Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Wednesday July 22 2026
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2 Corinthians 12:1-4-It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—. 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
The Bible teaches that there is a realm called Sheol or Hades which is the world of departed spirits. We know also that this realm is divided into at least two sections: a place of comfort, and a place of torments (Luke 16:19-31). The place known as “comfort” is also called Abraham’s Bosom or Paradise in Jewish writings that predate the birth of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the word Paradise teaches us that this was understood to be a garden where people enjoyed fellowship, growth, and learning (see William Barclay, The Gospel of John, Volume Two: The New Daily Study Bible, 178-180 Kindle Edition: Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press; for documentation of this).
This all raises some interesting questions, one of which we will examine in this study:
Does The Bible Teach That A Saved Person Goes Immediately To Heaven When They Die?
Let’s study.
First, the Bible definitely teaches that the realm of Sheol/Hades is temporary. The departed souls in this world are destined to be reunited with their bodies when the resurrection of the dead takes place (Job 19:25-27; Isaiah 26:19-21; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15). The fact that this land of the departed dead is temporary is indicated throughout the Bible. For example, the Prophets Isaiah and Hosea describe this for us.
Isaiah 25:8-He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
Hosea 13:14-I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes.
Second, the Bible teaches that these events will happen when Jesus returns at the Second Coming. The Apostle Paul quotes both of these passages (describing the temporary nature of Sheol/Hades) and says that they will be fulfilled when the Lord returns.
1 Corinthians 15:54-55-So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.” 55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?”
Please consider that Paul argues that these prophetic events will “be brought to pass” when “this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immorality.” Paul here is describing the Second Coming (1 Corinthians 15:50-58), something which is made especially clear by his reference to “the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52). The expression here to to “the last trumpet” takes us back to the ram which was substituted for Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14). According to Jewish legend and tradition, the first horn of the ram was used at the time the Law was given on Mount Sinai. The other horn was named the “last trumpet,” and according to Jewish tradition, will be used when the Messiah comes to judge the world, resurrect all the dead in emptying the souls from Sheol, and bringing about the Day of Judgment. One of the Jewish holidays (the Feast Of Trumpets) even foreshadows all of this!
According to the Talmud, Rosh haShanah 16b, the resurrection of the dead will occur on Yom haDin, the Day of Judgment, also called Rosh haShanah. From very ancient times, the resurrection of the dead has been associated with Rosh haShanah. Archaeologists are discovering Jewish tombstones with shofarim etched upon them, indicating their belief in a resurrection of the dead with the blowing of the shofar. And in the poetic conception of our later teachers, it was the sound of the Shofar haGadol that will on the Last Day rend open the graves, and cause the dead to rise. The commentary in the Hertz Siddur says; Thus, the Messianic Hope, Resurrection, and Immortality of the Soul are intertwined with the message of the Shofar.[195] By the time of Yeshua, the subject of resurrection had become one of the most controversial topics, as evidenced in the gospels and the book of Acts. The Pharisees vehemently believed in the resurrection, while the Sadducees did not. The general public followed the teaching of the Pharisees in expectation of a resurrection of the righteous at the beginning of the Last Day (Messianic Kingdom). Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Yeshua said to her, I am the Resurrection, and the Life: He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, L‑rd: I believe that Thou art the Messiah, the Son of G‑d, which should come into the world. Yochanan 11.24-27 Earlier, in chapter 6 of this book, it was stated that Se’adiah Gaon, a 9th-century Jewish scholar, wrote ten reasons for the shofar to be blown on Rosh haShanah. The tenth reason has to do with the resurrection of the dead. The tenth reason is to remind us of the revival of the dead, that we may believe in it, as it is said (Isaiah 18.3): “All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers in the earth, when an ensign [banner-symbolic of the Messiah] is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; and when the horn is blown, hear ye.”[196] According to Theodore Gaster and other Jewish scholars,[197] the day of Rosh haShanah involves the sounding of the Last Trump. Today one removed from an understanding of such Jewish concepts as the Last Trump tends to give his and everybody else’s guess as to what these terms might mean. In order to understand the passages in the gospels, epistles, and Revelation, we must place these books back into their original Jewish context, defining each term, phrase, and idiom the way the original writer in his Jewish mode of thinking expressed it. Note the use of the term Last Trump in 1 Corinthians in connection with the resurrection of the dead.…According to Jewish tradition, the First Trump and the Last Trump relate to the two horns of a particular ram-the ram caught in the thicket on Mount Moriah when Abraham was ready to slay Isaac and offer him up as a burnt offering.[ 198] This ram became the substitute for Isaac, even as Yeshua haMashiach became the substitute for us and provided life for us by His death. In Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, a rabbinic work,[ 199] the ram’s left horn-the First Trump, was blown on Mt. Sinai[ 200] and its right horn-the Last Trump, will be blown to herald the coming of Messiah. What follows is an interesting question posed by Rabbi Bechaye; Was that ram not burnt, together with its horns, skin, and flesh? How could this be the source of the shofar that was blown on Mt. Sinai? The answer is that G‑d created [resurrected] a new ram out of the ashes.[ 201]. (Joseph Good, Rosh HaShanah and The Messianic Kingdom To Come: An Interpretation Of The Feast of Trumpets Based Upon Ancient Sources, 119-122 (Kindle Edition): Nederland, Texas: ש Hatikva Ministries)
The fact that Paul joins the emptying of the souls in Hades and the resurrection of the dead with the “last trumpet” to be sounded at the time of the Second Coming leads many to believe that the souls of the saved are still in the Paradise section of Hades, and are not yet enjoying the fullness of Heaven (cf. John 14:1-4). Others point out their belief that when Jesus died, the souls in Paradise were ushered into Heaven so that a believer goes immediately there when they die. Some Scriptures could be so interpreted (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:8; Philippians 1:21-26).
It is wise not to be dogmatic on the subject.
Several years ago, my father was having a Bible study with a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination. At the time, my Dad believed that Heaven will be somewhere beyond this world, while his friend was emphatic that it will be on “a new Heavens and a new Earth.” My Dad told him, “I don’t care if it is in Heaven or a new Earth: I just want to make sure I get there!”
He reminded me of the words of the Psalmist:
Psalm 84:10-12-For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Our goal should always be to make sure that we are with the Lord and His people.
Father, thank You for victory and salvation in Jesus. Amen.