Hey Mike,

I was reading through the scriptures and feel like I got a revelation. Maybe I’m wrong; let me know what you think.

Luk 16: 22-23 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom

I know to be in his bosom means to sleep asleep in Abraham because he is in Christ and being his true seed. Now the word Hell here is (hades) meaning; the state of departed souls or unseen. When I look at this it seems to me that when he lifts up his eyes in hell being in torment is talking about the second resurrection. How I came to this conclusion is this:

Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, Remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

You see I have made bold the word (remember) which in greek is [ mnaomai] and means; be mindful, remembrance, or mental grasp. This is where it got exciting. I remember the last church I attended my paster told me, “you see, in hell we have a memory because of what Abraham had told the rich man.” Of course I believed it because I was but a babe in Christ, but now that I am weaned from the milk, God has shown me that there is no such thing as having a memory in hell. Let’s look at these verses.

Psa 146:3-4 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

So much for that false doctrine. Let’s keep reading.

Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

None of these scriptures agree with what the world is teaching about people burning with literal fire in hell. Daniel clearly says: In death some shall AWAKE, that clearly demolishes all these lies. if we have to awake from something, then we never had any knowledge of anything. What I see here in Luke is the symbol of the rich man being cast into the lake of fire (the elect) and being in torments since he (us) could remember what we did, and we shall give an account. Is this right? Let me hear from you, Mike.

Y____

Hi Y____,

Thank you for sharing your revelation with me. The answer to your question is, yes, you are right. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luk 16, the rich man is the symbol of those who come up in the lake of fire, and Abraham typifies Christ and those who are in Christ.

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

“If you be Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed” shows us that Lazarus, who suffered in this life, is the type of those who suffer for the sake of Christ. Eating the crumbs from the rich man’s table typifies Lazarus as the Gentile woman who told Christ that the dogs [ Gentiles] eat the crumbs from the master’s table.

Mat 15:27  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

In Mat 21 we have two parables which, like Pharaoh’s two dreams, are really one parable. The first is the parable of the two sons. The first son refuses his Father’s request to do His work, then he repents and does it. The second son agrees to do his Father’s work, but never does it. Here is what Christ tells us is the meaning and the result of this parable:

Mat 21:31  Whether of them twain did the will of [ his] father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
Mat 21:32  For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen [ it], repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

“The publicans and harlots” in this parable, typify the Gentiles who accepted Christ after He was refused of the Jews. We know this because of the cursing of the fig tree just before this parable, and because of what Christ says at the conclusion of the next parable. Let’s look at the next parable first, and then we will look at Christ’s cursing of the fig tree.
The next parable is the parable of the house holder who planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country.

Mat 21:33  Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

The house holder waits till the time of harvest and sends his servants to “receive the fruits of it”.

Mat 21:34  And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

But the husbandmen abused and stoned the servants, so the house- holder sends them his son, thinking they will surely honor his son. Instead they kill the son and take the vineyard for themselves.

Mat 21:35  And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36  Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat 21:37  But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39  And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

The slaying of the house- holder’s son of course, typifies Christ’s crucifixion at the hand of His own people who have rejected Him and those He has sent to them. What does Christ tell us this all indicates and demonstrates? He tells us that because His own nation has rejected Him, He is going to “another nation” which will receive Him. This entire chapter is being addressed to “the chief priests, and the scribes” who were the leaders of Israel at that time.

Mat 21:15  And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

Here is Christ’s own interpretation of this parable. Let’s continue where we left off:

Mat 21:39  And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40  When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41  They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Mat 21:45  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

“He spake of them” as types of the whole physical nation of Israel who have rejected their own Messiah. The cursing of the fig tree, before the giving of these two parables, demonstrates the same point:

Mat 21:19  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Mat 21:20  And when the disciples saw [ it], they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

What does this fig tree typify for us? Here is what the scriptures reveal. Speaking of His own people here is what the Lord tells us:

Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast [ it] away; the branches thereof are made white.
Hos 9:10  I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

Again, speaking of His own people we are told:

Jer 8:13  I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

So Israel is both God’s vine, and His fig tree, and the cursing of the fig tree by Christ, is the exact same curse He had placed on Israel, “My fig tree” in the Old Testament. Here is another version of that curse:

Amo 7:8  And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
Amo 8:2  And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

Compare that to Christ’s curse pronounced upon this fig tree just before He gives us two parables dealing with His rejection of “Israel according to the flesh”.

Mat 21:19  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

So this whole 21st chapter is dealing with God’s rejection of outward “Israel according to the flesh” being replaced by a nation that will bring forth the fruits thereof”.

Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Of course, those with eyes to see and ears to hear, know that all of this is for our admonition, and that it is we “for whom are all things”, and that it is we who must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. So in the end, God will redeem His fig tree, but only after He has judged it in the fire of every word that proceeds out of His mouth.

Jer 24:1  The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs [ were] set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Jer 24:2  One basket had very good figs, even like the figs [ that are] first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
Jer 24:3  Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Jer 24:4  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 24:5  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Jer 24:6  For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull [ them] down; and I will plant them, and not pluck [ them] up.
Jer 24:7  And I will give them an heart to know me, that I [ am] the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Jer 24:8  And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
Jer 24:9  And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for [ their] hurt, [ to be] a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
Jer 24:10  And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

The time we spend is Babylon, is “for our good” (Jer 24:5), and it is “through their unbelief that we believe”. Speaking specifically concerning “Israel according to the flesh” we are told:

Rom 11:30  For as ye [ Gentile Romans, Rom 1:13] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

What does this all prove? It proves the validity of your revelation. The rich man remembers in the second resurrection, known as the “great white throne… judgment” and “the lake of fire”, that He once lived in luxury while Lazarus lived in poverty and misery. When will that resurrection take place? We are not left to speculate:

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [ is] as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [ are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [ the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This “thousand years” certainly has an inward application for us, and even God’s firstfruits will experience a releasing of Satan to deceive them, but it also has an outward and dispensational application for those who are not, at this time given eyes to see nor ears to heat “the things of the spirit”. Here is when this rich man will be raised to “remember” his relationship with Lazarus.

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

You are so right. This rich man is right now dead and asleep in His grave and “knows not anything”. But in “the lake of fire, which is the second death”, He will remember his relationship with Lazarus, and will be purified of all of his faults and misconceptions about the God of love.
Thank you for your insights, and God bless you as you continue to come to know Him and His Son better each day.
Your brother in Christ,

Mike