Tag: Rich man and Lazarus

Sheol As a Waiting Room

Sheol is a Hebrew term for the waiting place of the dead, distinct from Hell, and appears in the Old Testament. Both the righteous and unrighteous go there. The understanding of Sheol is often obscured by translations. Some believe it offers a second chance for salvation post-Judgment Day, but interpretations vary widely.

Many people are not aware of what Sheol is, so first let me give you a quick primer. Sheol is a Hebrew term used 65 times in the Old Testament. Its Greek equivalent “Hades” shows up another 10. It is not a reference to “Hell” as most people think of Hell. It is more the waiting room for Hell. It is not “purgatory” either. Though I would bet that an ancient misunderstanding of Sheol led to the development of the idea of purgatory.

Sheol has escaped many people’s understanding thanks to some lousy translating. Many versions of the English Bible cover over the word by translating it as “the grave” or “the pit”. This is garbage. Sheol is a place and a proper noun. Leave it as is.

In the Old Testament everyone expected to go to Sheol whether they were considered righteous or unrighteous. It was the place of the dead. Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19f) gives us the best glimpse into Sheol as it was.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

Luke 16:22-23 (ESV)

Notice that both the rich man and Lazarus are in Hades (Sheol) but in significantly different conditions. Lazarus is in “the bosom” of Abraham, and the rich man is in torment. He explains the torment as being because of fire. Thus the confusion with the post-Judgement Day “lake of fire”, which we think of as Hell.

Lazarus, Abraham, and the rest of the Old Testament righteous are waiting. For what? For Jesus to complete atonement for their sins on the cross and for Jesus to complete the Law in a way that they did not with His life. Timing actually matters. You didn’t suffer in this part of Sheol. The Roman Catholic Church refers to this place as “The Limbo of the Fathers”. Others prefer “Abraham’s bosom”. I like “the good neighborhood of Sheol. It reminds you where it is. What did they do there (some for millennia)? Don’t know.

When Jesus had completed His work, He set them free.

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Zechariah 9:11-12 (ESV)

You can see that they were rewarded for their patience and faith. Want to read more about Jesus’ descent into Sheol read here: https://afterdeathsite.com/2017/04/04/christs-descent-into-hell-part-4/

People like the rich man were/are waiting too. Without the forgiveness of Christ you are stuck in the bad neighborhood of Sheol until Judgment Day. Could actual Hell be any worse? Read this: https://afterdeathsite.com/2023/11/14/how-is-sheol-different-than-hell/

Those who now die connected to Jesus will never go to the “waiting room”. Eternal life in Heaven begins immediately.

Is there any hope once you find yourself in the bad neighborhood of Sheol. Many people and denominations say “no”. To be honest there is not a lot of Scriptural information on the topic. Those who say no are depending on one verse, which I think they misapply. It is Hebrews 9:27:

27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:27-28 (ESV)

You can see that the context is about how many times Christ is sacrificed. The answer is one. Similarly, how many lives do we live before judgment–one. It does not say the final judgment is immediate. There is the waiting room. The one Bible passage that suggests some measure of hope is 1 Peter 4:6:

6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

1 Peter 4:6 (ESV)

“The gospel was preached to those now dead” is not a great translation. It is more like “for indeed the dead ones were evangelized (declared the good message)”. The context of “the dead ones” is found in 1 Peter 3:20. They are the disobedient people killed by Noah’s flood. They waited in the bad neighborhood of Sheol until Jesus declared the promise of salvation to them. Then some, if not all, were made alive to God.

How far does this second chance go? I don’t know. I hope far. It is clear that many make it through the waiting room all the way to their appointment at Judgment Day. Hell won’t be empty, and that is regrettable since what Christ did was big enough for all.

The Fate of the Old Testament Faithful

This topic does not directly impact any of us today, it is more of a curious bit of information. Still, the fate of the people of the Old Testament time does speak to the nature of God, the necessity of salvation through Jesus, and what God can and will do, besides being interesting.

It is clear that some people, not all people, from the ranks of Israel in the Old Testament received eternal life. God speaks of a “remnant” being saved. The word doesn’t inspire confidence that this is even a large minority of those in Israel. Did this remnant go to Heaven?

It may surprise people to know that there is no promise of humans residing in Heaven after death in the Old Testament. A few Old Testament prophets had out-of-body experiences of Heaven. The seventy elders of Israel at the time of Moses saw some shielded vision of God in Heaven. It says that Elijah was taken up into heaven.

 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2 Kings 2:11 (ESV)

Being that this is an observation in the midst of a narrative, one can only conclude that Elijah went upward until he was out of sight. The passage doesn’t say anything about where he went. I would assume that even Elijah is not an exception. The Old Testament faithful all spoke of going to Sheol.

Serious theologians have been perplexed as to what to do with this word. Some translations rendered the word as “the pit” or “the grave”, and then would put a footnote saying : in Hebrew Sheol. Every word on the page was in Hebrew originally, so what was the footnote confessing? Sheol is not a hole in which we put a dead body. Sheol is a proper noun for a place. The place where the dead go pending some future event.

When the Old Testament was eventually translated into Greek, the word Sheol was translated as Hades. We could accuse the translators of coopting Greek religious ideas, since Hades is a place and a person in Greek mythology. It is Jesus who saves them from this fate. I would consider Jesus to be authoritative on this topic (actually any topic). In the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus, (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus gives us our most detailed look at Hades/Sheol. You might be fooled into thinking that this is a parable about Heaven and Hell, but the location of the rich man is identified as Hades.

In Hades the rich man is suffering. He states that he is in a fire. Hence the confusion with Hell. He has ability to speak with Abraham, one of the Old Testament faithful. Is this possible, or is this just a fiction? The use of names (Abraham and Lazarus) and the fact that this is not written as a parable with a symbolic lesson, suggests that this is an actual event. Add to it, that the Old Testament people spoke of going to Sheol and you learn that Sheol/Hades is a place divided by a “great chasm” where all the dead were to that point. Greek mythology states something similar. If this isn’t all myth, how would they know that? The forbidden practice of communicating with the dead could be a source.

The Old Testament faithful are not suffering in flames. Lazarus is being comforted. He is receiving good things. But he is not in Heaven.

Abraham and Lazarus may be among God’s chosen, but they are definitely still sinners. Why should they not be roasting with the rich man? A fairly well-known passage may have the answer:

25  [Jesus] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:25-26 (ESV)

This passage is a little hard to follow. It says the God offered Jesus as a sacrifice for sin to show that He didn’t compromise the Law with regard to the Old Testament faithful, even though He had left their sin unpunished up to the time of Jesus. He also offered Jesus to atone for those who have faith in Jesus presently and in the future.

The Old Testament faithful went to the comforting part of Sheol because Jesus would eventually pay for their sins. Are they still there?

They now dwell in Heaven because atonement is complete and Satan and his cronies have been booted. This movement is connected with “Jesus’ descent into hell”. More about that here:

https://afterdeathsite.com/2017/03/14/christs-descent-into-hell-part-1/

The Old Testament faithful are saved by being chosen by God, which manifested itself in trusting God for their salvation. They did not have details. Could such a path of salvation exist outside of Israel? I don’t see why not. There were faithful people before there was an Israel. Why not some outside of Israel and based on God’s mercy and foreknowledge?

So might you meet Abraham or Elijah or Lazarus in Heaven? I’m sure that is possible. They are alive and they are there. How about Adam and Eve so that you can thank them for messing up the world and your DNA for you? It would appear that they were repentant, so “yes”.

God reveals that He is unmoving with regard to keeping what is laid down as Law. Even though He spared the Old Testament faithful suffering, He did not just bounce them to Heaven until everything was actually completed. Foreknowledge was not enough. As people who live after Jesus, we can be thankful that God is faithful to His promises over millennia. We have the additional benefit of skipping Sheol all together in we are in Christ.