Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 states: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.” What is Sheol? It is the common grave of mankind to which humans go when they die. In the grave the dead are completely inactive, without movement, sensation, or thought of any kind. They are in what can be likened to a deep sleep.a The Bible thus makes it clear that God does not take our dead loved ones to be with him in heaven. The effects of death have left them lifeless in the grave.