In Luke 16, we have the story of two people. The first was “a certain rich man who [habitually] clothed himself in purple and fine linen and reveled and feasted and made merry in splendor every day” (Luk 16:19, AMPC). The second was a poor man “named Lazarus, [reduced to begging alms and] covered with [ulcerated] sores.” (Luk 16:20, AMPC). This poor man was dropped down and left at the rich man’s gate so that he could beg. “He [eagerly] desired to be satisfied with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs even came and licked his sores.” (Luk 16:21, AMPC).
When both died, they both ended up in Hades.
Luk 16:22-23 (AMPC)
22 And it occurred that the man [reduced to] begging died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And in Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
In this story, we learn the following: Hades has two compartments distinct from each other in the sense that one compartment holds the unrighteous and wicked and the other those who had a righteousness apart from the one secured through Jesus’ death and resurrection (Rom 4:25). There’s more than one type of righteousness, and we will discuss it in brief later in this write-up. Suffice it to say; the righteous had different quarters in Hades.
And yet both compartments were near one another such that the rich man in one compartment could communicate with Abraham in the other compartment. The Jews, prior to Christ, had this idea of Hades having two compartments.
The compartment holding the unrighteous and wicked was full of torment and anguish and in flames. The compartment for the righteous did not have flames—neither was it filled with torment or anguish. Presumably, they even had water. We see that in the following verses:
Luk 16:23-24 (AMPC)
23 And in Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have pity and mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
Abraham reminded the rich man that he was reaping a lifetime of living for himself and not for God. In other words, there is a consequence to how we live on earth. Abraham could not fulfil the rich man’s wish because, in Abraham’s words, “… between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who want to pass from this [place] to you may not be able, and no one may pass from there to us” (Luk 16:26, AMPC).
From this, we learn that another characteristic of these two compartments is that they were separated by “a gaping opening, a chasm or a gulf” such that those in one compartment could not pass over to the other.
WHY DID THE RIGHTEOUS GO TO HADES?
First, it is important to understand that this realm was never created for man because man was never supposed to sin nor die. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But man sinned. The consequence or wage of sin is death. Death is an enemy that shall one day be destroyed forever.
1Co 15:26 (KJV) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Adam introduced it into the human race by committing high treason against God. Ever since then, man was born a sinner.
Rom 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Rom 3:23-24 (KJV)
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
V23 tells us the state of all men—including Abraham, David, and the Old Testament saints before Jesus came to take care of the sin and death problem. They died spiritually and so had to be relegated to the realm of the spiritually dead—hades.
To understand this, we must go back to:
Gen 2:17 (KJV) 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.
When Adam ate, he and his wife both walked about physically, so did God lie? No God was referring to true death, which is separation from God—a loss of the nature of God, the death of the spirit of man. Sinners may be animate, but they are spiritually dead.
Since Adam, all men born are born spiritually dead or are born as sinners.
Psa 51:5 (TLB) But I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
Psa 51:5 (AMPC) Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. [Joh 3:6; Rom 5:12; Eph 2:3]
Men were born sinners or spiritually dead until Jesus came to sort out the sin and spiritual death problem—and introduce the opportunity to be born again or anew, but this time being born righteous without sin.
Eph 4:24 (AMPC) And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.
Joh 1:12-13 (KJV)
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
One may get confused and say, “but Moses lived as a righteous man,” but the truth is the righteousness of the Old Covenant is not the same as that which is of the New Testament in Christ Jesus.
Isa 64:6 (KJV) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
True righteousness comes from faith in Christ.
Php 3:9 (AMPC) And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.
Sin or Iniquity is a spiritual condition that causes another spiritual condition: a separation from the source of all true life—God Almighty. Sin caused death. This spiritual death is what makes physical death possible. This is why Jesus had to become sin, else he would not have physically died—just like the first Adam would never have died had he never sinned. When Jesus became the sin of man, His Father forsook him because God cannot look upon sin.
Mat 27:46 (KJV) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Hab 1:13 (KJV) Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
If He cannot look upon sin, He can definitely not admit sinners into his abode—heaven. Thus prior to the cross, he had a temporary place to hold those who died before Jesus came to handle the sin problem. The wicked went to the compartment of torment, and those who stove to live to please God went to a compartment named Abraham’s bosom.
After Jesus handled the sin problem with his substitutionary sacrifice, he took the keys of hell and death and set the “righteous” occupants free.
Mat 27:50-53 (AMPC)
50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.
51 And at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split. [Exo 26:31-35]
52 The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep in death were raised [to life];
53 And coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
How do we know Satan no longer has the keys of death and hades and that Jesus our Lord has them? Because he told his favourite disciple when they met in heaven:
Rev 1:17-18 (AMPC)
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last, [Isa 44:6]
18 And the Ever-living One [I am living in the eternity of the eternities]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore; and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead).
Since this victory over death, hades and the dragon himself, man no longer has to go to a compartment in hell if he is born again. Why? Because they are no longer sinners but rather born again with the righteousness and life of God. God’s life has supplanted death. The born-again has the nature and life of God, and God need no longer stay away from them. They are seated in heavenly places in Christ. Now God indwells them. Hades hence is now for only the unrighteous. The following is confirmed by the Complete Word Study Dictionary in its definition of Hades. It states:
“Psa 16:10 in an application of OT faith in the advent of Christ, His death, and His resurrection. Therefore, it has again the meaning of the world of the departed into which Christ passed like other men, but only to transform its nature from a place accommodating both believers and unbelievers to one for unbelievers only (Mat 11:23; Mat 16:18; Luk 10:15; 1Co 15:55; Rev 1:18; Rev 6:8; Rev 20:13-14) …Hades itself later becomes the exclusive place for unbelievers. It is cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14), while the reign of the just becomes paradise (Luk 23:43; 2Co 12:4; Rev 2:7) which is ultimately absorbed into the final heaven (Rev 21:1). Our Lord conclusively teaches in the story of the rich man and Lazarus that there is no possibility of repentance after death. It is in this light that 1Pe 3:18-20 should be viewed (cf. phulakḗ [G5438], prison).” — The Complete Word Study Dictionary
The born again have redemption and forgiveness, so they go straight to heaven.
Eph 1:7 (KJV) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
The word redemption is Greek transliterated as apolutrōsis means a release effected by payment of ransom. Man has been released from the dominion of the dragon if they will accept the work of the blood as stated in Eph 1:7. Apolutrōsis means (the act) ransom in full, that is, (figuratively) riddance or liberation procured by the payment of a ransom. I prefer riddance. To rid is to free; to deliver; properly, to separate, and thus to deliver or save. This was not available prior to the work of the cross.
The second word we must understand in Eph 1:7 is forgiveness. It is the word aphesis and means dismission, deliverance, from captivity, dismissal, release, freedom, liberty, remission etc. Thayer's Definition states that it means release from bondage or imprisonment. The Complete Word Study Dictionary dictionary defines aphesis as “to release one's sins from the sinner.” It adds, “This required Christ's sacrifice as punishment of sin, hence the putting away of sin and the deliverance of the sinner from the power of sin.” The dictionary continues, “What Christ does is not simply to take man from prison and set him free, but also to change him radically (katallássei [G2644]), giving him power over sin.”
The born-again believer is not a sinner and therefore is no longer subject to spiritual death. Both death and the one who had power over it have been paralyzed for those in Christ.
Heb 2:14 (Wuest) (14-15) Therefore, since the children share in common with one another blood and flesh, He himself also partook with them in the same, in order that through the aforementioned death He might render inoperative the one having the dominion of death, that is, the devil, and effect the release of those, as many as who by reason of fear of death through the entire course of their lives were held in bondage.
Heb 2:14 (The Emphasised Bible—Joseph B. Rotherham) <Seeing therefore |the children| have received a fellowship of blood and flesh>||He also|| |in like manner| took partnership in the same,—In order that |through death|—He might paralyse him that held the dominionʹ of death, That isˎ the Adversary,— And might release these—As many as |by fear of death| were all their lifetime liableʹ ||to bondage||.i
There is a release from the Dragon, Sin and Death. Who is the dragon?
Rev 12:9 (AMPC) And the huge dragon was cast down and out--that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him. [Gen 3:1, Gen 3:14-15; Zec 3:1]
The Dragon has been rendered inoperative and paralysed and no longer has the keys of death with which to manipulate and enslave man (Heb 2:14; Rev 1:18). But to enjoy this, man must accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the life he gives freely. Those who accept are transferred from one kingdom to another.
Col 1:13 (AMPC) [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
