The Torah And Afterlife

This article covers the relationship between The Torah And Afterlife.

Statements from the Torah Regarding the Transient Nature of This World

All our days pass away under Your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Psalms, 90:9-10)

… Our days on earth are like a shadow… (1 Chronicles, 29:15)

Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them… (Zephaniah, 1:18)

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow… (Psalms, 144:4)

The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust. (Job, 20:11)

… For death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes, 7:2)

By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis, 3:19)

And said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job, 1:21)

He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure. (Job, 14:2)

My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You.” (Psalms, 39:3-7)

For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, His days are like grass, He flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him… (Psalms, 103:14-18)

Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike… Those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for Him—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—that he should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish… Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—and men praise you when you prosper—he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life. A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish. (Psalms, 49:1-2, 6-20)

They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them and they will be discarded. But You remain the same, and your years will never end. (Psalms, 102:26-27)

Door to afterlife

Door to afterlife

With Me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. (Proverbs, 8:18)

Riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. (Proverbs, 27:24)

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs, 31:30)

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. (Proverbs, 11:28)

… The wealth they acquired is gone. (Jeremiah, 48:36)

In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls. Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding. (Isaiah, 3:18-24)

What will you do on the Day of Reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? (Isaiah, 10:3)

Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. (Proverbs, 23:5)

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath… (Proverbs, 11:4)

A man’s riches may ransom his life… (Proverbs, 13:8)

He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading… He cannot save himself by his treasure. (Job, 20:17-20)

My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me. (Job, 17:1)

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal…” (Genesis, 6:3)

At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. (Proverbs, 5:11)

Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? (Isaiah, 2:22)

During the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the Sun after he is gone? (Ecclesiastes, 6:12)

No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death… (Ecclesiastes, 8:8)

Hiker

Hiker

You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning- though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. (Psalms, 90:5-6)

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees… I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone… I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces… I became greater by far than anyone… I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure… Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the Sun. (Ecclesiastes, 2:411)

… Wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune… as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand… As a man comes, so he departs… (Ecclesiastes, 5:13-16)

… for youth and vigor are meaningless. (Ecclesiastes, 11:10)

Remember Him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God Who gave it. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes,12:6-8)

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