More RIP research

Ecclesiastes 12:7
     and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
So that passage was quoted in the reference article from yesterday's post but as I was absorbing all of chapter 12 I thought that perhaps in fact, King Solomon was talk about the rapture?  ...before the days of trouble...before the light grows dark...when the keepers of the house tremble...the doors to the street are closed...when men are afraid of dangers in the streets...and the grasshopper drags himself along...then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets...
     Sidenote:  I was skimming Ecclesiastes (boy I like this book) and chapter 9, A common Destiny for All jumped out at me.
-The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
-Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun- all your meaningless days.
-The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
-so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

1 Kings 17:22
     The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived.
For this passage I went to my fave bible research site and looked up the different English translations http://bible.cc/1_kings/17-22.htm Everyone seems to use life or soul.  Nephesh (נֶפֶש) is the Hebrew word from the original text and most sites in my quick search seem to imply that it's that intangible thing that gives us animation and breath.

Luke 23:43
     Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Ok.  This one seems to be pretty straight forward.  Jesus is speaking and he even says TODAY.  I also think verse 46 is applicable when Jesus says, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."  Again I was able to look up the original Greek word Pneuma (πνεῦμα) and it had a similar loose translation of life or soul.  Good comment from Dr Bucher about the Seventh Day Adventists interpretation...
     Interesting side note though:  My NIV version says that the last part of verse 46 is When he had said this, he breathed his last.  But when I was looking at all the other translations he gave up the ghost was a common substitution.

Luke 16:22
     The time came when the beggar (Lazarus) died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.
There appears to be no lapse of time here between dying and the soul's ascension.  Oh wait.  And no time between dying and the Rich Man's descension.  Abraham points out later that there is a great chasm that has been fixed so no one can cross from either side... I also think it's interesting, the denial of resurrection from the dead and Abraham's insistence that if the Rich Man's brothers didn't listen to Moses and the Prophets that they would still not be convinced.

Psalm 146:4
     When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
I found this when researching the Ecclesiastes text and I like it because it describes what I'm finding to be true, only backwards.

FINALLY  ~I look forward to heaven.  All this talk of it makes me long for the days of no heartache, no hunger, no tears and no tiredness.  God grant you all peace on your earthly journey and may we all toast together in our heavenly home :)