rolandtroves@gmail.com
Lazarus did not end up at Abraham's side after death simply because he was poor. It was because, although a beggar, he was a righteous man. Likewise, the rich man was not sent to the place of torment because he was rich. He had sealed his own eternal fate with his wickedness while on earth. The part of Hell ( Hades in Greek ) where the rich man found himself is called Tartarus. This is where all the wicked people go after their death ( Ps 9:17 ). And never mind what Hollywood ( "Drive Angry" for example ) says about it, once the wicked get to Tartarus, they can never come out, not for any reason, not for any length of time.
As for the part of Hell where Lazarus was sent to, that place is now empty. That is because, on the day Jesus ascended to Heaven, He liberated all the righteous souls - from Adam to that point in history - who inhabited the place. Until then they could not go to Heaven because Jesus had not carried out the Work of Redemption. Ephesians 4:8 reads in part, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train..." These captives were among 'those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death' ( Heb 2:15 ).
So the only Hell there is now is Tartarus, the place of torment for the wicked. What we refer to as 'Hell Fire' or 'The Fiery Lake' in Christian teachings is a place that currently has no occupant. Revelation 20:13-14 says, "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death".
We may however consider another view of the concept of hell. If we take it to connote being away from God's presence, or being outside the peace and safety of God's mercy and grace, then the word hell assumes a semantic spectrum. Ephesians 6:12 talks about 'heavenly realms'. This is a reference to spheres of existence that are not natural or human. They are supernal and supernatural. For my purpose, I wish to consider supernal beings as spirits - good or bad - whose forms cannot be seen with the natural eyes. Although the word supernatural could be used generally to describe any being that is not natural, I would like to view supernatural beings as consisting of these two groups:
[a] restless spirits that seek gratification from taking on human form, thereby impersonating
the dead. These we commonly refer to as ghosts.
[b] beings ( not machines! ) in realms outside our solar system who exist in a physical form,
but whose form is superior to ours, so much so that they can appear and disappear at will.
They move at unimaginable speeds, and for them, gravity is of no consequence whatsoever.
[ To be continued ]
No comments:
Post a Comment