discussion of the passage by Paul in 2 Corinthian 12. This is where Paul writes about his experience when he was caught up to Paradise. Here, Paul talks about being caught up, whether in the body or out of the body, he could not tell. He wrote of things that he experienced, but really was at a loss for words. Interestingly, he chose to use the word “Paradise” here to describe where he went. It is the only time Paul uses this word in his letters to the churches. Paul’s education of the Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as contemporary Greek thought, would have certainly informed his understanding of this term. Not only was Paul informed, but he also would have been sensitive to the fact that his Greco-Roman audience would also know this term. Providing cultural background of Corinth, Bentorah writes,
"Originally a Greek city, it was soon conquered by Julius Caesar 100 BC to 46 BC. When the Romans took over it was ruled by a people of fine education who created a cultural center of sorts. It would make sense that Paul would appeal to their classical education which would include the science of that day and the knowledge of apeiron to speak about heaven, only he would use the word paradeison, which would be recognized by this scientific people."
He heard unspeakable words. In the Aramaic this is melatha la which literally means “no words.” He heard no words. The word for unlawful is shalat which literally means “given” or “to handle power or authority.” The emphasis is on the word “handle” and would read “to handle authority or power” but with the word “la” it would literally read “too much power to handle.” In Aramaic it would read that he heard no words which were not too powerful to handle. Literally, what he saw and heard was beyond his ability to handle or communicate."
Dr. Bentorah’s insight on the ancient use of this term takes me to more recent theories of higher dimensions in contemporary physics. Paul was using a term that the Greeks would have viewed cosmologically—a place from which matter originated. It was viewed as another realm—one beyond time and space (to use contemporary scientific jargon). This usage would fit in with Paul’s frequent references to the “heavenly realm” in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul had an experience that allowed him to see the other side, only he could not adequately use words to describe this experience that would carry clear meaning to his audience.
I have often wished that Paul would have told us more about Paradise or Heaven.
Perhaps it is better that Paul could not fill in more details. We are living by faith. Paul has given us enough information to give us an idea—that paradise is very different than our current experience. It is quite literally, “next level stuff.” Paul does not mean to cause anxiety to his readers. He is simply asserting his authority to a group of Corinthian believers that were easily led astray. His authority was primarily in Christ, who set him apart as an apostle to the Gentiles. Yet, this experience, in which he was caught up to Paradise would leave a lasting impact on his life and teachings. His perspective was forever changed.
Speaking of “next level stuff,” we observe that Paul equates Paradise with “the third heaven” (12:2). The third heaven is viewed by most theologians as the dwelling place of God. He was not particularly aware of whether he was in his body or not. His experience was different, but not so different that he felt disembodied or without substance. Paul had thoughts; he had memories of this experience. He heard things. He must have seen things. Earlier in this same letter, in reference to the temporary earthly dwelling of our bodies being destroyed in death, Paul said that he would rather be absent from this body and present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:1-8). We can clearly conclude that Paul did not enter into soul sleep when he crossed over. In fact, he experienced something he knew to be far superior to his earthly existence.[5]
More than any other New Testament writer, other than the apostle John, Paul had reason to tell us that what awaits the believer at the time of physical death is far greater than what we experience now. The intermediate state is a place in which we can conclude that believers in Christ are conscious and experiencing things on a higher level than what we experience on this side of death.
We also know that they are with the Lord. Paul preferred to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, saw the Lord Jesus, just before he was stoned to death (Acts 7). The thief on the cross was told by Jesus himself. “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
It is not a stretch for any of us to conclude, biblically speaking, that when we die, we will be with the Lord, fully awake, and experiencing things that far exceed our current experience.
Other Considerations:
As stated earlier, eternal life begins when we become Christians. Paul said, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17a).
Likewise, Jesus said, “He that believeth in Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).
It is not some future reality to be grasped. It is now. Our spirits awaken within. Our lives begin to change as evidence. Logically, it does not make sense that after eternal life begins, we would enter into a state that some refer to as “soul sleep” for eons of time until the resurrection.
The spirit of the Christian living in his body is already redeemed. While salvation is not complete until the believer is raised with a new body, the guarantee is secured. The spirit is alive. Upon physical death, the spirit continues to live. “He that has the son has eternal life” (John 13:36a).[6] Eternal life belongs to the redeemed. It has already begun. The resurrection of the body is future; the new life given to the spirit is now. We will not enter a period of lifeless sleep when we pass from this life to the next.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
A closer look at this passage provides us with a bit more insight about what the intermediate state will be like. Will we have disembodied spirits? Will we be conscious? Let’s take a look.
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (ESV).
Some have taken this passage to imply that we will be floating around as disembodied spirits. This sounds a bit scary to me. There is nothing in this passage that indicates a disembodied spirit. In fact, verse 1 states that when this earthly body is destroyed, we have (not “will” have) an eternal house (body) in the heavens. The emphasis is on the improved state of being “further clothed” (4). It seems that the referent for “naked” in verse three is the earthly tent (in contrast with the heavenly house). This points to the likelihood of an intermediate body. Perhaps it is some sort of spiritual body that will be more than adequate to house our needs. Could this be what Paul alludes to in 1 Corinthians 15:40 when he contrasts heavenly bodies with earthly bodies?
Paul means to give us courage (6, 8), not fear. While we walk by faith now, when we leave this body, we will walk by sight (7). When we leave this mortal body, we will be at home with the Lord. Paul said, “we” would rather be in this state with the Lord than in our current state in this physical body. When we are away (now), we can please the Lord. When we are at home (when we die), we can please the Lord (9). There is continuity of existence and service to God. There will be a coming judgment regarding how we lived our lives in this body (10). At the very least, Paul considers what is immediately next to be an improved state of existence. Whether this comes with a physical body or not in the short-term is not as important as the comfort of being alive and awake with the Lord.
Luke 20:37, 38
In a conversation with the Sadducees, who denied a literal resurrection, Jesus said,
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”
Here, Jesus references Exodus 3:6, 15, and interprets it for us. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive. The Lord is God of the living, not the dead. It is interesting to read about the deaths of these saints of old.
When Isaac died, the Bible states, “He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people” (Gen. 35:29 BHSV).
Before Jacob died, he said, “I am about to be gathered to my people.” While the bones of some of these patriarchs shared a common grave, not all of them did. Yet, they went to be with their people. Jesus’ words support this interpretation when he declared that the Lord is God of the living, not the dead. All those passages in the Old Testament that seem to refer to soul sleep must also be interpreted in light of how Jesus interprets Exodus 3.
Revelation 2:7
The third use of the term “Paradise” is found in Revelation in the letter to the church at Ephesus:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Rev 2:7).
This passage is of interest for the fact that it mentions that the tree of life dwells in the midst of the paradise of God. We see the tree of life in the first and last parts of the Bible. The first is in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were forced out of the garden after they sinned so that they would not have access to the tree of life. Once we leave these mortal bodies, we will have access to the tree of life in the garden of God. It is not one singular tree, but many trees lining the river and street of the city of God:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:1-3).
The beauty of this passage and the verses that follow is breathtaking. If Eden was a real place, then so is Paradise, which is the Garden of Heaven. We might even say it is equivalent to Heaven from our perspective. It is where God dwells, the Father’s house. It is the place the Lord has prepared for us (John 14:1-3). It is not an abstract, esoteric place; it is where we go to live with God when we die.
One can try to allegorize or in some way mythologize these trees and their fruit, but once you begin down this road, you are on slippery footing. There could be hundreds of interpretations leading to pointless speculation. These trees are real--more substantial or lasting than the trees of this earth that are susceptible to disease, decay, and death. Their fruit and leaves will be better for us than any fruit or vegetable in this lifetime.
Are the fruit trees just growing for the purpose of being enjoyed after the resurrection at which time we are clothed with our permanent and glorified bodies? Perhaps. If so, the faithful at Ephesus must still be waiting for their promised reward. However, I see no reason either scripturally or theologically that the fruit trees and all other sensory pleasures of heaven (remember the sounds that Paul could not describe?) will be reserved for our new bodies.
This should not make us feel uncomfortable. Rid yourselves of the Platonic idea that matter is evil or inferior to that which is immaterial. While it is true that sin has made this world a miserable place in some ways, keep in mind that the Christian view is that evil originated in the spirit realm. God created our bodies for this earth and earth for our bodies. Our heavenly bodies, whatever substance they may be, will be no less real than the ones with which we are currently clothed.
In summary and conclusion, I believe that the Bible posits a clear message about the intermediate state—those who belong to Christ will be alive and well at the point of physical death. We will be alive with the patriarchs, with Paul, with John, with the redeemed thief on the cross, with the members of the church at Ephesus, and with the rest of the redeemed in Christ that have departed from their earthly tents in exchange for a heavenly house made by God. We do not know the exact nature of this post-physical death, pre-resurrection body. We may look forward to a better day, resurrection day, when we will receive our permanent, glorified bodies. These are the bodies that will be like that of the risen Lord Jesus (1 John 3:2, 3).
There is no reason for anxiety or fear concerning the intermediate state of the believer. Paul wanted to give us courage. The Lord wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to be encouraged. While my daughter Hannah is no longer mine to care for and protect, I should rest easy believing that she is in the hands of One who can love, protect, and provide in ways that make my efforts resemble a child with a teddy bear or doll. Knowing that does not make the situation more tolerable in terms of how much I miss her. It is a deep hurt. However, I understand what it means to sorrow with hope and to rest in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. One day, I will see her again. Until then, she is in perfect peace, perhaps wandering around the garden of God, admiring its beauty, tasting its fruit, and worshipping its Creator.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]Hannah was a Christian. She believed in God from the time she was a child. I had the honor of baptizing her when she was fairly young. It was something that she wanted in response to her faith in Christ. She had told me once not long before she passed that she knew she wasn’t good enough to get to heaven on her own merit. She was trusting Jesus. Hannah’s faith was never really deep. She didn’t read the Bible much, although she did read some. I would describe her faith as child-like to the end. She was concerned about the fate of some of her non-Christian friends and even wrote some of them letters to be given to them after she passed. While she was in Hospice care, she listened to Scripture online, played hymns and praise songs on a streaming service, and listened to me as I played songs by her bedside.
[2]For those who reject the idea of soul sleep for the believer, as I do, these passages are not ignored. Rather they are taken in their immediate context as well as the context of all Scripture. These passages, in their respective contexts, are sometimes written as poetic statements from a human perspective with an emphasis on doing what we can in this lifetime. Furthermore, revelation is progressive. While there is not conflict between newer and older revelation, the New Testament tells us more about the Messiah, salvation, and the afterlife (and many other topics), than we find in the Old Testament. Even if some sects of Judaism held to a position of soul sleep, not all did, nor do all today. Lastly, there are passage in the Old Testament that would hint at a conscious state with God even before any potential resurrection. Rather than listing proof texts, I recommend doing your own research and study. I found a site that might be a good starting point with helpful references. I am not endorsing everything on this site: Conscious life after death proven from the Bible
[3]There are different theories about this verse. One relates to the idea that souls went to be with God, but not into the very realm of heaven itself. The context hints at something different. Jesus is talking about his authority as a teacher. He points out that Nicodemus is having trouble believing earthly things. Then, he contrasts how much more difficult it is to believe heavenly things. That is when he makes the statement in question. It seems that Jesus is making the point that he has both ascended into heaven and descended from heaven in a unique sense. He declares himself to be the Son of Man—a title that has both connotations of his humanity as well as Messiahship. Then Jesus uses a different illustration of lifting up—as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so will the Son of Man be lifted up. Finally, before moving on to John 3:16 he declares that His purpose in ascending and descending is to grant those who believe in him eternal life.
There were others who died before that went to be with the Lord. There were also those, like Enoch and Elijah, who were taken, but did not die. We can assert that no human has ascended or descended into the highest heavens in the same sense that the Creator Himself has experienced. Jesus was asserting his authority on both earthly and heavenly teachings. This verse should not be used as a proof text for any peripheral doctrine about the afterlife when that is clearly not the point that Jesus is making with Nicodemus.
[4]Not everyone sees this as a parable, primarily because of the actual names given in this parable (which does not occur with Jesus’ other parables). However, the weight of evidence tips the scale, in my mind, to the idea that this is not only a parable, but one of Jesus’ profound and intricately woven parables of all. See my article The Rich Man in Hell | QuestionReality .
[5] When recounting this experience, he referenced that it occurred about 14 years before the time of the writing of 2 Corinthians. This timeline fits roughly with an experience that Paul had that is recorded in Acts 14:19, 20. This was during Paul’s 1nd missionary journey, between 44 and 46 A.D. Paul is stoned to death (or at least his persecutors believed he was dead). He was at least unconscious and was dragged out of the city. Then the text reads, “After his disciples surrounded him, he got up.” No doubt, the disciples would have prayed over him. Whether Paul was dead, or nearly died, is of little importance. It is not even essential to peg Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians 12 with this event, but it is an interesting possibility.
[6]See also John 4:14, 5:24, 6:47, 6:54, 10:28, 17:3; 1 John 5:2-13.
