STUDYING HADES (2)

RECAP: Sheol or Hades is located in the heart of the earth, and is made up of two chambers. One chamber in known as Paradise or Abraham’s bosom. This is where the spirits and souls of the righteous went upon their death. David, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Ruth, Boaz, Gideon, Job, all of these famous righteous people of the Old Testament would have gone to the paradise chamber of sheol. By the description given here in Luke 16 it appears that it was a place of rest and comfort. But it was not heaven. 

BRING UP-TO-DATE:

We ought to note that the above was at a time before the resurrection of Christ. After His resurrection, the souls of the righteous dead DO go to be with the Lord in heaven.

2 Corinthians 5:8

New International Version (NIV)

8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 

The other chamber is known as hell. This is where we see the rich man of Christ’s story residing. It appears to be a place of torment and suffering. But it is not the final dwelling place of the wicked. The book of Revelation tells us that the wicked will be sentenced at the Great White Throne Judgment. There they will answer for everything done in this life and be formally sentenced. Their final punishment will be to be cast in to the Lake of Fire for all eternity. 

Revelation 20:15

New International Version (NIV)

15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

The utter destruction of the devil’s kingdom very appropriately leads to an account of the day of judgment, which will determine every man’s everlasting state; and we may be assured there will be a judgment when we see the prince of this world is judged, John 16:11. This will be a great day, the great day, when all shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The Lord help us firmly to believe this doctrine of the judgment to come. 

• We behold the throne, and tribunal of judgment, great and white, very glorious and perfectly just and righteous. The throne of iniquity, that establishes wickedness by a law, has no fellowship with this righteous throne and tribunal.
• The appearance of the Judge, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who then puts on such majesty and terror that the earth and the heaven flee from his face, and there is no place found for them; there is a dissolution of the whole frame of nature, 2 Pet. 3:10.
• The persons to be judged (Rev. 20:12): The dead, small and great; that is, young and old, low and high, poor and rich. None are so mean but they have some talents to account for, and none so great as to avoid the jurisdiction of this court; not only those that are found alive at the coming of Christ, but all who have died before; the grave shall surrender the bodies of men, hell shall surrender the souls of the wicked, the sea shall surrender the many who seemed to have been lost in it.

We know that these two compartments are in the same general area because the rich man who is in the compartment labeled hell can see and even speak to Lazarus and Abraham, who are in paradise. Jesus’ words wouldn’t make sense if paradise was in heaven, and hell was someplace else.

We are also told that a large chasm or gulf separates these two compartments from each other. The purpose of which was to prevent anyone from crossing over from one side to the other should they so desire. The Bible mentions in Revelation 9 and 20 an abyss or bottomless pit, as the location of the confinement of locusts that sting like scorpions that will be let loose upon the earth during the tribulation period. The bottomless pit is also where Satan will be cast and bound for the thousand-year millennial reign.    

                                                                                       ….to be cont’d

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Screen Writer/Director

Published Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer

FOUNDER/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org.