The Bible teaches that upon death, the soul does not immediately enter a state of conscious existence, but rather rests in a state of unconsciousness. According to Psalms 115:17, the dead do not praise God, indicating a lack of conscious awareness. In Daniel 12:2 and John 5:28-29, the resurrection is presented as a future event when the dead will be awakened and judged. The New Testament, particularly 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, affirms that believers who have died will be raised to eternal life, implying a period of unconsciousness prior to the resurrection, as also hinted at in John 3:13.
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No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”