Luke 16:19-31 (NKJV) “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. {20} “But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, {21} “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. {22} “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. {23} “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. {24} “Then 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.’ {25} “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. {26} ‘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 pass to us.’ {27} “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, {28} ‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ {29} “Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ {30} “And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ {31} “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
Death and its consequences are topics of universal relevance to all human beings regardless of age or creed. For every individual death is a certainty, but that which transpires after death is a matter for speculation. To empirical science, death is the termination of all that defines life for the being. Medical surgery has taught us that without eyes one cannot see, without a brain one cannot think or reason, without a nervous system one cannot feel. Yet despite the obvious limitations of total incapacitation in death, humans still hold to the belief that life will go on. This ongoing life is perceived as being totally independent of the body and based on the concept of the immortality of the soul. This is a basic principle in most religious systems. Religious teachers attribute their esoteric knowledge of the ‘other world’ to some revelation of divine origin. Several individuals who have been resuscitated have recounted experiences which their believe to have occurred post-death. When a number of these experiences are compared they would appear to be products of social preconceptions rather than objective reports. Serious doubts must be cast on the reliability of these accounts.[1]
Given the importance of the ‘afterlife’ for the Christian message and its monumental significance for the whole human race, it is surprising to find that the Bible has very little to say on the subject. Of the hundreds of pages of sacred writings in the Old and New Testament less than a handful of verses are dedicated to a description of the conditions of ‘life after death’. The most descriptive writing is found in the form of a parable attributed to Jesus and recorded in the sixteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke. It is primarily upon this parable that the popular ‘Christian’ concept of the hereafter is founded. The meaning of this parable is the central topic of this study.
The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is generally understood to describe the actual state of the human being at death. In the absence of any direct statement as to how soon these events occurred after death, two factors are generally taken into account in order to determine the chronology of events recounted in the parable. First, as the text does not indicate the lapse of time between the death of the rich man and his “having lifted up his eyes” in Hades an immediate state is presumed. Second, the rich man’s concern for his living brothers indicates that rich man is not conscious of a long lapse of time since his death. In this light the parable, for some, becomes the most detailed teaching of the intermediate state of the dead in the whole Bible.
In this study we make the a priori assumption that Jesus’ knowledge of the subject is accurate and precise. If this is not a true statement then we can glean nothing of the state of the dead from this parable.
Parables are generally thought to communicate profound spiritual truths by employing familiar language and concepts. The details of the story do not in themselves allegorically teach a separate truth. Were this so we would have dishonest business practices taught by “The Shrewd Manager” (Luke 16:1-8) or dubious farming practices taught by “The Sower”. (Luke 8:5-8) Yet the supplementary details of parable of the rich man and Lazarus have been used as the foundational premises upon which the popular doctrine of the immediate state is built. If we choose to interpret the entire parable in this fashion (as though it is a factual story) we find that it introduces several novel concepts and a number of difficulties. The following facts can be deduced:
1. The disadvantaged poor, having received bad things in life, are carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom and are there comforted. By contrast the ungenerous rich, after burial, find themselves in Hades, in a state of torment.
2. The occupants of Hades are able to see those at Abraham’s side. It is to be presumed that the rich man knew Lazarus by his familiar appearance although it is not explained how it is that Abraham is recognised. According to the parable the tormented dead in Hades have senses which are able to see, feel pain, and have the ability to communicate with those who are comforted. The rich man is described as having eyes which he “lifted up”; a voice with which he could cry out; and a tongue which he desired to cool with water. It is to be noted that these details emphasise the corporeal nature of the rich man in his post-death existence. He need not have “lifted up his eyes”. He could have simply ‘seen’ Abraham afar off. He need not have asked for his tongue to be cooled with water. He could simply have asked to be cooled. The unavoidable inference in this story is that in some way the dead are not ‘disembodied’.
3. The two groups, whilst able to communicate, are unable to mingle as they are separated by a great uncrossable chasm. The purpose of the chasm is to prevent the comforted from crossing over to the place of the tormented and vice versa. Why the comforted should wish to do so is unclear, but it is stated that deeds of mercy such as the rich man requested are precluded by the presence of the chasm. So it would appear that the pleas of the tormented remain unsatisfied even though there are those who “wish to come over” , presumably to relieve the suffering of the tormented.
4. We may also assume that every person who dies is, like the rich man, able to make such pleas for mercy. While able to see their comforted relatives they are unable to enlist their aid. We may then suppose that since his death Abraham has been continuously engaged in answering the desperate appeals of the recently deceased. The nonchalant and matter-of-fact way in which Abraham answers the cries of his own descendant seem to us to be uncaring and unloving. Not only does Abraham show little concern in this case for the deceased, he seems to have no greater concern for the five living brothers of the rich man. “They,” he says “have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” and, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” We may be lead to conclude from this last statement (v. 29) that repentance upon hearing the words of Moses and the Prophets is sufficient to escape the torments of Hades.
5. This concept of the gospel is quite unexpected coming from the “father” of faith (Rom. 4:16) who, in his own life, never heard the words of Moses.
6. It is clearly stated that an eyewitness account of the horrific nature of the torment of Hades has no greater power to motivate repentance than the testimony of Moses and the Old Testament Prophets. (verse 31.) For what reason then did Luke include this description of Hades in his gospel?
It is most interesting in view of these last points that the Old Testament contains no explicit teaching on Hades (Hebrew - Sheol) as a place of torment for the wicked. In fact, Sheol is a place where, “the dead know nothing” (Eccl 9:5) and “there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave (Sheol) where you are going.” (Eccl 9:10) Job describes his future existence in Sheol as a place of darkness (Job 10:20-22 NKJV) “Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, {21} Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death, {22} A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’” Job also sees death as a sleep from which one cannot be roused.
Job 14:10-12, 21 (NKJV) “But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he? {11} As water disappears from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dries up, {12} So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep. ….{21} His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.”
Job 3:11-19 (NKJV) ""Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? {12} Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? {13} For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest {14} With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves, {15} Or with princes who had gold, Who filled their houses with silver; {16} Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light? {17} There the wicked cease from troubling, And there the weary are at rest. {18} There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor. {19} The small and great are there, And the servant is free from his master."
David describes the state of the dead in several places. He pictures the death as a state of silence and darkness. “…. He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those who have long been dead.” Psa. 143:3 “The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence.” Psa. 115:17 The Psalmist also describes Sheol as a place where the mind is in an unconscious state. Even though God is there he is not perceived. (Psa 139:8 NKJV) “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” Contrary to the notion of the dead meeting his Maker, the Psalmist writes, “For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?” Psa 6:5. David believed that at death he would go down to Sheol or the pit. “O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” Psa 30:3 David believes that in the pit a man becomes mere dust in accordance with the words of God as Moses records, “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?” Psa 30:9. David also speaks of death as a permanent sleep. “Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;” Psa 13:3.
The Prophet Isaiah echoes the words of the Psalmist Isa. 38:18 (NKJV) “For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.” But in the hope of a resurrection he says, "Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead." Isa 26:19.
Death likened to sleep
Throughout the Bible, death is commonly referred to as sleep e.g. “So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.” 1 Ki 2:10 (KJV) Jesus himself referred to death in this manner.
“These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” {12} Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” {13} However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. {14} Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” John 11:11-14
It is difficult to imagine that Jesus would deliberately describe a post-death condition in which Lazarus of Bethany was enjoying the extreme delights (or torments) of the afterlife as “sleep”. In the parable, neither the rich man nor Lazarus are described as being asleep. Jesus stated, “I go that I may wake him up.” Jesus doesn’t say “I shall bring him back from the dead”, or “from Hades”.
Matthew in his Gospel, writing a long time after receiving the benefit of Christ’s teaching, speaks of those who had died as those who had fallen asleep. “and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;” Mat 27:52
Luke who recorded the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man also uses the word sleep for death. “Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Also, Acts 7:60, “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;” Acts 13:36
Peter also coins the term. “… For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2 Pet 3:4
Similarly Paul refers to the dead as asleep.
“For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” 1 Cor 11:30
“After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep” 1 Cor 15:6.
“Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” 1 Cor 15:18
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Cor 15:20
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed;” 1 Cor 15:51
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. {14} For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. {15} For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.” 1 Th 4:13-15
“who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” 1 Th 5:10
It is important to note that Paul teaches that the fate of the believer is totally dependent on the resurrection of Christ. If Christ has not been raised then “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” Here in 1 Cor. 15:18 when Paul describes the fate of those who supposedly have “fallen asleep” (and perished) without hope he uses the aorist tense implying an event which happened in a single moment in the past. But when in verse 20 he describes the hope of those who have been preceded by Christ the first-fruits, he switches to the perfect (past continuous) tense indicating that those who “have fallen asleep” are still in that condition of sleep. A continuing state of sleep in which those in Christ await their awakening (resurrection) is contrasted to the hopelessness of the sleep of death in which men without the hope of Christ’s resurrection are deemed to have perished.
Yet the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus would have us believe that a life of comfort in the hereafter is merely dependent on a response to Moses and the prophets. Surely those in Christ would hardly be said to have “perished” if they were at that time, like Lazarus, enjoying the comforts of the abode of Abraham?
Questions of inconsistency between the parable and the other teachings of Bible are often explained by the belief that the former is new knowledge which was withheld in Old Testament times in order to be revealed at the appropriate time. It is said to be the information that has, in the words of Paul, “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10). Thus, our Lucan parable would seem to teach the inherent immortality of the soul in partial agreement with the Greek and Egyptian concept of the afterlife. Yet Paul expressly maintains that God alone has immortality. “ ……. He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, {16} who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” 1 Tim. 6:15-16) Immorality must be granted to the believer through Christ. “ …… the righteous judgment of God, {6} who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: {7} eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;” Rom 2:5-7.
In Paul’s mind this immortality is granted by the resurrection at the return of Christ rather than at death.
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; {52} in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. {54} So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”” 1 Cor 15:51-54.
Our current interpretation of this parable would seem to contradict rather than supplement the former and latter teachings of the Scriptures and shares more with the pagan concepts of death and the inherent immortality of the soul than with the oracles of the Almighty God. Does the fault lie with the parable? Should we question its place in Scripture or should we rather question our interpretation of the text?
To make a critical examination of the popular interpretation of this parable it is necessary to carefully scrutinise the assumptions upon which our understanding of the text is based. We began by an assumption that the parable spoke of events which occurred immediately after the death of the rich man. In the absence of a stated time it was assumed that Jesus’ audience understood the events to have occurred very soon after the rich man’s death. However, this assumption is not self-evident and requires support.
Jesus’ audience was undoubtedly Jewish. It has been suggested that the story was based on an Egyptian folktale.[2] Even if this were the case, its new form would have been fashioned against the background of a Jewish understanding of the soul and the afterlife. The twelfth chapter of the book of Daniel describes the fate of man in these terms:
“{2} And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. ….. {13} “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”
Daniel’s words are the clearest Old Testament reference to a life beyond the grave and show an everlasting life which commences at the resurrection and is totally dependent on this event. Without the resurrection the dead are simply asleep in the dust of the earth. According to Genesis 2:7 (KJV) "… the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The process explained here should be carefully noted. God took the dust and formed the man. Man was formed. Although the Man was not yet alive, in his physical creation he was complete. Then God added to Man the breath of life by breathing it into his nostrils. Man then became a living soul. It is important to note that God did not give him a soul. He became a living soul by the addition of the breath of life. In Hebrew (and Biblical) thinking a living soul is not something you have; it is something you are as a living being. The breath of life resides in the nostrils. If you take away the breath of life you take away life and creature which was a living soul becomes a dead soul.
"And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: {22} All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died." Gen 7:21-22 (KJV)
In some cases the Hebrew word for ‘breath’ is the same word for ‘spirit’ and they are often synonymous terms. All breath is considered to be a God-given commodity and it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the Spirit of God and the breath of God as a comparison of English versions will demonstrate. As it is the breath which sustains life, so the breath or spirit departing means the end of life. As shown by a few examples below, a living man essentially consists of a body which is animated by the breath of life.
"As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils," Job 27:3
"The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life." Job 33:4
"If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; {15} All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." Job 34:14-15 (KJV)
"Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit (or breath) will return to God who gave it." Eccl 12:7
"You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust." Psa 104:29
"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Psa 146:4 (KJV)
"His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish." Psa 146:4 (NKJV)
"Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! {5} 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. {6} "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."' {7} "So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. {8} Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. {9} Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."' " {10} So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. {11} Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' {12} "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. {13} "Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves." Ezek 37:4-13
The body, animated by the breath of God, then becomes a living soul. The soul (Heb. nephesh) is a term which is often translated by the word ‘life’. The word nephesh is used in relation to both animals and humans.
“But flesh with the life (nephesh) thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives (nephesh) will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life nephesh of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Gen 9:4-6
The life and ‘the soul’ of the creature coexists with the blood. To shed blood is to drain a creature of its life or soul. Eating meat (flesh) with the soul (nephesh) still in it is forbidden. Thus when it is said that the soul dies, what is meant is that the life-force ceases to empower the body. This life-force is a gift from God and is dependent on breath (spirit) and blood. The soul is not immortal. God says, "…. the soul that sinneth, it shall die." Ezek 18:4. (KJV) Despite the Serpent’s false assurance "You will not surely die." (Gen 3:4) God declares “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Gen 3:19. God made it certain that man would not as a sinner gain immortality. "Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"; {23} therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. {24} So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." Gen 3:22-24
After the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC the influence of Hellenism changes in the doctrine of the afterlife began to become evident in Jewish literature. Josephus writing shortly after the time of Jesus’ ministry tells us of three common concepts of the afterlife. From The Wars of the Jews Book 2, Ch. 8,[3]
“11. For their doctrine is this: That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue for ever; and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this is like the opinions of the Greeks, that good souls have their habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to bad souls a dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing punishments. And indeed the Greeks seem to me to have followed the same notion, when they allot the islands of the blessed to their brave men, whom they call heroes and demi-gods; and to the souls of the wicked, the region of the ungodly, in Hades, where their fables relate that certain persons, such as Sisyphus, and Tantalus, and Ixion, and Tityus, are punished; which is built on this first supposition, that souls are immortal; and thence are those exhortations to virtue and dehortations from wickedness collected; whereby good men are bettered in the conduct of their life by the hope they have of reward after their death; and whereby the vehement inclinations of bad men to vice are restrained, by the fear and expectation they are in, that although they should lie concealed in this life, they should suffer immortal punishment after their death. These are the Divine doctrines of the Essens about the soul, which lay an unavoidable bait for such as have once had a taste of their philosophy. ……..”
“14. But then as to the two other orders at first mentioned, the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws, and introduce the first sect. These ascribe all to fate [or providence], and to God, and yet allow, that to act what is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of men, although fate does co-operate in every action. They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that the souls of good men only are removed into other bodies, — but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment. But the Sadducees are those that compose the second order, and take away fate entirely, and suppose that God is not concerned in our doing or not doing what is evil; and they say, that to act what is good, or what is evil, is at men’s own choice, and that the one or the other belongs so to every one, that they may act as they please. They also take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards in Hades.”
Josephus testifies to the fact that in the early days of the Christian Church there were differing opinions amongst the Jews as to the nature of the afterlife. The author of the apocryphal book 2 Esdras, written toward the end of the first century,[4] gives an interesting account of the afterlife which incorporates both Hebrew and Greek concepts. 2 Esdras 7:75-101 (New Revised Standard Version)
75 I answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, show this also to your servant: whether after death, as soon as everyone of us yields up the soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come when you will renew the creation, or whether we shall be tormented at once?”
76 He answered me and said, “ I will show you that also, but do not include yourself with those who have shown scorn, or number yourself among those who are tormented. 77 For you have a treasure of works stored up with the Most High, but it will not be shown to you until the last times. 78 Now concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive decree has gone out from the Most High that a person shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, first of all it adores the glory of the Most High. 79 If it is one of those who have shown scorn and have not kept the way of the Most High, who have despised his law and hated those who fear God - 80 such spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall immediately wander about in torments, always grieving and sad, in seven ways. 81 The first way, because they have scorned the law of the Most High. 82 The second way, because they cannot now make a good repentance so that they may live. 83 The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have trusted the covenants of the Most High. 84 The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days. 85 The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the others are guarded by angels in profound quiet. 86 The sixth way, they shall see how some of them will cross over into torments. 87 The seventh way, which is worse than all the ways that have been mentioned, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall wither with fear at seeing the glory of the Most High in whose presence they sinned while they were alive, and in whose presence they are to be judged in the last times.
88 “Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body. 89 During the time that they lived in it, they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour so that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly. 90 Therefore this is the teaching concerning them: 91 First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders. 92 The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome the evil thought that was formed with them, so that it might not lead them astray from life in death. 93 The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander and the punishment that awaits them. 94 The third order, they see the witness that he who formed them bears concerning them, that throughout their life the kept the law with which they were entrusted. 95 The fourth order, they understand the rest that they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory waiting for them in the last days. 96 The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible and shall inherit what is to come, and besides they see the straits and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty that they are to receive and enjoy in immortality 97 The sixth order, when it is shown them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on. 98 The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they press forward to see the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified. 99 This is the order of the souls of the righteous as henceforth is announced; and the previously mentioned are the ways of torment that those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter.”
100 Then I answered and said, “Will time therefore be given to the souls after they have been separated from the bodies, to see what you have described to me?”
101 He said to me, “They shall have freedom for seven days so that during these seven days they may see the things of which you have been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered in their habitations.”
The reader will recognise certain similarities between this account and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The book, 2 Esdras is an interesting account in that it preserves the former Hebrew belief in a Day of Judgment and a future resurrection while introducing the novel concept of consciousness after death (at least for a period of seven days). The writing could represent a synthesis of the opposing doctrines at a time of transition in thinking as Hebrew religion and culture met the overwhelming influence of Greek wisdom and philosophy.
To ascertain the current thinking at the time of Christ’s teaching our primary source of evidence should be the evidence presented to us in the New Testament.
John
In the eleventh chapter of John’s gospel there is a story regarding the death of Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary. The distressed Martha went out to meet Jesus as he approached the village and said to him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” In a compassionate response Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha no doubt interpreted this reply as a compensatory remark rather than a statement of Jesus’ intention to bring Lazarus back to life. Martha affirms, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha gives no indication whatsoever that she held the belief that Lazarus was passing time blissfully in the bosom of Abraham. To her Lazarus will not rise until the last day. Jesus continues, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” Here is a clear statement. Jesus claims that those who believe in him though they may die, as did Lazarus, nevertheless they shall live (future tense). Jesus here only claims a restitution to life for those who believe in him. He does not endorse the concept of the immortality of the soul for all. He goes on to say “and every one who is living and believing in me shall not die -- to the age;” (Young’s Literal Translation) affirming that eternal life is a gift granted to those who believe. To say at this point that by the word “life” (after death) Jesus means good quality life as opposed to a life of torment is reading into the text what is not there. The gospel of John consistently uses “life” as an opposite of death. Death is the absence of life not a lesser quality of life. One either has eternal life or one perishes.
“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. {16} “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:15-16
John is consistent in his use of the word “perish” (apollumi) to mean death or destruction.
“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” John 6:27
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:28
Like the human body at death, food perishes and decays, but it could hardly be said to be undergoing eternal torment. John never speaks of everlasting torment as the opposite of everlasting life. In fact John’s gospel never mentions the word hell. Rather, he speaks only of this perishing as God’s condemnation of the unbelieving. Those who believe have already passed from death to life, their promise of eternal life is sure, but those who hear Christ and do not believe are already condemned to death. They have no assurance of eternal life.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18
“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:25
John seems to equate permanent death (perishing) with the result of judgment (kriseos) or as some versions translate it, condemnation. The world is under the condemnation of death. That is evident in the fact that we all die after a comparatively short life span. Christ’s purpose in coming to the world is to save it from that condemnation of death which is our inheritance from Adam, the result of sin. This is the good news! Dying need not be permanent! Life through Jesus Christ is available to those who believe in Him. Does this then mean that desperately wicked men and women will meet the same fate as the innocent child who dies? Not at all. The Day of Judgment ensures that justice will prevail. Wrongs will be righted. Both punishments and rewards will be given according to the works of the individual. But the privilege of living on the new earth under Christ’s rule will not be extended to those who persist in rebellion against him. They will be resurrected in bodily form for the purpose of their judgment. The sentence of the guilty will be what the Bible calls the second death.
“28 Wonder not at this, because there doth come an hour in which all those in the tombs shall hear his voice, 29 and they shall come forth; those who did the good things to a rising again of life, and those who practised the evil things to a rising again of judgment. John 5:28-29 (Young’s Literal Translation)
The book of Revelation speaks in some detail about that Judgment which is alluded to in the Old Testament.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. {12} And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. {13} The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. {14} Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {15} And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” Rev 20:11-15; 21:1
Apart from the parable under consideration, Luke has just two references to ‘hell’. In Chapter 10 he quotes the words of Jesus condemning the town of Capernaum for their pride and unbelief.
{14}But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. {15} “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.” Luke 10:14-15
Jesus’ words (v. 14) clearly refer to the time of the eschatological Day of Judgment. (Cf. John 12:48) His words here are reminiscent of Isaiah’s prophecy against the arrogant King of Babylon.
“For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; {14} I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ {15} Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.” Isa 14:13-15
The New Testament uses three words which have been translated ‘hell’. They are:
1. Hades – The Greek word used as a translation of the Hebrew word Sheol. In Greek mythology the dead continue their existence in the netherworld of Hades. Adoption of this term in the Greek New Testament writings does not imply an adoption of the mythology and its connotations. In the N.T. Hades is not permanent. Like Death, it is subject to destruction in the Lake of Fire. (Rev. 20:14)
2. Gehenna – The name is derived from the Heb. ge(ben)(bene) hinnom, the Valley of (the son[s] of Hinnom, a valley near Jerusalem (Jos. 15:8; 18:16), where children were sacrificed by fire in connection with pagan rites (2 Ki. 23:10; 2 Ch. 28:3; 33:6; Je. 7:31; 32:35).[5]
3. Tartarus – A Greek word for an mythological abyss in which the Titans were imprisoned.
Luke’s second reference is to Gehenna. From about the second century B.C. the Valley of Hinnom begun to be associated with the place of the final punishment of the enemies of Israel.[6] Jeremiah prophesied that because the idolaters had burned human sacrifices in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) it would become the place of the destruction of those who oppose God. Isaiah added,
“And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” Isa 66:24
Unger writes,
“In later times it served as a receptacle of all sorts of putrefying matter, and all that defiled the holy city and so became the representative or image of the place of everlasting punishment, especially on account of its ever burning fires; and to this fact the words of Christ refer when he says “the fire is not quenched.””[7]
In Jewish literature, Gehenna became synonymous with the eschatological fire of judgment, which in Revelation is called “the lake of fire”. In Luke, Jesus’ exhorts his hearers not to fear those who can bring on a premature death. Rather he says fear the One who is able to bring about the second death in the Lake of Fire.
“but I will show to you, whom ye may fear; Fear him who, after the killing, is having authority to cast to the gehenna; yes, I say to you, Fear ye Him.” Luke 12:5 (YLT)
He contrasts the power of those who by killing can consign a person to Hades against the power of God who can consign a person to Gehenna. A parallel of this verse in Mat 10:28 says,
“And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.” (YLT)
It is clear that those who destroy the body are not capable of a destruction of the soul. God alone is able to destroy the soul. He can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. We see then that Gehenna effects the destruction of the soul. Not only this, but it is evident that God himself destroys bodies in Gehenna as well. This teaching is in complete harmony with the existence of a lake of fire into which the condemned are cast body and soul after their resurrection and judgment. It is not compatible with the notion of a hell in which dead “souls” are separated from their bodies to be confined in torments while their flesh rots in the grave.
Luke is also the author of the book of Acts in which he refers to Hades by way of translation of the word Sheol. The argument of Peter’s sermon gives us a unique insight into the beliefs of the disciples of Jesus. Peter begins by declaring the resurrection of Jesus. He backs up his claim that Jesus Christ is the Messiah by quoting a prophecy of David in which (in its literal sense) the Psalmist refers to himself.
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know; {23} “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; {24} “whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. {25} “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. {26} Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. {27} For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. {28} You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
Then Peter shows that the prophecy cannot possibly refer to David as his soul was left in Hades (Sheol) and his flesh did undergo corruption as the tomb of David bears witness.
{29} “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. {30} “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, {31} “he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
The crucial point of Peter’s interpretation of the prophecy is that the prophecy is demonstrably untrue of David yet true of Christ. Both parts of the prophecy quoted must be relevant to the comparison made between David and Christ.[8] Therefore Peter expounds the Scripture upon this premise: that just as David’s flesh was most certainly decayed by the evidence of his tomb, so his soul was also most certainly left in Hades. This was more than seven weeks after the resurrection.
{32} “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. {33} “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
Peter continues his line of argument on the accepted fact that David did not go to heaven.
{34} “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, {35} Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ {36} “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:22-36
Luke’s account records Peter’s concept of the afterlife which must have agreed with the general Jewish concepts as the response of the hearers attests. Peter’s sermon makes these points.
· David is dead and buried – Christ is alive
· David’s soul was left in Hades – Christ’s soul was not
· David’s body saw corruption – Christ’s body was raised
· David did not ascend into heaven – Christ did.
These clear statements are at variance with the doctrine that proposes that David’s soul was taken out of Hades and led into Paradise (Heaven) prior to Christ’s Ascension. If this teaching were correct then the 3000 persons who formed the first New Testament Church owed their conversion to a sermon based on flawed logic and misguided theology. The doctrine must be regarded as highly questionable.
It would seem that nothing Luke has written on the subject of life after death supports the popular understanding of the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. On a final note it is interesting to observe that it is Luke who quotes Jesus’ words which assign eternal life to the coming age rather than to the time of death.
“who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Luke 18:30
Mark makes no reference to Hades. Matthew refers twice to Hades; once in a parallel to the verse quoted above regarding Capernaum and once in reference to the Church.
Mat 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew and Mark both refer frequently to Gehenna.
Matthew 5:21-22 (YLT) ‘Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill, and whoever may kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.
Jesus emphasises his point that true righteousness is not attained by simply abiding by the letter of the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’. A person who is truly righteous in God’s eyes will not even be angry with his brother without just cause. It is easy for us in anger to say things we do not mean. Yet even this is sin for which we are accountable. Unless our every sin is dealt with, we are in danger of Gehenna’s fire. It is clear from the context (v. 21) that the fire spoken of here is associated with the condemnation of the judgment not prior to it.
After his elaboration of the fifth commandment Jesus proceeds to expound on the spirit on the sixth commandment, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’. Then he says,
(Mat 5:29-30 NKJV) “”If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. {30} “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
A similar saying is found in Mat 18:8-9
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. {9} “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
And again in Mark 9:43-49
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; {44} “where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ {45} “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; {46} “where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ {47} “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire; {48} “where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ {49} “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.”
These texts speak for themselves. Jesus is not advocating self-mutilation as a legitimate course to be taken in order to avoid sin. Plucking out an eye could not prevent lust as one could as easily lust with one eye as with two. (v. 47 above) In the previous verses of Matthew 5 Jesus has shown that sin originates in the mind. It would be lethal to attempt to literally excise the brain in order to overcome, for instance, the sin of covetousness. He is more likely advocating the removal of every hindrance to godly living. Although it is not stated when the sinning persons shall be cast into Gehenna it is evident that they are to be cast bodily into the fire. (Mat 5:30) It is most likely then that these verses refer to a post-resurrection post-judgment experience. Nothing in these texts suggests that being cast into gehenna fire is an experience which immediately follows death.
It is interesting that in Mark’s gospel as in Luke’s the life that is promised to the believer is reserved for the age to come.
“who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time; houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” Mark 10:30
Two more references to hell (gehenna) are found in Matthew and refer to the condemnation of hell in those who do not believe.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Mat 23:15
“Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” Mat 23:33
These shed little light on the question of time and simply affirm that the danger of gehenna fire is real for all who do not repent.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke we find and interesting discourse in Jesus proves to the Sadducees that the hope of the resurrection is real. Luke’s account is quoted as it is he alone who records the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. We should hope to see some consistency in his record of the teaching of Jesus on the subject of ‘life after death’.
“Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, {28} saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. {29} “Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. {30} “And the second took her as wife, and he died childless. {31} “Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died. {32} “Last of all the woman died also. {33} “Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”
The Sadducees who only accepted the first five books of Moses did not believe in any kind life after death. They did not query Jesus on whose wife she would be at death. It was the resurrection that was the matter at hand.
{34} And Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. {35} “But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; {36} “nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
Note the points raised in Jesus’ answer. Those who attain resurrection from the dead and the age to come are counted worthy in some way. The unworthy therefore do not attain that age and the resurrection from the dead. Jesus goes on to say that these individuals cannot die any more because they are equal to the angels and sons of God and being sons of the resurrection. The resurrection has afforded them eternal life, not the inherent immortality of their souls. He continues:
{37} “But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ {38} “For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.”” Luke 20:27-38
These last two verses contain the crucial point in the argument for the resurrection. Jesus claimed that Moses showed that the dead are raised. God himself acknowledged that He was the ‘God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ (Ex. 3:6). As God cannot be the deity worshipped by someone who is dead, the reality of a future resurrection of these three fathers is confirmed. This logic rests on two assumptions which will be discussed further. First, the dead could not have a god because the dead are non-existent. Second, in God’s thinking those who will be raised are not dead and forgotten but are as though asleep waiting to be woken.
If the first assumption was accepted as true by the Sadducee. If the first assumption is actually true then, on the basis of the second assumption, the resurrection is proved in the writings of Moses by the very words of God himself. If the first assumption is incorrect, Jesus’ logic is flawed and his argument does not prove the resurrection. To put it simply, if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob existed and were conscious of God, he would still be their God. The phrase ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ would only prove their survival of death. Only if there is no possible life after death until the resurrection does God’s acknowledgment of their allegiance prove the resurrection.
The second assumption is found in Jesus’ statement ‘for all live to Him’. This is a necessary qualifier. Without this inclusion, it could be argued against Jesus that the resurrection is not the fact proven by God’s words in Ex 3:6, but rather the fact of life after death is proved by this statement. It is only by the assumption that God regards the dead who will be raised as though they are asleep and yet to be woken that a belief in the resurrection is hereby proved.
It is therefore necessary to concede that in order for the scribes to acknowledge that Jesus had ‘spoken well’ there could not have been a common belief in the possibility of life after death outside the resurrection. The absence of such a belief is a prerequisite to the fabric of the argument. The argument’s logic in proving the future raising of the dead in the age to come is destroyed by a pre-existent belief in the soul’s survival of death.
Jesus challenged the Sadducees with a question that may equally apply to us: "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures …..?" Mark 12:24
Abraham’ s Bosom
It is now appropriate that we look for allusions to the belief that the righteous dead enjoy a comfortable existence after death. The Bible contains no references to ‘Abraham’s bosom’ which can be used to define it as a section of Hades. In the Old Testament, the term ‘in the bosom’ of a person expresses an intimate closeness such as is seen when two people embrace. In Jewish literature written after the time of Christ the phrase came to used as a technical term for the better side of Hades. Concerning Hades,[9] a work which is attributed by some to Josephus, says,
“3. For there is one descent into this region, at whose gate we believe there stands an archangel with an host; which gate when those pass through that are conducted down by the angels appointed over souls, they do not go the same way; but the just are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed over that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have dwelt from the beginning of the world; not constrained by necessity, but ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see, and rejoice in the expectation of those new enjoyments which will be peculiar to every one of them, and esteeming those things beyond what we have here; with whom there is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing cold, nor are any briers there; but the countenance of the fathers and of the just, which they see, always smiles them, while they wait for that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call The Bosom of Abraham.
4. But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to the left hand by the angels allotted for punishment, no longer going with a good-will, but as prisoners driven by violence; to whom are sent the angels appointed over them to reproach them and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to thrust them still downwards. Now those angels that are set over these souls drag them into the neighborhood of hell itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself; but when they have a near view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in effect punished thereby: and not only so, but where they see the place [or choir] of the fathers and of the just, even hereby are they punished; for 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.”
An examination of this work reveals that it is not the work of an orthodox Jew but rather that of a Catholic author. It is readily seen to contain many references to the writings of the New Testament, including the gospel of Luke, and the obvious Catholic Christian bias of the work is used to argue for the conversion of Flavius Josephus. It therefore has little or no value as an aid to our understanding of the original meaning of Jesus’ parable at the time it was delivered. In the absence of a trustworthy definition of the term we are well advised not to read an extra-biblical meaning into phrase but to adopt the simple translation of The New Revised Standard Version: “The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.”[10]
Paradise
There are three references in the New Testament to a place called Paradise. It is the eschatological Garden of God in which the Tree of Life grows. (Rev. 2:7.) It is also the place that Paul’s unnamed ‘man’ was shown in vision. (2 Cor 12:2-4) Neither of these references infer that Paradise is the dwelling place of the righteous immediately after death. The final reference which deserves our attention is contained within a dialogue between Jesus and one of the thieves who was crucified with him. On the basis of these three references some have concluded that Paradise was formerly a division of Hades but has now been transferred to Heaven.[11] The change of location is an attempt to reconcile Christ’s descent into Hades, (Acts 2:31) and his promise to the thief (Luke 23:43) with Paul’s apparent association of Paradise with the ‘third heaven’.
Jesus’ conversation with the thief is unique to Luke’s account.
“And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” {42} Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” {43} And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:41-43
Here a dying thief makes several startling confessions. He first makes an admission that the punishment that he is receiving in crucifixion is just; and so confesses that he is a sinner rightly under condemnation of death. Second, he recognises the innocence of the Lamb of God contrasting His worthiness against his own unworthiness. Third, he acknowledges the dying Jesus as the Messiah. Fourth, he states his belief in Christ’s resurrection and his future Messianic kingdom. He humbly asks Jesus to remember him at the time that he would come into his glory as Messiah. This shows the thief’s faith in the end time resurrection and the authority of Christ to raise up those whom he deems worthy. The thief has appealed to Jesus to remember him at his future coronation – ‘when You come into Your kingdom’. The thief’s statement here is not as resolute as the English translation would imply. The mood in the Greek is subjunctive and denotes some element of uncertainty. It could be translated, ‘remember me whenever You should come into Your kingdom.’[12] Christ’s response to that request can be taken in at least two ways according to the punctuation. (Ancient Greek was not originally written with punctuation.) He can say, “Assuredly, (as an assurance with authority) I say to you today (emphasising now, not then); You will be with Me in Paradise”, answering the hesitancy of the question with a positive reply.[13] From this perspective we see Christ responding to the humble plea for mercy in the coming kingdom age with an assurance in the present that not only will the thief be admitted into the Messianic Kingdom but that he will be able to accompany the King of Kings into the very Garden of God wherein lies the Tree of Life. This is a response of authority by one who, though he appears to be beaten, is, in actual fact making a triumphant victory. Christ shows that his authority is present and real. His response says to the thief, that he does not need to wait till the moment of his glory. Even while enduring the shame of the cross he is the Son of God with all the power and authority of his office, and quite able to assure the thief of his mercy and love in response to his faith at that very moment.
The second way in which the response can be taken is the popular rendition. It rests on the assumption that Paradise is the better side of Hades although the Bible never defines it in this way. It contains none of the richness of the response above. “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” In this response Christ seems to ignore the thief’s request to be remembered in the Kingdom and simply makes a short term prediction that the thief would make it into the better side of Hades. The prediction is of little benefit to the thief who will find this out very shortly anyway. It was never a foregone conclusion that the thief was going to the nastier side of Hades in the first place. Obviously he was a devoutly religious man, quite different from his fellow criminal. He was repentant at heart and in respect to the Law of Moses and the Prophets may have been acceptable. The prediction, as a prophecy, is of even less importance to us as we have no way of knowing if it ever came true.
If we accept the popular understanding of these verses we merely learn that Jesus and the thief were together that day in a place which Jesus called ‘the paradise’. To understand what Jesus meant we must clarify the meaning of this term. Paradise in the O.T. (Neh 2:8; Eccl 2:5; Song of Songs 4:13) is used of forests, gardens, orchards but never of an abode of the dead.[14] The Septuagint uses paradeisos (paradise) for the Garden of Eden. (Gen 2,3; 13:10; Joel 2:3) In the Apocrypha, Paradise is associated with the end time Judgment Day.
26 “For indeed the time will come, when the signs that I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the city that now is not seen shall appear, and the land that now is hidden shall be disclosed. 27 Everyone who has been delivered from the evils that I have foretold shall see my wonders. 28 For my son the Messiah shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice four hundred years. 29 After those years my son the Messiah shall die, and all who draw human breath. 30 Then the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings, so that no one shall be left. 31 After seven days the world that is not yet awake shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish. 32 The earth shall give up those who are asleep in it, and the dust those who rest there in silence; and the chambers shall give up the souls that have been committed to them. 33 The Most High shall be revealed on the seat of judgment, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn. 34 Only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and faithfulness shall grow strong. 35 Recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep. 36 The pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell[15] shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. 37 Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, ‘Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised. 38 Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments.’ Thus he will speak to them on the day of judgment— 2 Esdras 7:26-38 (NRSV)
46 He answered me and said, “Things that are present are for those who live now, and things that are future are for those who will live hereafter. 47 For you come far short of being able to love my creation more than I love it. But you have often compared yourself to the unrighteous. Never do so! 48 But even in this respect you will be praiseworthy before the Most High, 49 because you have humbled yourself, as is becoming for you, and have not considered yourself to be among the righteous. You will receive the greatest glory, 50 for many miseries will affect those who inhabit the world in the last times, because they have walked in great pride. 51 But think of your own case, and inquire concerning the glory of those who are like yourself, 52 because it is for you that paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a city is built, rest is appointed, goodness is established and wisdom perfected beforehand. 53 The root of evil is sealed up from you, illness is banished from you, and death is hidden; Hades has fled and corruption has been forgotten; 54 sorrows have passed away, and in the end the treasure of immortality is made manifest. 55 Therefore do not ask any more questions about the great number of those who perish. 2 Esdras 7:26-38 (NRSV)[16]
It should be noted that scholars believe that 2 Esdras was written some 70 years after the time of Christ. Yet in this Jewish writing, the term ‘Paradise’ still retained its eschatological meaning. It is evident that the contemporary meaning of Paradise was not yet construed as ‘the better part of Hades’. The Book of Enoch on the other hand was written before the time of Christ and it makes a single reference to Paradise. In 20:7 ‘Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim.” No elaboration is given, but it is consistent with the notion that the Garden of Eden containing the Tree of Life was still being guarded by Cherubim (Gen. 3:24). The noncanonical Testament of Levi states that the Priestly Messiah will open its gates. G.R. Lewis says,
“Although later Jewish tradition locates “Paradise” as an abode of the righteous dead in Hades, the apocryphal books do not. However, they do associate Gehenna and Paradise closely.”[17]
In view of the above it is difficult to imagine that when Jesus spoke of Paradise, the thief would have understood this word in terms of the later Jewish rabbinic understanding which identifies Abraham’ s bosom with Paradise. On the other hand it is much easier for a later reader to incorrectly transpose a modern meaning into an earlier dialogue. The popular interpretation must be rejected.
Paul spoke of ‘a man’ who was caught up into the third heaven and Paradise.
" ……. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: {2} I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago; whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows; such a one was caught up to the third heaven. {3} And I know such a man; whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows; {4} how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." 2 Cor 12:1-4
Let us assume, as is generally conceded, that Paul is here speaking of himself. He begins by introducing his topic as visions and revelations of the Lord. He admits that he does not know whether he was bodily taken to the place in his vision or whether he saw the vision only in his mind. In other words, he cannot tell us whether he really went to heaven or not. It is quite possible then that Paul, like other prophets (e.g. Ezekiel, Daniel, John) saw a vision of things that will materialise in the future as though they already existed in the heavenly realm. Another question that should be answered is whether or not Paul here describes a single vision or two separate visions. It would appear by his repetition of And I know such a man; whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows that he is describing two separate events, one a vision of God’s Throne in heaven and the other a vision of the eschatological Paradise of God. Unless we can prove that Paul refers here to a single vision, in which he saw present realities, we cannot use these verses to locate Paradise within the third heaven.
A scan of the occurrences of the word ‘heaven’ reveals that while the Father is in heaven and our rewards and treasures are securely kept for us there, heaven is never nominated as the home of the righteous. Jesus says,
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” John 3:13
The gospels do say that our rewards are in heaven at this time. Yet these rewards are said to be given to us, not at death, but rather at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew writes,
“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.” Mat 16:27
John 14:2-3 is a well known ‘proof text’ for the popular belief in heaven as the home of the saved in the intermediate state. The variant meanings of Greek words used in this verse will not be discussed here since a much more obvious objection to its use as a proof text in this way is preserved in the text of the familiar English translations. We proceed upon the popular assumption that “My Father’s house” means Heaven and that Christ’s promise “I will come again” is a reference to the Second Coming.
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. {2} "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. {3} "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3
For the purpose of this discussion it is sufficient to ask why it is necessary for Christ to assure his disciples if I go etc. I am coming back[18] and will receive[19] you to Myself? Didn’t the faithful disciples go to be with him in the heavenly mansions as soon as they died? Why is it necessary that he must come again in order that they may be together with him?[20] If this verse is a promise that we will go to him in heaven at death, then it is death, not his coming again, that effects the reunion of the Master with his disciples. The popular interpretation of this verse makes Jesus’ words inapplicable to the very disciples to whom the statement is addressed. The fact that Jesus knew that the disciples to whom he spoke would die before his ‘coming again’ (John 21:19-23) mocks Jesus’ introductory appeal to them to believe in him.
We can circumvent this problem by understanding that the promise “I will come again” refers to gathering of the saints to Christ at his second coming and until that time those ‘in Christ’ who have died are asleep. This promised event was clearly portrayed by Paul as a gathering of two classes of Christians. The first are those who have fallen asleep and the second are those who are alive and remain.
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. {14} For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. {15} For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. {16} For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. {17} Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. {18} Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Th 4:13-18
Just as Jesus begins his discourse with the words, “Let not your hearts be troubled” so Paul begins and ends his teaching with words of comfort. Paul discloses that his source is the word of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He then shows how the hope of both those who are alive and those who have fallen asleep is that at the return of Christ the dead will rise and both groups will be gathered together to be inseparable joined in fellowship with Jesus Christ. This teaching parallels the words of Christ as later recorded by John.[21]
Having studied all references to ‘hell’ in the gospels, and having considered the state of the righteous after death, it is evident that the Gospels contain no support whatsoever for the notion that the belief that an evil person goes to a place of torment at time of his/her death was the popular concept in the minds of Jesus’ audience. The assumption that the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is speaking about events which occurred immediately after the death of the rich man is so far unsupported.
Our study has established that among the Jews of Jesus’ day (with the exception of the Sadducees) a belief in the immortality of the soul was not evident, but rather a strong belief in the resurrection as the sole hope of life after death prevailed. If this was the dominant philosophy in Jesus’ audience then we may review the parable from this standpoint.
Before we re-examine the parable however we should recognise a simple key to its understanding. The story is a parable. In this case it is a fictitious narrative which has been structured in such a way as to bring a powerful message which may not at first be evident in the simplicity of the narrative. There are several subsidiary points which complement the principal purpose of the parable. This parable is unique in that it is the only parable of Jesus in which any of the characters are named. Therefore it may be assumed that these names are of particular significance. J. B. Lightfoot in his commentary on Luke 16:20 and John 11:1 shows that Lazarus is a contraction of the name Eliezer which means ‘the help of God’.[22] In the Old Testament Eliezer was the Gentile servant of Abraham and his legal heir. The birth of Isaac disinherited Eliezer. It is significant here that Lazarus is the recipient of the blessings of Abraham while the rich man, a true descendant of Abraham, is excluded.
This is the last of a collection of parables which follow on from each other and make up Luke chapters 15 & 16. The parable of the unjust steward precedes this parable and then curiously, Luke breaks in with the comment, “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.” Then he proceeds with some various teachings which are matters of relevance to the Pharisees and are undoubtedly directed toward them. Then immediately after he continues with this parable without any other introduction. It is therefore reasonable to assume that this parable was also directed to the Pharisee. If this is not the case and a general audience is intended the parable could be quite misleading. As there is no mention of the beggar’s repentance or of his faith, a poor man may wrongly conclude that his poverty will save him. Whereas the parable challenges the selfishness of the rich but its corresponding message for the poor is but a vague hope.
It will be noted that in the interpretation given below the parable is treated as an allegory. The work of Adolph Julicher on the parables of Jesus in 1889 put a check on the fanciful allegorising of parable interpreters. More recent scholarship has recognised the place of allegory in the interpretation of parables.[23] If the story is only about the misfortune of an unnamed rich man there is no challenge for the uncaring mind. However, if a hearer identifies himself with the rich man the point is relevant and inescapable.
Luke 16:19-31 “ There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
Purple was not only a colour worn by the rich but was a symbol of rulership. Fine linen was the cloth wore by the priests. These two familiar symbols imply that the rich man was among the ruling priestly classes. Jesus is clearly pointing the parable at the affluent religious leaders of his day.
{20} “But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, {21} “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’ s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
The beggar is portrayed in the most pathetic and repulsive terms possible. Lazarus was no doubt laid at the rich man’s gate in the hope that as the rich man frequently passed he would have mercy on him and give him alms. His close proximity also shows their relationship as neighbours. Dogs are unclean animals and their contact with Lazarus implies his perpetual state of ceremonial defilement.
{22} “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’ s bosom.
The previous verses contrast the indulgence of the flesh in the rich man against the depravation of the body in the beggar. The parable continues in the same vein by contrasting the treatment of their bodies at their deaths.[24] At this point in the story the Hebrew mind is attracted by the unusual treatment of the body of the beggar. Unlike the body of a pauper which may be found rotting in the Valley of Hinnom, Lazarus’ body is taken to the most prestigious place of burial in Israel. The angels carry away his body and lay it alongside the body of Abraham (in the cave in the field of Machpelah), the greatest patriarch of all.[25] Because a dead body defiled those who touched it, the ministering of the angels at his death signifies the profound respect that Heaven has for the man.[26]
The rich man also died and was buried.
In these comparative statements both the beggar and the rich man die. Their deaths are common and receive no special treatment. The burial of the rich man’s body is conspicuously less notable than that of the poor man. No angels attend his corpse. He is simply buried. Now, stripped of his money, power, and pleasures he is at this point in the parable no better off than the poor man. To the living rich, the rich man has made the most of his short existence and a sense of satisfaction remains. But says the parable, justice and judgment will have their day! Verse 23 begins a new and dramatically different scene which brings us through an unspecified passage of time to the resurrection and the Day of Judgment when all the dead stand before God’s Throne.
{23} “ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
The story now turns its focus from Lazarus to the ‘rich’ man who from this point on becomes the main character of the story. The rich man’s predicament is set against the backdrop of Lazarus’ worthiness to receive a resurrection to eternal life. Lazarus’ worthiness to enter the Kingdom is predictable being implied by the angels attending his body. He is resurrected alongside Abraham in the new age. The rich man, on the other hand, though raised for judgment, has no promise of eternal life. He is still in point of fact “in the domain of the dead” (Hades). The scene is vividly portrayed in Revelation 20:12-15
"And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. {13} The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. {14} Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {15} And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
It is interesting to note that in these verses those who have been resurrected for judgment are still called ‘the dead’. It follows that although they are paraded for judgment through a temporary resuscitation, the ‘dead’ cannot be released from the legal dominion of Death and Hades unless their names are found in the Book of Life. The personification of Death and Hades is consistent with the Old Testament use of the word Sheol. It is not possible to cast either Death (being a state) or Hades (being the grave) into a lake of fire. It is clear that the Bible speaks about the complete elimination of Death and Hades. Similarly after the judgment those who are judged to be eternally under the dominion of Death and Hades are also cast into the lake of fire with them.
Thus the rich man is ‘in Hades’ experiencing extreme anguish as he waits to face his inevitable eternal destruction in the Lake of Fire. The Greek word used here for ‘torment’ (basanois) is etymologically related to ‘trial by torture’. This supports the argument that this ‘torment’ is the anguish of an impending judgment rather than the punishment itself. basanois is a touchstone, a dark stone used for testing metals. J. Schneider says,
“The basanos was originally used by inspectors of coins, then the word became a commercial term for checking calculations, later it was used figuratively for testing, and finally it came to signify putting to the test by torture.[27]
The English translation of verse 23 may give the impression that there is some causal connection between Hades and the rich man’s torments. Literally translated the verse reads;
“And in the Hades having lifted the eyes of him being ready to be[28] in torments sees the Abraham from a distance and Lazarus in the bosoms of him.”
The Greek word huparchov has here been translated ‘being ready to be’ or ‘beginning to be’ - a meaning found in Classical Greek. This meaning is chosen because it is a logical alternative within the given scenario.
He looks up and sees those in the ‘resurrection of life’[29] in the distance.
{24} “Then 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 (or I am agonised by) this flame.’
The rich man appeals to Abraham for mercy on the grounds that he is his descendant. The reality of the horrific nature of the Lake of Fire is emphasised by the rich man’s pathetic call for the smallest amount of water though he is not as yet near the flame. (Lazarus could not be expected to venture into the Lake of Fire to deliver a droplet of water.) There is dramatic irony in the fact that he is now begging for mercy from the man whose own pleas for crumbs he ignored throughout his life.
{25} “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.
Abraham’s reply emphasises the fact that the tables are now turned. Abraham acknowledges his blood relationship but this alone cannot save. The good that God gave the rich man in his life was withheld from his begging neighbour. (Mat 25:41-46) Now the good that God is giving Lazarus is being withheld from the rich man. Now the rich man is the beggar and the beggar is a rich man. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Justice is being meted out according to the Law of God, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’.
{26} ‘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 pass to us.’
Lazarus is not revelling in the rich man’s misfortune. If he could assist he would; but he is prevented from doing so.
{27} “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, {28} ‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
The rich man, not being conscious of the lapse of time between his sleep in death and his awakening in the Judgment, turns his attention to his kin. The rich man asks for Abraham to intercede on behalf of his five brothers.[30] This is an obvious reference to Abraham’s intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah before they were destroyed by ‘eternal fire’. (Jude 7) One may question why it is that in the composition of this parable Jesus has made reference to the brothers who at this time would also be dead. The following verse supplies the answer. The parable could have been neatly ended at verse 26, but Jesus, not willing that any should perish, wanted to offer God’s solution of grace to the problem of His wrath. The focus therefore must be shifted from the Judgment Day to the present day in order to impact those living in the present. For the living it is not too late to repent. The great gulf is not yet fixed. They must forsake their present ungodly ways and turn to the one true God revealed by Moses and the prophets. Without this addendum the necessity of faith in the Word of God alone and a subsequent response of repentance would not be explicit.
{29} “Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
Unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, the rich man’s brothers had access to the testimony of Moses and the Prophets. The writings of Moses (the Law) are the measure of God’s standard of moral behaviour. The covenant of God is extended all sons of Abraham and the way of atonement is made known to them. The Prophets witness to the coming Judgment at which the rich man now finds himself.
{30} “And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
The rich man himself having had access to the Law and the Prophets attempts to justify his own contempt of God’s teachings by implying that these are not persuasive enough to effect adherence to their demands.
{31} “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’””
Abraham refutes this arrogant claim. Jesus knows that no fear cannot motivate love for God. Love must be sincere, from the heart. The rich man has first hand knowledge of the plight of the wicked yet even now he does not show true repentance. He attempts to justify himself and accuse God of not providing sufficient motivation for righteous living.
The meaning of the parable is easily discerned. The parable is a denunciation of the wickedness of Israel’s spiritual ‘elite’. The parable makes its point at two levels. It condemns the merciless attitudes of the Pharisees at both the temporal and spiritual levels. Israel’s ‘clergy’, represented by the rich man, abounded in knowledge, wealth, power and influence that could have been used for the common good. Yet they did not share these with the common people who they looked upon with contempt. (Cf. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Luke 18:10-14) Jesus said, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Mat 23:13 and “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” Mat 23:4. The rich man in Jesus’ story is a man with whom the Pharisees could identify. The beggar is representative of the lepers, outcasts, orphans, widows, the crippled and the destitute who have been dispossessed of their inheritance of the riches of the Land of Canaan. They are despised by the elite, yet they have “the help of God”. The reference to the ‘dogs’ licking the beggar’s sores could be an allusion to the unsavoury company kept by the poorer classes. (Gentiles and sinners.) It admonishes those who trust in their Abrahamic descent for salvation and accuses those who love money and power rather than their neighbour. It teaches that God will care for the needy despite the neglect of those whom God has placed in authority over them. However God will hold each one accountable for the spiritual and physical neglect of his neighbour. It shows that the way of God is clearly seen in the Scriptures and those who have Moses and the prophets and are therefore without excuse, should hear (and obey) them. The parable combines many of the criticisms that Jesus made of the hypocrisy of the Jewish clergy, i.e. the Scribes and Pharisees and teachers of the Law. Sadly, it acknowledges that Jesus knew that they would also disregard the theological import of his triumphant return from the grave.
To conclude this study our last task is to answer any objections to this interpretation that may arise from the rest of the New Testament.
Paul travelled all over the known world proclaiming the Kingdom of God and his promise of eternal life. (Rom 6:23 NKJV) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Yet in all his recorded words and in the many letters he wrote he never spoke of or suggested that anyone would go to heaven when they died. The entire Bible is silent on this point. Paul wrote to the Ephesians that he was continually praying that,
Eph 1:18 “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”
What did Paul consider to be hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints?
"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ {9} and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; {10} that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, {11} if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. {12} Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. {13} Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, {14} I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:8-14
Toward the end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy.
"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. {7} I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. {8} Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2 Tim 4:6-8
Heaven was not Paul’s goal! The reward he looked forward to was that which is given on the Day of the Lord. He comforted those who were suffering persecutions and tribulations by letting them know that God would,
“…. repay with tribulation those who trouble you, {7} and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, {8} in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, {10} when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. {11} Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling…..” 2 Thess 1:6-11.
Of all the writers of the New Testament Paul was just as much and perhaps more preoccupied with heaven than any other writer. To the Philippians (Ch 3 v20) he wrote, For our citizenship is in heaven yet we should not deduce from this statement that he meant to go there at death for he continues, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body which is an unmistakable reference to the Parousia.
To the Colossians he wrote,
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:1-3.
Again we may incorrectly take this as an allusion to a life in heaven after death had Paul not continued; When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Again Paul sets the commencement of our eternal life at the appearing of Jesus Christ in glory.
Though Paul does talk of heaven he more frequently reminds his readers of the life to come in conjunction with the resurrection.
"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Rom 8:11
"Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." Rom 8:23
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." 1 Th 4:14
Paul devotes 58 verses, the whole of the fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians to the subject of the resurrection. He speaks of two bodies, one the natural body in the likeness of Adam, which is mortal, corruptible, dishonourable and weak, and the other, the resurrection body which is in the likeness of Christ. He calls this the spiritual body. By contrast it is incorruptible, glorious and powerful.
1 Cor 15:42-45 (NKJV) "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. {43} It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. {44} It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. {45} And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit."
Paul speaks again of this body in 2 Cor 5:1-5 "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. {2} For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, {3} if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. {4} For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.[31]
Paul continues in 1 Cor 15:51-55 with more details about being ‘further clothed. "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; {52} in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. {53} For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. {54} So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." {55} "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?""[32]
Paul lived in expectancy of Christ imminent return and longed to be with Christ. He believed that this would occur at Christ’s return. "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Th 4:17
It not surprising then that Paul wrote in 2 Cor 5:6-10 “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. {7} For we walk by faith, not by sight. {8} We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. {9} Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. {10} For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
These verses are often used as a proof texts for life in heaven immediately after death but to interpret verses 6-9 in this way is to ignore the obvious reference to the Judgment Day in verse 10.
If we remove verse 8 from the context of the expectation of the Lord’s imminent return it reads as though presence with the Lord follows absence from the body. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. However, since to those who sleep in death there is no knowledge of the passing of time between dying and being raised, death in effect instantaneously transfers the believer into the presence of God. There is no consciousness of a waiting period. Therefore an allusion to an intermediate state cannot be proved by these words. Paul may simply have meant to reassure those facing death that their next conscious moment would be in the Lord’s presence at his glorious return.
But the verse must be read in the context of verses 1-5 which speaks of the spiritual body that God has reserved for us which will ‘swallow up’ our mortal flesh. It is this spiritual body which will be put on over the corruptible mortal body.
2 Cor 5:1-5 cannot refer to a special interim ‘heavenly body’ which is given to us at death. The body referred to in verses 1-5 is an eternal body not some temporary body which lasts only until the resurrection. The resurrection body is put on over the corruptible. Death is swallowed up in victory when the immortal replaces mortal. Paul clearly places the fulfilment of this prophecy at the second coming of Christ not at one’s death.
We witness another example of Paul’s longing to be with Christ in his letter to the Philippians "For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. {24} Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." Phil 1:23-24 Again, without any indication here that the ‘being with Christ’ would be immediate upon his death our interpretation of Paul’s meaning here must be guided by his statement previously quoted,
"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Th 4:17
The word Them refers to those who had fallen asleep in Christ for whom the Thessalonians were concerned. Paul reassured the Thessalonians that those who had died would rise first and “that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.”
The second letter of Peter contains the following verses. For the purpose of discussion a literal translation is quoted here.
Peter has just quoted the example of the sinning angels who are being kept (reserved) for judgment. He then cites Noah as an example of a righteous person whom God has delivered and the antediluvian world as the wicked upon whom judgment has fallen. He then moves to Sodom and Gomorrah as another example of cities which were condemned to destruction as an example to the ungodly. In the seventh verse he refers to Lot as an example of a righteous man who was delivered out of the persecution of wicked men. On the basis of his previous argument he continues,
2 Peter 2:9 The Lord has known (and continues to know) pious ones out of trials to deliver, and unrighteous ones in a day of judgment, being punished, to reserve
The King James Version translates this verse,
(2 Pet 2:9 KJV) "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:"
But other translations including the New King James have,
"then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,"
The verse has two parallel components - the fate of the righteous and the fate of the wicked. The first is relatively simple. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. Our dilemma with the second statement is to know whether the unrighteous are reserved for punishment in the Day of Judgment or under punishment for the Day of Judgment.
It is clear from the context that the purpose of this verse is to apply the truths of the examples previously quoted to the lives of Peter’s readers. His examples major on those occasions of God’s sudden and decisive intervention in history. If the Lord is to be excepted to intervene in order to deliver the righteous out of their trials, then a corresponding intervention for the punishment of the unrighteous follows as the Old Testament references imply. Throughout the letter there is a consistent emphasis on the return of Christ as the climactic event that will vindicate the righteous, bring an end to wickedness, and inaugurate the eschatological Day of Judgment. It is most likely that this thought is uppermost in Peter’s mind as he writes against the false teachers who are bringing upon themselves ‘swift destruction’ (v. 1).
The Greek word kolazomenous is a present passive participle, which is believed to imply that the punishment spoken of is present and continuous. On this basis they justify the words ‘to reserve the unjust under punishment’. This could be true if the unrighteous were being seen to be under punishment at that present time, but this is hardly evident from their description throughout the epistle. To admit that they should wait until their death places their punishment as much in the future as would a reservation to the day of judgment. It is most likely that Peter intends to say that the unrighteous will be kept for the day of their punishment at the Judgment.[33]
The notion of an intermediate state is completely foreign to the examples he uses. The case of the angels who sinned may be seen as an exception, but their case has few parallels to the condition of men. Peter’s use of this example is simply to show that they sinned, God restrained them so that they can cause no further harm and will judge them for their actions. After almost two chapters of struggling with inconclusive proof texts for his defence of the doctrine of the intermediate state Anthony Hoekema writes,
“Perhaps the clearest New Testament passage dealing with the state of the ungodly dead during the intermediate state is II Peter 2:9.”[34]
From our study of this passage we know that (a) it does not clearly support his view and (b) it does not deal with ‘the state of the ungodly dead during the intermediate state’. If the ungodly false teachers referred to in this passage were dead, they would hardly have presented a problem to Peter’s readers. Nowhere does it speak of their death and it is only with the benefit of hindsight that we can be sure that they did in fact die. Peter on the other hand expected the Lord to come back within their lifetime not some two thousand years later as our viewpoint reads it. Hence he looks forward to the day of God’s judgment and the deliverance of His people.
Finally we come to the last book of the Bible which is renown for its enigmatic visions and bizarre imagery. Within these visions we find the following verses:
(Rev 6:9 NKJV) "When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held."
(Rev 20:4 NKJV) "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."
It is clear that these souls were once living on earth but were martyred for the word of God and for their witness.
(Rev 6:10-11 NKJV) "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" {11} Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed."
In the form that John sees them they are able to make petition to God and are able to receive white robes. Shall we then assume that martyred souls live in heaven and have bodies which can speak and wear clothes?
We should at once proceed cautiously as we cannot assume that everything seen in the visionary state has a correspondent reality. For instance, on the basis of the previous verse (6:8) shall we believe that Death and Hades are actual beings which ride around on pale horses? The examples could be multiplied.
Why is it only the martyred souls who are seen? Is there perhaps another purpose for the Apocalypse’s portrayal of the deceased martyrs in this way?
The cry of the martyrs is reminiscent of the cry of Abel’s blood.
(Gen 4:10 NKJV) "And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground."
Are we to imagine that the blood of Abel had the ability to cry out to God from within the ground? Or are we to understand from this that God knows when his creatures are harmed and will avenge the shed blood of man.
(Gen 9:4-6 KJV) "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. {5} And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. {6} Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
The Hebrew word for “life” used above is nephesh which is also the word for “soul”.
Deut. 12:23 (NKJV) “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life (soul); you may not eat the life (soul ) with the meat.
Therefore, (as previously noted) the Scriptures make a vital connection between the soul and the blood. In the Old Testament the blood of the sacrifice was poured out on the altar and soaked into the ground beneath the altar. (Deut 12:27) The life or soul (nephesh) of the sacrificed body was thus separated from it. Since the martyrdom is in effect a ‘sacrifice’ of one’s life in the service of God, the life and soul of the martyr lays ‘under the altar’ in a figurative sense.
It is consistent with the theme of the Apocalypse that the blood of the martyrs should be avenged by God and that their final vindication should be portrayed in these graphic but unreal terms. If these were literally disembodied spirits their petition in 6:9 may be misconstrued as an unsatisfied yearning to see their persecutors duly punished. This spirit of revenge would be inconsistent with the virtue of forgiveness and their discontent would contradict the doctrine of heavenly bliss. Furthermore, their impatience for retribution betrays a lack of a sense and appreciation of the timelessness of eternity. Would they not realise that within a short space of time all their persecutors will be suffering eternal torment in the burning fires of hell? Why then the urgency for God’s invention and judgment? Surely they can see that it is better that others hear the gospel and be saved? Or is this a selfish plea for the sake of payback? The latter must be rejected on the grounds of its absurdity.
A better explanation of the vision is its portrayal of God’s acknowledgement and remembrance of the martyrdom of the faithful. Their souls or blood cries out from the ground and is heard by God who will avenge their deaths at his appointed time.[35]
The final verses under consideration are texts which is used to prove that torment in hell is everlasting.[36]
Rev 14:9-11 (NKJV) "Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, {10} "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. {11} "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; (literally - for ages of ages) and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.""
It is to be noted that “forever and ever” is a translation of the Greek idiom which literally means for ages of ages. The term is so widely used in Revelation it would be nearly impossible to see it as meaning anything other than eternity.[37] The one exception which bears mentioning because of its similarity to 14:11 would be the account of the destruction of Babylon in 19:3.
(Rev 19:3 NKJV) "Again they said, "Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!""
If we are to take this literally then the smoke of the destroyed city of Babylon is eternal and survives the dissolution of the old earth (21:1) and remains a feature of the new earth. Whatever the answer to this question may be, the same should apply to the verse above.
It is to be noted here in verse 11 that it is not specifically the torment which lasts forever but rather the ‘smoke of their torment’. The passage is the warning proclamation of the third angel to those who would worship the beast and his image receive the mark. The angel warns of the coming seven bowls of wrath which will relentlessly torment those who have the mark of the beast. The wine of the wrath of God is a reference to the coming plagues i.e. the bowls of wrath. By day and by night sores will torment them. (16:2) The sun by day will scorch them with fire. (16:8) In the darkness they will gnaw their tongues. (16:10) Great hailstones will rain down on them. (16:21) The mention of ‘fire and brimstone’ associates this warning message with the unrepentant man’s final destiny – the lake of fire, but as a description of the conditions of punishment in the lake of fire, the passage would be somewhat out of place. There is a time gap of at least 1000 years before any regular human being is cast into the lake of fire. Note Rev 19:20-21 (NKJV)
"Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. {21} And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh."
Then follows a period of one thousand years during which Satan is restrained. After being temporarily loosed from his prison for an unspecified period in which he again deceives the nations, he is cast into the lake of fire.
(Rev 20:10 NKJV) "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are (or had been thrown [NIV], or were [RSV])[38]. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (literally - for the ages of the ages)
This verse is descriptive of the condition of the Devil and presumably his angels and demons. Although these are not mentioned specifically it is safe to presume that the eternal fire “which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41) will fulfil its original purpose.
Finally, after the thousand years and the period that follows all the dead are brought back to life and White Throne Judgment is held.
(Rev 20:13 NKJV) "The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works."
The sea is included with Death and Hades as a holding place for the dead. This clearly shows that in this context Hades is a mere personification of the grave and is no more a place of punishment than is the sea.[39]
This is first possible opportunity for deceased human beings to be punished by being thrown into the lake of fire. Yet no suggestion of eternal torment or suffering is mentioned here. The punishment is simply referred to as the second death. Rev. 20:6 &14. Just as the first death is a cessation of this temporary life so the second death is a termination of the temporary granted by the general resurrection.
Conclusion
In this study we have come some quite unorthodox conclusions. Yet these are inevitable conclusions to which many other orthodox scholars have arrived as a result of their objective study of the Scriptures. Among these are such famous names as Martin Luther, William Tyndale, the poet John Milton and the early Anabaptists. To these names may be added a host of respected modern scholars well known to students of theology.[40] Other conservative scholars feel the weight of the evidence against the traditional view but tenaciously hang on to their traditional preconceptions. Hoekema devotes an entire chapter to the subject of the immortality of the soul in which he competently shows that ‘the concept of the immortality of the soul is not a distinctively Christian doctrine’ yet he continues in his belief that independent of a resurrection man somehow survives death.
The Lutheran theologian Paul Althaus rightly says, “the more one fills up the blessedness of the individual after death, the more one detracts from the last day.”[41] The doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the intermediate state reduces the Judgment to little more than a charade.
For the evangelical, a correct understanding of the mortality of man is vital to a balanced concept of the gospel. The removal of the Catholic doctrines of heaven and hell drives the evangelical back to the apostolic gospel. The apostles preached the good news of the coming Kingdom which incorporated the return of the Messiah, the resurrection of the just to eternal life, and the final judgment of mankind. The apostolic message is a call to repentance and godly living – never an easy escape from the flames of hell and a complimentary ticket to heaven. In this material age the awesome gospel of grace has become distorted to fit the shape of a post-death insurance policy.
It is high time we began to appreciate the privilege of God’s offer of eternal life, and to convince the world that its inevitable march toward death is tangible evidence of the effects of its sin. The fleeting time we enjoy in this life is none other than the extension of God’s grace toward us allowing us time to repent of our sin and take hold of the opportunity to begin life eternal in a new creation made possible by the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ. It is only by dying now with Christ to what is surely dying anyway that we are able to be raised with Him in a new Spirit led life.
(Rom 6:5-6 NKJV) "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, {6} knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."
This new life in the Spirit is our only hope of immortality.
(Rom 8:11 NKJV) "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
[1] See H. Leon Greene M.D., If I should wake before I die, (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997) 17 – 171.
[2] Richard Bauckham, ‘The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: The Parable and the Parallel’, New Testament Studies 37 (1991) 225-246.
[3] Flavius Josephus, The Works of Josephus translated by W. Whiston (Peabody:Hendrickson, 1987) 606.
[4] W. M. Dunnett, ‘Esdras, Second (2)’ in Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1975) 362.
[5] The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1962, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
[6] R.E. Davies, ‘Gehenna’ in Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1975) 671.
[7] Merrill Unger, ‘Gehenna’ in Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1957) 394.
[8] It is to be noted that the phrase “For you will not leave my soul in Hades” is not vital to Peter’s main argument. Paul, in Acts 13:35, in reference to the resurrection uses only the second part of the verse, “Therefore He also says in another Psalm: “You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.””
[9] ‘Concerning Hades: An Extract Out Of Josephus' Discourse To The Greeks Concerning Hades’ in The Works of Josephus translated by W. Whiston (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987)
[10] The New Revised Standard Version, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
[11] See Scofield’s notes on Luke 16:19-31in The Scofield Reference Bible (London: Oxford University Press, 1920.)
[12] This does not denigrate the amazing faith of the thief (which at this stage exceeded even that of the disciples) but rather gives a more real picture of the power of his heartfelt convictions set against the overwhelming hopelessness of the attendant circumstances.
[13] E.W. Bullinger ‘Appendix 173’ to the Companion Bible, (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1990) notes that “I say unto thee this day” is a Hebrew idiom used as an emphatic device. In his note to Deut. 4:26 he claims that in Deuteronomy alone this idiom occurs forty two times. He also shows that in the absence of the recitative use of the Greek word hoti the word ‘today’ or ‘this day’ must be determined by the context.
[14] Applying the O.T. meaning to Jesus’ prediction would merely require that the thief like Jesus was buried that day in a garden tomb. "Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid." John 19:41 NKJV
[15] Lat, Syr, Ethiop Gehenna
[16] The New Revised Standard Version, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
[17] G.R. Lewis, ‘Paradise’ in Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1975) 598.
[18] Knox’s Version
[19] The verb ercomai in the phrase “I will come again” is not future but present tense. The tense is more correctly preserved as “I am coming again”. The verb paralempsomai in the phrase “and receive you to Myself” is not present but future. The tense is more correctly preserved as “and I shall receive you to Myself.”
[20] The first clause in verse 3 is introduced by the conditional particle ean (if…. , expecting a corresponding then ….), the purpose clause “that where I am, there you may be also” is introduced by the conjunction hina (in order that, the clause expresses the purpose for the action). The Present tense used with the Subjunctive ete (may be) emphasises the continuity of the result of the action. i.e. ‘being with Christ’. Ref. J.W. Wenham, The Elements of New Testament Greek (Cambridge:University Press, 1965.) 162.
[21] The problem can also find a solution by the suggestion that the promise “I will come again” refers to Christ’s Resurrection not his Second Coming. The promise of a permanent reunion by the receiving action of the Master cannot then be contemporaneous with his Resurrection but becomes a separate event which must be assumed to occur at the death of each individual. This alternative requires the forcing of several unlikely interpretations e.g. that the statement “I will come again” refers to the resurrection of Christ. This phrase stands in stark contrast to the numerous times that Jesus spoke of his Resurrection in more lucid and quite different terms.
[22] John Lightfoot, Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica in 4 vols (Hendrickson, 1995) 166.
[23] Craig Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1990).
[24] To say that the parable speaks of Lazarus’ death and his soul being carried to Abraham’s bosom and then of the death of the rich man and his body being buried does violence to the comparative parallelism of this verse.
[25] Cf. Gen 23:19; 25:9; 49:29-31; 50:13.
[26] In apocalytic literature, e.g. The Assumption of Moses, the angels take an interest in the burial of the bodies of the godly. Cf. Jude 1:9 "Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
[27] Kittel, Gerhard, and Friedrich, Gerhard, Editors, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) 1985, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
[28] Liddell, H. G., and Scott, Abridged Greek-English Lexicon, (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1992, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
[29] John 5:28-29.
[30] The five brothers may have originally been understood as a reference to five other divisions of Judaism or schools of Pharisaism. The N.T. mentions the following distinct groups: Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Levites, Priests, Teachers of the Law, Galileans, Judeans, Hellenists and Zealots. History adds various rabbinical schools of Pharisaism, the Qumran community and other Essenes.
[31] What are we to say about the disciple Tabitha whom Peter raised from the dead in Acts 9:36-41. Did she immediately enter into the presence of the Lord and receive in exchange for her immortality an immortal, incorruptible body? Was she then unclothed for the purpose of putting her old corruptible body back on? Was mortality swallowed up by life only to be spat out . What kind of ‘eternal’ life is it that can be taken away even for a moment and swallowed up by mortality again?
[32] The Open Bible Study Notes (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990) under the heading ‘Sheol and Gehenna’ agrees that “Paul quoted Hosea 13:14 in 1 Corinthians 15:55 to teach the resurrection of Christians from the grave.” If Hades does not mean grave here then it is difficult to see how the occurrence of the future resurrection negates the victory of Hell (Hades) - a place which never had power over Christians and a place to which they have never supposed to have gone.
[33] Leahy writes, “In accord with the eschatological emphasis of 2 Pt, the ambiguous pres. ptc. kolazomenous is better taken as a future tense (see GrBib 282-84): The unrighteous are being kept for punishment on judgment day (so Schelkle, AG, Leconte, Schneider, Chaine, Charue); rather than as a present tense: They are being kept under punishment for judgment day (so Boobyer, RSV, NEB).” Thomas W. Leahy S.J. ‘The Second Epistle of Peter’ in Jerome Biblical Commentary, Available Online Logos Systems Inc.
[34] Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1979) 101.
[35] An explanation as to why ‘under the altar’ can be equated with the ground is outside the scope of this essay. It is sufficient for our purposes here to say that as Christ is the only true sacrifice for sin, that offering could not be made in any place other than upon the true heavenly altar. It follows then that Calvary is the heavenly altar and ‘those beneath the altar’ are those who are buried under the earth.
[36] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1993) 1238
[37] Cf. Rev 1:6,18;4:9,10;5:13;7:12;10:6;11:15;15:7;19:3;22:5.
[38] The verb to be “are” does not appear in the Greek and therefore must be supplied.
[39] By contrast, traditional theology would have us believe that those who die at sea go to Hades.
[40] Among those who express a modified view of the intermediate and the final states are Karl Barth, Joseph Agar Beet, Emil Brunner, Oscar Cullman, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Clark Pinnock, and John Stott, to name a few.
[41] Paul Althaus, Die Letzten Dinge, p. 158. quoted in Hoekema op. cit. page 93.