the rich man - THE GRAVE--a place of BURIAL in the ground!
Jesus said of him: " . . . the rich man also died, and was buried." (Luke 16:22.)
In the next verse, 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, too, died and was buried. And in "hell" He, too, lifted up His eyes--
WHEN HE WAS RESURRECTED!
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.)
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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.)
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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.
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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!
He is resurrected MORTAL, just as he was before he died--not immortal like Lazarus!
Now, opening his eyes in his grave, this rich man SEES Abraham, and Lazarus in his "bosom"
-- his embrace! Yes, Jesus told the Pharisees that they would SEE Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
in the Kingdom and they themselves thrust out! This rich man sees them! He also sees this
awful flame of fire -- this LAKE OF FIRE which is about to destroy him forever! He is terrified!
Scripture everywhere describes the final fate of the wicked as being burned up by fire.
It is this "lake of fire," which is "the second death," from which there shall be no resurrection!
The PUNISHMENT is death by fire! They remain forever DEAD!
He said to these same Pharisees: "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth, They are to be THRUST OUT--into the LAKE OF FIRE
which shall consume them, leaving them neither root nor branch, as the Scriptures say!
This rich man cried out for help because of his mental and physical anguish--
KNOWING what was now to befall him!
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The gulf mentioned by Abraham which prevents the wicked from escaping death by hell-fire,
and which also keeps the righteous from being burned, is immortality. Those who are immortal
shall never die because they are born of God. (Rev. 20:6). But human beings who have not been
begotten and born by the Spirit of God are still flesh, subject to corruption and death.
They can be burned by fire.
Only the saved possess immortality as the gift of God (Rom. 2:7), but the wicked reap anguish
and wrath that shall devour the adversary--fiery indignation (Heb. 10:27). What happens when
a human body is being burned by a flame?
There is a period of torture during which the fire consumes the body before the person dies.
Jesus didn't say he was immortal, for if he were he would be spirit and flames do not burn spirit.
Fire is a physical process. It is combustion of matter.
Matthew 13:30 speaks of the wicked being gathered into bundles to be burned. What happens to
tares (weeds) when in fire? They burn up! Again in Matthew 3:12, John warned the Pharisees that
they would be burned up as chaff if they didn't repent. They are to be burned with unquenchable
fire, too. A fire so hot that no amount of water put on it could put it out, because the flames would
turn the water to steam.
When God punishes the wicked the fire will be unquenchable! But that doesn't say it won't burn
itself out when it has nothing more to burn. An unquenchable fire can't be put out, but it can burn
itself out when it has consumed everything.
Malachi 4:1,3 speaks of this fire that will burn the rich man: "For, behold, the day cometh, that
shall burn as an oven; and all t he proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the
day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root
nor branch. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be [ashes] under the soles of your
feet in the day that I shall do this."
That is the end of the wicked! They shall perish and not be any more.
"Into smoke shall they consume away." (Psalm 37:20).
The rich man then, being mortal flesh, is going to burn up after being tormented
in the flame. He is going to die the second death . (Rev. 20:14).
The wages of sin is death, not endless torment. (Rom. 6:23).
This death is for ALL ETERNITY-- ETERNAL PUNISHMENT--but is not eternal punishing!