All That Died Before

Brother Fred R. asks:

I was wondering: Before the rapture of the church, all that died before, are they asleep body and soul in the grave or are they at a waiting place? Or are they just dead spirit and soul till the rapture? I'm a little confused. The thief on the cross was promised paradise that day. Why did Jesus not say heaven, or with Him and His Father?

I have a few thoughts, and then I welcome all of you to use the Comments section to add to my reply.

First, the thief on the cross was promised, "today you will be with Me in Paradise." So that answers part of the question. Jesus did say the thief would be with Him.

Second, Pastor Whipple taught as follows about the thief and the current residence of the dead in Christ:

After His death, the soul of Jesus Christ went down to [the paradise section of sheol, which the Jews called "Abraham's bosom"] ... for three days and three nights (Luke 23:43) to claim those whom He had purchased with His own blood. It was then that He consummated their salvation by moving all of them to the new paradise located in the third heaven (Eph. 4:8, 2 Cor. 12:4). The thief on the cross was the last known person to have entered paradise in the heart of the earth before it was moved to the new location far above the universe (Luke 23:43).

The soul of all saints who have died since the time of the cross have gone directly to the paradise in the third heaven; because all their sins were paid for by Christ on the cross before they died. [The Matthew Mysteries, pp. 93-94]

I hope that starts to answer your questions, Brother Fred. Check back here for what others had to say.