worms. "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they
shall not awake, not be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in
sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou
wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live
again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou
shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine
hands." Job 14:12-15. "If I wait, sheol is mine house; I have made my bed in the
darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my
mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall
see it? They shall go down to the bars of sheol, when our rest together is in the
dust." Job 17:13-16; 4:11-19; Ps. 88:10-12.
21. There is no knowledge in sheol. Thus writes the wise man, the Spirit of
inspiration bearing testimony through him: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
do it with thy might; for there is no work, no device,
10
nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in sheol, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9:4-6, 10.
22. Such are the great facts concerning sheol, or hades, as revealed to us in
the books of "Moses and the prophets." Yet we have the following cases in these
same writings in which the dead in sheol, in the nether parts of the earth,
converse together, and are comforted or taunted by each other, or in which they
weep bitterly, refusing comfort.
The case of the king of Babylon is a noted instance of this. When he is
overthrown, and goes down to sheol, the DEAD (for sheol has no others in its
dark abode) are stirred up to meet him. The kings that had been conquered and
destroyed by the king of Babylon in the days of his prosperity now rise up from
their thrones in that dark abode, and mock him with feigned obeisance as in life
they had rendered real homage. Now they taunt him, saying, "Art thou also
become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?" Those that see him shall
narrowly look upon him, saying, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms?" Isa. 14:9-20.
23. Pharaoh and his army, slaughtered in battle with the king of Babylon, are
set forth in the same manner. The slain upon the field of battle being buried
indiscriminately, and friend and foe cast down together into pits, into the "nether
parts of the earth," into sheol, "the strong among the mighty shall speak to him
out of the midst of sheol." And this sheol, in the nether parts of the earth, full of
the dead, is contrasted with "the land of the living." These slaughtered soldiers
went down to sheol with their weapons of war, and their swords they "laid under
their heads." Pharaoh, lying among them, and seeing the multitude of his
enemies that were slain, is "comforted" at the sight. See this remarkable
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
prophecy, Eze. 32:17-32; 31:15-18.
24. Perhaps the case of Rachel is even more remarkable than these.
