LUKE 16:19-31: PARADISE AND HELL

Many groups deny the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, claiming that Luke 16:19-31 is a parable, because they do not like what it teaches about Hell, the place of conscious torment and suffering for the wicked dead. However, if it were a parable, it would be the only one to use an individual's name. It would be the only parable that calls "Paradise," "Abraham's bosom" (v. 23). Note that Jesus stated the thief on the cross would be with Him in the place of the righteous "dead" (Lk. 23:43). And, since a "parable is an earthly story with a heavenly significance, it cannot be a parable, for it transcends man's earthly experience."

The Hebrew Sheol, and the Greek Hades, Ghenna and Tartarus, are all translated "Hell" in the King James Version. Sheol simply means the "unseen state" of the dead, as does Hades. Ghenna is more of a description of the place of torment; it is named for the Valley of Hinnom, the place where the residents of Jerusalem burned their trash. Tartarus is the "prison-like abode" of the fallen angels (2 Pet. 2:4). In Luke 16:23, "Hell" is translated from the Greek word "Hades," but based upon its context, it could just as easily have been Ghenna (v. 24).

The word "Paradise," appears only three times in the Bible (Lk. 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7). It is from the Greek Paradeisos, which describes a garden-like place. By comparing its use in the New Testament, we can see that the place called "Abraham's bosom" was much like the Garden of Eden, and the "Garden of Heaven" (Gen. 2:8-10; Rev. 22:2). While the Lord's body lie in the grave for three days and three nights (Matt. 12:40), His soul went and preached to those in Paradise, and after the three days, He "emptied Paradise," and it no longer exists; today, the saved immediately are in Heaven (2 Cor. 5:8; Eph. 4:8-10).

So, it seems, that prior to Christ's Resurrection, the souls of the dead went to a divided place; a place where the righteous dead, those who trusted and believed God (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jam. 2:23), were on one side of an impassable gulf, and the unrighteous, those who failed to put their trust in God, were on the other side. One side was "garden like," and the other was a place of fiery torment. Today, only the "torment side" remains. It will remain until all of those sentenced to spend eternity in it, are cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14). Hell will be joined by the Beast and False Prophet (Rev. 19:20), and Satan (Rev. 20:10); in other words, all whose names are not found in the Lamb's Book of Life (Rev. 20:15).

Today, you cannot go to Paradise, but you can go to Heaven (Rom. 10:9-10)!