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In the story told at Luke 16-19-31, the beggar Lazarus died and was carried
by angels to the afterlife. Curiously, the rich man's transportation isn't
specified.
One of the most disturbing scenes I've yet to observe in a Hollywood movie
occurs in "GHOST" starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. When someone
marked for the wrong side of the afterlife passes away, these eerie
phantoms emerge, having the appearance of black oily smoke, uttering
awful moans, and drag their panic-stricken captives down into the ground.
I don't know if that's how the rich man in Luke's story was transported, but
if so; I can well imagine just how shocking and horrifying it must've been for
him at death to suddenly be able to see menacing spirit creatures
surrounding him with looks on their faces that could only convey but one
unmistakable intent; and I suspect those sinister beings had been hovering
around that poor man and stalking him every day and night of his entire life
without him knowing it and patiently waiting for the green light to take him
down.
Jude 1:9 relates a quarrel between the Devil and an archangel over the
disposition of Moses' remains. No one really knows what that was all about
but I'm suspecting that the Devil wanted to give Moses a pagan funeral, and
likely felt he had a right to seeing as how he sincerely believes himself the
world's supreme sovereign (Luke 4:5-6). So, I wonder if the angels that
provided Lazarus transportation were not also assigned as security to protect
him from being shanghaied by something similar to those dark mists
depicted in "GHOST"
_