Short answer:
Christ illustrated what happens to the
spirits of men after death. Lazarus the beggar and a rich man, whose falling crumbs
he ate, went to separate destinations. The rich man found himself in a place of
torment, but he saw Lazarus
on Abraham’s bosom.
The two places are in Hades, the underground region of the dead.
The “bosom of Abraham” (Paradise) and the “place of torment” (Gehenna) are temporary dwellings for the
spirits of the dead, whether Jews or Gentiles, while they await the Last Judgment.
Full of remorse, the rich man asked Abraham to send
Lazarus back to warn his brothers. Abraham replied that following the teachings
of Moses and the prophets was enough for them to get into Paradise.
Christ preached to spirits of the
dead after His crucifixion. Jews, because they do not accept Christ as the Savior,
are considered enemies of the gospel; but because of their faithful forefathers,
who have made them God’s chosen people, they are beloved.
In the kingdom of heaven, disharmony
cannot exist – with one group acknowledging Christ as the Son of God and Savior
of mankind, and another group rejecting Him as such. “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead,
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to
God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6).
All those in the kingdom of heaven
must be of one mind, in accord with the whole will of God.
Detailed explanation:
Christ illustrated to His disciples
what happens to the spirits of men after death. “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named
Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with
the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and
licked his sores.
“And
it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up
his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom” (Luke 16:19-23).
Lazarus the beggar and the rich man
went to two separate destinations after death. The rich man had a rude surprise;
he found himself in a place of torment. (“Hell” in the passage is the English
translation of the Greek Hades [Sheol in Hebrew], which refers to the underground
region of the dead, not the “lake of fire”.)
Two regions in Hades.
The International
Standard Bible Encyclopaedia explains: “Hades is here the comprehensive
designation of the locality where the dead reside, and is divided into two regions, ‘the bosom of
Abraham’ and the place of torment…” The
New Unger's Bible Dictionary similarly concludes that “it seems clear that
Hades was in two compartments, the
residence respectively of saved and unsaved spirits.”
Bosom
of Abraham. According
to Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the
Whole Bible, “The Jews expressed the happiness of the righteous at death
three ways: they go to the garden of Eden: they go to be under the throne of
glory; and they go to the bosom of Abraham…” The three places are probably one
and the same: Abraham is in the Garden of Eden (Gan Eden in Hebrew), also known as Paradise, which is presumably under
God’s throne.
All saved spirits, whether Jews or
Gentile Christians, go to the “bosom of Abraham”. After all, “if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
Gehenna. The “place of torment” is Gehenna, Greek for Ge-Hinnom (Valley of Hinnom), an actual deep, narrow valley below
the southern slope of Jerusalem. It had an area called Topeth, where pagan
worshippers sacrificed children (Jeremiah 7:31) to Moloch, god of the Ammonites
and Phoenicians. It was turned into a garbage dump where the city’s waste and
dead animals were burned continuously. Flies abounded and their maggots covered
the remains of carcasses. It became an image of the place of punishment because
of its ever-burning fires.
Temporary dwelling places.
Both the bosom of Abraham and Gehenna are only temporary dwelling places
for the spirits of the dead while awaiting the Last Judgment. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the saved will
be in the Bosom of Abraham “while they wait for that rest and eternal new life
in heaven, which is to succeed this region.” The New Unger's Bible Dictionary similarly states, “The rich man, who
is evidently still in Hades, is a representative case and describes the
unjudged condition in the intermediate state of the wicked.”
The rich man’s plea.
The rich man was desperate from great
thirst in the unbearable heat. “And he
cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in
this flame” (Luke 16:24).
The Greek word translated “flame” is phlox, which is the gaseous part of
fire, not the fire itself (pyros),
showing that Gehenna is not the lake of fire, but is simply adjacent and so
close to it that the heat and flames make it a place of torment.
Separated
by a canyon. The
rich man’s plea cannot be granted. Abraham said, “between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would
come from thence” (Luke 16:26).
Josephus (ca. 37-100) echoes Luke’s
Gospel account (ca. 56-58) – “a chaos deep and large is fixed between them;
insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor
can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.”
A Jewish tradition has it that at the
bottom of the impassable canyon separating Gan Eden and Gehenna is a river
flowing with cool, refreshing waters. However, whenever anyone from Gehenna
goes down and tries to scoop some water from the river, the water draws back!
This is repeated at every attempt endlessly. That was why the rich man begged
Abraham to send down Lazarus to dip his finger in the water for him. He was in
front of the water, and yet was unable to refresh himself!
Moses and the
prophets sufficient.
As Lazarus reclined contentedly on
Abraham’s bosom in Paradise, the rich man, full of remorse, was inconsolable in
excruciatingly hot Gehenna. He told Abraham: “’I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five
brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of
torment.'
“Abraham
replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them’” (Luke 16:27-29, NIV). Abraham said
that following the teachings of Moses and the prophets was enough for them to get
into Paradise. (That was before Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for the
sins of the world.)
Christ preached to
spirits of the dead.
“For
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring
you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison…” (1 Peter 3:18-19, NIV).
It looks like some of the dead still
have some things to learn in the afterlife that they did not know while still living.
What could Christ have possibly preached to them? We get a notion from the
apostle Paul.
Enemies
of the gospel. “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies
for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers'
sakes” (Romans 11:28). For not believing the good news of salvation through
Christ, many Jews are considered enemies of the gospel.
Loved
by God. However, although
they do not accept Christ as the much awaited Jewish Messiah, they are
nevertheless much loved because their faithful and law observant forefathers have
made them God’s chosen people.
No
factions in the kingdom.
In the kingdom of heaven, there cannot be disharmony – one group acknowledging
Christ as the Son of God and Savior of mankind, and another group rejecting Him
as such. Their differences have to be harmonized.
“For
for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they
might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit” (1 Peter
4:6). Christ taught the spirits of the dead that all those in the kingdom of heaven
must be of one accord with the whole will of God.
The spiritually saved believers are called “saints”. They observe two things: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12).
Christians baptized for the dead. It was probably this knowledge that led some early Christians to be baptized as proxies for their brethren and loved ones who had died without accepting Christ and being baptized in His name. “Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?” (1 Corinthians 15:29-30, NIV).
Excerpted from the booklet MORE Bible Secrets by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com - For free pdf copies of our booklets, click the Booklets and/or Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.
Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated.
