HELL

Hell; a word that brings immediate pictures of fire and torment. Especially if you were raised in a good ol’ fashioned HELL-FIRE-BRIMSTONE Church, like the ones I would grew up in. Now, I want to make it very clear that I believe in Hell, i.e. the place of torment for souls of the dead. If Jesus taught anything, it was the reality of a future torment and punishment for the unsaved and a place of rest (depending on your take on it; Paradise or Heaven) for the saved.

Jesus, in his parable of the ‘Rich Man and Lazarus’ speaks to this truth. Now let me parenthetically state that I believe that this parable was about real people, but I believe Jesus' parables all were (and maybe a future BLOG post on that subject). This story is found in Luke chapter 16 and there are some things that I believe Jesus was trying to teach us.

First, I think he wants us to realize the truth of the afterlife. The beggar was carried into ‘Abraham’s Bosom’ (the place where OT saints was kept until Jesus’ resurrection) immediately! The rich man was also said to have died AND in hell lifted up his eyes. There is an immediate realization of his, the rich man’s, plight.

Second, there are different places for different people. Jesus doesn’t deal with why, at least not directly but inference is made relating to Moses and prophets (The Bible) and repentance. There is a place of rest and a place of ‘unrest’. The place the rich man went is full of torments, to the point that a drip of water would have been comfort, and was denied him. Lazarus’ name may be from the Hebrew name Elazar which means ‘God (is my) helper’. Jesus surely was using it, the name Lazarus, for a purpose.

And finally, at least for this BLOG, there is conciseness for the dead, especially the damned know what they missed, who is left and who is in paradise (or whatever place of rest for the saved). The rich man wants others to not come, his brothers specifically, where he is. He even knows of Lazarus’ rest, wheich seems to bring at least some measure of torment also.

I know there are many others points and truths Jesus wants us to know from this story. He used this, as well as many other parables, to teach great mysteries and things God wanted us to know. I can only scratch the surface of this one lesson. One other thing, I find it very curious why the rich man never asked to leave, or get out of Hell. Hmmmm!!!

GOD BLESS

Tony