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Bible Dictionaries
Sleep

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

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Apart from having its common meaning of physical rest, ‘sleep’ is used in the Bible as another word for physical death (1 Kings 2:10; Job 14:12; Jeremiah 51:39; Matthew 27:52; John 11:11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:51). This is because death is not permanent. One day all people will rise from death to meet the great judge of the universe and receive either his blessing or his punishment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29).

Sleep is used also as another word for spiritual laziness, whether of non-Christians (Ephesians 5:14) or Christians (Romans 13:11). Christians must not be ill-disciplined or careless, as those are who live in the ‘night’ of spiritual darkness. They must be spiritually alert and watchful, as they now belong to the ‘day’ of spiritual life and light (Romans 13:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8; cf. Matthew 25:1-13).

Bibliography Information
Fleming, Don. Entry for 'Sleep'. Bridgeway Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​bbd/​s/sleep.html. 2004.
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