Lazarusand the

Rlch Manby

Jacob O. Meyer

Objective Bible study is one of themost elusive qualities to aehieve. Whena person's interest is captured by th9Bible and he desires to know what itteaches, he is probably at his mostobjective point in life. The only way tobecome truly objective is to allow theScriptures to harmonize throughout theBible and to hold steadfastly to thedoctrine which is taught. Any retentionof former doctrines or deliberately ignor-ing a Scripture that could bear upon thefinal product of our study will taint whatwe are learning. We must never allowourselves to circumvent a plain andeoncise Scripture, but such passagesmust form the bedrock foundation of ourdoctrines. Scriptures that are vague inany way must harmonize with those thatmake definite statements.

Research has revealed a high inci-dence of translators' manipulations asthey shaded certain meanings to con-form with popular doctrine, when in factthe underlying original text harmonizedprecisely with other plain statements onthe subject. As we ean plainly see frorna study of what happens after death, theOld Testament teaches that when aperson dies, his dead body is placed inthe grave and lies there in repose untilthe resurreetion. No such concept as animmortal soul or eternal burning in hellis ever taught. It was only in later erasafter the demise of the Apostolic Assem-bly that these popular Christian doc-

trines of our day emerged.One of the most puzzling passages

of the entire Bible in regard to whathappens after death may be found inLuke 16. If the soul is body or life(nephesh-Heb., pSUChe-Gr.), then it is notimmortal and does not immediately go toheaven at death. But there is a parablethat seems to teach the concept of animmortal soul. Or does it?

Let's take a good hard look at thisparable and see if answers will be forth-coming. The solution to this parable liesin the original languages as closely as wecan get to them, not in the Englishtranslation which is indeed faulty.Please notice carefully how the defini-tions of the Greek words will lay barethe true meaning of this parable.

We begin in verse 20, with adescription of the beggar Lazarus,covered with sores, lying at the gate ofthe rich man. The manner in which thisaccount is usually presented in nominalChristianity would lead us to believethat it is neeessary for all of us tobecome beggars and terribly diseased inorder to be saved. In actual fact,however, this parable is given so thatthe members of the Assemblies ofYahweh will eome to realize that Yah-weh looks on hearts and that which ishighly esteemed to men is abominationto Yahweh, Luke 16:15. It is not wrongto be rich if riches are used righteously,because Abraham was a very rich manand Yahweh was close to hirn, Gen. 13:2.It is not desirable to be poor as wasLazarus, but since he had a physicaldisability this was apparently unavoid-able. Please see Proverbs 30:9. Thequestion here, primarily, is related tothe way the rich man used his wealthand Yahshua was trying to show thatoccasionally the injustiees of this humanlife will only be correeted in theKingdom, Eee. 8:11-14. Also see Isaiah35.

Since Lazarus was a very siek man,

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unable to work, he had stationed himselfoutside the gate of the rich man, hopingthat some of the surplus food which wasprobably going to waste in the rich man'shousehold would be given to him so thathe would survive. This meager dietfrom the table of the rich man hardlysufficed for him, and eventually hebecame so diseased that he died, possi-bly from malnutrition. Now notice whathappened to Lazarus. Yahshua says thathe was carried by the angels to Abra-ham's bosom. Before we explain thisphrase let us notice in addition that therich man also died and was buried.Can you see then just how this parablehas been misunderstood? It is not inchronological order at this point becauseYahshua the Messiah wished to insert anew thought before he picked up an-other segment of the story. The beggarLazarus died and so did the rich man.Each one of these central characters inthe account was buried. Both endingtheir physical life just as do all men,they died and then were buried. Pleaseread Eee. 3:L7-22 and 9:1-6. In deaththere is no differenee between men, butit reduces each human being to acommon level, that of being an inani-mate, dead corpse. All personality andremembrance is ended in the grave,Psalm 6:5 and Psalm 49, especially verse14. He is then no different from a beast.

Subsequent to the death and burialof. Lazarus and the rich man eomes theresurrection and we see that the angelscome to carry Lazarus to the bosom ofAbraham. This agrees with the accountof the resurrection which Yahshua theMessiah Himself gave in Matt. 2423L.Yahshua the Messiah will send Hisangels to gather the elect from the fourwinds of the heavens and the Kingdomof Yahweh will be established on thisearth at the first resurrection in whichLazarus will be included. In theKingdom of Yahweh will appear Abra-ham, Isaac, and Jacob, ruling under

Yahshua the Messiah, Luke 18:2g.Apparently Lazarus will be one of therulers under Abraham and perhaps hisfavorite. A note in the Companion Bibleindicates that "Abraham's bosom" eanalso be construed as meaning death, buta better explanation is the one whichtakes the events of the parable andplaces them in chronological order, inharmony with the remainder of theBible.

We continue now to verse 28. Herewe find that the rich man lifts up hiseyes in hell. The word which has beentranslated "hell" by the King Jamestranslators is "hades" in the Greek. Itrneans the eommon grave. The oldSaxon word "hell" is derived from ormeans "hole." It does not at all raise theslightest connotation that it would be"gehenn&," which is the lake of fire ordestruction which awaits sinners. Therich man was buried and at the secondresurrection he awakened and he wasstill in the grave.

The next phrase is the one which istruly thought to present difficulties sinceit alludes to the torment that is sup-posed to accompany the mythologicaldescription of Gehenna. However, sev-eral definitions are offered by thelexicons which will give us a muchclearer understanding and we will findthat they will harmonize completely withthe teachings of the entire Bible on lifeafter death. The Strong's ConcordanceGreek Lexicon offers this definition forthe Greek word "basanos": "to go to thebottom, to touch stone, figurativelytorment." Immediately we receive amuch elearer picture of the events of theparable. In hades or the grave, the ribhman lifted up his eyes, being in thebottom of the grave (he had awaited theresurrection). However, I feel that theYoung's Concordance in this instanceholds a much superior definition. Rob-ert Young translates this word "basa-nos" as a "test, trial, inquisition, figura-

tively torment." So you see, the richman was raised in the second resurree-tion; as he was lifted from the grave hewas taken to the great white thronejudgment trial, Rev. 20:11-15.

This will be a trial at whichevidence will be given. Some peopleassume that they will be given theopportunity to argue the merits of theirown ease before the Great Judge,Yahshua the Ivlessiah. In reality, thebooks will be opened and all of theevidence will be taken exclusively fromthe books which have been recorded bythe angels of Yahweh, those who haveobserved the daily conduct of eachperson with special scrutiny during hisentire life span. These books will giveaceurate evidence of the person's basiccharacter, deep down in his heart, atseeret times in his life, and this knowl-edge of what a person is like indicatesthat Almighty Yahweh looks on theheart, 1 Samuel 16:7 . There will be littledesire for a wicked individual to speakwhen he confronts the stern judge, thepowerful being who holds his destiny inhis hands. In effect, this trial rvill betaking the form of an inquisition, espe-cially when an incident such as the richntan's case corrre:' up for litigation and hislife compares with the second categoryof NIatt. 25:31-.lti. This separation of thet w'r) ('lass€.s, t he sheep from the goats,w'ill be u time o[ remorse and sorrow forthose w'ho knou, that they will be deniedlite everlasting, Matt. 25:46.

The rich man fell into this excludedcategorl'and became so frightened att he t hought of death for everlastingirges, eLernal destruction in the lake offire which he already saw burning in thedistance, that he had a nervous reactionsuch as is described of criminals about tobe executed for a crime. He sees theflame burning and knows that he willsoon be joining the wicked people whohave been separated from the righteous.This torment is more than he ean bear

and so he requests just a drop or two ofwater to revive his senses. The term"tormented" in verse 24 is not the sameas "basanos" above. The word is"odunaomai" and means "to be pained."The rich man was pained in his heartand mind because he knew that he wouldbe missing the blissful everlasting life inthe Kingdom. This trial apparently willbe held outside the capital city of theearth, Jerusalem, sinee we read atvarious places that the wicked eannotenter the city. Please read Matt. ZZ:IB,Rev. 21:8 and 22:lS. The angels willsever the righteous from the wicked asYahshua renders judgment, and willburn the wicked people in the lake of firewhich is t he gulf fixed between therighteous and the wicked. Please seeMatt. 13:41 , 42, 49, 50. The rich manknew exactly what was to happen tohim. He had not been faithful in thestewardship of his life. He had beenwarned by the prophets of Yahweh thatjudgment awaited the sinner and onewho had no compassion for his fellowman. At this precise moment he becameconcerned for his brothers still behind(or so he thought, since in death there isno comprehension of the passage of timeand he still thought that they werealive). He petitioned Abraham to sendback some prophets to preach to hisbrothers, but this plea was denied byAbraham who informed the rich manthat our Heavenly Father had alreadysent many righteous men to call theworld to repentanee. The parable endswith a pointed allusion by the Messiah toHis own impending death and resurree-tion.

Just what are we to learn from thisparable which could presently benefitour own life on this earth? The lessonour Savior wishes us to learn is one ofvalues. We should fix our goal aLattaining everlasting life and not allowearthly riches to divert us. If we arefaithful and learn the lessons of a

repentant life, and we do not gain ourwealth unjustly nor use it for our ownpersonal satisfaction, we have learnedthe lesson of life. The pharisees ofYahshua's day had not learned thislesson, consequently Yahshua the Mes_siah was attempting to teach themthrough this parable. please see Luke16:14. our goal in life should be to enterthe Kingdom of Yahweh, even if thisgoal could impose upon us some discom_forts as we learn the true values ofeverlasting Iife.

The Saered Scripturesr Bethel EditibnTo fill the need for a eonservative, seholarly Bible

using the Saered Names, the Assemblies of yahwehundertook this project in 1981. This volume, TheSacred Scriptures, Bethel Edition, is the culminationof more than five centuries of translation work. TheAssemblies of Yahweh joyfully present this volume toyou, oui' reader, as what we eonsider the besttranslation of the Inspired Scriptures available in theworld todal'. After reading it we hope you will agrer,.

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