Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, so with Him [YeHoVaH] will also bring those who have fallen asleep in Yeshua. For this we tell you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the blast of [YeHoVaH’s] shofar, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left behind, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air—and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, TLV

There have been many times that I have been asked the following question: Do you believe we will be able to recognize our deceased loved ones when we see them in Heaven? My unequivocal answer is “yes.”

I believe everyone Yeshua saved will not only spiritually see and recognize their loved ones in Heaven but also will spiritually reunite with them. In 1 John 3:2, the apostle John says, “Loved ones, now we are YeHoVaH’s children; and it has not yet been revealed what we will be. But we do know that when it’s revealed, we shall be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

The above-quoted 1 John verse should make today’s believers in Yeshua ask, “How are we who have never seen Yeshua in His physical form going to recognize Him in Heaven when He will be in His Spirit being form?” I believe the apostle John’s verse is true because I believe everyone who is Yeshua’s spiritual Bride will definitely see and recognize Yeshua with his or her born-again spirit in his or her glorified body as soon as He gathers His Bride together (reunites everyone) in the air and then takes everyone with Him into the Third Heaven.   

In the Old Testament, we read that King David was comforted by what he believed, which was that he would see his deceased infant son again. David says, “It is I who will be going to him, but he will never return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23b). David also writes, “Precious in the sight of [YeHoVaH] is the death of His kedoshim” (Psalm 116:14). The Hebrew word “kedoshim” means holy ones.

In the New Testament, Peter, Jacob (a.k.a., James), and John, who were with Yeshua on the Mount of Transfiguration when Yeshua was transfigured and His heavenly Shekinah Glory shone through Him and through His clothes, recognized Moses and Elijah when they appeared. Now, none of Yeshua’s disciples had ever seen Moses or Elijah, yet the Scripture says, “And as they were leaving Yeshua, Peter said to Him, ‘Master, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s make three sukkot: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he was saying” (Luke 9:33; see also Matthew 17:3-4).

At His Last Supper, after Yeshua had blessed and offered up to YeHoVaH a cup of wine, the Lord says the following to His disciples:  “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I tell you that I will never drink of the fruit of the vine from now on, until the kingdom of [YeHoVaH] comes” (Luke 22:17-18).

All the verses I have quoted above are why I believe our born-again spirits will not only see and recognize our deceased loved ones when we are all in YeHoVaH’s Heaven but also our born-again spirits will reunite with them there. We will see, recognize, and reunite with our earthly families and loved ones, as well as with the people of YeHoVaH from all the ages  – those we had seen before, and those we had never seen; those who had died a physical death, and those who had never died. Shalom!