Do our souls sleep between death and the return of Christ?

In the New Testament, sleep is frequently used as a metaphor for death Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor 7:39; 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess 4:13, 14, 15; 2 Pet 3:4. A similar thought may be found in Ps 13:3, Ps 17:15 , Jer 51:39, and Dan 12:2.

There are several reasons not to take sleep as literal unconsciousness, or oblivion:

  • Scripture is consistent in all descriptions of Hades and paradise in representing the dead as conscious. For example, see Is 14:9-11 or 1 Sam 28:19 or Luke 16:19-31.
  • Since, in the OT, the dead are pictured as conscious in Sheol (Hebrew; Greek Hades), the awakening in Daniel is almost certainly metaphorical.
  • There is an intermediate place of the dead. The Patristic evidence for this is strong: in the happy section of Hades (paradise) we will be reunited with love ones, in advance of the Last Day. Please see my little book on the topic, or listen to the audio series (member login may be required).
  • The doctrine of “soul sleep” appears to assume a materialist view that the soul cannot exist or be conscious without the body. This ignores the immaterial nature of the soul.
  • Paul says that “whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him” (1 Thess 5:10). Living with Christ (during the intermediate state of the dead, as well as in heaven, following the judgment day) suggests consciousness, relationship, and joy.
  • “He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him” (Luke 20:38).
  • “For we know that if our earthly tent-dwelling [our physical body] be struck, we have an abode [that comes] from God, a dwelling made without human agency, eternal in the heavenly places. For indeed we do groan in this one, desiring to put on our habitation which comes from heaven. And[even] if we do put off this present one, at any rate, we will not be found naked [i.e., body-less]” (2 Cor 5:1-3). And why would Paul (and others) be so anxious to "be with the Lord", if it only meant that they would be asleep until some time in the distant future?
  • “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Phil 1:23).
  • Moreover, the early Christians expressed confidence they would ultimately “wake up” at the resurrection. But could they simply be unconscious between the point of death and the point of the general resurrection / judgment?
  • And there is one passage of scripture which definitively puts the issue to rest: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). If the penitent criminal were to be comforted, it’s hard to imagine how a promise of virtual oblivion would accomplish that purpose.

For these reasons, nearly all commentators understand sleep to be a metaphor for death.