The Mystery of the Afterlife: Solomon, the Bat, and the Human Perspective
"Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" — Ecclesiastes 3:21
"Who can bring them back to see what will happen after them?" — Ecclesiastes 3:22
These questions posed by King Solomon are among the deepest biblical reflections on on the mystery of the afterlife . As the wisest man in history, it is expected that he could solve the mystery of death. Yet, instead of providing a definitive answer, he leaves us with a profound enigma.
Why was his peerless wisdom unable to answer this? The answer lies hidden in the concept of our perspective, our human limitations, and a severed connection with the Creator.
The Analogy of the Bat and "The Hanged Man Tarot Meaning"
To understand the limitations of human vision regarding life and death, let us consider the condition of a bat.
A bat lives and sleeps upside down. Because of this, its world’s orientation is inverted. When a bat lets go of its perch, gravity pulls it downward. However, from the bat's perspective, this act of letting go and falling feels like a movement "upward" toward the direction it perceives.
This isn't mere hair-splitting philosophy. It demonstrates that our concepts of "up" (heaven/soul) and "down" (earth/death) depend entirely on how we are positioned as humans living in a physical world.
This concept is also mirrored in the Tarot card "The Hanged Man." It depicts a man suspended upside down, calm, with a halo of light around his head. The card suggests that understanding truth often requires an inversion of our usual perspective. What we perceive as a "fall" or suffering might actually be an ascent and an awakening. To fly, we must first let go of our accustomed illusions.
Solomon’s Severed Direct Line
If Solomon was gifted by God with wisdom, why couldn't he answer the mystery of the afterlife? Why didn't he just ask God directly?
This is where a crucial reality sets in: Solomon became a victim of his own transgressions.
In his youth, Solomon enjoyed direct communication with God. The highest form of wisdom a human can attain is not their own intellect, but the ability to speak directly to the Source of all answers. Had he not strayed, it would have been effortless to ask God about the mystery of death.
However, due to his marriages to foreign women and his fall into idolatry, that "direct line" was severed. When clear communication with the Creator was lost, Solomon was left to rely solely on his own intellect. He attempted to understand death using pure science, logic, and observation. This is why, in the book of Ecclesiastes, he repeatedly uses the phrase "under the sun"—because that was the extent of his physical vision.
No matter how brilliant you are in this world, if you lack a connection with the Creator, you remain blind to spiritual realities.
The Fulfillment and Answer in the New Testament
Solomon’s question—"Who can bring them back to see what will happen after?"—was left as a blank space in the Old Testament. However, it did not remain unanswered.
In the New Testament, the exact fulfillment of this question arrived through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Humanity no longer needs to guess using philosophy because there is One who died, saw what lies at the end, and returned to testify that there is life after death.
This also restored the "direct line" that Solomon lost. Through the Holy Spirit, humans are no longer confined to the "under the sun" perspective; we are given a glimpse of the "Kingdom of Heaven."
Conclusion: Letting Go to Fly
History, philosophy, and faith converge on a single powerful message: Reality is often an illusion based on where we stand.
From our vantage point while living in the physical world, death appears as a terrifying fall into the depths. But if we view it through a restored spiritual lens, death is not a fall. Like the bat hanging upside down, death is the final release of our physical grip so that our souls may finally ascend, break free, and fly back to our Creator.
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