Ecclesiastes 9:5-7 and Soul Sleep
By Bro Nathan
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward — and even the memory of them disappears. What they loved, as well as what they hated and envied, perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth. Go, eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, because God has already approved your works." (Ec. 9:5-7) NET
Most churches na hindi naniniwala sa pagiging conscious ng isang spirit kagaya ng mga Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), Jehovah's Witnesses (JW), at Seventh Day Adventist (SDA), in which ang belief na ito as we call ay "soul sleep". naniniwala sila na ang isang spirit ay hindi isang personage and that hindi ito conscious. kapag namatay ang isang tao ay ang spirit ay nasa grave at walang afterlife na pupuntahan which is inherently wrong as shown by textes like Jesus promising the thief at the cross that at that very day, he will be with him in paradise (Lk. 23:43) and that when Christ died, he preached at the imprisoned spirits in the spirit world (1 Pt. 3:18-22; 4:6). as for their favorite na proof text against sa consciousness ng isang spirit ay ang Ecclesiastes 9:5-7, with their conclusion is only based upon the phrase that the dead "know nothing" without considering the context upon which the text is written on.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-7 is where the preacher describes a dead person as isang walang malay but the problem is that to what does "dead" refer to? the spirit, or the corpse, i.e ang dead body? ang isang dead body is unconsciouss for it doesn't have a spirit. a body without a spirit is dead (James 2:26). their is no animatory indication kapag ang katawan ang isang patay. they can't think without a spirit. they can't be conscious without a spirit. they can't move without a spirit. that is what the verse says if we would read it nang mabuti. a spirit is in a realm and is still consciouss. a spirit is alive and is a distinct entity from the body (1 Kgs. 17:21-22; Mt. 10:28; Lk. 8:53-55; Rev. 6:9-10) and it is conscious. of they will interpret Ecclesiastes 9:5-7 in this fashion, they should also apy this to the following text. if it is so, it will be a deliberate na misinterpretation of the text. these verses reads :
"(Now the servant did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David knew what was going on.)" (1 Sam. 20:39) NET
"Now two hundred men had gone with Absalom from Jerusalem. Since they were invited, they went naively and were unaware of what Absalom was planning." (2 Sam. 15:11) NET
Catholic Apologist D. Armstrong comments on Ecclesiastes 9:5-7 :
" In other words, in relation to this world, the dead know nothing, but they are in a different realm, where they do know something. As further examples of this limited sense of “not knowing anything” in Scripture, see 1 Samuel 20:39 and 2 Samuel 15:11, where an interpretation of unconsciousness would be ridiculous."
R.B.Y Scott comments on this verse :
" With this unequivocal statement about death, cf. vs. 10 and Pss. vi 5 EV, lxxxviii 12 EV, cxv 17; Job xiv 10-12. Other OT writers speak of the "shades" of men as still possessing consciousness and memory, where they "dwell" in the gloomy, dusty cavern of Sheol beneath the earth (Num xvi 30-33; 1 Sam xxviii 8-14; Ps xcliii 3; Isa xiv 9-11, 15-17). Job ponders the possibility of resurrection (xiv 14-17, xix 25-27), and in the eschatology of late prophecy and apocalyptic writing resurrection if affirmed (Isa xxvi 19; Dan xii 2)." (R.B.Y. Scott, Proverbs/Ecclesiastes [Anchor Bible; Garden City: Doubleday, 1965], 246)
It is a part ng plan of Salvation na tayo ay mamamatay and we will be in a place where we would rest our spirits and will also for people who haven't yet heard the Gospel that the Gospel might me taught to them in their state. they are consciouss to learn the Gospel in that place and not unconsciouss as some people claim. Ecclesiastes 9:5-7 does not prove that the dead are unconsciouss. corpses know nothing but the spirit do.
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