Lazarus and the Rich Man
Wall
fresco in a monastery in Rila, Bulgaria
In the
Old Testament of the King James Version of the Bible,
the Hebrew word sheol is the only word translated
as "hell." There is no mention of either eternal fire or
ever-lasting torture of human souls connected with any
of those passages. (For an overview of the use of sheol, see the article "Old
Testament View of Hell" elsewhere on this website.)
How, then, did these two notions arise in Christian
thought?
There
are two primary words translated numerous times as hell
in the New Testament KJV, Gehenna and Hades.
For an overview of the references regarding Gehenna,
see the Gehenna
section of the article "New Testament View of Hell."
The word Hades is the counterpart in Greek to the
Hebrew Sheol. For an overview of its usage, see
the Hades section
of the article "King James Version of Hell." For a more
detailed overview of the usage of the term Hades
specifically in the Book of Revelation, see the article
"Revelation's Hell."
Since the
notions of an ever-burning Hell and of ever-lasting
torturing of human souls are not evident in the Old
Testament, we must look to the New Testament for any
biblical basis for these doctrines. In the New Testament,
there are three sources in the text that are primarily used
to establish these doctrines. The first is the collection of
references by Jesus to Gehenna. (See the Gehenna
link above for information on this topic.) The second is the
collection of four brief references in Revelation that use
the term Hades in the Greek originals. (See the
Revelation link above for information on these references.)
The third
source of the speculation regarding the nature of Hell and
the state of souls in the Afterlife is Jesus' parable of
Lazarus and the Rich Man. That parable is the focus of this
article:
There was a rich man who was
dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every
day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered
with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's
table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar
died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich
man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in
torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus
by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity
on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime
you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad
things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has
been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you
cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my
father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them,
so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let
them listen to them.'
" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the
dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the
Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises
from the dead.' "
Luke 16:19‑31
At the
beginning of this parable, it says that the Rich Man was in
"hell." This word was not translated from Gehenna, but from
Hades. It is obvious from this parable that there is some
kind of torment in Hades. But does this say that it is
never‑ending? No, it does not.
And whatever happens in
Hades
must come to an end‑-because Hades is going to be "emptied
out"! In the Book of Revelation, after the 1,000 years of
Satan's captivity, John saw in vision:
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. If anyone's name
was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:13‑15)
Whatever
was happening to the Rich Man was not his ultimate destiny.
Revelation 20 says his ultimate destiny is the "second death."
In Matthew 10:28, Jesus referred to this destruction of not only
body but soul, and connected it to the word Gehenna.
Do not be
afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and
body in hell [Gehenna].
Commentators
over the centuries have looked at this parable in two quite
different ways. As a matter of fact, under one set of
assumptions this passage is declared not to be a parable at all.
This scenario assumes that Jesus' story is a literal description
of the Afterlife, and that the two men mentioned are two actual
individuals. The primary emphasis with this approach is that the
main point of the story is to emphasize the sufferings of
torture in an ever-burning Hell, and to warn people to avoid it.
The other
approach to the story is that, like the previous story in the
chapter (the parable of the unjust steward) and the three stories in the
previous chapter of Luke (the 99 sheep, the lost coin, and the
Prodigal Son), it is a parable. In fact, it is clearly
stated that Jesus told this story not to his disciples, but to
the Pharisees. Thus it is not unreasonable to assume that it is a metaphor, a fictional
story told for another purpose entirely. And in this scenario,
even the details of the features of Hades are taken to
not be literal, but figurative. This is similar to a description
of Sheol in the Old Testament. This passage prophetically
describes the death of the King of Babylon:
The grave [Sheol]
below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the
spirits of the departed to greet you—all those who were
leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their
thrones—all those who were kings over the nations.
They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have
become weak, as we are; you have become like us." All your
pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the
noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and
worms cover you. (Isaiah 14:9-11)
Was Isaiah
really intending to paint a picture of the Afterlife in Sheol
as one of a place where the "leaders of the world" actually sat
on thrones, and would "rise to greet" the king of Babylon? Or is
this an elaborate poetic metaphor, used to paint a picture of
the ignominy of the end of the king of Babylon?
One webauthor writes about the
importance of understanding when a biblical passage is a parable
rather than photographic reality:
Parables are
not to be taken literally. They are to be understood
"figuratively." The real meaning is not in what they
literally say, but in what the symbols and figurative
language represent. That’s why they are called "parables."
This is axiomatic!
Let us turn
to some parables for proof of this point:
The Prodigal
Son (Luke 15:32)
"...this
thy brother was dead..."
Comment: He
wasn’t literally "dead." He came home again "alive." God did
not resurrect him from the dead. The Resurrection is yet
future.
So the
prodigal was NOT literally dead, but from the perspective of
his father, he was as good as dead or he could have been
considered Spiritually dead.
Parable of
the Sower (Matt. 13:3-23)
"And when
he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side; and the fowls
came and devoured them up."
Comment: This
parable isn’t teaching horticulture. It’s about "the word of
the kingdom" and how different people receive it! Birds
don’t literally devour the words of God.
Sowing Ideal
Seed (Matt. 13:24)
"Yet,
while the men are drowsing [sleeping], his enemy came
and sows darnel..."
Comment: The
enemy "came." Past tense. Is this, therefore, an historical
fact? No. Read verse 39: "Now the harvest is the
conclusion of the eon." This eon hasn’t come to an "end"
yet. And the "harvest" is people not grains and vegetables.
Parable of
mote in brother’s eye (Lk. 6:39-42).
"Now why
are you observing the mote in your brother’s eye, yet
the beam in your own eye your are not considering?"
Comment: A
beam is a long piece of timber. How is it possible to have a
long piece of timber in one’s eye?I know people who could
fit it into their mouth, but eye, never. This parable is
about morality, not body organs and building materials.
Is it not
obvious that the literal, physical language in all parables
must be interpreted as a higher, spiritual lesson?
If the
parable of Lazarus and the rich man is both literal and an
historical fact, then it contradicts not only the
laws of physics and logic, but also literally
hundreds of plain verses of Scripture.
http://bible-truths.com/lazarus.html
Is it possible,
therefore, that the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man is just
such a poetic metaphor? Is it possible that the description of
the Rich Man seeing Lazarus "in Abraham's bosom" is not meant to
be taken as a literal "scene" in the Afterlife, but as a
metaphor for something more elaborate? If so, what might the
point of the metaphor be? Here is an excerpt of what one author
has suggested:
The great difficulty with
many in reading this scripture is that, though they regard
it as a parable, they reason on it and draw conclusions from
it as though it were a literal statement. To regard it as a
literal statement involves several absurdities; for
instance, that the rich man went to "hell" because he had
enjoyed many earthly blessings and gave nothing but crumbs
to Lazarus. Not a word is said about his wickedness. Again,
Lazarus was blessed, not because he was a sincere child of
God, full of faith and trust, not because he was good, but
simply because he was poor and sick. If this be interpreted
literally, the only logical lesson to be drawn from it is,
that unless we are poor beggars full of sores, we will never
enter into future bliss; and that if now we wear any fine
linen and purple, and have plenty to eat every day, we are
sure of future torment. Again, the coveted place of favor is
"Abraham's bosom"; and if the whole statement be literal,
the bosom must also be literal, and it surely would not hold
very many of earth's millions of sick and poor.
But why consider absurdities?
As a parable, it is easy of interpretation. In a parable the
thing said is never the thing meant. We know this from our
Lord's own explanations of his parables. When he said
"wheat," he meant "children of the kingdom"; when he said
"tares," he meant "the children of the devil"; when he said
"reapers" his servants were to be understood, etc. (`Matt.
13`.) The same classes were represented by different symbols
in different parables. Thus the "wheat" of one parable
correspond to the "faithful servants," and the "wise
virgins" of others. So, in this parable, the "rich man"
represents a class, and "Lazarus" represents another
class.
In attempting to expound a
parable such as this, an explanation of which the Lord does
not furnish us, modesty in expressing our opinion regarding
it is certainly appropriate. We therefore offer the
following explanation without any attempt to force our views
upon the reader, except so far as his own truth-enlightened
judgment may commend them as in accord with God's Word and
plan. To our understanding, Abraham represented God, and the
"rich man" represented the Jewish nation. At the time of the
utterance of the parable, and for a long time previous, the
Jews had "fared sumptuously every day"--being the especial
recipients of God's favors. As Paul says: "What advantage,
then, hath the Jew? Much every way: chiefly, because to them
were committed the oracles of God [Law and Prophecy]." The
promises to Abraham and David and their organization as a
typical Kingdom of God invested that people with royalty, as
represented by the rich man's "purple." The typical
sacrifices of the Law constituted them, in a typical sense,
a holy (righteous) nation, represented by the rich man's
"fine linen,"--symbolic of righteousness. --`Rev. 19:8`.
Lazarus represented the
outcasts from divine favor under the Law, who, sin-sick,
hungered and thirsted after righteousness. "Publicans and
sinners" of Israel, seeking a better life, and truth-hungry
Gentiles who were "feeling after God" constituted the
Lazarus class. These, at the time of the utterance of this
parable, were entirely destitute of those special divine
blessings which Israel enjoyed. They lay at the gate of the
rich man. No rich promises of royalty were theirs; not even
typically were they cleansed; but, in moral sickness,
pollution and sin, they were companions of "dogs." Dogs were
regarded as detestable creatures in those days, and the
typically clean Jew called the outsiders "heathen" and
"dogs," and would never eat with them, nor marry, nor have
any dealings with them.--`John 4:9`.
(For more details, see the
full article at
http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/lazarus.html)
Even if, in
spite of all of the evidence to the contrary, this parable was
intended to depict a real scene somewhere in the Underworld,
where the soul of the Rich Man is being tortured in the roaring
flames of an ever-burning Hell, why would he ask only for a drop of water
for his tongue? With a body seared by flames, why wouldn't he
ask for a bucket of water to cool his body!? It sounds like the kind of torment he was in is
being symbolized more in "mental" than physical terms.
Picture someone in the Middle Ages, condemned to death by
burning at the stake. He is in a torture dungeon of the
Inquisition, but can see out a small window the stake he is
doomed to be burnt on. He may even be able to see others put to
death there, and if close enough might even feel the tremendous
heat waves from the executions. Would he be in mental torment‑-the kind that leaves your mouth like cotton?
If we deliberately keep on sinning
after we have received the knowledge of truth, no sacrifice for
sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of
raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Hebrews 10:26‑27 NIV
Note again that
this doesn't say the fearful expectation would be of "eternal
torture by fire," but of fire that will "consume" the wicked.
When Moses saw the burning bush he was amazed that it could burn
without being "consumed." This passage in Hebrews does not say
the wicked will be like that bush, burning but never "burning
up." It says the fire will consume them.
But wouldn't
someone in torment look forward to death, rather that have
"fearful expectation"? No‑-even in the concentration camps of
Germany during the Holocaust, where conditions were horrible, most struggled to keep
alive, to avoid the ultimate executions. Especially when death
is expected to come by fire, the notion that it will take only a
few minutes does not lessen the terror of the anticipation of
the horrible pain of flames.
So while there
is a remote possibility that those hearing the parable were
intended to conceive of a "real place" where the Rich Man was
"in torment," there is nothing in the parable that is comparable
to the doctrine of an ever-burning Hell of never-ending tortures
awaiting anyone who is "unsaved" at death.
And whatever
the story of
Lazarus and the Rich Man is about, it is very specifically aimed at certain groups of
people. It was spoken directly to the Pharisees, religious
leaders of their time. And both of the main characters in the
story are obviously Jews, who lived in a society in which the
Old Testament scriptures were common knowledge. Abraham says that the
Rich Man's brothers "have
Moses and the Prophets." Thus, even if the intent of this story
was to describe a real detail of the Afterlife, there is no way
to apply what is in this scene to the fate of those who have
never known God. Yet those who propose the doctrine of an
ever-burning Hell include in that Hell billions of people from
all of human history, including those who have never even heard
of the Bible.
Finally, there
is absolutely nothing in the parable that would really allow us
to draw any conclusions about why these two men had such
different fates. If the purpose of the parable was to warn
people to avoid being tortured in an ever-burning Hell, where is
the advice on what one needed to do to avoid that? We are not
told anything at all about the spiritual condition of the Rich
Man, about any sins that he may have committed, about his
attitude toward God. We are only told that he was rich, and had
fine banquets. And we are not told anything at all about the
spiritual condition of Lazarus, about any good deeds he may have
done, nor about his attitude toward God. We are only told that
he was poor, hungry, and sick. Surely we are not to come away
from hearing the parable with the notion that it is evil to be
rich and Godly to be poor!
From the details of the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man
and the related scriptures quoted above, it is clear that
this passage cannot be used to establish:
1. Anything
about the fate of those who do not know about the expectations
of God.
2. That there
is an ever-burning Hell of some sort.
3. That souls
are tortured forever in such a Hell.
This site contains a collection
of articles, on the topic of Hell and the Afterlife, that may
each be used independently for research purposes. But it also is
designed as a systematic, sequential overview of the whole
topic, which can be read like a book.
For those who would like to take
advantage of this perspective of the content, the articles are
arranged in the
Reading Guide as they would appear as chapters in a book, along
with a few reference chapters at the end such as would appear in
a book Appendix.
Use the
links below to go to the next article, previous article, or
first article
in the Reading Guide sequence.
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PLEASE
NOTE:
No single short article can comprehensively cover
any aspect of the topic of Hell. If you have
questions or concerns regarding the material in this
article, be sure to first read through the site
FAQ before writing to the
author. It may already specifically address the very
points you are wondering about.
Unless otherwise
noted, all biblical references in this and other articles on the
Is It True What They Say About Hell? website are from the
New International Version (NIV).
All of the articles on this
Is it true what they say about Hell? website were written by Pam Dewey, with
the support and sponsorship of Common Ground Christian
Ministries. For more of Pam's inspirational and educational
writings, visit her Oasis
website.
All website content
© 2007, Pam
Dewey and Common Ground Christian Ministries
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