The Bible states that when a person dies, “the spirit itself returns to the true God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) Does this mean that a spirit entity literally travels through space into God’s presence? Not at all! The way in which the Bible uses the word “returns” does not require an actual movement from one place to another. For instance, unfaithful Israelites were told: “‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ Jehovah of armies has said.” (Malachi 3:7) Israel’s ‘returning’ to Jehovah meant a turning around from a wrong course and again conforming to God’s righteous way. And Jehovah’s ‘returning’ to Israel meant his turning favorable attention to his people once again. In both cases the “return” involved an attitude, not a literal displacement from one geographic location to another.
Similarly, at death no actual movement from the earth to the heavenly realm occurs when the spirit “returns” to God. Remember, the spirit is the life-force. Once that force is gone from a person, only God has the ability to restore it to him. So the spirit “returns to the true God” in that any hope of future life for that person now rests entirely with God.
Consider, for example, what the Scriptures say about Jesus’ death. The gospel writer Luke relates: “Jesus called with a loud voice and said: ‘Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.’ When he had said this, he expired.” (Luke 23:46) As Jesus’ spirit went out of him, he was not literally on his way to heaven. Jesus was not resurrected from the dead until the third day. And it was 40 more days before he ascended to heaven. (Acts 1:3, 9) At the time of his death, however, Jesus confidently left his spirit in his Father’s hands, fully trusting in Jehovah’s ability to bring him back to life.
