Expert: Marvin Howard - 3/18/2004

Question
I have a two part question.  In our bible study group (mixed denominations), a question arose from what we were study.  In Acts26:23, Paul was speaking and he said that Jesus was the first arise from the dead, The question asked was what about Lazzaris didn't he arise from the dead? It  lead to the next question that was asked where are we when we die, in Heaven or hell? Then what is the rapture for if the dead already are in heaven or hell? What about the day of Judgement? We all tried to answer but didn't have scripture to back us and then it was we all had sort of the same answer but agreed to find out what we could about this subject. Any help with where to go for these answer or even answering them would greatly be appriciated.
Mary
P.S. God Bless

Answer
Hi!

Mary, I have been wondering, how did the class receive this information? Was it new to them? Had they forgotten? Was it understandable? Was it studied further?

When any information I give is passed to others, I always wonder this. It is God's Word, and He will provide the increase after I plant, but I am human. I still like to know if the increase has happened yet.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
preacherman_1962@yahoo.com
preacherman_1962@bellsouth.net
braswell_church@bellsouth.net
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962

Hi!

Mary, thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer this. Your question actually has more than two parts, but I do not mind. I will address all of them. You are correct, Jesus raised Lazarus before He died and raised himself.

Here is the reference you mentioned:

Acts 26:22-23, "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles."

We know that Lazarus was raised before Jesus. Therefore, if there is another definition of "first," other than the common chronological one, it must be applied here. This is the only way to prevent contradiction in scripture. Is there one? Yes!

In verse 23, the Greek word for "first" is pro'-tus (#4413 in Strong's Lexicon). It may have a chronological definition. It, also, carries the definition of "chiefest." In fact, whenever there is a chronological definition demanded, a different word is used. It is, also, translated "first." That word is pro'ton (#4412 in Strong's). One example of this second word is found here:

Matthew 5:24, "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

The difference here is authority. Jesus had authority to raise Lazarus. Jesus had authority to raise himself. Jesus has authority to rasie us from the spiritual death of sin (c.f., Romans 6:1ff). Jesus has the authority to raise us from physical death at His judgment. Lazarus had no such authority.

Notice with me other examples of his authority, using a similar word; "firstborn," where the Greek is pro-tot-ok'-us.

Collossians 1:13-16, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"

Collossians 1:18, "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence."

Hebrews 12:23, "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,"

I hope this effectively deals with the first part of your question.

I do understand the confusion on the location of the dead. It is a translational problem, though it should not be. You see, many words were not as thoroughly translated as they should have been. False doctrines were well established by the time there was an English translation. Much of it had to do with supporting these false doctrines. However, scripture has survived, as promised. Even when some words were handled this way, there is enough context to decide proper meaning, as well as our having the ability to return to the original language and definitions.

Spiritually speaking, scripture uses five different words to express locations of souls in the afterlife. The English forms of these are Hades, Paradise, Tatarus, Heaven, and Hell.

Hades (when including both Paradise and Tatarus), Hell, Tatarus, and even the physical grave are often (if not exclusively) all translated as Hell. This is complicated further, as more times than not, heaven is used to refer to the sky than it is to the abode of God. Even in the Greek, Hades often simply refers to the actual, physical grave. Context must decide all of these.

Briefly, Hades is the general name for both Paradise and Tatarus. To get a glimpse of these, turn in your Bible to Luke 16:19-31. It is too long to quote here. It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

In both Paradise and Tatarus, we are awaiting judgment. We already know where we will go. The judgment is not the declaring of innocence or guilt, for that is already decided by Jesus' blood and our obedience to Him while we have opportunity. Rather, it is the official, and infinitely just, sentencing, along with the declaration of why we receive that sentence.

Once sentence is passed, we go to either Heaven or Hell. Compare this with someone being arrested. They go to the county lock up. After their trial, if the crime was serious enough, they go to federal or state prisons. Both are jails. Yet, one is more severe, and of a longer duration.

I am going to give you some references for each of the five, that you may compare. Except for Paradise and Tatarus, this is by no means an all inclusive list. It is merely a sampling.

HADES:

Matthew 11:23
Matthew 16:18
Luke 16:23
Acts 2:31
Revelation 20:14

PARADISE:

Luke 23:43
II Corinthians 12:4
Revelation 2:7

TATARUS:

II Peter 2:4

HEAVEN:

Matthew 23:22
Matthew 28:2
Matthew 28:18
Mark 1:11
Mark 10:21
Mark 11:25
Acts 2:2
Acts 7:55

HELL:

Matthew 5:22
Matthew 5:29
Matthew 10:28
James 3:6

I mentioned above that the judgment is sentencing. Notice the following please:

Matthew 25:31-33, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."

The context continues, but only to tell who went where, and why. The point is, all will be judged at the same time. There will not be one judgment for the righteous, and another for the wicked, set apart by 1,000 years.

This is further evidenced by passages such as this:

II Thessalonians 1:7-10, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."

When (at the same time) He glorifies the saints, the wicked are sent into eternal damnation. There simply are not two different, eternal judgments in scripture.

Other judgments we read about happen nation to nation. In both the Old and New Testaments, we see the same such apocolyptic language used for any of the "nation judgments."

When He speaks of His return, all that goes out the window. There will only be one sign for that. It's not a blood red moon, stars falling, or anything like that. It is simply that man will be saying, "Peace and safety." (I Thessalonians 5:3) This is the judgment from which there will be no escape. In all of the rest, there will be some that will escape, even though the flight will be hard. Even the physical description of the land is handled differently. Instead of barren and desolate being used, "...the elements shall melt with fervent heat..." (be completely done away) according to II Peter 3:10-12. It is going to be awfully hard, even for God, to do something on earth when it no longer exists.

You are correct that you could find no scripture substantiating both rapture and judgment. The word rapture us not even found in scripture. Therefore, there can be no correlation between the two.

We examined above about His coming. I want you to examine with me these passages dealing with the kingdom (supposedly yet to be established until His coming), and the tribulation (which is supposed to happen after the rapture according to the doctrine).

John 18:36, "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."

Luke 9:27, "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God."

Collossians 1:13, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:"

Revelation 1:9, "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."

In each of these, please note, the kingdom and the tribulation are already here. They are not events which are still future to us. Yet, the kingdom is supposed to come with the rapture, and the tribulation after. Both of these, according to John in the last reference above, were already in existence in the first century. Surely we cannot tell John, and Jesus who instructed him, they are mistaken or don't know about that which they are speaking.

Each time someone tries to teach the doctrine of the millineum, this is exactly what they are saying.

Jesus, Himself, flatly denied any sort of an earthly kingdom, confounding the "worldly" wisdom of men. This is much to the chagrin of many would be teachers. Follow this logically if you will.

In John 18:36, we have Jesus telling Pilate His kingdom (Greek bas-il-i'-ah - which according to the Greek Lexicon is "not to be confused with an actual kingdom, but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom") will not be on earth (Greek kos'-mos - try it with the English "c" in place of the "k," and you have its meaning). To put it in simpler terms, Jesus told Pilate He would not rule over His kingdom from earth, as it was a different type of kingdom: His reign will always be from heaven. Many will point to the word "now" and try to show a time contrast with the future. Not so, as the word carries a meaning of "henceforth" indicative of "from this time, forward." (Note the last word, "hence," which demands the meaning of the word "now.")

The millineum is a work of fiction. There is one reference to a period of 1,000 years relating to Christianity.

Revelation 20:1-7, "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,"

People use this small, seven verse passage as the basis of the doctrine. There is only one way to do it. It must be lifted out of context. Please note the following:

Revelation 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:"

This is the introduction of the book. If it is not understood, the rest of the book will be misunderstood. John said Revelation was signified. This is the verb form of the word, "sign." Revelation was given in signs, or figurative language! Every millinialist (pre, pro, and mid all), whom I have encountered, understands that the beast, and other such things like it, are figurative. Yet, to fit a preconceived notion, thay make this one sign (figure) literal, and they do it disregarding the introduction. It is the absolute height of fallacy.

There is much more in scripture showing this is an addition of man. I cover it more indepth on my site; split into two sermons. They may be viewed at:

http://www.grocities.com/preacherman_1962/archive5.html

http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962/archive6.html

If you need to do so, please feel free to print this to share with the class. Also, if I only managed to muddy the water further for you, please do not hesitate to ask follow up questions on specific points where you need clarification.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
preacherman_1962@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962