Hi Mike,

Thank you for your answers. Your responses are always very clear. I see now that when I read things that say “David was a man after God’s own heart” and similar verses that express the faith and spirit in the Old Testament, that it was all in type. I was hoping you could help me with just two more verses on this topic.  In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, Abraham is on the “just side” of the great gulf.  Jesus says we would sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why does Jesus contrast the Kingdom with the patriarchs if they are not going to be in it?

Your Brother in Christ,
M____

Hi M____,

Once again, the patriarchs all typify Christ. Nowhere in either the parable of Lazarus and the rich man or anywhere else in any of the gospels, does Christ say ‘Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will be in the millennial kingdom to rule with Christ for a thousand years.’ The kingdom of God extends from the time of Christ’s resurrection until the end of the lake of fire. Only then will Christ give the kingdom to His Father and be subject unto His Father. Until the second resurrection, all the Old Testament patriarchs and kings and prophets are asleep in their graves awaiting the second resurrection.

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

The patriarchs typify Christ. They are not the real patriarchs, or fathers, they simply typify the real “father of the faithful,” who is Christ:

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Abraham is Christ’s faith in us. Isaac is the Son who enjoys the benefits of Christ’s faith in us, and Jacob is the man of service that is Christ in us. That is how “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” will be in the kingdom of God spiritually. Christ is really Abraham’s ‘Father,’ and the kingdom over which He rules is, at this very moment, “within you.”

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are mere types of Christ. Their actual entry into the kingdom will be through the same door of the sheep through which you and I must enter that kingdom. That door is Christ and His fiery doctrine and words.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike