Lazarus and the Rich Man
Do people burn forever in a Hell-fire? DO SAVED mothers up in heaven
see the writhing and hear the shrieks of their own lost children down in hell?
To spend eternity in a heaven where you would be forced to gaze constantly
upon your own loved ones who were lost, hearing them frantically screaming
to you for help you would be unable to give, gazing constantly upon their agony,
as they, on fire, are burning--burning to death-- yet never really burning up.
That the "saved" go instantly, at death, to heaven while the lost leave their
bodies and are plunged into an ever-burning inferno of eternal torture.
But the "immortal soul" advocates insist this is not a parable!
So lets pretend this was not a parable.
Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man." Then there really was a certain rich man!
Jesus said definitely that this particular rich man "was clothed in purple and fine linen,
and fared sumptuously every day." He really lived in luxury and splendor! (Luke 16:19)
Also, Jesus said, "there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at
his gate full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the
rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." (Verses 20-21.)
Yes, there were many such beggars in Palestine when Jesus lived there.
Next Jesus described what happened to them.
"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died and was buried." (Verse 22.)
They both died. Did Jesus say the beggar went to heaven?
He said the beggar "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."
Now what is a "bosom"? If you can find what a "bosom" is, and in this case
Abraham's bosom, you will know where the beggar was taken.
Look in your dictionary. A "bosom" is the breast of a human being, with the arms
as an enclosure; a loving embrace by the arms of one person about another;
an intimate relationship.
So Lazarus was carried into an intimate relationship with Abraham.
Lazarus here is pictured as a Gentile, who received salvation. Do Gentiles, upon
being converted and becoming Christ's, enter into any intimate relationship to Abraham?
To the Gentile-born Galatians, the Scriptures written by Paul say definitely: "And if ye
be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed (children), and heirs according to the promise."
Thru Christ they become the children of Abraham. Thru faith we all become
"the children of Abraham." That is an intimate relationship with Abraham.
That is being taken into Abraham's bosom!
Now Abraham is an HEIR of God. God gave Abraham a PROMISE.(Gal. 3:29),
those who thru Christ become Abraham's children are heirs-- but heirs according
to the promise God made to Abraham!
The PROMISE Was Not Heaven!
Now what did God promise Abraham? To what promise was this beggar now
an heir? Did God promise Abraham and his children HEAVEN?
"And Abram took Sarai his wife,...and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan;
and into the land of Canaan they came. ...And the Eternal appeared unto Abram,
and said, Unto thy seed I give THIS LAND." (Gen. 12:5-7.)
God promised Abraham: "For all the LAND which thou seest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed FOREVER." (Gen. 13 :15.)
"In the same day the Eternal made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed
have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."
(Gen. 15:18.) Here God wrote into the agreement, or the title to the property,
the very boundary line of the property. Of course the expression "thy seed"
refers in particular to Christ, but since this beggar was Christ's, he, also, was
"Abraham's seed, and heir according to the promise."
The PROMISE was not heaven. The promise was the LAND of Palestine, on this
earth. It was for ever, so the promise included eternal life, and eternal inheritance.
(Heb. 9:15.) The PROMISE then, was ETERNAL LIFE ON THIS EARTH!
The beggar was carried by the angels into Abraham's BOSOM-- that is, by Bible
explanation, he became one of Abraham's children, and therefore he became an
HEIR to inherit the LAND ON THIS EARTH and ETERNAL LIFE. He was
not yet a possessor--not yet an inheritor--merely an HEIR!
When was this beggar to inherit to come into possession of ETERNAL LIFE
in THE PROMISED LAND? Jesus, in telling about Lazarus and the rich man,
did not cover that point.
The son, who is heir to his father s property cannot come into possession of it
before his father inherits it. This beggar, carried into the intimate relationship
of a son of Abraham, could not inherit either eternal LIFE, or this LAND,
prior to the time his father Abraham receives these promises.
When, then, did Abraham actually receive these promises?
HE DIDN'T! -- he has not, even yet in our day, inherited these promises!
Acts 7: "And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory
appeared unto our Father Abraham . . . and said unto him, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and come into THE LAND which I will show thee.
Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans . . . into this land, wherein ye now
dwell. (Palestine.) And He gave him none inheritance in it . . . yet He promised that
he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him." (Acts 7:1-5.)
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; . . . By faith he sojourned in the LAND
of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise: . . .
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Heb. 11:8-13.)
We read in John 8:52, "Abraham is dead". At that time-- centuries after he died,
Abraham WAS DEAD! He is still dead today. When then, is he to inherit the promises?
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven . . .and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
(I Thes. 4:16.) Human mortals, in Christ, living and dead, receive eternal life-
- immortality-- the PROMISES God made to Abraham at Christ's Second Coming.
That is when they shall put on immortality! "Flesh and blood (human mortals)
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead (including Abraham and the beggar) shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality." (I Cor. 15:50-53.)
That is when they shall put on immortality! "Flesh and blood (human mortals)
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,"
the Second Coming of Christ--and all the ANGELS come with Him "THEN shall He sit
upon the throne of His glory: . . . THEN"--and not until then--"shall the King say unto
them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Mat. 25:31-34.)
Abraham would receive the promises, including eternal life, thru the RESURRECTION:
"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto
you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Mat. 22:31-32.) Jesus did not say
Abraham was then living. Yet the things God has promised are so certain they may be
counted as if already accomplished. Abraham, was and still is DEAD.
Jesus spoke this about Abraham "as touching the RESURRECTION of the dead."
Abraham will be RESURRECTED. Jesus told the Pharisees they would see Abraham in
the Kingdom (Luke 13:28), because Abraham, now DEAD, will then be RESURRECTED!
Jesus said about Lazarus in Luke. Jesus said this beggar died. So, like Abraham,
he is STILL DEAD ! But Jesus said that, after he died, "he was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom." into the status of a son and heir of Abraham, to inherit
THE LAND on this earth, and ETERNAL LIFE upon it, at the time his father Abraham
comes into his inheritance--at the time of the Resurrection.
But notice, Lazarus is to be carried there by the angels! When do the angels come down
from heaven? : Christ shall "send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together His elect from the four winds"-- out of their graves in a RESURRECTION.
(Mat. 24:31.)
The TIME when the angels carry Lazarus and the saints into sharing the INHERITANCE
with Abraham-- into Abraham's bosom-- is the time of the RESURRECTION! Lazarus is to
be resurrected, and carried by the angels thru the air to meet Christ, at His return, and to
be with Abraham, in the intimate relationship of father and son!
the Bible uses the word "bosom." In Isaiah 40:11. Here God will care for His people as a
shepherd does for his sheep, which He will carry "in His bosom." Jesus was "in the bosom"
of the Father (John 1:18), enjoying the Father's blessings and close relationship.
Moses carried the children of Israel in his bosom. To be in one's bosom is to have
that one's love and protection, and share his blessings and inheritance.
So it will be AT THE RESURRECTION!
The Fate of the Rich Man , what happened to the rich man-- and when!
Jesus said of him: " . . . rich man also died, and was buried." (Luke 16:22.) Jesus did
not say the rich man was taken immediately at that time to an eternally burning hell.
He did not say the body was buried but that the rich man himself was plunged immediately
into a burning hell. He said the rich man died--and the rich man, himself, was buried.
People are buried in a grave, and covered with earth.
Jesus said, "And in hell he lifted up his eyes." (v. 23.)
And in this hell he "lifted up his eyes." His eyes had been closed, in death,
and now there came a time when they opened--he "lifted up his eyes!"
Jesus died and was buried also-- and in the same kind of "hell"
So the rich man was in a place called hell, after all, wasn't he? And in this hell he
"lifted up his eyes." His eyes had been closed, in death, and now there came a
time when they opened--he "lifted up his eyes!"
What kind of hell is this?
Startling though it may be, the rich man was buried in the same kind of "hell"
Jesus was buried in! Yes, Jesus died and was buried-- and in " hell!"
In the first inspired sermon preached by Peter on the day the New Testament Church
started, Peter said: "He (David) seeing this be fore spake of the RESURRECTION
of Christ, that His soul was not left IN HELL, neither his flesh did see corruption."
(Acts 2:31.)
Jesus, too, died and was buried. And in "hell" He, too, lifted up His eyes--
WHEN HE WAS RESURRECTED!
Now let me explain that, and make it plain!
The New Testament was written in the Greek language. Your Bible is a translation in
the English language. In the English language your Bible probably reads "And in hell
he lifted up his eyes." However, in the original Greek in which the New Testament
was written there are three different Greek words, each having a totally different
meaning, but all three of which were translated into the "King James" and Catholic
translations by the English word "hell."
One of the Greek words is "tartaros," which refers only to the present condition of
darkness, or perversion, and of restraint, of the fallen angels, or demons. Another is
"gehenna," a place at the bottom of a high ledge at the south end of Jerusalem, where
garbage, refuse, and bodies of dead animals and the worst criminals were dumped over
the ledge to be burned up. Down below, the fires were kept continually burning. They
burned up, or consumed--totally destroyed the bodies and refuse dumped there.
This is the word Jesus used when He spoke of being
finally DESTROYED in "HELL FIRE."
But this rich man was not buried in that "hell." He was not in "gehenna." The third,
and most commonly used Greek word was written here by Luke-- "hades."
And "hades" means THE GRAVE--a place of BURIAL in the ground!
When the King James translation of the Bible was made, Englishmen spoke commonly
of "putting their potatoes in hell for the winter." They buried them in the ground!
This is the "hell" Jesus was buried in--the "hell" His soul was not left in-- the grave,
or tomb, from which He was RESURRECTED! And this, hades, was also the "hell"
in which the rich man was BURIED!
WHEN Did He Open His Eyes?
Now once again, Jesus did not say when this rich man, "in hell," lifted up his eyes.
Jesus pictured him as one of the wicked, or lost. We must look to other Scriptures
to tell us when the unjust will lift up their eyes in their graves.
Daniel speaks of the resurrection of the just, and of the unjust: "And many of them
that sleep (their eyes closed) in the dust of the earth (their graves-- buried--in "hades",
shall awake (lift up their eyes) some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt." (Dan. 12:2.)
Jesus said: " . . . the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves (the original
Greek word Jesus used is "hades") shall hear His voice, and shall come forth: they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil
(including the rich man), unto the RESURRECTION of judgment." (John 5:28-29.)
Here Jesus speaks of two different, separate resurrections. Quoted above
are Scriptures showing that the "dead in Christ" are to be resurrected
AT HIS SECOND COMING.
In I Cor. 15:22-24, we read that ALL are to be resurrected but in an order of
different resurrections--Christ Himself, 1900 years ago; afterward, in a different
resurrection, "they that are Christ's at His coming," and then "cometh the end,"
--indicating the resurrection of the unjust later.
In Rev. 20:4 we read of the resurrection of those in Christ at His coming. But Rev. 20:5
says: "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."
So the resurrection of the rich man and all the unjust or unsaved will take place after
the millennium! It is pictured and described in Rev. 20:11-12.
So, while Jesus in speaking about the rich man and Lazarus did not say when the rich
man will open his eyes and be resurrected out of his grave, other Scriptures do reveal
that it will be after the millennium!
