In Ecclesiastes, 12:7, we read: ‘Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.’

Let us consider the texts more carefully, starting with Ecclesiastes 12:7. Obviously, the wise man who wrote those words did not intend to contradict what he had already stated in the same Bible book: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) He was discussing the death of mankind in general. Is it reasonable to believe that all avowed atheists and hardened criminals return to God upon their death? Hardly. In fact, that cannot be said of any of us, regardless of whether we consider ourselves good or bad. Since none of us have been with God in heaven, how can it be said that we return to him?

What, then, did the Bible writer mean by saying that upon death, ‘the spirit returns to the true God’? In using the Hebrew word translated “spirit,” he was not referring to something unique that distinguishes one human from another. Rather, at Ecclesiastes 3:19, the same inspired Bible writer explains that man and animals “all have but one spirit.” Evidently he meant that “spirit” is the life force in the cells that make up the physical bodies of man and animals. We did not receive this spirit directly from God. It was passed on to us by our human parents when we were conceived and later born. Furthermore, this spirit does not literally travel through space and return to God upon death. The expression, ‘the spirit returns to the true God,’ is a figure of speech meaning that the future life prospects of a dead person now rest with God. It is up to him to decide whom he will remember and eventually resurrect. Note for yourself how clearly the Bible shows this at Psalm 104:29, 30.