Thank you for your good question. It is one that we have received before by believers who miss their loved ones who have been taken home to glory. It is natural to “miss them every day” but thankfully we “sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1st Thessalonians 4:13). If you read on in verses 14-18, we see the “blessed hope” we have of being reunited with our loved ones who died “believing in Jesus.” This will occur at the Rapture when Christ returns from heaven to the air to summon us all to heaven (verses 16-17 with John 14:2-3). It is also a comfort to know they are in the very presence of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:21, 23) where there is “fullness of joy” and “pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). We have no scripture which speaks clearly of our loved ones looking down from heaven and observing us, so where Scripture is silent, we must also be silent. It is enough to know, as we have just seen, that they are enjoying eternal bliss with their Savior and that we too shall be there with them in due time. Having said that, there are a few passages in Scripture which some use to teach that saints in heaven may be looking down and observing us and events on earth. I will list them and then comment on the verse.

Luke 15:7 says, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (KJV). Some believe this speaks of departed saints rejoicing in heaven when one is saved, but as we read on in verse 10, we see “there is joy IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ANGELS OF GOD over one sinner that repenteth.” It appears THE ANGELS are aware of sinners repenting and being saved, but it says nothing about departed saints. If verse 7 also includes saints, it still doesn’t prove they are actually “seeing the conversion of sinners on earth.” It may be that God reveals this to them or perhaps the angels tell them of sinners being saved. The thing is there is probably a sinner being saved every minute of every day (by God’s amazing grace!) and if saints were observing every conversion, they would hardly have any time to focus on Christ and the many glories of heaven.

Luke 16:25-28 reads “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there past to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they come to this place of torment.’” The one talking to “Father Abraham” was a rich man who died unsaved (see verses 19-24) and was in a place of torment. He was NOT a believer in heaven. Yet some believe it teaches us that those who have died can “see their loved ones on earth,” even those who died unsaved. But there is nothing to lead us to believe that the “rich man” in torment was actually “observing his five brothers.” Abraham had reminded him of his former life in verse 25 and this no doubt made him recall that his five brothers were also unbelievers, and he did not want them to come to “this place of torment.” If you read earlier about Lazarus, it says that he was “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” and “is comforted,” but nothing is said about him observing his loved ones on earth.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore we also, since we are SURROUNDED BY SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” If you read the previous chapter, you will see who the “witnesses” are. They are Old Testament saints who lived a “life of faith” and eventually died. So, some have thought that they are now “looking down on earth and WITNESSING (observing) the lives of believers here on earth.” A “witness” can refer to one who is “witnessing (seeing) an event,” but the more likely meaning is that Old Testament saints are “witnessing (bearing testimony) to us by the lives they lived here on earth” as we see in chapter 11. Their “lives of faith” bear witness to us that we too can live a victorious “life of faith” here on earth until we are called home to glory.  (DO)  (608.3)