But what happens between death and the resurrection of the dead? They are not six feet below in the soil (as some vainly imagine). The saints are in Heaven with Christ, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. See Acts 7 and 8 regarding Stephen.
The Resurrection/Rapture will be in the future, when Christ brings the souls and spirits of the saints (who passed on) with Him to be joined to their immortal glorified bodies. It is all there in the Bible.
The scriptures show that the resurrection doesn't begin until the second presence/second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The scriptures show us that a memorial tomb is a burial place in which the remains of a deceased person were placed. This term renders the Greek word
mne·meiʹon, which comes from the verb “to remind,” suggesting that the person who has died is remembered.—
Joh 5:28, 29.
In view of the underlying thought of remembrance associated with
mne·meiʹon, the use of this word (rather than
taʹphos) at
John 5:28 with regard to the resurrection of “all those in the memorial tombs” seems particularly appropriate and contrasts sharply with the thought of complete repudiation and effacement from all memory as represented by Gehenna. (
Mt 10:28; 23:33; Mr 9:43) The importance attached to burial by the Hebrews is indicative of their concern that they be remembered, primarily by Jehovah God in whom they had faith as “the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (
Heb 11:1, 2, 6) Inscriptions of the tombs of Israelite origin are very rare and, when found, often consist of only the name. The outstanding kings of Judah left no magnificent monuments with their praises and exploits engraved thereon, as did the kings of other nations. Thus it seems evident that the concern of faithful men of ancient times was that their name be in the “book of remembrance” described at
Malachi 3:16.—Compare
Ec 7:1;
The point is that at the moment you die, The True God Jehovah is able to read minds and hearts, can decide then if you deserve a resurrection or not. If he decides to remember you, then at the time of the resurrection all those in his memory will be resurrected. Those who are not remembered are truly eternally dead without hope. The True God Jehovah isn't the God of the dead he's the God of the living, so those who are in his memory who he has judged worthy of a resurrection are living to him. Those God judges not worthy of a resurrection are not in his memory therefore they remain dead for eternity without hope. They stay in nonexistence for eternity.