Jesus *said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.' " John 20:17
Jesus said this after He had been in the tomb for 3 days. So . . . where do the dead go? I thought the dead went to
heaven! Well, they do but…. Let’s work our way through some of what the Bible actually says
concerning the realm of the dead. Most have drawn their conclusions based
on tradition and various sources rather than scripture leaving vast gaps in
their understanding.
Let’s look in on one of Jesus’ conversations.
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. Luke 16:14
So, Jesus was being ridiculed by a group of Pharisees and they got more
than they bargained for…
Jesus gave them a guided tour of hell. Want to tag along?
I’ll reproduce the text in it’s entirety then we’ll
digest it below.
The rich man and Lazarus
Luke 16
19. "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in
purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.
21. and longing to be fed with the
{crumbs} which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs
were coming and licking his sores.
22. "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the
angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
23. "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,
and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
24. "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
25. "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during
your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but
now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
26. 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a
great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will
not be able, and {that} none may cross over from there to us.'
27. "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you
send him to my father's house--
28. for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn
them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
29. "But Abraham *said, 'They have Moses and the
Prophets; let them hear them.'
30. "But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone
goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'
31. "But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to
Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from
the dead.' "
Ok… Let’s see two guys died and went to Hades vs. 23.
(“Hell” in KJV.) So, is this hell? Well, kinda. It is
not the eternal lake of Fire. That is described in Matthew 25:31-46 and
Revelation 20:11-15. It is, however, a description of the immediate
state of all people before the great White throne judgment occurs.
Here’s the rub. The KJV for the most part just lumped words
up together and called them all hell. Today we have to back track a
little to untangle it.
For one thing they both went to Hades (Hell KJV) but there is obviously
a good side and a very bad side of Hades. Note there is also flame
and torment on the bad side. But it is not the same thing as the “lake of Fire.”
Several questions are immediately answered that we often ask.
- Are the dead conscious? Sure looks like it doesn’t it?
- Will we know each other in “heaven?” This is called “Abraham’s bosom.” Does this qualify as heaven? Well, Kinda. (Sounds like a broken record doesn’t it). After the judgment described in Matthew 25 and in Revelation 20, the situation will change for the saved as well as the unsaved. We’ll look at that in a moment. Be that as it may be, they knew each other didn’t they? Lazarus never speaks, but Abraham certainly does. They speak back and forth. Knowledge is increased rather than diminished. Logically, if we think about it a moment, we would expect knowledge of all things to be increased not diminished. Some people reason that they couldn’t be happy if they were aware of loved ones that didn’t “make it.” Whatever conclusion we may reach following that line of reasoning, Jesus makes it clear that our intellect (and our recollection) is intact.
- What will we be thinking? First, the rich man looks for a way out. When that fails, he wishes desperately to warn his loved ones that he now knows won’t make it either. Christianity is no joke! Faith really is a matter life or death.
Jesus means it when He says that "For the gate is small and
the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find
it.” Matthew 7:14 Have you ever been to a funeral where, after
hearing the sermon, you wanted to look in the casket to be sure the deceased
was the same fellow you used to know? We do a grave injustice when we
allow preachers to preach “everyone” into heaven! People,
even some of our friends, really do go to hell.
My guess is that even on the paradise side folks would like to warn
their loved ones also. But the text really doesn’t address what
Lazarus is thinking about or doing.
One thing is very clear… If someone dies after a long sickness, while screaming in pain, they
are not necessarily “better off!” Unless they are
“right” with God, their problems are just beginning.
Let’s move on. As noted under the title, John 20:17 Jesus tells Mary that He has not ascended to the
father. Since this after He rose from the grave it startles
some. So, where did He go?
Peter answers this question for us, “He seeing this before
spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell” Acts 2:31 (KJV) The NASV says Hades.
So, Jesus went to Hades, but as noted above, there are two parts of Hades
identified by Scripture. Did He go to the torments side (Luke 16:23)? No! Remember what He promised the thief on
the cross?
“"Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." Luke 23:43
Since Peter says Jesus went to Hades it would appear that Paradise is another name for Abraham’s bosom. i.e.
the favorable side of Hades.
The
“end” of Hades and the beginning of eternity
If you struggle with the next revelation from scripture, don’t feel
alone! I am not sure any of us fully grasps the implications of it.
What God has told us is . . .
Revelation 20
11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from
whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
12. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is
{the book} of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written
in the books, according to their deeds.
13. And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they
were judged, every one {of them} according to their deeds.
14. Then death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book
of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The realm of Hades will cease to exist at the judgment. Some
questions are still to be struggled with. Some ask, “What is the
purpose of the judgment if the rich man (and others) already seem to be
judged?” That is a legitimate question isn’t it?
Try this one on. We do the same thing. When the outcome is
reasonably certain in a capital case… we hold our criminals without
bail. Is the judgment for those without Jesus, reasonably certain?
Will it be fair? Is it a capital case (life or death hangs in the
balance)?
One final thought. In Revelation 21 it goes on into heaven as we
generally conceive of it. The pearly gates, streets of gold etc.
These all follow the judgment.
Where
are the dead according to the scripture? Awaiting
the trial of their destiny in Hades. Neither they nor we can afford to be
ill prepared for that date with destiny!
Hi I am glad you stopped by our blog. These articles are from an emailing that we did several years ago. Today most of our work is on facebook
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If you wish to worship with us....
Las Vegas church of Christ
709 Dora Celeste
Las Vegas, NM 87701
Our meeting times are
10am Sunday morning for Bible study.
11am Sunday morning for the worship service.
6pm Wednesday evening for Midweek Bible study.
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yakipreacher@gmail.com
Be well
Jerry Blount
