The Dead Know Nothing?

[Joh 3:13 KJV]  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Yeshua, Himself, declared the above... NO MAN.

So... what happens when we die.  Do we "sleep" as is confirmed all throughout Scripture?  There are literally hundreds of verses that speak of "sleeping" and not being left in hades.  Hades literally means the "unseen", the "imperceptable".  

This implies to me that when I die - I close my eyes and am dead.  I don't know anything (as seen in the Scriptures below).  Perhaps, in what seems like a split-second afterwards (to me), my eyes open at the resurrection as if I had just died seconds earlier - even though in reality, I died years earlier.

Or, is there an intermediate place, a waiting room of sorts, that our souls depart to after death... a waiting room, where we all wait for the resurrection.

It appears the dead know nothing.  Or, do these verses below imply that the dead know nothing of what goes on in the world they left behind?  Is it poetic license by the authors, or a literal explanation?

It certainly implies our loved ones are not watching down on us from Heaven.

Job 14:21 — "If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware." (The deceased father has no knowledge of his children's fortunes or misfortunes.)

Psalm 88:10-12 — "Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" (Implies the dead are in a place of darkness/forgetfulness where God's acts aren't known or praised.)

Psalm 146:4 — "When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish." (Thoughts/plans cease at death.)

Isaiah 26:14 — "They [the dead] are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them." (The wicked dead won't rise or live again in this context; their memory is erased.)

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (right after verse 5) — "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going." (No knowledge or activity in the grave/Sheol.)

Note that the above examples are all OT - prior to the resurrection of Yeshua.  However, the writers should've at least known of His coming resurrection and our future resurrection.

And then, you have verses like this:

[Heb 12:1 KJV]  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Context: This verse immediately follows Hebrews 11 (the famous "faith chapter"), which lists examples of Old Testament believers (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and others) who lived by faith, often enduring trials and persecution. The "therefore" connects the two chapters: Because of these faithful examples, we now have this vast "cloud" around us.

The imagery: The Greek word for "witnesses" (martyrōn) implies those who testify or bear witness through their lives.  However, their lives have ended.

The "cloud" evokes a massive, encircling crowd in an amphitheater or stadium. Many interpreters (across evangelical, Reformed, and other traditions) picture these departed saints as figuratively cheering us on—not literally watching every moment like spectators (which some debate based on other Scriptures), but their exemplary lives and triumphs inspire and motivate us to persevere.

There's also the picture of the martyrs in the throne room... this may be a special circumstance related exclusively to the fifth seal.  Still, this is prior to the first resurrection.

[Rev 6:9-11 KJV]  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: [10]  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? [11]  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

GROK: The primary Bible passages used to support the view of immediate conscious life after death (prior to the future bodily resurrection at Christ's return) come from the New Testament. These verses emphasize that believers' souls/spirits depart the body at death and enter a conscious state of presence with the Lord, often described as paradise, heaven, or being "with Christ." This is part of what's called the intermediate state — the period between physical death and the final resurrection (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17; 1 Corinthians 15).

1 Thes 4:13-17 doesn't work... it's speaking of the first resurrection.  Same with 1 Cor. 15.

The "golden" verse that everyone tries to use:

[Luk 23:43 LSB]  And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Original text doesn't use a comma... move the comma over one word and you have this:

Truly I say to you today, you shall be with Me in Paradise.

Scripture should define Scripture - we know that Yeshua was not in Paradise that day.  He died, His body placed in the tomb, and resurrected three days later.  Yeshua went to hades, not paradise.  Unless... paradise is a part of hades.

Now, the question becomes - define "Paradise".

G3857

παράδεισος

paradeisos - par-ad'-i-sos

Of Oriental origin (compare [H6508]); a park, that is, (specifically) an Eden (place of future happiness, “paradise”): - paradise.

Total KJV occurrences: 3

This is an oriental word which the Greeks borrowed from the Persians, among whom it meant a garden, park, or enclosure full of all the vegetable products of the earth.

The LXX uses it to refer to the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8). In later Jewish usage and in the NT, parádeisos is used for the abode of the blessed after death. 

Paradise, before Christ's resurrection, has been thought to be the region of the blessed in Hades although it was not specifically called by that name (Luk 16:23).  It's "been thought" of because of a parable. 

The argument now moves to a PARABLE of Lazarus and the rich man.

A parable is a short, simple, usually fictitious story that illustrates a moral, spiritual, religious, or ethical truth through comparison or analogy.

I can't rely on a fictitious story for proof of immediate life after death.

[Mat 13:10-13 KJV]  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? [11]  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. [12]  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. [13]  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

The next "golden" verse:

[2Co 5:6-8 KJV]  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: [7]  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) [8]  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and TO BE present with the Lord.

Paul implies that when we depart this life we are TO BE (future) present with the Lord.  However, he doesn't directly come out and say it.  He doesn't say:

"absence from the body IS presence with the Lord"

Technicality, yes - but still...

Paul implies it again in:

[Php 1:23 KJV]  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

I don't know what to think about Paul's statements... it sure seems like he believed in immediacy.

Then, there's Moses and Elijah:

[Mat 17:1-3 LSB]  And six days later Jesus *brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. [2]  And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. [3]  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

Granted, those two are obviously key men - they're not just your average humans.  Regardless, centuries after their deaths, these Old Testament figures are conscious, recognizable, and engaged in conversation — demonstrating ongoing awareness prior to any general resurrection.

In context below (debating resurrection with Sadducees), this affirms that the faithful departed are alive and conscious with God, even though their bodies await resurrection.

[Luk 20:38 LSB]  “Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.”

I get through all of this, and am asking myself - what is the point of the resurrection of our bodies if we're already with Yeshua in Spirit? So much is made of the coming resurrections throughout Scripture. What is the point of even calling death "sleep"? Our corpses "sleep" but our soul is with Yeshua? That makes no sense to me.

Our bodies must play some kind of important role in the future. I don't know why... it's just dust of the earth. Our bodies get transformed to a glorious state (like that of Yeshua post-resurrection). But, why not just give us new bodies? What's so important about our decayed, earthy, corpse?

[Act 7:59-60 KJV]  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. [60]  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Notice above - Stephen says receive MY spirit.  I've always been taught that it is God's Spirit returning to him.  The combination of our body, and His Spirit create our soul - our persona.  Without even one of these ingredients, there's no Glen.

Maybe that's where the importance of our bodies come into play?  

[Gen 2:7 KJV]  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

I'm back to 1 Corinthians 15 now.

Christ had to overcome bodily death (for us, the wages of sin).  His body had to be resurrected and transformed as part of the original plan.  It is His example, that we are to follow.

I'm gonna go ahead paste the entire Scripture, because it's worth reading again:

[1Co 15:12-22 LSB]  Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13]  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. [14]  And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. [15]  Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we bore witness against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. [16]  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17]  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. [18]  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19]  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. [20]  But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21]  For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. [22]  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

It completes salvation and victory over sin/death. Death is swallowed up in victory... oh death! Where is your sting? If only souls were saved eternally, death would partially win (the body defeated). But resurrection means total victory: sin's curse reversed, bodies freed from corruption. Resurrection restores the original design: full humanity reunited. Without it, we'd remain incomplete (disembodied spirits forever), which contradicts God's intent for embodied life.

Maybe it's enough to say: It's Yahweh's intent so that's good enough for me. God declared the material world "very good" (Genesis 1:31), including our bodies. Sin brought decay, disease, and death, but redemption doesn't abandon creation—it renews it (Romans 8:19–23: creation groans for liberation).

Bodily resurrection shows God redeems what He made, including matter. The new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21–22) will be physical, tangible, and glorified—not a ghostly spiritual realm. Our resurrection bodies (like Jesus' post-resurrection body: able to eat, be touched, yet transformed—Luke 24:39–43; John 20:27) fit us for that renewed physical reality. Our earthly bodies matter because God values the whole person and the whole creation. Resurrection isn't optional or secondary—it's essential to defeating death completely, restoring creation's goodness, and fulfilling God's promise of eternal, embodied life with Him.

I gotta drop this for now... at least for a bit.  My brain is swelling.