It's Taken 1,500 Years to Correct a Terrible Error that Affects Everyone on Earth

Luke 16 v19-31 THIS IS THE BIG ONE. THIS IS THE PARABLE THAT HAS CONVINCED ALMOST THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF THE DANTE DEPICTION OF WHAT SOME KIND OF ETERNAL-HELL-AFTER-LIFE MUST BE LIKE. THIS HUGE ERROR IN TEACHING COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED HAD GREATER CONSIDERATION BEEN GIVEN TO WHAT JESUS WAS DISCUSSING JUST PRIOR TO DELIVERING THIS PARABLE.

IN LUKE, CHAPTER 16, VERSE 19; JESUS BEGINS TELLING A STORY ABOUT A RICH MAN AND A POOR MAN CALLED LAZARUS. PLEASE NOTE THAT IN NO OTHER PARABLE JESUS TOLD DID HE ACTUALLY GIVE A NAME TO ONE OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AS YOU WILL SOON SEE… 

19 There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.

A BIG CLUE TO WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT LIES IN THE IDENTITY OF THE RICH MAN. WE KNOW HE WAS CLOTHED IN PURPLE, WHICH IS SYNONYMOUS WITH ROYALTY. WE ALSO KNOW HE WAS CLOTHED IN FINE LINEN WHICH IS SYNONYMOUS WITH RIGHTEOUS ACTS AND THEN THERE IS THE FACT THAT HE IS RICH AND FEASTS EVERY DAY. BIBLICALLY, THIS MEANS HE ENJOYS THE BEST OF EVERYTHING: FOOD, HEALTH, WISDOM, RELATIONSHIPS AND PROTECTION. THIS IS ONE PROSPEROUS INDIVIDUAL IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. HE ENJOYS A “BLESSED” STATUS IN THIS LIFE. SO WHO IS THIS RICH MAN SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT?

WELL, IF YOU READ THE PRECEDING VERSES, YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT JESUS WAS TALKING TO THE PHARISEES. THE PHARISEES DID NOT RECOGNISE OR ACCEPT JESUS AS BEING THE MESSIAH (THE SON OF GOD). WE ALSO KNOW, FROM PRECEDING ACCOUNTS, THAT JESUS HAD A HABIT OF HIDING DEEP SPIRITUAL MEANING WITHIN THESE PARABLES:

Mathew 13v10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to YOU to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

REMEMBER, WE STILL HAVENʼT DISCOVERED THE IDENTITY OF THE RICH MAN YET, SO LETʼS CONTINUE TO EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE. LETʼS LOOK AT THE 3 VERSES WHICH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDE VERSE 19 OF LUKE CHAPTER 16…

16 The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

THIS IS MASSIVELY SIGNIFICANT. JESUS IS ANNOUNCING A CUT-OFF OF THE ENTIRE JUDEO MODEL OF LIVING. JOHN THE BAPTISTʼS LIFE IS CONCLUDING THE ENTIRE OLD COVENANT. AND IN THE SAME VERSE, JESUS HAS ANNOUNCED ITS REPLACEMENT.

17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

NOW JESUS IS CONFIRMING THAT EVERY SINGLE REQUIREMENT OF THE OLD COVENANT MUST BE FULFILLED, RIGHT DOWN TO THE SMALLEST COMMA OR PERIOD AND NO ONE, UP TO THAT TIME, HAD BEEN ABLE TO DO IT.

18 Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

HAS JESUS SUDDENLY LOST HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT? WHY DID HE SUDDENLY START TALKING ABOUT MARRIAGE? LETʼS SEE…

JESUS IS CONFIRMING THAT NO MARRIAGE COVENANT COULD BE DISSOLVED BY ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE DEATH OF ONE OF THE SPOUSES. IF A DIVORCE HAS TAKEN PLACE, NEITHER SPOUSE, WHILE THEY WERE ALIVE, COULD RE-MARRY WITHOUT COMMITTING ADULTERY.

JESUS WAS MAKING A MAJOR POINT HERE. HE IS TALKING ABOUT A SPECIFIC MARRIAGE. WHAT IS HE REFERRING TO?

Isaiah 54v5 For your Maker is your HUSBAND, The Lord of Hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.

Jeremiah 31: 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a HUSBAND to them, says the Lord.

THE MARRIAGE JESUS WAS REFERRING TO WAS THE MARRIAGE HE HAD WITH ISRAEL UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE OLD COVENANT BEFORE HE BECAME GOD IN THE FLESH. THE LORD DIVORCED ISRAEL BECAUSE OF HER UNFAITHFUL WAYS AND HER ABANDONMENT OF HIM. BUT THERE WAS NO WAY THAT GOD COULD INITIATE A NEW MARRIAGE COVENANT UNLESS ONE OF THE PARTIES DIED. SO IT WAS EITHER GOING TO HAVE TO BE JESUS OR EVERY SINGLE LIVING DESCENDANT OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB. 
THIS NEW MARRIAGE COVENANT WOULD BE BETWEEN JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHURCH: 

2 Corinthians 11: 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. AND THE CHURCH IS DESCRIBED AS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST: Revelation 21: 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lambʼs wife.” 

SO NOW WE KNOW, THE RICH MAN WAS A REFERENCE TO THE OLD COVENANT AND EVERYONE WHO BENEFITTED FROM THE OLD COVENANT, NAMELY THE JEWISH PEOPLE, THE OBSERVANT DESCENDANTS OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL AND ESPECIALLY THE PRIEST-HOOD.

SO WEʼVE IDENTIFIED THE RICH MAN, WHAT ABOUT THE POOR MAN? WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT LAZARUS? WHY DID JESUS USE THIS NAME FOR ONE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS PARABLE? HE NEVER USED NAMES FOR HIS CHARACTERS IN PREVIOUS PARABLES. THE BIBLE REVEALS ASTONISHING ANSWERS: 

Luke 16: 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 

LAZARUS IS DESCRIBED AS A BEGGAR. A BEGGAR IS NOT A PROFESSION ITʼS A CONDITION OF LIFE.
HIS EXTREME POVERTY MEANS THAT HE IS DEPENDENT ON THE CHARITY OF OTHERS. TYPICALLY, A BEGGAR CANNOT DO REGULAR WORK BECAUSE HE IS OFTEN AFFLICTED WITH DISABLEMENT OR POOR HEALTH. HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS IS OFTEN ESTRANGED AND MANY BEGGARS LIVE WITH CONSTANT PHYSICAL PAIN, MENTAL ANGUISH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. HE IS AN OUTCAST OF SOCIETY, DESPISED, UNWANTED AND IGNORED. HIS CONDITION IS HOPELESS. HE IS THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF SOMEONE LIVING IN A STATE OF SHEOL/HADES. LAZARUS IS THE COMPLETE ANTI-THESIS OF THE RICH MAN. OKAY, SO WHY GIVE THIS BEGGAR A NAME? WHY DID JESUS USE THE NAME LAZARUS? 

WELL, EARLIER IN HIS MINISTRY, JESUS CAME ACROSS A MAN CALLED LAZARUS AND THIS ACCOUNT IS RECORDED IN: John 11 v1-45 THERE IS MORE PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE IN THIS CHAPTER THAN MOST BIBLICAL SCHOLARS HAVE REALISED. THIS CHAPTER CONCENTRATES ON HOW JESUS RAISED LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD. SOME SCHOLARS INSIST THAT THIS WAS REPRESENTATIVE OF JESUS BEING RAISED FROM THE DEAD, BUT THE SCRIPTURES DONʼT SUPPORT THAT THEORY. FIRST OF ALL, LAZARUS HAD BEEN DEAD FOR AT LEAST FOUR DAYS, NOT THREE: John 11: 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. REMEMBER, WEʼRE TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHO LAZARUS IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT; SO WHO ELSE HAS BEEN DEAD FOR AT LEAST FOUR DAYS? WELL, IN 2 PETER 3V8, WE ARE TOLD THAT “A DAY TO GOD IS AS A THOUSAND YEARS”. 

SO WHO HAS BEEN DEAD FOR FOUR THOUSAND YEARS WITHOUT HOPE, WITHOUT HELP? ISNʼT IT THE GENTILES, ALL THOSE NATIONS OTHER THAN ISRAEL? IS THIS WHO LAZARUS IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT, THE GENTILES? LETʼS KEEP GATHERING THE EVIDENCE… JESUS WAS IN THE GRAVE FOR 3 DAYS, NOT 4. THIS IS CRUCIAL BECAUSE JESUS SAID THERE WOULD ONLY BE ONE SIGN THAT THIS GENERATION WOULD BE GIVEN AS TO WHO HE REALLY WAS WHICH WAS THE SIGN OF WHAT HAPPENED TO JONAH: (Mathew 12v40, Mathew 16v4 and Luke 11v29) THATʼS 2-3 WITNESSES

WITHIN SCRIPTURE THAT THIS WAS THE CASE, UNLIKE LAZARUS WHO IS NEVER MENTIONED IN THAT CONNECTION. JESUS WAS FIRST NOTIFIED OF LAZARUSʼ CONDITION WHEN HE WAS JUST SICK, HE COULD EASILY HAVE HEALED LAZARUS, BUT HE ALLOWED HIM TO DIE, WHY? SO JESUS COULD DEMONSTRATE THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD TO HIS DISCIPLES AND THE REST OF US: (John 11 v15 & v24).

THIS IS EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND: LAZARUS WAS NOT RESURRECTED TO ETERNAL LIFE WITH AN INCORRUPTIBLE BODY. HE WAS RESURRECTED BACK TO PHYSICAL LIFE. MARTHA, IN VERSE 24, SPOKE OF THE JUDGEMENT OF THE LAST GREAT DAY, WHICH SHE SPOKE OF IN HOPE CONCERNING HER BROTHER.

IN VERSES 33, 34 & 35, JESUS IS DEEPLY GRIEVED. JESUS WEPT, NOT JUST BECAUSE OF MARYʼS GRIEF, BUT THE GRIEF OF ALL HUMAN-KIND THAT HAVE MOURNED THE PASSING OF A LOVED ONE.    THIS WAS EMPATHY ON A SCALE THAT YOU AND I CANʼT POSSIBLY IMAGINE. THIS IS WHAT TOOK JESUS TO THE CROSS, THIS WAS THE LOVE THAT HELD HIM THERE. WE HAVE SO CORRUPTED THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND FAILED TO TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH OF WHAT JESUS DID. NO WONDER THIS PARABLE ABOUT LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN HAS BEEN SO DISTORTED AND CORRUPTED. ITʼS TOO REVEALING AND ITS MESSAGE IS GLORIOUS…

YOU SEE, THE BEGGAR IS THE NEW COVENANT DELIVERED TO THE GENTILES, THE NON-ISRAELITES, THE ONES WHO WERE SHUT OUT BY THE OLD COVENANT. THE ONES WHO, WHEN THEY SUFFERED, COULD ONLY BE COMFORTED BY THE DOGS (THE UNCLEAN ONES). THE NAME GIVEN BY JEWS TO THE GENTILES: (SEE Mathew 15v26 & Mark 7v27).

OKAY, NOW THAT WEʼVE ESTABLISHED THE IDENTITY OF THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS, WE CAN NOW MOVE THROUGH THE REST OF THE PARABLE WHICH IS JAW-DROPPINGLY AWESOME… 

Luke 16: 22 So it was that the beggar died,

THE GENTILES, WHO REPENT, DIE IN THE BAPTISM OF WATER AND ARE IMMEDIATELY RESURRECTED TO A NEW AND BETTER LIFE IN CHRIST…. IN THIS LIFE!!!!! NOTE: THERE IS NO MENTION OF BURIAL, BECAUSE JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD, THE GRAVE COULDNʼT HOLD HIM… 

22 and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.

REMEMBER THE PROMISES GIVEN BY GOD TO ABRAHAM AFTER HE NEARLY SACRIFICED HIS SON ISAAC? THE LORD SAID BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT WITH-HELD YOUR SON, ALL, ALL, ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOUR SEED. THE PHYSICAL LINEAGE OF JESUS CHRIST, ON HIS MOTHERʼS SIDE, ORIGINATED FROM ABRAHAM, SEE Genesis 2v18.

22 The rich man also died and was buried.

THE RICH MAN (THE OLD COVENANT) ALSO DIED. THE IMPLICATION IS THAT THEY BOTH DIED AT THE SAME TIME. THE OLD COVENANT DIED WITH JESUS. HE FOUNDED IT, HE ENDED IT AND HE BURIED IT, THERE WOULD BE NO RESURRECTION OF THE OLD COVENANT.

23 And being in torments in Hades,

THERE WAS NO MORE FORGIVENESS OF SINS IN THE RITUALS OF THE OLD COVENANT. JESUS CHRIST KEPT THE WHOLE LAW. HE FULFILLED EVERYTHING IN HIS LIFE, HIS DEATH AND HIS RESURRECTION. THE OLD COVENANT RITUALS WERE A FORE-SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME. WELL NOW JESUS WAS HERE. EVERYTHING WAS FULFILLED IN HIM. SO ANYONE WHO FINDS THEMSELVES IN A STATE OF TORMENT AND HOPELESSNESS MUST NOW COME TO CHRIST FOR DELIVERANCE. ALL THE FOLLOWERS OF THE OLD COVENANT THAT STILL TRY TO RELY ON RITUALS AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES ARE WASTING THEIR TIME. THEY WILL CONTINUE IN THEIR SINS AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THOSE SINS UNTIL THEY RECOGNISE THAT EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. NO ONE CAN ESCAPE THE LAW OR RECEIVE MERCY AGAINST ITS CONSEQUENCES EXCEPT THROGH JESUS. WITHOUT JESUS, WE ALL LIVE IN HADES, A STATE OF HOPELESSNESS, A STATE OF LIVING DEATH, A STATE OF HELL. SO THIS RICH MAN IS NOW IN A STATE OF TORMENT. THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF HIS RICH LIFE HAS GONE…

23 he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
THOSE STILL CLINGING TO THE OLD COVENANT CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE OLD WAYS ARE NOT ENOUGH ANYMORE. THEY LOOK AT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH WITH ALL THEIR BLESSINGS THAT USED TO BELONG TO THEM, BUT NOW IT SEEMS THEY ARE ENDURING ALL THE HARDSHIPS OF LIFE AND THEY SEE THE PROMISES OF ABRAHAM ENSHRINED IN CHRISTIAN BELIEF, EXPERIENCE AND TEACHING.

24 Then 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.’ 

THE OLD SACRIFICES NO LONGER APPLY. THE OLD SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM HAS BEEN SUPERCEDED BY THE PERFECT SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST. TO GET RELIEF FROM TROUBLE, THE ONLY WAY TO MERCY, FORGIVENESS AND DELIVERANCE IS NOW THROUGH JESUS CHRIST ALONE.

25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, (TALKING TO ISRAEL) remember that in your lifetime (DURING THE COURSE OF TIME WHEN THE OLD COVENANT EXISTED) you received your good things, (ALL THE PHYSICAL BLESSINGS OF THE OLD COVENANT) and likewise Lazarus evil things; (THE GENTILES HAD NO HOPE, NO KNOWLEDGE AND NO COVENANT WITH GOD AND THEREFORE WERE ALWAYS SUFFERING FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE LAW AND THEIR LACK OF ENLIGHTENMENT) but now he is comforted (BY THE NEW COVENANT) and you are tormented. (BECAUSE YOU HAVE REJECTED THE MESSIAH AND THE NEW COVENANT IN HIS BLOOD).

26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, (NO ONE CAN COME TO THE FATHER UNLESS THE SPIRIT OF GOD DRAW HIM AND NO ONE HAS ACCESS TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST). so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 

(YOU DONʼT PUT NEW WINE INTO OLD WINE SKINS. YOU CANNOT MIX OIL AND WATER. THE OLD COVENANT TESTIFIED OF JESUS CHRIST. THE NEW COVENANT IS IN JESUS CHRIST. THE OLD COVENANT WAS BASED ON RITUAL AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES. THE NEW COVENANT IS BASED ON FAITH AND RELATIONSHIP.

27 Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,

A CLEAR REFERENCE TO THE JEWISH TEMPLE.

28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them,

ANNAS WAS THE CHIEF HIGH PRIEST AT THIS TIME AND HAD FIVE SONS AND A SON-IN-LAW CALLED CAIAPHAS, WHO ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, PLAYED A PART IN THE TRIAL OF JESUS. (source: Josephus) lest they also come to this place of torment.’ REMEMBER, THIS PLACE OF TORMENT USED TO BE THEIR HOPE OF DELIVERANCE. THEIR ADHERENCE TO OLD COVENANT PRACTICES, ESPECIALLY THE SACRIFICIAL LAWS, WAS WHAT BROUGHT THEM REDEMPTION. THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD DIED WHEN THE HUSBAND OF THAT RELATIONSHIP DIED. SO GOD IS NO LONGER BOUND TO HONOUR THAT AGREEMENT. THAT COVENANT HAS BEEN SUPERCEDED BY THE NEW COVENANT.

29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

MOSES AND THE PROPHETS TESTIFIED OF THIS NEW AND BETTER COVENANT, ITS NEW AND BETTER PROMISES…

30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’

JESUSʼ MIRACLES WERE NOT ENOUGH. REMEMBER HOW THEY REACTED TO LAZARUS RISING FROM THE DEAD? THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOMEONEʼS WAY OF THINKING HAS TO ORIGINATE FROM THE CALLING OF GOD AND THE RECIPIENTʼS WILLING RESPONSE. THE CALLING ITSELF IS AN ACT OF MERCY.

IT IS SO REGRETTABLE THAT FOR GENERATIONS THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH HAS FORCED AN INTERPRETATION ONTO THIS PARABLE THAT HAS LED TO MISUNDERSTANDING AND CONFUSION. IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE USED AS A SUPPORT FOR A DOCTRINE THAT CONSIGNED ALL UNBELIEVERS TO AN ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF CONSCIOUS SUFFERING.

THIS DOCTRINAL ERROR HAS CAUSED MUCH ANGUISH, FEAR AND DESPAIR AND GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED THE TEACHING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.