My many thanks to a great teacher,.M. Moore and This magazine. (John B)
Note(JB): Many teach, and many more accept this PARABLE, as a factual telling by Jesus, instead of what He used as a easy to understand, pictorial rendition of a actual fact. There's not now a burning hell, this is CONTRARY to the Bible's teachings, and that God does not punish anyone before his or her trial , the Judgment. Nor does He give eternal life to sinners in order to continually punish and torture sinners. That would make mankind more Merciful and Just than God Himself! That just can not be so!
Marvin explains the why Jesus told this story.
Luke 16:19-31 " There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
Jesus told this strange parable, about a rich man, and a beggar named Lazarus, the rich man was not named. While he lived in the lap of luxury while Lazarus, a beggar who lay at the rich man's gate, was covered with sores, and had very little to eat. In due time, both men died, and Angels carried Lazarus to Abraham's bosom, but the rich man ended up in torment in the hell's fires. The rich man looked up and Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. So he called out to him, "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip if 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's comforted her43e and you are in agony. Besides all this, between us and
you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you, can not, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
The rich man begged Abraham so send Lazarus to his five brothers to warn them about the dangers of hell, but Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets: let them listen to them."
No. Father Abraham, said the protesting rich man, "If someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent." To this Abraham replied:...LUKE 16:23-31, as you've already read, above!
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ALL DIE?
As far as I know, ALL Christians believe that there is life, after death. That after all in one of the central teachings of the New Testament. Jesus died for us, so that :Whosoever, believeth on Him shall not perish but have eternal life.[John 3:16] Plus Jesus own words in...
John 11:25 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"
Sadly, however, there are two divergent vies about what happens when we each die. Some believe the human teachings, that at death our bodies go to grave, but our soul/spirit goes to his or her reward, heaven or Hell, or its "Half-Way House"- Purgatory, or even into limbo, the unknown. Now at first glance, this story seems to support the teachings of humans, after all Jesus said that Lazarus went to
Abraham's bosom-- a Jewish Idiom that meant paradise-- and the rich man went to hell. However there are good reasons to question that understanding of Jesus' story.
1. They know not the Bible.......
Genesis 2:7 "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."
Note(JB): man became what???" A Living Soul" Therefore a soul is NOT any ADD-ON" it is what we become at conception, a living human being. SOUL/SPIRIT/BREATH OF LIFE , are used almost in all cases as interchangeable, one for the other! So how did men, get to this point? Look-------
Genesis 2:17 " 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."
God's words still echoed in the Garden, when Satan told Eve this....
...Genesis 3:4 "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:"
That's Satan's first recorded lie, in the Word of God, as he, Satan, used a serpent to be his ventriloquist "Dummy".
2. Can anyone imagine that The Father- God, who gave His Son to be sin for us, to die for our sins, a Father who loves us that much, would in fact put Heaven and hell so close together that each can see the other, and that the saints can see and hear their "Uncle Charlie" screaming in agony, while being turned very. very slowly over the ages, in a piece of crispy bacon? Is YOUR God, this cruel, more so than any despot of human history? THINK!
3. Furthermore, those who teach and believe that hell is ongoing right now also teach that body stays on earth in the grave, but that the soul, or spirit goes on to heaven or hell, as a disembodied something. Yet in Jesus' parable both Lazarus and the rich man had physical bodies, as Lazarus was asked to put his physical finger in water, and let it drip on the rich man's tongue, right? Why not beg Lazarus, to throw a bucket of water, on himself? After all, burns to any one's flesh, creates intense pains, so why or how, did the rich man have the wherewithal in this pain to discuss anything with Abraham?
SO WHY DID JESUS TELL THIS STORY?
1. Please note the reversal of fortunes in the 'after-life'. The rich man lived very sumptuous in his earthly existence, very opposite of of Lazarus, yet both saw a 108 degree of fortune in heaven, agree? As Mr. Moore goes on the explain, this story has roots, Greek Jewish and Egyptian cultures, about the reversal of fortunes, if you will, in heaven's after-life. Yet the basic question remains why did Jesus tell this parable?
To answer this we need to look closer, at the application He made of it. When Abraham refused to cool the rich man's tongue with a drop of water, the rich man asked that someone from the dead, to go and warn his five brothers, about their ultimate destiny, they each would face, if they mended not their ways.
To which Abraham replied that his brothers had Moses and the Prophets to instruct them about how to prepare for the next life.
"No, Father Abraham, if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent." To which Abraham replied, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even fi someone rises from the dead"
THE SETTING OF THIS PARABLE OF JESUS CHRIST.
Now let's look at the setting in which Jesus told this parable, [ {note JB) a parable is a story using words as pictures, to symbolize a truth] this story. He'd spent at least three years teaching the people and healing their diseases. During this time He's done His best to win the minds and hearts of the Jewish leaders, but they'd resisted, { not6e they rather cling to the ways they were taught by other men, rather than Jesus Himself! Sound familiar today?] On the contrary, they did their best to get of Him, even to the point of plotting His death!......
Matthew 12:14-15 "Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;"
So, Jesus gave them a warning, in the verbal form of this parable. Now if Y O U think the name is a co-incident, please consider His resurrection of Lazarus, a full four days after his death, at which his sister Martha, pleaded with Jesus not to open his tomb, for he "Stinketh" [John 11:39] As it was but a few months Latter that the real Lazarus was brought back form the dead. The Priests tried to kill him also tried to kill Lazarus!
Ecclesiastes 1:9 " The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
When the world's governments declare that Sunday worship is the law of the land, it shall be the so-called Christians, who blame us for the trials of Revelation and ...
John 16:2 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.".........; Note (JB) Is this not so today with radical Islam or the Roman church in the Dark ages... believe as we say, or die? Nothing new under the Sun, right?
Note(JB) Why did Jesus wait the four full days, before resurrecting Martha's Brother Lazarus? To counter the common Greek belief, which still was wide spread in these lands, that the soul would leave the body, on the third day.Plus, please take note, Jesus said "Lazarus, come forth.." He did not say, "Come up" nor did He say "Come down", again to counter the false fact that at death the body and soul separate, the body goes into the grave and the soul goes it its reward, up or down!
NOW, IF Lazarus was already in heaven, can you imagine his state of mind, to find himself back on this sin filled world? Still wrapped up in the funeral cloths? Can you see just the words and imaginations of men, just keep painting themselves into the Biblical corners, so to speak?
And following the resurrection of Lazarus, some of the observers of the miracle, ran to report to the Pharisees what had happened. "Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin"
" ' What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "here is this man performing many signs. If we we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him and then the Romans will come and take away both our Temple and our Nation.' "Then Caiaphas, who was a high priest, that year, spoke up. 'You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for for you, that one4 man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
John 11:46-50 "But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not."
John 11:53-54 "Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples."
Note(JB): These people were a perfect example of the point Jesus made, i n this parable.Simply due to the fact, they believed the words of men over the Word of God! This is still so, even today, when most homes have at least one Bible, that few ever read, and fewer even study! No Wonder..... Satan finds us so easy to deceive,, with his lies, .... right?
THE SETTING OF JESUS' STORY.
Now let's look at the setting in which Jesus told this parable,. A parable with facts, so out of line with the whole Bible, that He knew people would not take the facts seriously, but symbolically! He's spent at least three years teaching, the people, and healing their diseases. During all this tim3e He's done His best to win their minds and hearts, with the only means available to Him. Love and Truth, whereas Satan will never use either, but every thing else including murder. But He never did win over the Jewish leaders, but for a few exceptions. They even plotted His death....
Matthew 12:24 " But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."
NOTE(JB) They even accused Him of being on the Devils' side, thus His answer...
Matthew 12:25-28" And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."
This is the reason for His parable, as warning to men who think they know better than God!
Proverbs 14:12 " There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
Note(JB): No doubt you've heard this before, "Those who drive like hell-- will get there" But here's what I draw from the Word of God.... "All who live like the devil, , without seeking repentance,nor forgiveness, will join him in the Lake of Fire."
But did this parable, achieve His desired results? NO! Remember Heaven uses nothing but pure love and truth, yet this only made harder their hearts, due to the fact that most resist change, and Jesus asked them to accept His ways of thinking, and this they rejected both Him and His message. Just as it still....... today!
As the medium for conveying this lesson, Jesus adapted a story about a reversal of fortunes that was so absurd in some details, that most would not take it literally. Sadly many do then and even now!
The Spiritual lesson He gave then, applies just as much to all of us today! It's as imperative that you and I make the Bible our foundation of our faith, today, as it was in Jesus' day! If you will surrender to the will of Christ, then you'll be able to ask Lazarus, about his experiences, and allow the rich and selfish to swim with Satan in the Lake of Fire, which is Brimstone, or sulfur that burns at 2300 degrees F!
Malachi 4:1 "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."
Malachi 4:3 " And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts."
Note(JB): No such thing in the Holy Bible, about a forever punishments, but the results are forever, as there's no resurrection available for all who have CHOSEN the Second Death!
Revelation 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." [ Revelation 2:11, 20:14, 21:8]
Thanking Y O U for your time, Questions? Comments? John at servant@frontier.com
Want/Need more? Visit your Seventh-day Adventist Church, any Saturday/Sabbath at 9-10 AM, and learn that all of Heaven loves you so very much, that The Father sent Jesus to die for our sins!
Other sites: aftv.org blbn.org amazingdiscoveries.org redeem.international itiswritten.com
serventsite@wordpress.com
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