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Originally Posted by David Hersey  Yes he is in Hades. His eternal destination is Heaven. The rich man is in Hades, his eternal destiny is hell. My primary focus was the fire. |
While both men were in the hadean realm (Luke 16), they were in very different places within that realm.
The hadean realm is not a new concept in the NT. Hades is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Sheol. A word study will show you its usage all through the OT. The Hebrew mind saw Sheol as being "in the ground" Why? Simple really, each night they watched the Sun get swallowed up by the ground (if you watch the sun set you get the idea) and each morning the Sun would break free from Sheol to once again reach the sky. Is it any wonder then, why so many in the past have worshiped the Sun? It defeats death, it is swallowed up but comes out victorious. of course, we know that Sheol or Hades are not "in the ground" no more that heaven is in the clouds or just past the moon.
Lazarus was in Paradise, Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22 & Luke 23:43)
While the rich man was in tartarus (2 Peter 2:4), Luke simply uses hades in his reference in Luke 16:23
Some of the confusion comes from the fact that the KJV took all references to the Hadean world and translated them as Hell. This is unfortunate.
The hadean world will be experienced by all those who die while under "Individual eschatology" (what happens to us from the time we die until Jesus returns). But there will be those who do not experience the hadean world in the sense of Individual Eschatology because they will be alive when Christ returns. In this case we speak of "General Eschatology" (what happens to everyone from the time Christ returns and through eternity). So while not everyone will experience Individual Eschatology, we will all experience General Eschatology. So we need to be ready by being obedient to the Gospel Plan of Salvation.
The point to keep in mind, is that Luke 16 has nothing to do with Hell as the eternal place of the condemned. Luke 16 is dealing with Individual Eschatology and is simply showing that while each man waits for General Eschatology to occur, one is in a place of rest and comfort and the other is in a place of torment and pain. Should I die before the Lord returns I long to be in Paradise of hades and not in Tartarus of Hades. My father died outside of the Lord's Church, he died having not been obedient to the Gospel Plan of Salvation, it grieves me to think of him along side the rich man. I want to be found faithful at the coming of our Lord and if I die before his coming, to be placed in Paradise of Hades. I want this for all people every where.