Abrahams Bosom/Sheol

[lewishb]

The old testiment saints went to Abrahams Bosom, sheol, the good side of Hell. One commentator thought that believers go there awaiting resurrection i disagreed and here is my answer to him

Well, lets see...
Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a
loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the
rocks split.
52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy
people who had died were raised to life.
53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus'
resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared
to many people.
Here you have Abrahams Bosom emptied the old testiment
saints walking around untill Jesus ascended to Heaven

2 Corr 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present
with the Lord.
Absent from the body is to be present with Jesus, NOT
in some kind of pergatory.... thats what the Baptist
Bible colleges teach as well as Dwight Penticaust, J
Vernon McGee, Jerry Fallwell, many others; with
excellant Biblical reason.

Philipp 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die
is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of
my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire
to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful
for you.
verse 23, departing this body is to be with Jesus. The
body in the ground, the spirit with G-D.....

there are other scripture where it is implied, the
whole harmony of scripture intends that all those who die rest
in Jesus Hebrews chs 3,4,8,9,11. Not in Hadies !!!

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never "perish",(perish means go to hell!!) neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than
all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.

[Winston Q Brown]

In the old testament times people did not go to heaven to be with Christ - Christ had not come to earth yet. They went into the "abode of souls of the dead" called Sheol Hebrew), Hades ( Greek), or Hell in the center of the earth. It had two compartments. The righteous went into paradise, and the wicked into torment or Gehenna. Paradise was also called "Abraham's bosom" and was a place of spriitual bliss. Torment was a void or gulf that could not be crossed. This emptiness is not purgatory or limbo or any intermediate state, but a vacuum or invisible barrier so that those in paradise could not pass to the place of suffering and those in the place of suffering could not pass to the place of comfort. Both places were in Hell, the abode of the souls of the dead.

Christ tells of the rich man and Lazarus who died. This is not merely a parable, for Jesus gives the name of the beggar and He does not give names to fictitious characters. Both the rich man and beggar died; one was taken into bliss and the other into torment. Both are very much awake and conscious. Souls do not sleep.

Someone asks, "If their bodies are in the grave, how could they be in bliss or torment?"

The soul is the center of the senses, the self-consciousness. They were very much alert.

When the rich man wanted Lazarus to come to help him, he was told that there is no passing back and forth. The great gulf is fixed. The dead do not change their destination after death; there is no second chance after death.

Then suddnly the rich man seems to have a missionary vision! But he gets it too late (Luke 16:27-31). A few moments in Hell proves there is a Hell.

[Winston Q Brown]

When Christ died He went into Paradise. Luke 23:43 Paradise was in the center of the earth called Hell. Christ was not left in hell, Acts 2:25-31. His body in the tomb, His spirit went into the bowels of the earth.

When Christ rose from the dead He took the Godly souls from paradise with Him, Eph 4:8. Paradise is in heaven where Christ is, 11 Corinthians 12: 1-4. Hell in this age stands only for torment.

[Issachar]

Winston, it's been a long time since I learned this, so I don't remember where it was, but based on scripture, as best I can tell at this point, I agree 100% with what you said in both of your posts.

Issachar