Bible Questions and Answers

Luke 16:19-31 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 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. 22  "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23  "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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.’ 25 "But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 "Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 ‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 "Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 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.’"

This is a parable. It is not based on a real scenario. Abraham is dead awaiting resurrection to life in the kingdom of God. A resurrection which will not happen until Jesus returns. When we die we remain unconscious in the grave as is made clear in the following:

Ecclesiastes 9:5  For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.

Psalms 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?

Psalms 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

We do not have an immortal soul which continues on in a conscious existence after death.
We are a soul. Soul is descriptive of our whole being.

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.

When we are placed in the grave so is our soul.

Psalms 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?

This is why death is described as sleep.

1 Kings 2:10  So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

Acts 7:60  Then he (Stephen) knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

We all experience the unconsciousness of sleep.

Daniel speaks of the future resurrection.

Daniel 12:2  And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.

As does Jesus:

John 5:28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29  "and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

The punishment for unforgiven sin is death, not torment.

Ezekiel 18:20 "The soul who sins shall die.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death,

When the righteous die, they don’t go to Abraham’s bosom — there is no such place. Similarly the unrighteous rich cannot be tormented after death because they lie unconscious in the grave.

The parable is contrived so that Abraham, whom the Jews trusted, could say: “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."

This was the situation that the Jewish leaders would find themselves in. Jesus would rise from the dead, but even that wouldn’t persuade them to believe that he was the Messiah. Instead they would bribe the soldiers to claim that his body was stolen by his disciples.

The Jewish leaders will be raised to condemnation and die again in a second death.

I hope this helps.

God bless
Glenn