THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION. TWELVE OBJECTIONS NOTED. THE SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION. THE RETURN OF THE RICH MAN PROMISED. PROOFS THAT THE RICH MAN WILL RETURN. 

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UNDER the subject, "The First Hell of the Bible," we have examined in considerable detail the use of the Hebrew word sheol in the Old Testament, as applied to the first hell, and the use of the Greek word hades in the New Testament, which always refers to the first hell. By applying the three commonly-used definitions of hell we have found that the only one that fits in every case is that which defines hell as a condition of oblivion, unconsciousness. But our study of the first hell would not be complete without a consideration of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where also the word hades is found. We realize that many base their thought of hell being a place of torment on this parable, as recorded in Luke 16:19-31. Let us, therefore, carefully consider this passage. 

Those who hold to the literal interpretation teach that there was a rich man who lived very luxuriously; and there was also a beggar, named Lazarus, who was very hungry and lay at the rich man's gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Lazarus died and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom, supposedly in heaven; then the rich man also died and went to hades (hell), where he suffered torment, while seeing Lazarus afar off in Abraham's bosom; whereupon he cried to Abraham to have mercy on him and to send Lazarus, so that the latter might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue, thus alleviating his torment. Abraham denied his petition, on the ground that he had received good things in 

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this life while Lazarus received evil things, and that it is impossible for any to cross a great gulf fixed between the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man then asked that his five brethren be notified, lest they also come into the place of torment. Abraham denied this petition also, saying that they had Moses and the prophets, whom they should hear. The rich man pleaded that if one rose from the dead and went to them, they would repent, but Abraham said that if they believed not Moses and the prophets, they would not be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 

Against the literal interpretation of this parable there are at least twelve Scriptural, logical and factual objections. First, the literal interpretation is contrary to God's character, which is described, e.g., in Jer. 9:24: "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD [Jehovah], which exerciseth [a function of power] lovingkindness [love], judgment [wisdom] and righteousness [justice] in the earth; for in these things [power, love, wisdom and justice] I delight, saith the LORD." Other Scriptures also show God's great attributes, e.g., Ezek. 1:5-14; Rev. 4:6, 7 (eagle—wisdom; lion—power; bullock—justice; human face—love); Job 37:23; Deut. 32:4, etc. The literal interpretation is contrary to God's wisdom: for wisdom devises plans by which useful ends are attained; and surely there is no useful purpose in keeping the rich man eternally in a place of torment. It is contrary to His justice, for justice demanded the forfeiture of man's life for sin (Gen. 2:17), for "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), and of God it is said (Ps. 145:20): "all the wicked will he destroy." Therefore, it would be an infraction of God's justice for Him to preserve the wicked and eternally torture them. Also it violates God's love. Surely anyone who properly appreciates God's love could not believe that He would eternally torture His creatures without doing anything for their relief. 

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It would also violate God's power, which is composed of self-control and patience. Power is executory in function and carries out God's plans, which are intended to bless the human race (Gen. 12:1-3); it can operate only in harmony with wisdom, justice and love. Tormenting the rich man would therefore not be a proper exercise of God's power; it would be more like an exercise of the devil's power. Therefore the literal interpretation of this parable is in direct opposition to the various features of God's character. 

The literal interpretation of the parable is also contrary to the ransom, which is clearly taught, e.g., in 1 Cor. 15:3. St. Paul there declares that the epitome of the Gospel, which he had also received, and which he first of all declared to the Corinthians, was that Christ died (not suffered eternal torture) for our sins according to the (Old Testament) Scriptures. One of these is Is. 53:4-12. Since this prophecy so vividly and graphically portrays our Lord's sufferings and death as our ransom, we will quote the entire passage and give some bracketed comments: "Surely he hath borne our griefs [being made our Sin-offering, He took our infirmities upon Himself, and thus provided for our deliverance from the penalty for them], and carried our sorrows [He endured such sorrows in His perfect humanity as we had to endure]: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted [many esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted for His own sins, but such was not the case, for He, as the ransom sacrifice, suffered for the sins of others]. But he was wounded for our transgressions [the five wounds (the four nails—two in His hands and two in His feet—and the spear thrust), these He endured for our transgressions], he was bruised for our iniquities [when He took our place, and suffered our punishment in our stead, that He might thus redeem us]: The chastisement of our peace was upon him [this was necessary to make peace between God and us; He bore it for us as 

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our Sin-offering]; and with his stripes we are healed [thus the whole world of mankind will get healing from His having endured the penalty for them]. 

"All we like sheep have gone astray [foolish, like sheep, we were lost in transgression and sin and thus all of us went astray]; we have turned every one to his own way [we became very, very selfish indeed]; and the LORD hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all [the punishment of our sins was made to rest upon Him, and thus He became our ransom]. He was oppressed [they took away His rights], and he was afflicted, yet he opened not His mouth [not one murmur escaped Him, as He, as our substitute, endured faithfully unto the end the suffering of the cross and the dying process for us]; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth [not one complaint came from Him, just as with the innocent lamb which is led to the slaughter]. He was taken from prison and from judgment [prison means restraint; the scribes and Pharisees, also the Sanhedrin, had Him in restraint; and His judgment was in Pilate's judgment hall—from these He was taken]: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living [without being a father; thus no one could declare any generation as coming from Him]: for the transgression of my people was he stricken [it was for the sins of the whole human family that Jesus was stricken]. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death [He was buried just as though He were a wicked man, in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, who, we know, was a rich man]; because he had done no violence [against God's Word or God's law], neither was any deceit in his mouth [He never taught any error; He was pure in His teaching; He was pure in His life, absolutely without any fault of any kind in these ways]. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him [God was not pleased in the sense that He delighted to see Him suffer, but He was willing that His plan should be carried out in the ransom 

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sacrifice, which resulted in His being bruised]; he hath put Him to grief [God put Him to grief in the sense that He gave Him the privilege of laying down His life sacrificially for the whole human family]: when thou shalt make his soul [His human being] an offering for sin, he shall see his seed [He will experience having descendants (Is. 65:23; Ps. 45:16), though He had none during His human life], he shall prolong his days [He will continue the days of His seed, giving them everlasting life], and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand [He will accomplish all God's good purposes, not only in respect to this earth, but in respect to the many universes of God, as age succeeds on age, and as He carries out God's future purposes. In all these things He will prosper and accomplish God's good will]. 

"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied [as He looks over the sufferings through which He passed, He will be satisfied when He sees the glorious fruitage, not only for Himself, but especially for His Father, then, secondly, for the Church and the other three elect classes, then for the human family; and after that in the ages of eternity as they come one after another, He will see that His sufferings were not in vain; He will be more than satisfied for what He will have done]: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many [His hold on the Truth enabled Him to sacrifice unto death, so that He might bring justification, first to the Church, and then later on to the world of mankind in the Millennial Age, as they obey]; for he shall bear their iniquities [His having borne their iniquities as a punishment for their sin, made it possible for these glorious results to come]. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great [God is the great One who will let Him sit on His throne and reign as Vicegerent throughout all eternity, carrying out His plan], and he [Christ] shall divide the spoil with the strong [the strong are, first, the Little Flock, second, the Great Company, third, the 

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Ancient and Youthful Worthies. In other words, the elect will be those with whom He will divide the human family as a spoil that He obtained at Calvary, and they will be associated with Him in the ages to come, throughout all eternity, in effecting what God wants done]; because he hath poured out his soul unto death [He laid down His life sacrificially, faithfully, without sin, unto death]: and he was numbered with the transgressors [He was counted as a transgressor by the Sanhedrin, and even Pilate was persuaded into acting toward Him as though He were one]; and he bare the sin of many [He as the ransom-price bore the sin of Adam and his race], and made intercession for the transgressors [first, as High Priest, He intercedes for the Church in this life; then, in the next Age, He, with the co-operation of His Bride, will intercede for the world of mankind; and then to all eternity, He will carry out God's plan by His good works]." 

How clearly this prophecy shows that our Lord would bear our penalty (which is death—Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23—not eternal life in torment), pouring out His soul unto death! The literal interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus would indicate that men suffer torture after death as the penalty for their sins; but since our Lord suffered our penalty for us, as the ransom, the corresponding price (1 Tim. 2:6), and since it was death that constituted that penalty, we see how contrary to the ransom the literal interpretation of the parable really is. Furthermore, the literal interpretation would not provide for the rich man or for Lazarus a trial for life as guaranteed for them at Calvary's cross, at the time of which trial Jesus would make intercession for them as transgressors. None can enter into eternal bliss without Jesus' ransom merit either imputed or applied for him subsequent to Calvary (Acts 4:12). Else why did Christ die for sin? He by the grace of God tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9; 1 Tim. 4:10; 1 John 2:2). Therefore the condemnation of a literal rich man to eternal torment before

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Christ's death would totally ignore God's provision of a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6), including the rich man. 

A third objection to the literal interpretation is that it is contrary to the Bible view of hell. In the last chapter we took up as our fifth series of texts those which prove that hell is the opposite of life. Hence we will not repeat them here. We also took up many texts which prove that hell is an unconscious condition. Both of these lines of thought, which give the Bible view of hell, contradict the literal interpretation of this parable. We will now give some additional Scripture proofs which indicate clearly that death is an unconscious condition. 

Job 14:21 is a passage to the point, speaking of a dead father: "His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." The dead father knows nothing pertaining to his children; therefore he could not be conscious. He knows not when they are honored, nor when they are disgraced, brought low. He is in utter unconsciousness. 

Ps. 115:17: "The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." This passage could not indicate torture after death, for those who go down into death are indicated as going into silence, hence would not be groaning in eternal agonies. Nor could it refer to a paradise of bliss, for those in bliss would be praising the Lord, which the dead cannot do. Therefore they that go down into silence, the death state, are utterly unconscious. 

Ps. 146:3, 4: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man … His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Our trust is to be in God and Christ—in no one else. The reason we are not to trust in princes or man is because when their breath goeth forth, they return to the earth, and in that very day their thoughts perish. They cease to think, they become unconscious. Therefore they could not be in torment, nor in bliss. 

Eccl. 9:5, 6: "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they 

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any more a reward; for the memory of them is [very largely] forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion [a part] for ever [Hebrew, olam, a long, indefinite period] in that which is done under the sun." The living know at least this much—that they must die, under the Adamic curse, which they often accentuate by their own sins. But the dead know not anything—they are utterly unconscious in the death state. This disproves the idea that they are in torment or in bliss, for if in torment they would know it; if in bliss they would know it. Neither have they any more a reward. If they were either in heaven or in a place of torment, they would have as a reward for their wickedness, punishment, or they would have as a reward for righteousness, bliss. Therefore the death state is an unconscious condition. The text adds: "Their love, their hatred and their envy are now perished." The dead have ceased to love, to hate, and to envy. We may be sure that the righteous would continue to love if they were in a paradise of bliss, and that the wicked would continue to hate if still conscious—they would hate God for tormenting them and envy those in bliss. Therefore hell must be a condition of unconsciousness. 

Is. 63:16 also proves that the dead are unconscious: "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel [Jacob] acknowledge us not." This passage shows that Abraham and Jacob were in death, unconscious, at the time Isaiah wrote these words, hence they were ignorant concerning their descendants. Thus the literal Abraham could not have literally spoken to a literal rich man in the parable, for he was dead and knew nothing. 

While on the subject, let us mark well that the Scriptures given above clearly contradict the doctrine of Spiritism, which claims that our dead friends and relatives have communication with us. About 95% of spiritistic phenomena is sleight-of-hand trickery, in which the so-called medium has a fraudulent part, but 

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there is perhaps 5% of it that is genuinely spiritistic. It is not the spirits of the dead which talk with the living in the séances, as the Spiritists claim, but demons who pretend they are dead friends and relatives. They know the secrets of our lives; and by reading our thoughts they learn things we think no one except ourselves and our dead friends and relatives knew anything about. They are ever ready to use this knowledge to try to convince us, if we will listen to them, that they are those dead friends and relatives speaking to us in spiritistic séances. Unless we understand the truth pertaining to death being an unconscious condition, we are liable to be led into this great delusion of the adversary, and to come under his control. 

The Bible also uses the figure of sleep to depict the condition of death, for when one is in a deep, dreamless sleep, he is oblivious or unconscious of all that transpires about him. In Dan. 12:2 we read: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Here the dead are mentioned as sleeping in the dust of the earth, but in due time, when Messiah comes to reign over the earth, they are awakened. They are therefore unconscious while in the death state, and are neither in torment nor in bliss. The good are said to come back to life (hence were not living until the resurrection), and the wicked to lasting shame and contempt. 

Another Scripture showing that the death state, likened to a deep sleep, is an unconscious condition is John 11:11: "He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." Jesus figuratively used sleep to describe the death state of His friend, Lazarus of Bethany. The disciples, misunderstanding Him, took Him to mean that Lazarus was improving (John 11:12, 13). Jesus then said plainly, "Lazarus is dead" (John 11:14). "I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." On arriving at Bethany, Martha was the first to hear of His coming and ran out 

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to meet Him, saying, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, of course would not go to torment, for he was a good man. Hence, according to those who hold to the literal interpretation of the parable of the rich man in hell, this Lazarus would have been in heaven; and Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing His friend Lazarus among the blessed, but noticing Mary's and Martha's grief, would have said somewhat as follows: "Lazarus, come down; your sisters are so grieved, I cannot let you enjoy the bliss of heaven at the expense of their grief, but must bring you down again to this sin-cursed earth to comfort your sisters." Did Jesus say any such thing? Surely not! 

Nor did He look down as it were into the depths of earth and say, "O Lazarus, I see you in torment down there and I cannot stand the sight of it any longer. Tell the devils to lay aside their pitchforks and let you come up. I must awaken you out of that terrible torture." He did not say, Lazarus, come up! Nor did He say, Lazarus, come down! But He did say, "Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead [not he that was really alive, not he that was conscious, not he that was in torment, not he that was in bliss, but he that was dead] came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes," according to the Jewish custom. "Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go," which accordingly was done. Thus Lazarus was really dead; he was in the unconscious sleep of death, from whence he came forth at Jesus' mighty command and was presented alive to his astonished sisters. He had no stories to tell of what had transpired during the four days that he was dead. He could not tell of the glories of heaven, of how God and the angels looked. Nor did he have any stories to tell of fire-proof devils with horns, cloven hoofs, forked tails and forked tongues, having pitchforks with asbestos handles. He knew nothing of such nightmares, which were invented during the Dark Ages. He was really dead; and "the dead know not anything." Jesus 

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awakened him from the unconscious sleep of death. Many who heard of this miracle were made to believe in Jesus, where formerly they had not believed. So we see that this miracle brought glory to God and blessing to Mary, Martha and Lazarus, as well as to others. 

Similarly we read of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, in Acts 7:60: "And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." He is not mentioned as going to a place of woe, nor to a paradise, but simply as falling asleep, in the unconscious state of death. In Acts 13:36 St. Paul says, "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption." He did not mention David going to heaven (Acts 2:34), but simply as having fallen asleep in death. Some may think this contradicts Ps. 16:10, but we must remember that there David was speaking prophetically of Jesus, as we indicated when examining Ps. 16:10 and Acts 2:25-32 under the first hell of the Bible. Note also 1 Cor. 15:18, 20: "Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept." According to this passage, Jesus had been asleep while in the death state. If He had not been raised from the dead, then those who had fallen asleep in Christ were perished, and would remain in the perished condition, which certainly is not one of sleeping in torment or of bliss. The above Scriptures clearly teach that the death state (hell) is a condition of unconsciousness, oblivion, likened to sleep in the Scriptures. Other texts could be mentioned, but we trust that the above will suffice to show that this is indeed a valid objection against giving a literal interpretation to the parable under discussion. 

Our fourth argument against the thought that the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is to be interpreted literally is: The doctrine taught by a literal interpretation is based on Satan's original lie (John 8:44).

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God had said to Adam (Gen. 2:17): "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Satan had the impudence to contradict God to the face, saying to Adam and Eve, primarily to Eve (Gen. 3:4, 5): "Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that … ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Satan's words implied, You shall not surely, really, die; actually you will live on, but you will change your mode of existence. Instead of remaining human beings, you will be changed into spirit beings (gods); if you do as you are told to do, you will experience bliss, in that changed mode of existence, but if not, you will know evil, i.e., be tormented. Thus it is on Satan's original lie that this terrible doctrine is based; and this original lie is certainly contrary to the Bible doctrine that the dead are unconscious. It is the great falsehood with which Satan has deceived practically the whole world; only a few have escaped it. Since the literal interpretation of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is based upon this lie, we reject it as untrue. 

Our fifth argument is as follows: The literal interpretation of Lazarus and the rich man is wrong because it is contrary to the method of parabolic interpretation. Parables are to be interpreted as parables and not as literal stories, e.g., when Jesus spoke of the four kinds of soil (Matt. 13:3-23), He had no reference to literal soil, but to four kinds of hearts into which the Word of the Lord is sown. E.g., those by the wayside are those whose hearts are hard, who do not accept the Truth, but allow the birds of the air, the demons and false teachers, to come and take the Truth out of their hearts. Again, the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24-30) shows that parables cannot be treated literally. It was not literal wheat, nor literal tares, that were sown, but symbolic wheat, God's true people, and symbolic tares, counterfeit Christians. Similarly, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man should be 

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interpreted as a parable. The literal application contradicts the proper method of parabolic interpretation. 

In the sixth place, the literal interpretation of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man teaches a wrong method of condemnation, for there is nothing evil said of the rich man. It is not a sin to be rich; God Himself is very rich. It is not wrong to fare sumptuously under healthful conditions. There is nothing wrong in wearing purple and fine linen, nor in feeding scraps to a beggar, which the rich man impliedly did, else the beggar would have gone elsewhere. If such things bring one into eternal torture, then we are all bound for it. We had better get rid of our purple and fine linens and never eat a good square meal. Obviously, the literal is the wrong method of interpretation. 

In the seventh place, the literal interpretation teaches a wrong method of salvation. There is nothing good said of Lazarus. There is nothing virtuous in being hungry. There is nothing good in lying as a beggar at a rich man's gate and wanting to be fed with the crumbs that fall from his table. There is nothing good in having sores or in letting dogs lick one's sores. If that is the way to gain salvation, the thing for us to do is to become beggars, to sit at the gate of some rich man's house, to be hungry and want him to give us the crumbs that fall from his table, and to let dogs lick our sores. Hence the literal interpretation teaches a wrong method of salvation. 

Our eighth point against the literal interpretation is that it teaches impossibilities and absurdities. If we consider Abraham's bosom as literal, how many beggars would it hold? Or consider Lazarus dipping his finger into water: Would it be possible for water to remain on the tip of his finger, if it were brought into the presence of that flame? The rich man would need more than just a drop of water to cool his tongue, if he were to be relieved from torture in literal fire. He might better call for an ocean of water to put out the flames of hell; yet even that would pass off into steam

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before it could ever reach him in the unquenchable literal fires of hell as generally pictured by burning-hell enthusiasts. Another impossibility and absurdity that we might consider is the great gulf fixed. If this is interpreted as a literal gulf it is impossible and absurd to suppose that "they [in bliss] which would pass from hence [from their blissful condition] to you cannot." Who, to the name of common sense, would wish to pass from bliss into eternal torture?!!! Also, how could a literal gulf prevent spirit beings, especially the mighty angels, from passing over it? How absurd is the literal interpretation! 

Again, its literal interpretation is contrary to its advocates' view of the soul. This is our ninth point against it. Those who advocate this doctrine of eternal torment in hell (hades, sheol), claim that the soul is not made up of parts. They hold that the soul is invisible, microscopic, infinitesimal and indivisible, that it has no interior or exterior, and that you can put a billion of them into a nutshell. They have even weighed the body before and after death and have pronounced the "departed soul" to be without weight. But all this contradicts their view of the parable, because, according to this view, the rich man had parts in which he was tormented, and the poor man had parts that were resting against Abraham's bosom. Therefore we see that their advocacy of the literal interpretation of this parable is contrary to their own view of the soul. 

Furthermore, as a tenth point against the literal interpretation of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we give the object of God's Plan. That object is a three-fold one: to glorify God, to glorify Christ, and to bring blessings to the children of men in harmony with God's arrangements. But if God begins to torment people as soon as they die, it would be a disgrace, instead of being a glory to Him. It would violate every one of God's four attributes: wisdom, justice, love and power, as we saw under our first point. Likewise, it would disgrace Christ as God's Agent in all of God's 

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arrangements. It would prevent the carrying out of God's Plan, particularly the blessing of the children of men, first the Church, then the Great Company, then the Ancient and Youthful Worthies as the other elect classes, and then the non-elect in due time, for in Abraham's Seed "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). 

We bring an eleventh objection against the literal interpretation: It makes Abraham a falsifier, for you remember Abraham is said to have told the rich man that his five brothers had Moses and the prophets and that if they would not hear them, neither would they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. The Bible tells us that many people who did not previously believe the preaching of Jesus and of the Apostles did so when they found out that Peter raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:42). Likewise some believed when they found out that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:45). Therefore Abraham would have falsified in these two cases, if this statement were applied literally; it would make him a liar. Therefore let us reject this literal interpretation, for it is a misrepresentation of God's Plan. 

Our twelfth objection to the literal interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is that such an interpretation is contrary to the context (Luke 16:14-18). The scribes and Pharisees were the religious teachers under the Mosaic dispensation in Christ's day; therefore Jesus told the people to obey what was taught them out of Moses' Law (Matt. 23:2, 3). But these religious teachers despised our Lord Jesus, who was sent by God as the greatest of all teachers; and He, knowing how they felt toward Him, and how they acted as the mouthpieces of Moses, said unto them (v. 15), "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men." They wanted to be counted righteous before the children of men, while actually their hearts were an abomination in the sight of God, because they were full of wickedness, instead of showing 

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humility, a quality that God requires in teachers of His law. Then Jesus continued, saying (v. 16), "The law and the prophets were until John [i.e., they prevailed until the ministry of John, who was selected to introduce the Messiah]: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it," i.e., since then a new dispensation, viz., the Gospel Age, had begun and every one wishing to become a part of that kingdom of God was pressing into it. Then Jesus added, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than one tittle of the law to fail." Even the least parts of the law could not fail; God Himself had made that law, and God never makes a failure in anything He attempts (Is. 14:27). 

Then Jesus added a very unique marital statement, "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery; and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." Why did Jesus use this expression? If we turn to Rom. 7:1-6, we find that St. Paul indicates that if any of the Jews during the Gospel Age would give up Moses and become associated with any other religion than Christianity (e.g., Mohammedanism), thus forsaking the law and not joining Jesus Christ, who became the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe (Rom. 10:4), he would become a part of the symbolic wife that was committing adultery by marrying another than Christ. But by his becoming part of Christ's Bride he would not become a part of the symbolic adulterous woman, but would be doing a thing that was Divinely arranged and Divinely sanctioned (v. 4), since Jesus had fulfilled the law, nailing it to the cross (Col. 2:14). This helps us to understand that Jesus used this parable to illustrate a change of dispensation from the Law Covenant to the Gospel-Age Covenant of Grace, which was ministered to by Jesus, the Apostles and the other brethren, whom God throughout the Age has been using as mouthpieces to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ. Thus the context 

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proves that the literal interpretation of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is certainly improper, for it would make the context inapplicable and the parable a misfit. 

Having set forth 12 valid objections to the literal interpretation of this parable, we are now ready to consider the symbolic interpretation. By the rich man we understand the Jewish nation, Fleshly Israel, to be meant: before he died, Fleshly Israel during the Jewish Age; after he died, Fleshly Israel during the Gospel Age. This nation was by God given a promise of becoming a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:5, 6), if they would be loyal to their covenant relationship; and this is symbolized by their wearing linen and purple garments, symbolic of priesthood and kingship. They fared sumptuously on the law and the prophets, which God gave, not to the Gentiles, but to them (Rom. 3:1, 2). The death of the rich man pictures Israel ceasing to be God's people, at the time they rejected Christ. They were cast off from being God's people (Matt. 23:38), but not forever, for as St. Paul tells us, they will be received (in the Millennial Age) again as His people (Rom. 11:7-15, 25-31). But during the Gospel Age, as a nation and as God's people, they have been cast off, this being represented in the death of the rich man and in his being consigned to hades, hell, oblivion. 

Lazarus, the beggar, represents the God-fearing ones among the Gentiles, who, during the Jewish Age, like Lazarus at the rich man's gate, were longing to be filled with crumbs of truth and favor that fell from the rich man's table. Frequently they received such crumbs (Josh. 2:14; 1 Kg. 10:3, 13; 2 Kg. 5:9, 10; Dan. 2:47; Mark 7:25-30). The dogs that licked Lazarus' sores represented the heathen philosophers, like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, etc., who by their philosophies tried to heal the human family of their sin-cursed faults, lacks and blemishes, but were unable to do so. The death of the beggar represents the Gentiles ceasing to be "aliens from the commonwealth [the polity] of 

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Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise [up to this time given to Israel only], having no hope and without God in the world," but now "made nigh by the blood of Christ" and reconciled to God (Eph. 2:12, 13). They were carried by the angels (messengers—Jesus, the Apostles and those who were God's mouthpieces after their days) into Abraham's bosom, which represented fatherhood. Thus they were made children of God and came into His favor, for Abraham here represents God (Rom. 4:11-17). 

To the symbolisms of death and burial used to illustrate the dissolution of Israel as a nation and their burial or hiding among the other nations, our Lord added a further figure—"In hell [hades, the condition of oblivion into which the Jews as a nation entered] he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off." The Lord thus shows that great sufferings or "torments" would be added to the Jews after their national dissolution and burial among other peoples dead in trespasses and sins. His seeing Abraham afar off with Lazarus in His bosom represents the Jewish nation recognizing that God was no longer favoring them as formerly, and their recognizing the Gentiles brought nigh, into sonship through Christ. The rich man cried for mercy and longed for Lazarus (it was from the professed Christians that the Jews expected mercy) to dip the tip of his finger (to render comforting service, however slight) in water (the water of God's Word—John 15:3; Eph. 5:26) and cool his tongue (give him a message from God to declare). His pleading for himself some easing of his torment represents how the Jewish people have prayed to God that He might free them from some of the miseries which they have had during the many centuries of the Gospel Age, for they have been persecuted relentlessly by all classes, including professed Christians. Their prayer-book shows that they prayed that God would deliver them from their great sufferings during the Gospel Age. 

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Abraham made a two-fold answer to the rich man (vs. 25, 26). This represents first, God's addressing the Jews, calling them "son" (for they were children of the Law Covenant) and telling them that their torments have been the penalties attached to their violations of that Covenant (Lev. 26). Second, He told them that there was a great gulf fixed between them and the Christians, caused by the difference between the Gospel Church and the Jew, viz., Christ. This was impassable from one side to the other; for without coming through Christ no one could become a child of God; and no true child of God would violate God's arrangements for the Gospel Age by giving the Jews the comfort that would come to them from the Gospel, without their accepting Christ. Thus neither God nor those who were with Him, the Lazarus class, could help to relieve the Jews as such, from their trouble. 

Since they could not get help for themselves, the Jews prayed that help be sent to their brethren. The two tribes that returned from captivity in Babylon, viz., Judah and Benjamin, are in this parable represented by the rich man; hence his five brethren would represent the ten tribes that were dispersed and never did return, except for a few individuals, from their Assyrian captivity. These are often spoken of as "the ten lost tribes of Israel." Now the Jews during the Gospel Age have been praying that God would send someone to help these ten tribes. Abraham truthfully replied that they had Moses and the prophets, and that they should hear them. Only the twelve tribes of Israel had been given Moses and the prophets; hence it is obvious that the reference here is to the remaining ten tribes, usually spoken of as "the ten lost tribes." 

But the Jews put their request in another form—If one were to come from the dead, from the figurative death of sin, from which the Lazarus class came (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:12, 13:3: 1), and would testify to them, they would believe. God's answer was that if they would not believe Moses and the prophets, which the ten, as 

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well as the two tribes, had received, neither would they repent before the preaching of one who would come from the symbolic death from which the Gentiles during the Gospel Age had come, since they had become children of God. Thus we find that the two-fold answer of Abraham was Divinely pleasing, and was therefore in harmony with God's Plan. For more details see the book entitled, Life—Death—Hereafter. 

Having proved that this, like all other parables, cannot be interpreted literally, and having given the symbolic interpretation, which, we see, harmonizes with the context and fully illustrates the truth already stated by Jesus, we now come to another question in connection with our subject. Will the rich man ever come back from hades? On this we desire to consider a number of Scriptures. First we will take Jer. 16:14-16, which requires some explanation to make its thoughts clear. We know that Israel used to swear by God as having delivered them out of the land of Egypt, for they say, "The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt," referring to the Exodus. But in the future they shall say, "The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north [Russia], and from all the lands whither He had driven them [all of the European, Asiatic and African lands where the Israelites have been scattered during the Gospel Age]." God also promises that He will bring them back to the land of Palestine, and we see that prophecy now being fulfilled before our eyes. They have regained their national polity and are recognized as a free nation. "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them." The fishers are those who offered the attractive bait of Zionism to the Jews to draw them, as symbolic fish, to the land of Israel. Then God said, "And after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain [every kingdom], and from every hill [every republic or limited monarchy], and out of the holes of the rocks [from every

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institution that has given them protection during the time of their dispersion]." These hunters have driven their prey before them, unmercifully slaughtering them. E.g., the Germans, through Hitler, punished the Jews as no people had ever before been punished. He gassed about five million Jews; he put them into concentration camps and terribly abused them, causing many of them to die. However, we are not to think that only the Germans mistreated the Jews. Beginning with Russia in 1881, and with Romanian, Austria and Poland later on, one nation after another has persecuted the Jews, like hunters driving helpless and hopeless prey before them, to seek their destruction. This has been done in harmony with the Lord's plan to cause the Jews to return to their native land as He restores favor to them. 

Ezek. 36:24-38 also indicates that the symbolic rich man, the Jewish nation, will return from the "hades" condition, national oblivion. These verses refer, not only to their present returning to their land, but more especially to their condition in the Millennial Age. Ezek. 37:21-25 also reveals that the Lord will restore complete favor to natural Israel. God commanded His Gospel-Age people to give Israel this message in the end of the Age. The fulfilment of these verses is in the Millennial Age, for at that time the Jewish nation will be reunited in one kingdom under the antitypical David—Christ and the Church. Furthermore, Amos 9:14, 15 very clearly proves our point, viz., that Israel (the rich man) will return from the "hades" condition of national dissolution and will again enjoy God's special favor and inhabit their land. This will transpire in its fulness after the Lord has raised up again the tabernacle of David (v. 11; Acts 15:16), in the Millennial Age. 

Note also Luke 2:34: "Simeon blessed them [i.e., Joseph and Mary], and said unto Mary his [Jesus'] mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against." Here Simeon, while making a prophecy to Mary respecting our Lord Jesus, said that He would

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be an occasion of stumbling to Israel, that many would fall, but that they would (in the Millennial Age) be raised up again by Him, who will be their Savior and their Lord and give them the Millennial earth for a home. All through the Gospel Age He was a sign spoken against by the Jews, for they rejected Him, seeing no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. 

Ezek. 16:46-63 also shows that the rich man (the Jewish nation) will not remain in hell. Israel is compared with Samaria and Sodom as sisters, and pronounced the most blameworthy (vs. 46-52) because she sinned against greater light. Samaria, the elder sister, with her daughters, stands for the ten-tribed kingdom of the north, with those under her as her daughters. In the days of Omri, king of Israel, the city of Samaria became the capital of the Northern kingdom, so that the city-name was extended to the entire country. Sodom and her daughters stand for the nation and her tributaries which were destroyed by fire and brimstone in the days of Lot. Continuing, the Lord says, "When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives [the captivity referred to here can be none other than their captivity in death; for these were then in death. Christ comes to open the doors of the grave, and set at liberty the captives—Is. 61:1; Zech. 9:11] in the midst of them: that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them [the two-tribed kingdom, by its greater iniquities, as shown repeatedly in this chapter, was a comfort to these others and thus encouraged them in their sins, which God, of course, greatly rebuked]. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate [all will get restitution, perfect life and Edenic conditions, such as Adam and 

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Eve had before they fell into sin. This restitution is made possible by Jesus' ransom sacrifice]. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride, before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despised thee round about. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abomination, saith the LORD [therefore God in His justice sent them the punishment that was due to come to them]. 

"For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant [they despised the oath that they made at Mt. Sinai]. Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant [here God promises that the covenant that He made with the Jewish nation in the days of their youth, when He assured them that He would make of them a kingdom of priests, if they would be obedient (Ex. 19:5, 6), though broken by them, had not been forgotten by Him]. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters [they will come to Israel, the fleshly seed of Abraham, for restitution blessings], but not by thy covenant [not by the Law Covenant made with Israel at Mt. Sinai]. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD." 

That covenant God will establish with Fleshly Israel when they will have returned unto God with their whole hearts, as they will, according to the prophecies. God will be theirs forever; He will establish the covenant that they may know Him and "remember, and be confounded, and never open their mouth any more because of their shame, when God will be pacified toward them for all the iniquities they have done." This will be due to the Abrahamic Covenant of God in both of its aspects, the heavenly and the 

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earthly, toward the two seeds; and it will be due to the glorious work that Jesus and the Church will perform on behalf, not only of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plains, but also on behalf of the ten-tribed kingdom of the north in their great iniquities. God will have mercy upon them and bless them all. Thus He will give them what will be for their good, and will glorify Himself, and Christ, whose merit will be made efficacious for them in the Millennium. 

The above texts prove conclusively that the nation of Israel will be returned to God's favor and to their land. (Others could be mentioned, e.g., Rom. 11.) Thus the symbolic rich man of the parable will come back from hades in God's due time. When expounded according to its proper symbolic interpretation, this parable gives a wonderful picture of the dealings of God with the Jews and Gentiles. 

Thus we conclude our lengthy examination of all the Scriptures which use the Hebrew word sheol as referring to the first hell, and also all of the texts which use the Greek word hades, which always refers to the first hell. We trust that the application of the three commonly used definitions of the word hell to these texts has proved to the unbiased reader that the united testimony of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation is overwhelmingly in favor of the definition of hell as a condition of oblivion or unconsciousness. We trust that all honest readers will be enabled by this examination to see that the teaching that the first hell is a place of eternal, conscious suffering is not taught in the Scriptures, but rather contradicts many of the plain statements of the Scriptures and the ransom, and also upholds Satan's great first lie, "Ye shall not surely die." It is time that all recognize that this caricature of God, which makes Him appear as worse than the devil, originated not with God and His Word of Truth, but rather with Satan and the creeds of the Dark Ages, at a time when men considered it proper to burn one another at the stake in the name of God and religion.