Tag: sheol

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I Shall Go to Him

Looking out across the molten core of the earth from a place in the lower mantle

And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

(2 Samuel 12:22-23) NKJV

In his grief over the loss of his first child with Bathsheba David says, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” It’s taken to mean that David will one day go to heaven to be with the child, whereas the child, in heaven, can’t return to the Earth.

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In Hades he Looked Up

And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

“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.’

(Luke 16:23-24) NKJV

The rich man, in hell, lifts up his eyes and speaks of his torment in flame. Here’s the thing: Abraham and Lazarus are also in hell, but they’re not in flame. This may be confusing, but it’s compatible with our model.

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Answer 1

For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it.

(Ephesians 2:8-9) Good News Translation
  • As we still have to ask God/Jesus for forgiveness, as we always did, why was a crucifixion necessary?

Under normal circumstances you’d think that answering this question would be simple. Here’s one way to answer it.

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Spirits in Prison – Part 2

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

(Matthew 27:52-53) KJV

The last piece of the puzzle which we have to solve is whether or not Jesus, having descended into the lower parts of the Earth, then took the Old Testament saints, who’d been waiting in sheol, to heaven.

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The Witch of Endor

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.

Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.”

And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?

(1 Samuel 28:3, 11, 13, 15) KJV

You may be skeptical of the idea that there’s an underworld realm of the dead deep in the interior of the Earth, or that the souls of the Old Testament saints had to wait there for the messiah. That’s understandable.

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The Days Before Noah

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

(Amos 7:4) KJV

The longsuffering of God waited in the days before Noah. Noah’s flood saw the waters of the deep (tehom), being boiled out from under the Earth creating the open space that Jesus referred to as the great gulf (sheol).

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He Also Descended

Cutaway of planet Earth showing the crust, mantle, great gulf and hell.

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

(Ephesians 4:9-10) KJV

Who descended and what are the lower parts of the Earth? Fortunately this isn’t a mystery and we’ve already done the work needed to resolve both issues.

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Ascending and Descending

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

(Ephesians 4:9-10) KJV

If our souls start in hell then this life is our one chance to escape it forever. We’ve been given an opportunity to respond to the truth which has been revealed to us. No one has an excuse.

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