Sleep, and death

Scripture often uses sleep as an image of death, indicating that believers will be awakened to resurrection on the last day.

Death described in the imagery of sleep

The sleep of death for human beings in general

Psalm 90:3–6 See also Job 7:21, Job 14:10–12; Psalm 13:3; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 9:24 parallels Mark 5:39, Luke 8:52–53

You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.” For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night. You sweep them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it fades and withers.

Death as resting with the ancestors

1 Kings 2:10 See also Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 11:43 Solomon; 1 Kings 14:20, 1 Kings 14:31, 1 Kings 16:6, 1 Kings 22:50 Jehoshaphat; 2 Kings 14:16, 2 Kings 15:7, 2 Kings 16:20, 2 Kings 20:21 Hezekiah; 2 Kings 21:18 Manasseh

Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

Those who fall asleep in Christ

Revelation 14:13 See also John 11:11–14; Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 1 Corinthians 15:17–19

And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead — those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”

Death is not the end of existence

John 5:28–29 See also Job 14:13–15; Psalm 17:15; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:3; Luke 16:22–23; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 1 Corinthians 15:51–57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Sleep denoting the finality of judgment for the lost

Jeremiah 51:57 See also Psalm 7:3–5, Psalm 76:5; Jeremiah 51:39

I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.