So the dead no longer know nothing? What does that mean? If they are still in heaven would they not know something?
The JW’s dig deep into the Old Testament to find things that seem to contradict what Christians believe, such as at Ecclesiastes 9:5. And they get a lot of mileage out of it.
But do the JW’s quote the whole verse? They usually just show you “the dead know nothing.” But there is more to it, “and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost.”
Is it true that the memory of them is lost? Of course not, we remember our dead. And God does too. What does Jesus in Matthew 22:31, 32 say? “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” So the dead are still living to God!
Also, Matthew 17:3,4: And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with them. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Peter took it in stride that he could talk to Moses and Elijah! Therefore Peter didn’t think that they knew nothing. And obviously they were not forgotten, contrary to what Eccl 9:5 might be interpreted.
How about a reward? Do the dead get no more reward? Well, Matthew 16:27: Jesus says, “For the son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he was done.” So I guess there is reward after all.
Did the apostle Paul think when he died he would know nothing? He wrote to the Philippians, 2:20-24: “…as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more worthy on your account.”
And he said to the Corinthians, 2 Cor 5:6,8: “So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Did Paul think that when he and the Christians died they would know nothing? No, for to him to die was to gain. According to Paul, when a Christian dies they will be at home with the Lord!
There is also the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, who were dead, but nevertheless were conscious and talking to each other. It is a parable, but a parable must have some basis in actuality otherwise it wouldn’t have any meaning.
So, by comparing scripture with scripture, by looking at other verses, we can tell that the dead definitely are conscious, definitely do have a further reward, and are not forgotten, all contrary to the seeming statement in Ecclesiastes. Therefore, it must have a meaning other than what the Watchtower says.
That is the danger of trying to use Old Testament verses to try to nullify New Testament verses, because the Old Testament does not have the fullness of the NT revelation.
Incidentally, the Old Testament patriarchs did not go to heaven, because heaven wasn’t open yet. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man indicates they went to “Abraham’s bosom.” Jesus was the first fruits to enter heaven. Jesus opened heaven.
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. Wow so people do go to heaven. But what does it mean when it says the dead know nothing?
