Before Jesus died for our sins, what happened to people when they died?

Question

Where did people's spirit go before the crucifiction?

Answer 1

They were redeemed by their animal sacrifice and went to paradise.

Answer 2

In the Old Testament it's my recollection that the dead went to Sheol, an underworld that wasn't a hell or a heaven.... and according to Christianity even some of those who died before Christ are also saved through Christ....that's what the business of him descending into hell was about, he got Adam and Eve and the prophets out is my recollection of how this is supposed to work...Dante envisioned that good and innocent people who died before the Crucifixion went to Limbo, which is where some Christians still believe good and innocent non-Christians go (including unbaptized babies which sounds so harsh to me, if you believe there is a heaven why should they not go there?) - I think it's more a Catholic idea than anything else; you never hear Protestants mention Limbo. (Limbo, like Sheol, is a concept of an afterlife place that's neither hell nor heaven. It's not Purgatory, either, because from purgatory you might get to heaven after you pay for the sins that were too bad for heaven but not bad enough for hell. Nobody is punished in Limbo and it's not supposed to be bad but it's not heaven, either, and I have no idea what is supposed to happen to people in Limbo when the last trump sounds, I have picked up some of this stuff over the years but not all the details.)

Answer 3

Jesus explained that in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.. There was a place across a great gulf the Jews called Abraham's bosom. The Godly among the people were held there until Jesus died and took them to the Father.... Jim

Answer 4

Many religions teach that souls were 'sleeping' before the resurrection, and when Jesus took the keys of death and hell, they were released from the hold that death had over them by the blood of Jesus. "and the dead in Christ will be raised first".
The bible mentions souls that were awakened/resurrected at Christs resurrection, and were seen in the streets. Apparently His resurrection power affected others immediately. Historian Josephus mentions this also, as do some other manuscripts.
This is a short generalization, but there is much evidence that 'sleeping' souls were awakened to be with Christ when He took 'the keys' into his possession.
I know some good studiers will expound on this Reader's Digest answer. Look forward to reading them.

Answer 5

According to Luke 16, when the rich man died...he was in torment. When the poor man died, he was at rest at Abraham's side. And there was a huge chasm that separated them from each other that no one could cross. That's the picture that Scripture gives us concerning the state of those who died before Christ.

Answer 6

Sheol, Hades, Hell, The Grave, Abraham's bosom, Gehenna, Purgatory, Paradise, the lower regions....all are names for the same thing. The Creed of the Apostle's is clear - Jesus went there (wherever it is) and preached to the "souls in prison".

Answer 7

Since the fall of man, the basis of salvation has always been the death of Christ. No one, either prior to the cross or since the cross, would ever be saved without that one pivotal event in the history of the world. Christ's death paid the penalty for past sins of Old Testament saints and future sins of New Testament saints.
The requirement for salvation has always been faith. The object of one's faith for salvation has always been God. The psalmist wrote, "Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him" (Psalm 2:12). Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God and that was enough for God to account it to him for righteousness (see also Romans 4:3-8). The Old Testament sacrificial system did not take away sin, as Hebrews 9:1-10:4 clearly teaches. It did, however, point to the day when the Son of God would shed His blood for the sinful human race.
What has changed through the ages is the content of a believer's faith. God's requirement of what must be believed is based on the amount of revelation He has given mankind up to that time. This is called progressive revelation. Adam believed the promise God gave in Genesis 3:15 that the Seed of the woman would conquer Satan. Adam believed Him, demonstrated by the name he gave Eve (v.20) and the Lord indicated His acceptance immediately by covering them with coats of skin (v.21). At that point that is all Adam knew, but he believed it.
Abraham believed God according to the promises and new revelation God gave him in Genesis 12 and 15. Prior to Moses, no Scripture was written, but mankind was responsible for what God had revealed. Throughout the Old Testament, believers came to salvation because they believed that God would someday take care of their sin problem. Today, we look back, believing that He has already taken care of our sins on Calvary (John 3:16; Hebrews 9:28).
What about believers in Christ's day, prior to the cross and resurrection, what did they believe? Did they understand the full picture of Christ dying on a cross for their sins? Late in his ministry, "Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day" (Matthew 16:21). What was the reaction of His disciples to this message? "Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, '‘Far be it from you, Lord; this shall not happen to you!'" (16:22). Peter, and the other disciples, did not know the full truth, yet they were saved because they believed that God would take care of their sin problem. They didn't exactly know how He would accomplish that, any more than Adam, Abraham, Moses, or David knew how, but they believed God.
Today, we have more revelation than did people living before the resurrection of Christ, we know the full picture. "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). Our salvation is still based on the death of Christ, our faith is still the requirement for salvation, and the object of our faith is still God. Today for us the content of our faith is that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Answer 8

they either went to upper hades (Abraham's bosom - Paradise) or lower hades (hell). These two parts were separated buy a huge gulf, making it impossible for anyone to cross. After Jesus's death He went to upper hades to preach to those who believed in His coming under the old testament.

Answer 9

Wow that is a very good answer i have been going to a baptist church for about 5 or 6 years and that question has never came to my mind!

Answer 10

(Jb.14:12 so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep. )

(Dn.12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. )

those who died before jesus will be judged acording to thier deeds

Answer 11

Job 14:

13 O that in She′ol (the grave) you would conceal me,
That you would keep me secret until your anger turns back,
That you would set a TIME LIMIT FOR ME AND REMEMBER ME!

14 If an able-bodied man dies can he live again?
All the days of my COMPULSORY SERVICE I SHALL WAIT,
Until my relief comes.



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