"His breath goeth forth,

He returneth to his earth;

In that very day his thoughts perish".

Luke 16:19-31

God is here speaking of "Man"; not of some part of man, but

E.W. BULLINGER, D.D.

of "princes", and "man" or any "son of man" (v. 3), i.e. Any and

every human being begotten or born of human parents.

There is not a word about "disembodied man". No such

In dealing with this Scripture, and the subject of the so-called

expression is to be found in the Scriptures! The phrase is man's

"intermediate state", it is important that we should confine

own invention in order to make this and other scriptures agree

ourselves to the Word of God, and not go to Tradition. Yet, when

with his tradition. This Scripture speaks of "man" as man. "His

nine out of ten believe what they have learned from Tradition,

breath"; "he returneth"; "his thoughts". It is an unwarrantable

we have a thankless task, so far as pleasing man is concerned.

liberty to put "body" when the Holy Spirit has put "man". The

We might give our own ideas as the the employment's, etc., of

passage says nothing about the "body". It is whatever has done

the "departed", and man would deal leniently with us. But let us

this thinking. The "body" does not think. The "body" apart from

the spirit has no "thoughts". Whatever has had the "thoughts"

only put God's Revelation against man's imagination, and then

has them no more; and this is "man". If this were the only

we shall be made to feel his wrath, and experience his

statement in Scripture on the subject it would be sufficient. But

there are many others.

Claiming, however, to have as great a love and jealousy for

There is Ecc. 9:5, which declares that "The dead know not

the Word of God as any of our brethren; and as sincere a desire

anything". This also is so clear that there could be no second

to find out what God says, and what God means: we claim also

meaning. "The dead" are the dead; they are those who have

the sympathy of all our fellow members of the Body of Christ.

ceased to live; and, if the dead do or can know anything, then

There are several matters to be considered before we can reach

words are useless for the purpose of revelation. The word

the Scripture concerning the rich man and Lazarus; or arrive at a

satisfactory conclusion as to the State after death. It will be well

"dead" here is used in the immediate context as the opposite of

for us to remember that all such expressions as "Intermediate

"the living", e.g.:

State", "Church Triumphant", and others similar to them are

"The living know that they shall die, But the dead know not

unknown to Scripture. They have been inherited by us from

Tradition, and have been accepted without thought or

It does not say dead bodies know not anything, but "the

dead", i.e. dead people, who are set in contrast with "the living".

Putting aside, therefore, all that we have thus been taught, let

As one of these "living" David says, by the Holy Spirit (Psalm

us see what God actually does reveal to us in Scripture

concerning man, in life, and in death; and concerning the state

and condition of the dead.

"While I live will I praise the Lord:

I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being".

Psalm 146:4 declared of man,