Where Do We Go When We Die Before the Return of Christ?

By Irvin Baxter

Question: Suzie from Nevada called to ask Irvin, “If I were to die today before the return of Christ where would I be? Are we just asleep?“

 

Answer: We don’t have a lot of knowledge about this but the Bible does say that when a person dies, their body goes back down to the dust, the spirit returns to Christ who gave it. We do have an example in Revelation 6:9-11, it talks about souls that are under the altar. This appears to be during the Great Tribulation time. The souls under the altar are able to communicate to God at some level and say to Him, “How long oh Lord till thou dost avenge our blood upon those who dwell upon the earth?” and the Lord said, “Wait just a little season until your brethren should be killed like you were.” So they were there and did not have their resurrected bodies yet. They were there in spirit form and they were able to communicate at some level. The apostle Paul said, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” However, beyond that we don’t really have a lot of information.