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19There was a certain rich man who was
customarily clothed in purple and fine linen and making merry in luxury every day.
20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was
laid at his gate, full of sores
21and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from
the rich man's table. But even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22And it happened that the beggar died and was carried by
the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich one also died and was buried.
23And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments,
and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me
and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am tormented in this flame.
25But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime
received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted
and you are tormented.
26 And besides all this, there is a great chasm fixed between
you and us; so that they desiring to pass from here to you cannot, nor can they pass
over to us from there.
27 And he said, I beg you therefore, father, that you would
send him to my father's house,
28 for I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them,
lest they also come into this place of torment.
29Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the Prophets,
let them hear them.
30And he said, No, father Abraham, but if one should go to
them from the dead, they would repent.
31 And he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the
Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even though one rose from the dead..
MKJV |
- When the rich man was living, he was very self-indulgent, devoid of charity.
When He died, he found himself in hell and now wanted mercy, making two requests:
- To cool his tongue, (to lessen his torment). Note that he did not say;
"I was wrongly judged and should not be here". He was accepting of his
fait and was told that there was a great divide and no one could cross over.
- He asked for Lazarus to forewarn his five brothers of this place of torment,
that they might escape it. Abraham replied unless they believe the prophets,
today we must believe the written scriptures by faith.
- This is the one teaching that Jesus gave that expounds on the subject of hell,
it is not clearly marked as a parable and I believe it to be a real outcome of an
actual situation.
- It is interesting to note that in hell the rich man still had certain of his senses;
He he had the ability of sight: he could see both Abraham and Lazarus.
He thirsted: wanting Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue.
He could feel/sense: he was in torment.
He could reason: he knew that he was in torment because of the flame.
He still cared, he had concern for his five brothers:
- One must believe by faith, in the scriptures, the promises
of God and also in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Even though we may witness a miracle of God, (personal healing or a prophetic word).
The carnal mind led by the five senses, (hearing, taste, smell, touch, sight),
cannot understand the supernatural.
- For shortly after His disciples had witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the
four and the five thousand.
Jesus said to them, you of little faith, do you not yet understand. They saw the
multiplication of the loaves and fish with their own eyes, yet they still wondered.
Our natural carnal mind will never understand the supernatural. Believing God's
promises and His supernatural provision must come from our heart and spirit.
But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned, 1st Corinthians 2:14.
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