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NASB | Luke 16:23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 16:23 "In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise). |
Subject: Paradise, Hell, and Heaven |
Bible Note: 2 King 2:11 Elijah and Elisha were walking along and talking, when suddenly there appeared between them a flaming chariot pulled by fiery horses. Right away, a strong wind took Elijah up into heaven. Genesis 5 21When Enoch was sixty-five, he had a son named Methuselah, 22and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God, 23-24and God took him away at the age of three hundred sixty-five. Luke 24 50He then led them out of the city over to Bethany. Raising his hands he blessed them, 51and while blessing them, took his leave, being carried up to heaven. Three Kinds of "Heaven" in the Bible: The Bible tells about three kinds of Heavens: 1- The First heaven: The first heaven is the atmosphere, a material heaven, the physical heavens of the sky and outer space, and it has its own hosts, like birds, planets, stars. And that's just natural. Very tangible, yes. No matter how far out the Hubbell Space Telescope goes and how it maps the stars, it's never going to find the real Heaven of our eternity on the other side of the moon. It's just a physical reality. 2- The Second heaven: The Second heaven is what Paul calls "the heavenly places" in Eph.6:12, a spiritual heaven around us today, as Paul puts it: "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph.6:12). In this dimension of the Spirit, there are both angelic forces and godly forces, as well as demonic forces and powers. This second heaven, spiritual atmosphere, that is cohabited by both good and evil, is a very, very small part of the cosmos. It really just surrounds this earth, the only rebellious and sinful place in the whole cosmos. 3- The Third Heaven, our real Heaven!: The Third Heaven, the one that Paul was caught up into and he heard things and saw things there that could not be translated to the natural world, the third heaven is that place where God Himself dwells. "I know a man in Christ (Paul himself) who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell." (2Cor.12:1-4) And the third Heaven isn't the same as the second heaven, because, remember, Lucifer, who used to be in the third Heaven, was cast from Heaven, and yet, everyone would acknowledge that Satan still inhabits the spiritual dimension. God cannot abide with evil, so there's no evil presence in the third Heaven. |