Finality of Death Rather Than Conscious Afterlife Experience In preexilic Israel, there was no conception of a future resurrection; death was considered final and people were cut off from the living and from God. According to Psalms 6:5, people in Sheol remember nothing—not even God. This contrasts sharply with New Testament teachings about conscious existence after death, active torment in hell, or reward in heaven. For the Hebrews, returning to dust meant the end of conscious existence.