Paradise and Abraham's bosom are not the same things
Jesus said the beggar "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."
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.
Lazarus a Gentile, was carried into an intimate relationship with 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, Thru faith we all become "the children of Abraham." That is an intimate
relationship with Abraham. That is being taken into Abraham's bosom!
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!
"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 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!
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.
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!