2 Esdras: Where Does Your Spirit Go When You Die?

2 Esdras 7:78-88

Most people and churches today will tell you that your spirit goes to heaven when you die. Neither the bible nor the extra texts say this. In 2 Esdras 7:78-99, it explains in black and white what happens to the spirit of those that despise Torah and to those that guard the Torah.

78 Now, concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive decree has gone forth from the Most High that a man shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, first of all it adores the glory of the Most High.

Here is where we learn about where the spirit goes for those that despise Torah!

79 And if it is one of those who have shown scorn and have not kept the way of the Most High, and who have despised his law, and who have hated those who fear God —

80 such spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall immediately wander about in torments, ever grieving and sad, in seven ways.

81 The first way, because they have scorned the law of the Most High.

82 The second way, because they cannot now make a good repentance that they may live.

83 The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have trusted the covenants of the Most High.

84 The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days.

85 The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the others are guarded by angels in profound quiet.

86 The sixth way, they shall see how some of them will pass over into torments.

87 The seventh way, which is worse than all the ways that have been mentioned, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall wither with fear at seeing the glory of the Most High before whom they sinned while they were alive, and before whom they are to be judged in the last times.

Here is where we learn about where the spirit goes for those that guard the Torah!

88 “Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body.

89 During the time that they lived in it, they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour, that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly.

90 Therefore this is the teaching concerning them:

91 First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders.

92 The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome the evil thought which was formed with them, that it might not lead them astray from life into death.

93 The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander, and the punishment that awaits them.

94 The third order, they see the witness which he who formed them bears concerning them, that while they were alive they kept the law which was given them in trust.

95 The fourth order, they understand the rest which they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory which awaits them in the last days.

96 The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible, and shall inherit what is to come; and besides they see the straits and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty which they are to receive and enjoy in immortality.

97 The sixth order, when it is shown to them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on.

98 The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten to behold the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified.

99 This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth is announced; and the aforesaid are the ways of torment which those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter.”

100 I answered and said, “Will time therefore be given to the souls, after they have been separated from the bodies, to see what you have described to me?”

101 He said to me, “They shall have freedom for seven days, so that during these seven days they may see the things of which you have been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered in their habitations.”

Ezra goes on to say:

¹³²I answered and said, “I know, O Lord, that the Most High is now called merciful because he has mercy on those who have not yet come into the world; ¹³³and gracious because he is gracious to those who turn in repentance to his law; ¹³⁴and patient because he shows patience toward those who have sinned, since they are his own creatures;

Only Law Almost All Churches Follow…Tithing!

What is the one law that almost 100% of churches demand and preach on…Tithing! It’s interesting that almost every church will teach and preach that the law is no longer required and then stand in the pulpit and command 10% from all of their congregation and everyone watching on Youtube to their church.

¹⁰Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

²⁰Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God ²²and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

³⁰“‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

³⁷“Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. ³⁸A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury.

Have you ever heard a preacher tell you they have enough money and to hold off on your tithing? Moses did here in Exodus

⁴So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing ⁵and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.” ⁶Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, ⁷because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

I wonder why they preach on the importance of the law of tithing and preach all the other laws are abolished?

Acts 15 & 21: How To Handle The New Gentile Believers And The Law

Acts 15:19-21 and Acts 21:20-25

This is about the new Gentile converts and the new Jewish believers wanting to make Gentiles immediately be circumcised and follow every law of Moses. James says let's not make this a burden/yoke around the new believers necks. Let's start with enforcing only 4 of Moses's laws and they will hear the rest of Moses's laws every sabbath when they are in the synagogue. So this shows even after Christs death His apostles were following laws and enforced them on new believers. But based on their judgement they just didn't want to overwhelm new Gentile believers with all the laws at once.

19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

James is saying that the new Gentiles should start by following 4 Old Testament laws. If the law is done away with, why would they not only allow the new Jewish converts to be zealous for the law but also tell the new Gentile believers to start with following 4 Old Testament laws?

Then, in Acts 21 the plot thickens!

All the Jewish believers in Jerusalem are ticked at Paul because they thought he was telling the Jews and gentiles in Antioch to turn away from Moses(law). Paul then undertakes a vow to show them it was only the new gentile believers he was trying to gradually introduce into the law so there was not a heavy burden on them. But the Jewish believers needed to follow the law immediately.

“When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.””
‭‭Acts‬ ‭21‬:‭20‬-‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬