A friend commented the other day that he misses the reciting of the Apostles' Creed in church services. I attended a Presbyterian church for several years; we used to speak the Apostles' Creed in every Sunday morning service. Reciting one of the creeds was a staple of Christian church services for centuries. There's the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed...well, there are several of them. Here's the Apostles' Creed, not so called because an apostle wrote it, but because it contains the major teachings the apostles espoused.
*
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places
So, in yesterday's post, we learned that Jesus proclaimed the truth (because He can proclaim nothing less) to fallen angels imprisoned in the realm of the dead. Does the Bible tell us anything else Jesus did while there?
- Based on His words to one of the thieves on the cross beside His (Luke 23:43), Jesus went to another section of the realm of the dead, upon His death: that section called Paradise. And, He took there the dead soul of that very same thief who put his trust in Jesus Christ for his salvation. It is reasonable to assume that Jesus did the same for all other dead souls who believed on Him during His earthly ministry. There is no reason to believe He would take only that one new believer. (See Philippians 1:21-23 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.)
- But what about the Old Testament saints? Some theologians believe that Christ led them from Sheol to Paradise as well. (See Hebrews 11:40, 12:23 and Psalm 68:18 and 88:3-6).
I think that an explanation of the various names for "the realm of the dead" is in order. That will have to wait until tomorrow, or at least later today. Hubster has some outpatient surgery this morning.
Update:
Okay, praise the Lord! Hubster's surgery went well. He is "sleeping it off", lol.
There's a good bit of confusion about the names for Heaven and Hell. Some of that is language-based. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew and the New in Greek. But, there are also other reasons. For instance, some Christian faiths assign names to certain areas of "heaven" and "hell".
The Old Testament "sheol" is translated as "hades" in the New. Both words mean "where the spirits of the dead reside". Within that very general designation, we find at least two "compartments" - - one for the spirits of the righteous and the other for the spirits of the unrighteous. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31, there is a great chasm between these two compartments, and Jesus makes it very clear in the story that inhabitants of one cannot cross over to the other.
Within Sheol/Hades, we find named "Paradise" (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:3; Revelation 2:7), Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:19-31) and "the 3rd Heaven".
Also within Sheol/Hades we find names for the abode of the unrighteous dead, names such as Gehenna, Hinnom, the Lake of Fire, Hell, Tartarus, for example.
"Hinnom" is the name of Valley on the west side of the Mount of Olives, near the SW corner of the Old City walls. It is topographically the lowest point in Jerusalem, interestingly enough. The Valley of Hinnom earned the moniker "Valley of Slaughter", because we read in Jeremiah 7:31-33 that in the throes of idolatry the people of Judah offered their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to demons, who demanded the fiery deaths of little children. "Ge hinnom" means "Valley of Hinnom" and is translated into Greek as "Gehenna". The English translation of Gehenna is "Hell".
The word "Tartarus" appears only once in Scripture, and that is in 2 Peter 2:4. It is rendered "chains of darkness", "gloomy pits of darkness", "chains of deepest darkness", "black hole", etc. It seems to indicate a particularly restrictive and awful pit of Hell; and, it is where those "imprisoned spirits", those fallen angels, are kept chained up by God Himself.
However, not the name, but the same phrase appears also in Jude 1:6-7, as quoted in yesterday's blog post:
Finally, we find the phrase "Lake of Fire", as the final destination of the unrighteous, both human and angelic (Matthew 25:41). The name appears also in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10, 14-15. According to Luke 16:24, it is a place of unrelenting agony, excruciating, fiery pain. Revelation 21:8 makes it clear that, although the Lake of Fire was created for Satan and his fallen angels, humans who do not accept Jesus Christ's atonement for their sins will find themselves thrown into the Lake of Fire along with those evil spirit beings. This transfer from Sheol to Hell for these will occur after the last judgment has been pronounced (those end-times judgments being a whole 'nuther blog topic!)
In summary, (this original post was about what happened between the death of Jesus and His resurrection), there is much we can't presume to know. I've made my best attempt to share what little the Scriptures provide by way of information. And, please know that there is not universal agreement about the interpretation of these things. If God had wanted us to know every last detail of this matter, He would have told us. The Bible is full of mysteries; and, this is one. We are wise to remember
Deuteronomy 29:29 - - -
Father, even though the exact works of my Savior are unknown during the three days His body lay in the tomb, we trust You and thank You for the beauty of Your holy Word. What You have clearly revealed to us, without doubt, is His glorious resurrection, which "sealed the deal". We rejoice in the glorious news - - that because He is "the firstfruits of them that slept", we who trust in Him will, too, live with Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever. Hallelujah! In Jesus' name, amen!
Update:
Okay, praise the Lord! Hubster's surgery went well. He is "sleeping it off", lol.
There's a good bit of confusion about the names for Heaven and Hell. Some of that is language-based. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew and the New in Greek. But, there are also other reasons. For instance, some Christian faiths assign names to certain areas of "heaven" and "hell".
The Old Testament "sheol" is translated as "hades" in the New. Both words mean "where the spirits of the dead reside". Within that very general designation, we find at least two "compartments" - - one for the spirits of the righteous and the other for the spirits of the unrighteous. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31, there is a great chasm between these two compartments, and Jesus makes it very clear in the story that inhabitants of one cannot cross over to the other.
Within Sheol/Hades, we find named "Paradise" (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:3; Revelation 2:7), Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:19-31) and "the 3rd Heaven".
- According to John MacArthur*, the Persian word from which the Greek "paradeiso" is translated means "walled garden". "The greatest honor a Persian king could bestow on one of his subjects was to grant him the right to walk with the king in the royal garden in intimate companionship."
- The term "Abraham's Bosom" is found only once in the Bible, and that is in Luke 16:22, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus.
- The word "heaven" in the Bible is used in three ways: to designate the atmosphere of Earth (the first heaven - - Deuteronomy 11:11; Isaiah 55:10), to designate outer space or the firmament (the second heaven - - Genesis 15:5; Psalm 8:3), and to designate the dwelling place of God the Father (the third heaven - - 1 Kings 8:30; Psalm 33:13-14; Matthew 6:9). Paul describes being snatched away (Greek - "harpazo") into this third heaven in a vision he had (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
- The 3rd Heaven is where the righteous dead (those having trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation) go immediately upon their physical deaths. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that the moment our spirits are absent from the body, they are present with the Lord. And, where is Jesus, our Lord, now? He is seated at the right hand of the Father, in the 3rd Heaven. (Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; 1 Peter 3:22) On a day that only the Father knows (Mark 13:32), He will give Jesus the signal, and then King Jesus will return to earth, to gather up His own.
Also within Sheol/Hades we find names for the abode of the unrighteous dead, names such as Gehenna, Hinnom, the Lake of Fire, Hell, Tartarus, for example.
"Hinnom" is the name of Valley on the west side of the Mount of Olives, near the SW corner of the Old City walls. It is topographically the lowest point in Jerusalem, interestingly enough. The Valley of Hinnom earned the moniker "Valley of Slaughter", because we read in Jeremiah 7:31-33 that in the throes of idolatry the people of Judah offered their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to demons, who demanded the fiery deaths of little children. "Ge hinnom" means "Valley of Hinnom" and is translated into Greek as "Gehenna". The English translation of Gehenna is "Hell".
The word "Tartarus" appears only once in Scripture, and that is in 2 Peter 2:4. It is rendered "chains of darkness", "gloomy pits of darkness", "chains of deepest darkness", "black hole", etc. It seems to indicate a particularly restrictive and awful pit of Hell; and, it is where those "imprisoned spirits", those fallen angels, are kept chained up by God Himself.
For if God didn't spare the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment;
HCSB
However, not the name, but the same phrase appears also in Jude 1:6-7, as quoted in yesterday's blog post:
6And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
(NASB)
Finally, we find the phrase "Lake of Fire", as the final destination of the unrighteous, both human and angelic (Matthew 25:41). The name appears also in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10, 14-15. According to Luke 16:24, it is a place of unrelenting agony, excruciating, fiery pain. Revelation 21:8 makes it clear that, although the Lake of Fire was created for Satan and his fallen angels, humans who do not accept Jesus Christ's atonement for their sins will find themselves thrown into the Lake of Fire along with those evil spirit beings. This transfer from Sheol to Hell for these will occur after the last judgment has been pronounced (those end-times judgments being a whole 'nuther blog topic!)
In summary, (this original post was about what happened between the death of Jesus and His resurrection), there is much we can't presume to know. I've made my best attempt to share what little the Scriptures provide by way of information. And, please know that there is not universal agreement about the interpretation of these things. If God had wanted us to know every last detail of this matter, He would have told us. The Bible is full of mysteries; and, this is one. We are wise to remember
Deuteronomy 29:29 - - -
"The secret things belong to the Lord our God."
Father, even though the exact works of my Savior are unknown during the three days His body lay in the tomb, we trust You and thank You for the beauty of Your holy Word. What You have clearly revealed to us, without doubt, is His glorious resurrection, which "sealed the deal". We rejoice in the glorious news - - that because He is "the firstfruits of them that slept", we who trust in Him will, too, live with Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever. Hallelujah! In Jesus' name, amen!
Sources:
http://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/apostles-creed
http://www.gty.org/resources/bible-qna/BQ011613/caught-up-to-the-third-heaven
http://www.gotquestions.org/sheol-hades-hell.html
http://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/11-hinnom-valley.html
http://searchforbibletruths.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-is-tartarus-2-peter-24.html
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