O, death where is thy sting?

WHEN A MAN DIES

(We have no mysterious story of death or after-life. We intend to share a message from God's word on a topic important to everyone.)

When a man dies, he is taken by an enemy, the enemy death. Death is so powerful that none can escape. However, Jesus has overcome death and He will rule as a king until death is destroyed. "The last enemy that will be abolished is death."--1 Cor. 15:26 NASB

The Cause of Death

Death is caused by sin. Scripture says "The sting of death is sin." "All unrighteousness is sin." "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."--1 Cor. 15:56, 1 John 5:17, Romans 6:23

Those Bible teachings are truly enlightening. They are truth for our mind and light for our life. They remove the darkness of error and misunderstanding. God never said that 70 years of inherited sin and disobedience deserved an eternity of conscious punishment. Every day more people are learning that the Bible never taught a hell of torment. Enlightened clergy acknowledge that an appreciation of God's love is far more effective in motivating people to do good than is a terror of Him.

Many Christian religious leaders have perceived the majestic character of the one true God--His justice, wisdom, love, and power--through its manifestation in His activities and promises. Consider the following statements on the much-misunderstood subject of judgment after death by but some whose conviction caused them to write openly on the teaching.

"The idea that forgiveness is impossible in the next life [that is, in the resurrection] has only to be stated...to be rejected."<1>

"Our goal is to grow into the likeness of God...how many of us are even in sight of that goal when we die?...If there be no growth or purification in the waiting life, what hope is there ever for any of us of fitness for the presence of the all-holy God?"<2>

"It seems hard and unjust that a man's salvation, a man's life, should hang on the age into which he is born; that the sinners of Sodom, for example, should have had a worse chance than the greater sinners of Capernaum. ...the New Testament teaches us to believe that men who die in their sins will be adjudged to a state in which for an age...they will be exposed to a corrective discipline far more searching and severe than that to which they are now exposed, and by which we may hope they will be recovered to righteousness and life."<3>

"How stands the case with the overwhelming majority of mankind, who have lived and died in the condition in which they were born and educated, and who never heard of Jesus Christ" and of "those vast multitudes in nominally Christian countries, in which the gospel which has been proclaimed has failed to set forth...the character of God as a God who is holy, loving, just and true...The righteous Judge of all the earth will condemn no man for not having accepted a gospel of which he has either never heard, or of which he has heard only an imperfect version...What then awaits them?...I can only conceive...a condition of things beyond the grave in which they will enter upon a more favorable state of probation than has been vouchsafed [granted, furnished] them here..."<4>

"I trust that by God's mercy, and through Christ's redemption, the majority of mankind will ultimately be saved...I believe that in some way or other, before the final judgment, God's mercy may reach them, and the benefit of Christ's atonement be extended to them, beyond the grave."<5>

"...anything that we can learn from any source within or without us respecting God, in any way sanctions the popular dogma of an irreversible doom at the moment of death."<6>

"Personally, I do not believe that Jesus taught the doctrine that human destiny is fixed at death, that...the chance of moral change is withheld from men, and that those who die in their sins are condemned to everlasting torment. I believed it once, but I thank God I believe it no longer...Apart from the awe and mystery attaching to death, there is no reason for assuming that at its crisis man's destiny is irrevocably fixed."<7>

Is Death Really Death?

From whom came the idea that death is not really death at all? The idea came from the one who was lifted up with pride and said to Eve, "Thou shalt not surely die." That was the serpent's statement.--Genesis 3:4

You and I became involved with death when we were born. That is because we came from the family of Adam. Adam himself was dying--he himself had been condemned to death--and he could only pass on to his offspring the life which he possessed.
Adam had been created by God perfectly able to obey God. He possessed that ability. He was mentally and morally an image of God. He was intelligent. He had a mind, a will; he could think, reason, and make decisions. He could direct his own actions. Having been created with those capabilities, he was in God's likeness, but, having a human body or organism, he was a human being.

The Bible uses simple words to explain man's creation to us. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."--Genesis 2:7

Man is a soul

He "became a living soul." He has life. He is not mysteriously constituted. He is similar to the lower animals, but his higher organism and intellect with the capacity for eternal life caused him to be in the image of God. Disobedience in the simple test would bring a dreadful penalty. Man would die. The whole being would die, as God had commanded Adam: "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die [margin, dying thou shalt die]."--Gen. 2:16,17

The Soul That Sins Dies

Eve was not certain that God's warning to Adam was true. The serpent's assertion, "Thou shalt not surely die," deceived Eve, but "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (1 Tim. 2:14). Adam's sin was blameable. Adam sinned against full knowledge. God had told him directly what the results of disobedience would be. Eve may have received her instructions second-hand, but such could not be said for Adam. He surely knew what death meant--otherwise he too would have been deceived. But the Apostle Paul, writing under direction of the holy spirit, assures us that Adam was not deceived.

The Old Testament assures us that the faithful ancient prophets understood that the soul that sinned would die (Ezek. 18:4). Greek philosophers, however, had a different idea, an idea that conflicted with God's revelation. They thought that a human consisted of several components, one of which could not die. The Greeks denied the Bible teaching that man is a soul and that man dies because of sin. The expression "immortal soul" originated from those Greek ideas. It does not appear in Scripture!<8>

The Apostle Paul encountered a group of Greeks in Athens who believed the error taught by those ancient philosophers. Paul declared to them a god about whom they knew little. Paul told them about the one true God's wonderful purpose of eternal judgment in the time of resurrection, of which God had given assurance by raising from the dead the one whom He had appointed to conduct that judgment. The Greeks thought they knew better. Unwittingly, they had accepted Satan's lie. They believed that people do not die. So, they mocked and laughed when they heard about the resurrection of the dead. For they believed that if deceased people weren't really dead, they did not need a resurrection.--Acts 17:22-32

This controversy clears up when the simple Bible teaching is accepted- -"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." That warning would be meaningless if God made man an immortal soul. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Its record is so plain and simple: "Man became a living soul," not "an immortal soul."

With these truths in mind, Gen. 2:7 is easily understood. "God formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [Hebrew, neshamah, meaning "the puff of life" or "the power to live"], and man became a living soul."

When a man dies, the power of life in his being ceases. Usually death occurs from an interruption of the natural processes which sustain life. That power of life originally came from God, and because He will give life again in the resurrection, Scripture says that the power of life returns "unto God who gave it" (Eccl. 12:7). Our Savior's words on the cross confirm that to be true. He said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Life ceases at death. There is thereafter no life at all until it is given again by God's resurrecting power.

What Do the Dead Know?

All societies have their conjecture about what the dead might know. On this point the Bible is exceedingly clear. The Psalmist and Solomon wrote, "His breath [Hebrew, ruach, meaning "spirit" or "power of life"] goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psa. 146:4), and "For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory [record] is forgotten. Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or wisdom in Sheol where you are going."--Eccl. 9:5,10 NASB

Those simple teachings of the Bible as to what happens when a man dies explains other questions. We learn that man has no knowledge, no life, no sensibilities when dead. He can not be tormented for ever and ever, nor for a day; no, not even for a moment. We need not worry about the Dark-Age idea which long seemed so strange and foreign to the concept of the loving and merciful God that the Bible reveals. The creedal teaching of "hell" gives place to an understanding of the Bible hell, which is quite different. Hell is simply the condition or state of death. It is not a place or condition in which people are tormented.

The Bible is the one trustworthy and true source of knowledge about the human condition. In the Bible we learn that all people die the same death. Whether they are good or bad, saint or sinner, all who die are in the same condition: death. All who die are in the Bible hell-- death.

Confusion on the meaning of Sheol

Sheol is a Hebrew word used in the Old Testament 65 times. Its meaning is sometimes hidden to us who do not understand that language because this one word has been translated in very different ways. In the King James Bible it is translated "grave" 31 times, "hell" 31 times, and "pit" 3 times. Had sheol been translated the same way each time, its meaning would have been much easier to understand. We would have seen what it cannot mean, because it would stand out by its inappropriateness in contexts where erroneously translated. Let's look at two examples.

Faithful Jacob, believing that his special son Joseph had died, expected to die in his grief and go into sheol. "And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [Hebrew, sheol] mourning. Thus his father wept for him."--Gen. 37:35

God's righteous servant Job prayed to go to sheol to escape distress, and wrote that both good people and bad people are together in death. "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave [sheol], that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands" (Job 14:13-15), and "Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent [receive] me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, who rebuilt ruins for themselves; Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master."-- Job 3:11-19

All People Go Into Sheol, Hades

Yes, Scripture says that sheol (hades, "oblivion") receives all mankind, good and bad alike; that it has no light, no knowledge, no wisdom, no device; that there no tongue praises the Lord, neither blasphemes His name; that it is a condition of absolute silence, and in every way an undesirable condition, except that all therein are promised resurrection.--Eccl. 9:10, Psa. 31:17, Acts 24:15

The Bible tells us that, in death, man has no preeminence over beasts. Death is the same for both. The one preeminence which man does have in regard to death is the promise of resurrection. Christ died to redeem Adam and all mankind from sin and death. The Bible is silent regarding any redemption of the lower animals.

Death means death

"For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath [Hebrew, ruwach, meaning "spirit"], and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth?"--Eccl. 3:19-21 RSV

Animals too are souls [Hebrew, neh-phesh, meaning "soul"]. Neh-phesh is often translated "living creatures," as in Gen. 1:21 and six other places in Genesis, describing sea mammals, fowl, and beasts. God sees them all, including man, as "living souls."

Resurrection is God's great blessing for Adam's family, of which are all the human dead. Those who teach that the dead are not dead deny the resurrection of the dead.

Firstfruit Assures an Afterfruit

Sheol is the only "hell" of the Old Testament. Its exact equivalent in the New Testament is hades, and hades is always translated "hell." The correspondence between these two words is shown by the Apostle Peter's quotation of Psa. 16:10 in Acts 2:27. There he used the Greek word hades, where the psalmist used the Hebrew word sheol. "Because thou wilt not abandon the soul of me in Hades, nor wilt thou give the holy one of thee to see corruption" (Marshall Interlinear). Why is this important? Because it means that Jesus was in hell when He was dead. Jesus ceased to exist--completely, totally. He was in the death state. After dying, He was resurrected to life on the third day by God's mighty power.

Note what the Apostle Paul meant in writing that Jesus is the "firstfruit of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20). He had in mind the "after fruitage," a later blessing to come as a result of Jesus' death. There were others who would be resurrected from hell, which is precisely what Jesus had taught.

And Jesus' words testified that the subsequent resurrection work would be of two kinds: "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."--John 5:28,29 NASB

Death to be Destroyed

Death and hell will be destroyed. When will this happen? After they have delivered up all their dead; after all in their graves have come forth; after Rev. 20:13 is fulfilled. "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. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire."--Rev. 20:13,14 NASB

These verses inform us of the manner in which death and hell are destroyed. They are cast into the lake of fire. "This is the second death." Everything cast into the lake of fire is burned up. Everything burned is transformed in the purifying flames of fire and brimstone. All those that are cast into this lake are changed. Brimstone is the Greek word for sulphur. Sulphur is curative and corrective. This is not to infer that there will be no pain involved but that the burning will accomplish its purpose; there will be no evil left-over. God will be all in all after death is destroyed as the scriptures inform us. --1 Cor 15:26,28

This article's opening Scripture promised the destruction of our enemy death. A prophet foretold it: "Oh death, I will be thy plagues; O sheol, I will be thy destruction."--Hosea 13:14

Our Master's resurrection promise in John 5:28,29 was noted foregoing. It promises that all of Adam's family will have an opportunity to obey and gain life. While they have been dead there has been no change in them at all. When they come back in resurrection they will be judged individually, but not according to what they did when they were ignorant of God's will and purpose. No! People will be judged by how they respond to the knowledge of the Lord's glory when they understand it. Afterall, "Will the Judge of the earth not do right?" In other words, God will be fair.

The Bible assures us that then they will all learn and understand. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." "When the judgments of the Lord are in the earth, the inhabitants shall learn righteousness."--Isa. 11:9, 26:9

And it is reassuring that the same prophet, Isaiah, also predicted the destruction of death: "He [God] will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, 'Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.'"--Isaiah 25:8,9 NASB

To such a wonderful testimony we can only answer: "How wonderful! How truly like a loving God to propose such blessings for man through Jesus Christ's sacrificial offering of Himself." Indeed, it is through Jesus that all of God's promises can be fulfilled.

"God...wishes all men to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of truth. For there is one God, also one Mediator of God and of men, a man Christ Jesus, the one having given Himself a ransom on behalf of all, the testimony in its own times."--1 Timothy 2:4-6 Marshall Interlinear
How wonderful that in God's due time all mankind "may...call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent."--Zeph. 3:9

NOTES

Archdeacon R. H. Charles
Dr. Paterson Smyth, one-time Professor of Theology at the Univ. of Dublin and Rector of St. George's, Montreal
Dr. Samuel Cox, c. 1870-1890, Baptist Minister and one-time Editor of the Expositor
Dr. C. A. Row, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral
Mercy and Judgment, by Dr. F. W. Farrar, chaplain to Queen Victoria, and Dean of Canterbury
Eternal Hope, by Dr. F. W. Farrar
Dr. Samuel Vranken Holmes, Minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY, USA, March 1907, published in Buffalo Express, March 15, 1907

God is the only immortal king and lord. All others are mortal. Either they will die or else they exist only in human mythology. Paul's teaching in 1 Tim. 6:15,16 is the total Bible testimony regarding deity of the Greek word for immortality, athanasia. The only other use of that Greek word in Scripture, 1 Cor. 15:53,54, refers to the resurrection of Christian believers.
Some Bible versions inadequately use the words "immortal" or "immortality" to represent the Greek aphthartos or aphtharsia. Such verses, rightly translated, read as follows: 1 Tim. 1:17--"Unto the King eternal, incorruptible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever"; 2 Tim. 1:10--"...our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel"; Rom. 2:7--"To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek after glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life."

RSV--Revised Standard Version, 1952

NASB--New American Standard Bible,

1958 Marshall Interlinear--Samuel Bagster & Sons, London 1958

As In Adam All Die

Will All Who Die In Adam Be Made Alive In Christ?

Man was made for life, but death swallows up the race. Is death always to be the abject, heartbreaking end of life, or will death some day be vanquished and its victims freed? The right answer to this question reveals a triumphant Savior, strengthens faith in God, gives true comfort, and inspires worship, thanksgiving and joy. The right answer is God's answer. It is direct and clear. Note it carefully.

AS in Adam ALL die

SO ALSO in Christ shall ALL be made alive.

BUT each in his own order:
Christ the Firstfruit;
Then they that are Christ's at His coming;
Then cometh the end [order], WHEN He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; WHEN He shall have abolished ALL rule and ALL authority and power. For He must reign, TILL He hath put all His enemies under His feet. THE LAST ENEMY THAT SHALL BE ABOLISHED IS DEATH (1 Cor. 15:22-26, R.V.)

This is an unexplored portion of God's Word to many. Its challenging statements should strengthen our determination to understand and believe the truth God has revealed in it. Let us consider some of its outstanding points:

AS IN ADAM ALL DIE. Death is the heritage of all who are related to Adam, none escape it. Even those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, succumb to the sleep of death and are referred to as "the dead in Christ" (1 Thess. 4:13-18); and as "the dead" that "shall be raised incorruptible" (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The fact that "those who are Christ's" need to be "made alive at His coming" shows that they too are included in the ALL who die in Adam.

Satan's success in binding men to the nature and extent of death is the cause of much error. That this would be a master stroke of deception is evidenced by the fact that Satan's first lie was "You shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). This deception is still believed by many in spite of the fact that all die. Truth is sometimes rejected because it is unpleasant. The apparent finality of death appalls man. His aversion to death causes him to welcome any philosophy that explains it away. To reject the truth concerning death is to lose the comfort contained in God's way of dealing with it. Death is indeed a grim and relentless enemy but there is One Who is "THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE" (John 11:25). He has "the keys of death and of Hades" (Rev. 1:17-18). He it is who will conquer death and set its victims free. Hear the thrilling words:

SO ALSO IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE. Think of it -- ALL who die in Adam will be MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST! Made alive beyond the reach of death. Made alive unto immortality as was Christ "the Firstfruit" when He was raised from the dead (1 Tim 6:16). Made alive as "those who are Christ's" will be made alive at His coming -- the dead raised "incorruptible" and the living "changed" from mortal to immortal (1 Cor 15:51-55).

Marvel of marvels, "INCORRUPTIBLE " and "IMMORTAL" -- incapable of being corrupted and incapable of dying. This is the "victory" that will "swallow up" all death in due time. What rejoicing there will be then! What glory to God and to His Son!

BUT EACH IN HIS OWN ORDER. Not a "but" of exception, rather a "but" of order. ALL are to be made alive but at different times. "Each in his own order." THREE ORDERS are enumerated and located in relation to other events:

Christ the Firstfruit -- Three days after His death.
Then those who are Christ's -- At His coming.
Then the end [order] -- WHEN He shall deliver up the kingdom.

It is the third or "end" order that many overlook. A thoughtful reading of this passage will enable most believers to see clearly that the words "then cometh the end" refer to this end order to be made alive. The subject the apostle is elucidating is: The order in which all who die in Adam will be made alive in Christ (vs. 22-24). Christ the firstfruit (order one) and those who are Christ's at His coming (order two) comprise only a small part of the ALL who die in Adam. A third order is necessary to make ALL alive. To refer the "end" to anything else is to ignore the context and to introduce something foreign to the subject. It cannot possibly refer to an end of the kingdom, for though the kingdom will be "delivered up" to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24) , it will never end (Luke 1:33).

Four statements in this passage indicate that the words "then cometh the end" refer to the making alive of an end order.

"as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in this own order" (vs. 22-23).

"The last enemy that shall be abolished is death" (vs. 26). It is the making alive of ALL that will abolish death. As long as any remain dead, death has not been abolished.

"When all things have been subjected unto the Son" (vs. 27-28). The dead must ALL be made alive if all are to be subjected unto the Son. The only exception in this subjection is God the Father.

"That God may be all in all" (vs. 28). This requires that all be made alive. As long as any remain dead God cannot be ALL IN ALL, for He is not the God of the dead (Luke 10:37-38).

But the question arises, May not the making alive of this end order refer to "the resurrection unto judgment" at the time of the "Great White Throne" (John 5:29; Rev. 20:11-15)?

This cannot be the case for three reasons:

In the resurrection unto judgment the dead are not made alive unto immortality as is the case in the end order. Were they raised "incorruptible: and "immortal" to be judged, they could not afterward die the second death. God's Word makes it clear that "if any are not found written in the book of life" they will suffer the second death (Rev. 20:13-15).

The making alive of the end order will abolish death. The resurrection unto judgment does not do this for it is followed by the second death. As long as the second death exists, death has not been abolished.

The making alive of this end order takes place long after the resurrection unto judgment at the Great White Throne -- more than a whole age later. The end order is made alive "WHEN He shall deliver up the kingdom to God even the Father." When does He do this? WHEN He shall have abolished ALL RULE and ALL AUTHORITY and POWER. For He must reign TILL he hath put all His enemies under His feet. THE LAST ENEMY THAT SHALL BE ABOLISHED IS DEATH" (1 Cor. 15:24-26, R.V.).

The Son does not deliver up the kingdom to God the Father until he has abolished ALL rule, authority, power, and death. Since death is the last enemy to be abolished, as long as rule, authority, and power remain, the end order has not been made alive. With these facts in mind let us glace at the outstanding events of the future which bear on this subject.

AN OUTLINE OF FUTURE EVENTS

When Christ returns He will set up a kingdom upon earth (Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:44). Together with His saints He will then reign for 1,000 years (Rev. 19:11-20:6). When the 1,000 years are finished there will be a Satan led revolt which ends in disaster for the revolters (Rev. 20:7-10). This will be followed by the resurrection unto judgment (Rev. 20:5-6 and 11-15). The present heavens and earth will then be dissolved (2 Pet. 3:7-13). Then will come the New Heavens and the New Earth upon which the New Jerusalem descends (Rev. 21:1-22:5).

Will rule, authority, and power still be present on the New Earth? If so, death has not yet been abolished. Let us see: "The Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein" (Rev. 22:3). "And his servants shall serve him" and "they shall REIGN for the ages of the ages" (Rev. 22:3-5).

"The KINGS of the earth bring their glory into the New Jerusalem" (Rev. 21:23-24). Yes, rule, authority, and power are still present on the New Earth. The Lord Jesus is still reigning, the saints are still reigning, and there are still kings on the earth. The end order has not yet been made alive. Since there will be no death on the New Earth (Rev. 21:1-4), the only dead ones to be made alive in the end order are those who have suffered the second death. When these have been made alive, then in deed and in truth, death will have been abolished.

The question arises, When will these who are made alive in the end order come to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior? Another question answers this one. How can unbelievers EXPERIENCE the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ in saving them out of the first death, be brought into His presence at the Great White Throne, and not believe? The Judge is none other than the Savior (Rom. 2:16). "All judgment has been given unto the Son that all may HONOR the Son even as they honor the Father" (John 5:22-23) .

But the objection arises, if they come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior then, why should they suffer the second death? Again we would answer by asking another question. Why do those who believe during this life suffer the first death? We should not forget that the first death is the condemnation of God against SIN (Rom. 5:12-19). Deliverance out of it for anyone is on the basis of the saving work of Jesus Christ (John 1:29). Unbelievers will be saved OUT OF the first death in the "resurrection unto judgment" (John 5:28-29). They will then be judged and dealt with according to their DEEDS (Rom. 2:5-6; Rev. 20:11-15) after which they will suffer the second death. The second death is because of the SINS of the individual, and deliverance OUT OF it will be on the basis of the saving work of Jesus Christ (1 John 2:2; Rom. 5:18-19; 1 Cor 15:20-26).

The teaching of endless punishment slanders the character of God and dishonors His Son. Failure to distinguish between the elective salvation of the ages (2 Tim. 2:10), and the general salvation beyond (1 Tim. 4:9-11; 2:3-6), has caused many to malign the God they seek to glorify. This distinction is clearly revealed in the types of the Old Testament. There was redemption for SOME prior to Jubilee, and a deliverance for ALL at Jubilee (Lev. 25:1-55).

There is to be a grand Jubilee of Salvation. All are to receive "justification of life" and "be made righteous" (Rom. 5:18-19). Jesus Christ is indeed a triumphant Savior! "The pleasure of the Lord SHALL PROSPER in His hand, He shall see the travail of His soul and SHALL BE SATISFIED" (Isa. 53:10-11).

-- Joseph E. Kirk

Published by:Concordant Publishing Concern

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91350, U.S.A.

The Rich Man, Lazarus, and Abraham - Making sense of Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, and longing to eat what fell from the Rich Man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The Rich Man also died and was buried. In Hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire’. But Abraham replied, ‘Son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone else cross over from there to us.’ He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment. Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’ (NIV)
_____________________________________

Introduction

Sometimes in the Bible it is obvious when a parable is a parable, and when real events are real events. Sometimes the reader can easily distinguish between things to be taken literally and things to be taken figuratively.

But this is not always so simple. Many times when Jesus spoke in parables people misunderstood and took him literally. For example, Jesus once said, when visiting the temple in Jerusalem, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days". Those listening all thought he was speaking literally about the real temple and objected "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?". Yet the Gospel writer notes "But the temple he had spoken of was his body" (John 2:20). In other words he was talking figuratively, in a kind of parable.

Even Jesus’ own disciples were often confused by his figurative speech and parables. For example on another occasion he told his disciples to "be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees" and they misunderstood, thinking that he was reproaching them for having forgotten to buy bread. Then he explained to them that he was talking figuratively; the yeast was the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:6-7,11-12).

It is easy to smile at these mistakes by the people of Jesus’ day, and forget that we are reading the account including the explanation! Without the explanation we would probably be just as confused as those to whom Jesus first spoke the words.

A unique story

The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is one of the best known in the Bible because it is unique in several ways.

Firstly, it is unique because, although its style resembles a parable, and also it comes immediately after a series of four other parables (parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, prodigal son, dishonest manager), it certainly is not a usual parable. The parables of Jesus normally concern nature, everyday life, customs and society, not startling visions of the underworld, complete with fire and chasms.

Secondly, this parable, if we can properly call it a parable, is the only one in which real people - Abraham, Lazarus - are named.

Thirdly, it is unique because the teachings in this story clearly contradict the rest of the Bible’s teaching about what happens after death. For example no other support can be found anywhere in the Bible for the idea that ‘souls’ live on after death, or that the ‘souls’ of good and wicked go to different places. Or that Abraham is waiting to welcome the dead. This may surprise some readers, but popular ideas about souls going to heaven or hell, and so on, are not taught in the Bible. In fact they are repeatedly denied in both Old and New Testaments. Elsewhere in the Bible "the dead know nothing". (More on this subject in a moment).

Finally, Jesus uses various phrases (such as "the Bosom of Abraham") and images (such as the chasm separating the underworld in two) which are only found outside the Bible. In fact these terms are only found in 1st Century Jewish mythology. (More on this subject also).

Bible teaching on death

Before looking at Luke 16:19-31 in detail it is probably necessary to support the assertion made above that the Bible teaches that "the dead know nothing".

That phrase is actually a quote from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Similar comments can be found in Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 and 9:10. These verses are so clear, and so clearly contradict popular church teaching about the ‘immortal soul’ (a phrase never found in the Bible), that many modern Christians reject the book of Ecclesiastes as being ‘the work of a man without faith’. This is extremely short sighted as it is not only Ecclesiastes but almost every book in the Bible which contains this teaching. If someone rejects Ecclesiastes, because they find its teaching unpalatable, they will eventually have to do so with the entire Old Testament and then the New Testament as well.

It is not going to be possible to cover the entire subject of life, death, and the nature of man in a few lines. [...] However the main points of Bible teaching are as follows:

1. Man’s ‘soul’ is made up of two parts - dust and breath:
See Genesis 2:7(where "living soul" is the same Hebrew phrase as "living creatures" in Genesis 1:21,24, 9:10,12,15,16 etc.) Job 27:3, 33:4-6, Psalm 104:30, 1Corinthians 15:45 (where the "soul" of Adam is the same Greek word psyche as "life" or "lives" in Matthew 2:20, 6:25, 10:39, 20:28, Acts 15:26, 20:10,24, 27:10, John 10:11, 15,17, 13:37,38, Romans 11:3, Philippians 2:30, 1John 3:16, Revelation 8:9 etc.).

2. When man dies the breath returns to God who gave it, and man returns to dust:
See Genesis 3:19, 6:3, 18:27, Job 7:21, 21:26, 34:14-15, Psalm 37:20, 49:10-14, 55:23, 76:12, 88:5, 90:3-6, 103:14, 104:29, 112:10, 140:10, 146:4*, Ecclesiastes 3:19-20*, 12:7*, Isaiah 26:14, 43:17, 51:39, Ezekiel 18:4, Nahum 3:18, John 6:49, Romans 5:12-14, James 2:26. (* in the asterixed verses English Bibles have "spirit" but the Hebrew has the same word ruakh as the "breath" in the animals of Genesis 6:17, 7:15 etc. The word ruakh does not mean a conscious spirit).

3. Those who have known God ‘sleep in the dust’ - meaning that they rest unconscious until Christ returns:
See 2 Samuel 7:12, (and likewise 1 Kings 2:10, 11:43, 14:20, 31, 15:8, 24, 16:6, 28, 22:40, 50 etc. etc.), Job 10:21, 13:12-15, 14:21, Psalm 6:5, 13:3, 30:9, 31:17, 49:17-20, 88:10-11, 115:17, Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, 10, Isaiah 38:18, John 3:13, 11:11-13, Acts 2:29,34, 13:36, 1 Corinthians 15:51.

4. Only then will man rise from the dust to be judged, and, if accepted, live forever in Christ’s Kingdom on earth.
See Job 33:25, Psalm 22:29, 37:11,22,29,34, 49:15, 116:15, Isaiah 26:19, 57:1, Jeremiah 23:5, Ezekiel 21:27, Daniel 12:2-3, Matthew 5:5, 6:10, 8:11, 22:23-32, 23:39, 25:34, Mark 13:32, 14:25, Luke 1:33, 17:24, 20:35-38, John 5:21-22, 28-30, 6:39-40,44,54, 11:24-25, 14:6, Acts 1:6-7,11, 4:2, 17:18,32, 23:6, 24:15,21, 26:6-8,23, Romans 2:16, 4:17, 6:5, 14:10, 1 Corinthians 6:14, 15:12-14,20-23, 49-55, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Philippians 3:11, Colossians 3:4, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16, 5:23, 2 Timothy 4:1, Hebrews 11:13,19,39-40, Revelation 5:10.

There are some complications to the simple explanation above because of the way that Bible translations sometimes reflect church traditions rather than the literal text. So a phrase which conflicts with traditional beliefs such as "do not go near a dead soul" (Numbers 6:6) is translated as "do not go near a dead body". When Joshua "struck all the souls with the edge of the sword" (Joshua 10:28,30,32,37,39) it is translated "people". And so on.

One solution to this problem is a concordance (such as Young’s, Wigram’s, or Strong’s), but in many countries these cost more than a month’s wage. Alternatively some readers use two Bibles, a modern one for general reading, and an older version for checking difficult passages. Either way it is worth noting in the margin of one’s Bible the literal meaning of the text, so that it can be remembered the next time it is read.

Back to Luke 16....
So the picture of the afterlife given in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus contradicts all the Bible verses given above.

Something that is even stranger, given the popularity of Luke 16 in the churches as a proof text on heaven and hell, is that it also contradicts church traditions.

If Abraham is really in a place where one can communicate across a chasm with the wicked, burning in another part of the underworld, then he is not in heaven. Luke16:22-26 clearly has nothing to do with the popular picture of heaven.

Some churches have attempted to get round this by saying that the Bosom of Abraham was under the earth when Jesus spoke but is in heaven now. Apart from the lack of any Bible support for such an idea, what exactly does it achieve?

Understanding Parables

If we are going to understand Luke 16:19-31 we have to do so in the context of the rest of the Bible.

But first, it is worth noting that the Parables of the New Testament are not simple stories like the fairy tales that we tell children. They can be, and were intended to be, difficult to understand:

"This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not understand’" (Matthew 13:13)

"Although I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly". (John16:25)

The explanation of Luke 16:19-31 which will follow requires a little thought, but then God gave us brains that we might use them:

"Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16)

"Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults." (1Corinthians 14:20)

Here is an example of a parable that is more than just a simple ‘story’:

The Parable of the Weeds

In Matthew 13:24-30 there is a parable about a farmer who finds weeds growing in his field. The interesting thing about this parable is that it is one of very few where Jesus later (13:36-39) explained the meaning to the disciples:

The sower= Christ
The field = the world
Good seeds = good people
Bad seeds = bad people
The enemy = the Devil
The reapers = the angels
The harvest = the end of the age

There is no confusion here because Jesus himself gave the identification of the characters in the parable. We now turn to some of the parables in Luke which lead up to that of the Rich Man and Lazarus:

The Parable of the Great Banquet

In Luke 14:16-24 Jesus tells a parable about a man sending out invitations to a feast. But the invited guests are too busy with business to accept the invitation. The host then becomes angry and invites the poor and outsiders instead.

It is easy to see that the characters in the parable are all real people, or groups of people:

Host of the banquet = God
Servant sent to call guests = Christ
Guests who make excuses = the rich Jews
The poor and sick of the town= the poor Jews
Those from outside the town = the Gentiles

Also it was based on real life circumstances. When he told this parable Jesus was actually present at a banquet (see 14:1), and his audience included exactly the kind of people who were excluded in the parable (14:7).

The Parable of the Lost Son

In Luke 15:11-16 we have another parable. The mention of the far country and pigs in v.15 suggests the same subject:

The father = God
Older son = Jews
Younger son = Gentiles

Again, real people, real local circumstances.

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

In Luke 16:1-13 we have a much more complex subject. This parable is often misread as teaching that churches should imitate the world when handling money. But Jesus makes it clear that he is talking about "the Pharisees who were lovers of money" (v.14). When they laughed at the parable he turned to them and said "You are the ones!" (v.15).

The master = God
The dishonest manager = the Pharisees
The debtors = the people

Instead of the bills being literally money owed to God, the Pharisees were reducing what the people owed to God in terms of worship and righteousness (v.17). It appears that Jesus particularly had in mind the Pharisee practice of selling letters of divorce (v.18).

This information allows us to reconsider why the master had "commended" his servant for conspiring with his creditors to cheat him (v.8). What master in real life would do this? This cheated master can only be speaking with bitter irony. Certainly, in the next verses, Jesus had nothing good to say about the dishonest manager (vs.10-13).

The key to understanding this strange ‘commendation’ (v.8) is in the Old Testament. The "eternal dwellings" (v.9), refer to the "eternal home" of the grave (Ecclesiastes 12:5). And the so-called "friends" waiting there, are those already dead (Psalm 49:11-14). Therefore:

The master’s bills = God’s laws
Eternal dwellings = the grave

Again, the parable concerns real people, real local problems and contemporary issues. And, most importantly, the key to the answer was in the Old Testament.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

We now come to the last of the parables in this section of Luke, the one with which we are concerned. One important point: there is no break between the "You are the ones!" (Luke 16:15) spoken to the Pharisees and the Lazarus parable. This suggests that the Pharisees were the audience of this parable as well.

Who are the characters?

The Rich Man = ?
His father = ?
His five brothers = ?
Lazarus= ?
Abraham = ?

It seems easiest to start where there is likely to be most agreement, that Abraham is the Abraham of Genesis.

Next easiest is Lazarus. There is only one person of this name found in the Bible, namely Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Mary and Martha who was raised from the dead by Jesus in John 11:1-44. Comparing the parallel accounts of the anointing in Bethany in John 12:3 and Matthew 26:6 we find that Lazarus’ other name was Simon, and that he had been a leper. The leprosy must have been healed when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, but he was still known as "Simon the Leper".

This explains why the Lazarus in the parable was "full of sores" (Luke 16:20). The begging had nothing to do with poverty, it was because he was unclean. According to the Law of Moses, Simon would have been ceremonially unclean and could not enter his own house in Bethany; "he must live outside the camp" (Leviticus 13:46).

So we have two men, both Jews, both called Lazarus, both beggars, both lepers, both of whom died, and both of whom would not convince people by their resurrection (compare Luke 16:30-31 and John 12:10).

There are too many coincidences for them not to have been the same person.

So:

Abraham= Abraham
Lazarus = Lazarus

This would lead us to expect the Rich Man is also someone known to the audience of the parable.
Who was the Rich Man?

Reading through the story we can find the following clues to the identity of the Rich Man:
he was rich (vs.19)
dressed in purple and fine linen (vs.19)
lived in luxury every day (vs.19)
in his lifetime he received good things (vs.25)
he had five brothers (vs.28)
they lived in his father’s house (vs.27)
they had Moses and the Prophets (vs.25)
but they did not listen to them (vs.29)
they would not be convinced even if someone were to rise from the dead (vs.31)

It is not obvious to the modern reader who this Rich Man is. But it should be clear that the picture is much too detailed to simply be ‘a representative of all rich men’.

But the Pharisees listening would have known immediately whom Christ was referring to. There was not any chance of their mistaking it, because only one man in Israel dressed in purple and fine linen. A man who fitted exactly all the clues which Jesus gave as to the identity of the Rich Man.

As in Luke’s previous parable of the Dishonest Steward, the key to the meaning lies in the Old Testament. In Exodus 28 we find the instructions given to Aaron for making the high priest’s garments; "blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen" (note Exodus 28:5-8,15,31,39). The Pharisees could not fail to understand that the man dressed in purple and fine linen was the Jewish high priest.

The Name of the Rich Man

The high priest when Jesus spoke this parable was Caiaphas. We know from the Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote a detailed account of the period in Antiquities of the Jews, that Caiaphas met all 4 of the first qualifications of the Rich Man of Luke 16:

1. he was rich (v.19)
2. dressed in purple and fine linen (v.19)
3. lived in luxury every day (v.19)
4. in his lifetime he received good things (v.25)
(see Antiquities, XIII: 10:vi:p.281, XVIII:1:iv:p.377, also Wars of the Jews 11:8:xiv: p. 478)

His Father’s House

In Luke 3:2 and Acts 4:6 we meet the other high priest who served with Caiaphas, Annas, who was "father-in-law to Caiaphas" (John 18:13). Josephus also records that Caiaphas served as high priest 18-35AD at the time of Jesus’ ministry. Annas had been removed from his office by the Romans for openly resisting them, but behind the scenes he retained his authority and position. This is why in John 18:13-24 Jesus is first tried by Annas, and only afterwards sent to Caiaphas (v.28), but then Caiaphas, not Annas, sends Jesus to Pilate (v.29).

Five Brothers

In case anyone listening/reading did not understand who He meant, Christ was even more specific: The "five brothers" Christ mentions are the five other high priests, who were in fact his five brothers-in-law, the five sons of Annas. The historian Josephus records:

"Now the report goes, that this elder Annas proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons, who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and he had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests." (Antiquities, Book XX, chapter 9, section i, p.423)

The years they served are as follows:

Eleazar 16-17AD
Jonathan 36-37AD
Theophilus 37-41AD
Matthias 41-43AD
Annas the Younger 62AD

As mentioned above, the years 18-35AD between Eleazar and Jonathan were occupied by Caiaphas. Between 43-62AD the high priests were taken from other families than of Annas. Finally in 70AD the temple was destroyed and the high priesthood along with it.

This confirms the list of coincidences between the Rich Man and Caiaphas:

5. he had five brothers (v.28)
6. they lived in his father’s house (v.27)
7. they had Moses and the Prophets (v.25)
8. but they did not listen to them (v.29)

The final coincidence is confirmed when after the resurrection of Simon of Bethany, we read that "the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him" (John 12:10)

9. they would not be convinced even if someone were to rise from the dead (v.31)

John 12:10 also confirms another coincidence between the Lazarus of the parable and Simon Lazarus of Bethany. The resurrection of both was rejected by Annas and his five sons.

Summary so far

We have established the identity of all the characters:

Abraham = Abraham
Lazarus = Simon the Leper of Bethany
The Rich Man = Caiaphas
His father = Annas
His 5 brothers = Eleazar, Jonathan, Theophilus, Matthias, Annas the Younger

But what does the parable mean?

At the Rich Man’s Gate

"At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, and longing to eat from the Rich Man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores." (vs. 20-21)
As we noted in considering the real Lazarus, when a Jew contracted a disease they became ‘unclean’. They were at most allowed only into the outer court of the temple. This meant the unclean were no longer allowed to eat from the sacrifices offered in the inner court. In this way Simon of Bethany was barred from eating at the table of Caiaphas in Jerusalem.

There is similar language in Matthew 15 when the Canaanite woman (who was a ‘Gentile dog’ as far as the Pharisees were concerned) said to Jesus "Even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table" (Matthew 15:27).

It may be that before he died Simon the Leper literally did beg outside the temple. But the meaning here is deeper than begging for food. Jesus is saying that the weak, the unclean, and the poor, were all denied spiritual food by the ruling caste of high priests.

The Bosom of Abraham

"The time came when the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side" (v.22 NIV).

Now this is where the story starts to become difficult. Nowhere else in the Bible does it say that when men die they go to Abraham’s side. In older Bibles it reads "bosom of Abraham", meaning the lap of Abraham.

Today there are a hundred and one different theories about death. Many people seriously believe when they die they will go up to the gates of Heaven, to be met by the Apostle Peter. Others believe other things. But the idea that the dead go to sit 'in the lap' of Abraham is something that nobody today believes.

But people did believe it in Jesus' day. Mentions of "the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" have been found in burial papyri (cf. papyrus Preisigke Sb 2034:11). In early Rabbinical legends "the Bosom ofAbraham" was where the righteous went. (cf. Kiddushin 72b, Ekah 1:85). It is not in the Bible of course, but it was popularly believed.

While the NIV has "to Abraham's side", the literal AV rendering "to the bosom of Abraham" is better as the 'Bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob', was a specific concept in contemporary popular belief.

Another source showing what Jews of Jesus' day believed is a book called 4 Maccabees, which was probably written by Jews in Egypt about a generation after Christ. In this work of fiction Abraham, Isaac and Jacob receive and welcome Jewish martyrs into the world of the dead:
"After our death in this fashion Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will receive us and all our forefathers will praise us" (4 Maccabees 13:17).

Again, this is not Bible teaching, only popular superstition.

The Rich Man in Hell

The story becomes even more difficult when we read the next verse:

"The Rich Man also died and was buried. In Hell where he was in torment he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his bosom. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire'." (vs. 23-24)

Even with the most fertile imagination it is difficult to believe that from Hell one can see people in Heaven and talk to them. But the story gets stranger still:

"But Abraham replied. 'Son remember that in your ilfetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone else cross over from there to us". (vs. 25-26)

Nothing else in the Bible prepares us for this description of Hell. Again the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus turns out to be unique.

Which Hell?

We need to clarify what the word 'Hell' means here, as in English Bibles (unlike many Asian Bibles) two words have been confused into one.

'Hell' in the English Bible can be one of two words in the original Greek text:

1. Hades, the grave, the pit, the place where the dead sleep. In the Old Testament known as Sheol (Genesis 37:35, 42:38, 44:29, Job 14:13, Psalm 6:5, 16:10, 139:8, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Matthew 16:18). In the Bible all people go to Hades to await the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:55, Revelation 1:8, 20:13). Even Jesus was in Hades for 3 days and 3 nights (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27,31).

2. Gehenna, originally the name of the valley Gehenna on the south side of Jerusalem. In the Old Testament the valley was known as Ben Hinnom (Jeremiah 7:31). In the New Testament the name is associated with the fire in which the rejected will be destroyed at the last judgement (Matthew 5:22,29,30, 18:9, 23:15,33, Mark 9:43,45,47, Luke 12:5, James 3:6)

The problem is that in Luke 16:23 the ‘Hell’ described does not fit either of these Bible definitions. In fact the word is Hades, but it clearly does not fit with the Hades of "silence" (Psalm 31:17), where Jesus was laid (Acts 2:25-28 quoting Psalm 16:8-11). There are 9 other mentions of Hades in the New Testament, 50 in the Old. All these other references present Hades as the grave. Luke 16:23 is the odd one out.

The source for the unusual Hades in Luke 16:23, as with the source for the ‘Bosom of Abraham’ itself, lies outside the Bible in the myths of the 1st Century. Many Jewish myths survive today (eg. in the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Talmud, etc.). In these works a variety of fantastic pictures of Hades are given that have no connection with the Old Testament. One of the closest to the picture given in Luke 16:23-24 is in a work called The Apocalypse of Zephaniah.

False Beliefs about Hades

It needs to be said that The Apocalypse of Zephaniah has nothing to do with the Zephaniah who wrote the book of that name in the Bible. The real Zephaniah lived in the days of King Josiah about 620BC. The so-called Apocalypse of Zephaniah on the other hand, was written by an unknown Jewish author, and probably a Pharisee, some time around150AD. In other words, the book is a fake.

It is interesting however because the myth shows us what many Jews in Jesus’ day believed. The details are not exactly the same as in Luke 16:23-24; for example in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah the chasm between the fiery part of Hades and the part given to Abraham has a giant river running through it. In fact the author recounts the fictional Zephaniah’s journey across the river in a boat steered by an angel:

"You have escaped from the abyss and Hades, you will now cross over the crossing place... then he ran to all the righteous ones, namely Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch, Elijah and David" (Apoc. Zeph. 9:2).

Another difference is that in Luke 16 only Abraham is mentioned. In the Apocalypse of Zephaniah all three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are in the side of the underworld reserved for the righteous, along with Enoch, Elijah and David.

But the differences are minor, and there are enough common points, and more in many other Jewish myths, to suggest that the content of the Rich Man and Lazarus parable has some relation to contemporary Jewish ideas, and in particular to popular Pharisee teachings.
The Pharisees and the ‘Sinners’

We have established above that the picture of Hades, the Bosom of Abraham, and the chasm between them, represents the Pharisees’ teaching, or at least popular Jewish belief, rather than Jesus’ own teaching.

All this is, however, only half of the Pharisees’ teaching. The other half concerns the Pharisees’ ideas about exactly who would go to be with "Father Abraham" (Luke 3:8), and who would go to the fiery side of Hades.

According to the Pharisees all the ‘sinners’, meaning publicans, tax-collectors, the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, lepers, people with other skin diseases, the insane, and, of course, Gentiles and Samaritans, would burn in the fire.

Only those who followed all the rules of the Law, as did the "righteous" - meaning the rich and respectable, the scribes, the experts in the Law, the rulers of the synagogues, the priests and high priests, and of course the Pharisees themselves - would depart to be with "Father Abraham". "Our father Abraham" is a common phrase in the Jewish Mishnah (e.g. Aboth 3:12; 5:2,3,6,19; 6:10; Taanith 2:4,5)

What the Pharisees did NOT teach

But note that the Pharisees did not teach that the righteous went to Heaven. Even they knew that "no man has ascended into Heaven" (John 3.13). Heaven was for God alone (Psalm 115:16) and to teach otherwise would have been blasphemy.

The Pharisees also did not teach that Abraham’s Bosom was the final destination of the righteous. The Pharisees taught a resurrection and judgement on earth. Abraham’s Bosom was only a waiting station.

With the above in mind it is surprising that so many people quote the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus as proof of the doctrine of heaven going. Not only does the story not mention the word heaven once, this description of Abraham’s Bosom bears no resemblance to any ideas about Heaven taught anywhere.

Why Did Jesus Use the PHARISEE’S DOCTRINE?

We have shown that the teaching about Hades and Abraham’s Bosom is not from the Bible, but from contemporary Jewish superstition. This helps us on the fundamental principle that the Bible does not contradict itself - but creates an even bigger problem: Surely Jesus would not approve false teaching?! - the idea itself is abhorrent.

The answer: "Well, it was only a parable" solves nothing. Even in a parable we would expect consistent teaching. It would have been equally possible for Christ to have told the parable in a way that fits with Old Testament teaching. Christ certainly did not need to refer to Hades, the great chasm, Abraham’s Bosom, and "Father Abraham".
So we have to conclude that Christ had a good reason to do so.

An Unacceptable Solution

Another answer is: "Christ was accommodating himself to his listeners to get the message across". But this also will not do. Admittedly there are examples of Christ speaking to the poor and the simple in terms that they would understand. But never to the disciples, and certainly not to the Pharisees, did Christ ‘accommodate’ his words to false teachings in order to make other points understood.

Neither would his disciples. Paul even specifically warns about the various Jewish books, such as Apocalypse of Zephaniah, which circulated in the first Century:

"Pay no attention to Jewish myths" (Titus 1:14)

Yet we still have to explain why the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is so badly at odds with the rest of the Bible.

If I drive out demons by Beelzebub...

The answer may be in observing how Jesus dealt with the Pharisees on an earlier occasion. In Matthew 12:22 Jesus heals a demon possessed man who was blind and mute. But when the Pharisees heard this they said:

"It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of demons that this fellow drives out demons" (v.24).
Now Jesus could have responded to this slander in several ways. He could have quoted Exodus 4:11 to show that it is God who makes man blind or mute, not demons. He could equally have quoted 1 Kings 18:27 and 2 Kings 1:3 to show that Baal-Zebub, the God of Ekron, had failed to prove his existence in the days of Elijah. But he didn’t. Instead Jesus counters with irony:

"If I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then they will be your judges". (Matthew 12:27)

The comment "so then they will be your judges" is a powerful rebuke. In saying this Jesus threw the falseness of the Pharisees’ teaching right back at them. Back in the days of the prophet Elijah, his way of dealing with the prophets of Baal was not much different (see 1 Kings 18:27). Elijah mocked them to show Israel how false they were.

So if Jesus makes use of Pharisee beliefs in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus we need to ask; ‘Does Jesus confirm them, or ridicule them?’

Jesus contradicts the Pharisees’ beliefs

The first contradiction has already been mentioned. In the Jewish myth Zephaniah was able to cross by angelic boat from one side of Hades to another. Jesus contradicts this:

"a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone else cross over from there to us" (v.26)

Another contradiction is that in the myth Abraham, Isaac and Jacob intercede for those in torment in Hades.

"As they looked at all the torments they called out, praying before the Lord Almighty saying, ‘We pray you on behalf of those who are in all these torments so you might have mercy on all of them.’ And when I saw them, I said to the angel who spoke with me, ‘Who are they?’ He said ‘Those who beseech the Lord are Abraham and Isaac and Jacob". (Apoc. Zeph. 11:1-2).

But Jesus contradicts this. Instead he has Abraham refusing to help relieve the Rich Man’s suffering:

"now he is comforted and you are in agony" (v.25)

Another contradiction is that in other Jewish myths Abraham is credited with the ability to do what the Rich Man asks (v.27) and resurrect the dead. For example in the 1st Century Jewish fiction The Testament of Abraham the patriarch Abraham pleads for the dead and returns 7,000 to the living.

"Then Abraham arose and fell upon the earth, and [the Angel of] Death with him, and God sent a spirit of life into the dead and they were made alive again." (Testament of Abraham ‘A’ 18:11).

But Jesus again contradicts the myths, and has Abraham refusing to raise Lazarus:

"They have Moses and the Prophets, let them listen to them" (v.29)
This reflects Jesus’ own condemnation of the Pharisees in John 5:39.

Jesus Ridicules False Teaching

There is only one solution left that will explain why Jesus should deliberately choose to tell a parable drawn from the Pharisees’ superstitions. This is that Jesus was showing the teaching to be false by exposing it.

And how? By making the main characters in this parable real people: Caiaphas and Simon of Bethany.

According to the Pharisees’ view of the universe, Simon, as a leper (and therefore a "sinner") should after his death at Bethany have descended to be tormented in the fiery part of Hades. Caiaphas on the other hand, would, as high priest, at the very top of the Jewish religious hierarchy, be guaranteed a pleasant welcome by Abraham on the other side of the underworld.
And yet Jesus told them a version of their teaching which had the beggar Lazarus received by Abraham, while the wealthy high priest, clothed in purple and fine linen, descended into the flames.

To add ‘burning coals’, Jesus told how the high priest called on "Father Abraham" to show mercy, and Abraham refused. (The mythical ferryboat across the chasm in Hades was not in service!). Nor was Abraham inclined to help the Rich Man who had enjoyed such a good life on earth (v.25).

Then, as a final rebuke, Jesus has Caiaphas ask Abraham to send Simon the Leper back to the house of Annas in Jerusalem to warn his brothers-in-law. But again Abraham refuses, twice.

"They will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead". (Luke 16:31)

In this refusal Christ has Abraham promising Caiaphas the same torment in the fire for his entire household: Eleazar, Jonathan, Theophilus, Matthias, and Annas the Younger, and no doubt his father-in-law Annas the Elder also.

No wonder, then, that this is the last of the series of parables in Luke Ch.14-16 either addressed to the Pharisees, or with the Pharisees present.

In the next verse (Luke 17:1) the Pharisees are gone, and Jesus is left alone with the disciples.

Conclusions

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is not as simple as it appears. Some of the keys (purple and fine linen, the beggar covered in sores, the crumbs from the rich man’s table) can only be understood by comparison with other Old Testament and New Testament passages.
The parable contains some details where a knowledge of history (the five brothers mentioned by Josephus), or of contemporary beliefs (the Bosom of Abraham), can be helpful.

Even without these the parable certainly does not support modern ideas about heaven-going.
The parable cannot be literal. Caiaphas did not literally die and descend to Hades. He was still very much alive in Acts 4:6. Likewise although Abraham refused to raise Lazarus in the parable, in reality Jesus did raise Lazarus. But Jesus says in John 11:11 that Lazarus "slept"; he was not literally in Abraham’s Bosom. And finally of course we know from Hebrews 11:13, 39-40 that Abraham is not literally presiding over the underworld; he is dead, awaiting the resurrection.

The only thing that is literal about the parable is the prophecy of Luke 16:31 that was fulfilled in John 12:10 when Caiaphas and his family tried to kill Lazarus rather than accept the fact that Jesus had raised him from the dead.
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Author, Steven Cox

Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®,Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Inc.

Quotations from Apocalypse of Zephaniah, 4 Maccabees, and Testament of Abraham taken from J.H. Charlesworth, THE OLD TESTAMENT PSEUDEPIGRAPHA,2 vols., Copyright © Doubleday, New York 1983.

References to ‘Bosom of Abraham’ in Kiddushin 72b and Ekah 1:85 are cited from L. Ginzberg,LEGENDS OF THE JEWS, republished John Hopkins, 1998, Vol.5, p. 269.
Quotations from Josephus taken from JOSEPHUS COMPLETE WORKS,translated by William Whiston, republished Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 1966.But note that ‘The Discourse to the Greeks on Hades’ found in this edition of Josephus is not genuine.It is by Hippolytus of Rome c.400AD, and is based on Luke 16.

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