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First and foremost the passage of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable. There have been countless false doctrines created from this passage breaking many other scriptures. But before even digging into the interpretation of the parable, we first need to bring to light some clues and evidences indicating that it is indeed a parable,
This passage happens to reside in a set of parables that precede it immediately, coincidence? No. Because it is part of the set of 5 parables that started off in this scripture,
And then this verse starts,
So then he begins the set of parables, starting off with the first parable,
Notice how it starts with "what man of you". Lets look at the next parable,
Notice the "or" at the commencement of this second parable. This second parable is connected to the first. Right after Jesus tells him the first parable, he then tells him this second parable. This parable then starts with "what woman". Here's the next parable,
Notice how it also says, "and" he said, therefore this one is also connected to the previous. These parables are continuing in a series. And this one starts with "a certain man". Here is the next one,
This one starts with, "a certain man was rich". And then lets look at the final parable, the rich man and lazarus,
This one starts with "a certain man was rich", starting off exactly as the previous parable and in similar fashion as the others. All these parables are part of a set of 5 parables that are spoken one after the other.
Just based on these evidences alone, how can anyone refute that this passage is indeed a parable? Lets move on to the actual interpretation of the parable,
The rich man refers to the Jews, who were the children of promise, as the rich man even says, "Father Abraham", therefore he has Abraham as a father. He was rich, as we see evident in one of many scriptures, but this one specifically referring to the tribe of Judah that I will elaborate on shortly,
and they were also rich because they were entrusted with the Law and the oracles of God. The rich man also wore purple and linen. Purple indicates royalty, and scripture has indicated that a line a royalty would come through the tribe of Judah.
Linen indicates priesthood, and priesthood was attributed to the tribe of Levi.
The levites were loyal to the tribe of Judah throughout history,
and both tribes were predominant in what was considered the "Jews" at the time, and were also intermixed, some being both of the tribe of Judah, and also of the tribe of Levi at the same time,
What was considered "Jews" at this time, did also include an intermix of other tribes as well. But why were these two tribes worth mention in this Parable? Because it is what most of the scribes, pharisees, sadducees, were descended from and they themselves were high in politics, religion, and in business, hence why we have these scriptures,
And also we have these other verses,
Both the tribes of Judah and Levi were also siblings, born of Jacob and Leah. The 5 brothers in the parable are the 5 siblings of the tribe of Judah, because Jacob and Leah brought forth 6 sons, therefore the tribe of Judah had 5 brothers, as it is accounted in Genesis,
Lazarus is the Greek name for the Hebrew name "Eliezer", which in itself means "helpless", or "help". Aside from the obvious choice of name and its meaning to further indicate how the Lazarus of the parable was (the choice in name is not a coincidence), we also see a link with the same usage of the name the account of Genesis with Abraham's servant named Eliezer,
Yet the promises were not given to the servant, but rather to the child of promise, Isaac, as it is written,
So what is this parable really saying? That the children of promise will NOT be the ones who will be in Abraham's bosom, but rather, it will be given to those who were not born physically of the promise of the Jews. Who will it be given to? The Gentiles, as it is said,
The sons of the kingdom is referring to the Jews. Also we have this scriptures,
In this very scripture Jesus is calling the Gentiles dogs, which alludes to the parable where "the dogs were licking his sores". For at that present time, salvation was only of the Jews, at it was said by Jesus,
Yet now "deliverance", or "salvation" as the word some translations use, has been extended to the Gentiles, who were not the physical children of promise who are the Jews,
Nations here being "Gentiles", also we have this scripture,
So Lazarus is indeed referring to the gentiles in this parables, the ones who were not born of the promise physically. So in the parable, what is also said about the 5 brothers?
Indeed they did have Moses and the prophets, because these were all entrusted with the law and the oracles of God (the prophets).
The great chasm symbolizes the will of God. It is by the will of God that the separation is established of those receiving the promises of Abraham and those who are not.
What does the flame in Hades symbolize? It symbolizes that the children of promise that are not in Jesus Christ will be taken out of Hades and thrown into the fire of Gehenna.
The drop of water symbolizes mercy, as even the rich man says, "have mercy on me". Yet Abraham's response is,
No water is given because of the great chasm. So what does this mean? No mercy will be given at the judgment of Gehenna because of the will of God.
So what does it mean that Lazarus was leaning on the bosom of Abraham?
It literally means that those that are not physical children of the promise (Gentiles) will also be resurrected along with Abraham and will have Abraham before their very eyes to receive the true promises and true inheritances. The rich man, in this parable, represents not all Jews in general, because there are children of the promise that will also receive the promises and inheritance to come,
but instead the rich man alludes to Jews that are like the Pharisees, Sadduccees, and Scribes.
Taking this parable literally breaks countless other scriptures. The teaching of a "hell" where you are alive burning endlessly is a pagan teaching. I challenge you to study the origins of that teaching, stemming from the catholic church and even before that as well. It is pagan, it is false, and corrupts the understanding of the work of God.
May God bless and open your understanding. You can also view this post on my blog, http://www.wisdomofgod.co/2015/12/13/the-parable-of-the-rich-man-and-lazarus-explained/ .
This passage happens to reside in a set of parables that precede it immediately, coincidence? No. Because it is part of the set of 5 parables that started off in this scripture,
And then this verse starts,
So then he begins the set of parables, starting off with the first parable,
Notice how it starts with "what man of you". Lets look at the next parable,
Notice the "or" at the commencement of this second parable. This second parable is connected to the first. Right after Jesus tells him the first parable, he then tells him this second parable. This parable then starts with "what woman". Here's the next parable,
Notice how it also says, "and" he said, therefore this one is also connected to the previous. These parables are continuing in a series. And this one starts with "a certain man". Here is the next one,
This one starts with, "a certain man was rich". And then lets look at the final parable, the rich man and lazarus,
This one starts with "a certain man was rich", starting off exactly as the previous parable and in similar fashion as the others. All these parables are part of a set of 5 parables that are spoken one after the other.
Just based on these evidences alone, how can anyone refute that this passage is indeed a parable? Lets move on to the actual interpretation of the parable,
The rich man refers to the Jews, who were the children of promise, as the rich man even says, "Father Abraham", therefore he has Abraham as a father. He was rich, as we see evident in one of many scriptures, but this one specifically referring to the tribe of Judah that I will elaborate on shortly,
and they were also rich because they were entrusted with the Law and the oracles of God. The rich man also wore purple and linen. Purple indicates royalty, and scripture has indicated that a line a royalty would come through the tribe of Judah.
Linen indicates priesthood, and priesthood was attributed to the tribe of Levi.
The levites were loyal to the tribe of Judah throughout history,
and both tribes were predominant in what was considered the "Jews" at the time, and were also intermixed, some being both of the tribe of Judah, and also of the tribe of Levi at the same time,
What was considered "Jews" at this time, did also include an intermix of other tribes as well. But why were these two tribes worth mention in this Parable? Because it is what most of the scribes, pharisees, sadducees, were descended from and they themselves were high in politics, religion, and in business, hence why we have these scriptures,
And also we have these other verses,
Both the tribes of Judah and Levi were also siblings, born of Jacob and Leah. The 5 brothers in the parable are the 5 siblings of the tribe of Judah, because Jacob and Leah brought forth 6 sons, therefore the tribe of Judah had 5 brothers, as it is accounted in Genesis,
Lazarus is the Greek name for the Hebrew name "Eliezer", which in itself means "helpless", or "help". Aside from the obvious choice of name and its meaning to further indicate how the Lazarus of the parable was (the choice in name is not a coincidence), we also see a link with the same usage of the name the account of Genesis with Abraham's servant named Eliezer,
Yet the promises were not given to the servant, but rather to the child of promise, Isaac, as it is written,
So what is this parable really saying? That the children of promise will NOT be the ones who will be in Abraham's bosom, but rather, it will be given to those who were not born physically of the promise of the Jews. Who will it be given to? The Gentiles, as it is said,
The sons of the kingdom is referring to the Jews. Also we have this scriptures,
In this very scripture Jesus is calling the Gentiles dogs, which alludes to the parable where "the dogs were licking his sores". For at that present time, salvation was only of the Jews, at it was said by Jesus,
Yet now "deliverance", or "salvation" as the word some translations use, has been extended to the Gentiles, who were not the physical children of promise who are the Jews,
Nations here being "Gentiles", also we have this scripture,
So Lazarus is indeed referring to the gentiles in this parables, the ones who were not born of the promise physically. So in the parable, what is also said about the 5 brothers?
Indeed they did have Moses and the prophets, because these were all entrusted with the law and the oracles of God (the prophets).
The great chasm symbolizes the will of God. It is by the will of God that the separation is established of those receiving the promises of Abraham and those who are not.
What does the flame in Hades symbolize? It symbolizes that the children of promise that are not in Jesus Christ will be taken out of Hades and thrown into the fire of Gehenna.
The drop of water symbolizes mercy, as even the rich man says, "have mercy on me". Yet Abraham's response is,
No water is given because of the great chasm. So what does this mean? No mercy will be given at the judgment of Gehenna because of the will of God.
So what does it mean that Lazarus was leaning on the bosom of Abraham?
It literally means that those that are not physical children of the promise (Gentiles) will also be resurrected along with Abraham and will have Abraham before their very eyes to receive the true promises and true inheritances. The rich man, in this parable, represents not all Jews in general, because there are children of the promise that will also receive the promises and inheritance to come,
but instead the rich man alludes to Jews that are like the Pharisees, Sadduccees, and Scribes.
Taking this parable literally breaks countless other scriptures. The teaching of a "hell" where you are alive burning endlessly is a pagan teaching. I challenge you to study the origins of that teaching, stemming from the catholic church and even before that as well. It is pagan, it is false, and corrupts the understanding of the work of God.
May God bless and open your understanding. You can also view this post on my blog, http://www.wisdomofgod.co/2015/12/13/the-parable-of-the-rich-man-and-lazarus-explained/ .
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