Christians, were did Old Testament prophets go when they died?

Question

In light of Luke 16:19-31, the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus, how would Abraham know about Moses when he came several years after?

Serious answers pls.

haven17--it was elijah and moses. elijah was taken up in a whirlwind and moses never really died. Also Enoch.

Answer 1

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried [Luke 16:22].
Our Lord comes right to the door of death and passes through it as if it were nothing unusual. When the beggar died, there was no funeral. They just took his body out and threw it into the Valley of Gehenna where refuse was thrown and burned; this is the place where they threw the bodies of the poor in that day. The minute the beggar stepped through the doorway of death, angels became his pall–bearers and he was carried by them into Abraham’s Bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried.
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom [Luke 16:23].
Notice two things here: The lost go to a place of conscious torment. Also, people know each other after death. We do not lose our identities.
The word hell is in the Greek hades, meaning “the unseen world.” Actually, hell, as we think of it, is a place that has not yet been opened up for business; we don’t read of it until we get to Revelation 20:10, where it tells us that hell’s first occupants will be the Antichrist and the false prophet. When they died, Lazarus and the rich man went to the unseen world, the place of the departed dead.
Death is separation; it never means extinction. Adam, in the day that he ate of the forbidden fruit, died. Physically he did not die until about nine hundred years later, but the day that he ate of the fruit he was separated from God. Jesus spoke of it when He said, “… I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die …” (John 11:25–26). Man is separated from God by sin. People are dead while they live. Paul told the Ephesians, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).
There is a second death, which is spiritual death, and it means eternal separation from God. At physical death the body becomes inert and lifeless because the person’s spirit has moved out. The body is put into the grave, and the elements return to the dust: “… for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19). Therefore, death means separation.
It will help us understand this parable if we realize that Sheol or hades (translated hell in the New Testament) is divided into two compartments: paradise (which is called Abraham’s Bosom in this parable) and the place of torment. Paradise was emptied when Christ took with Him at His ascension the Old Testament believers (see Eph. 4:8–10). The place of torment will deliver up the lost for judgment at the Great White Throne (see Rev. 20:11–15). All who stand at this judgment are lost, and they will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
Now when the rich man died, his spirit went to the place of torment, the compartment where the lost go. The beggar went to the compartment called paradise or Abraham’s Bosom.
Note that our Lord is not saying that the rich man went to the place of torment because he was rich and that the poor man went to Abraham’s Bosom because he was poor. Going through the doorway of death certainly changed their status, but it was due to what was in the hearts of these two men. This is what our Lord has been saying through this entire section—man cannot judge by the outward appearance.
There are some other things revealed in this story that we would not know if our Lord had not revealed them.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame [Luke 16:24].
The rich man becomes the beggar, while the beggar is now the rich man.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence [Luke 16:25–26].

The bodies of believers today, since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, go into the grave and return to dust, but their spirits go to be with Christ. “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). The lost today still go to the place of torment in hades. Ephesians 4:8–10 gives us the following picture, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)” In other words, when our Lord descended into hades after His crucifixion on the cross, He entered the paradise section, emptied it, and took everyone into God’s presence. No one occupies the paradise section of hades today. The only part of hades still occupied is the place of torment where unbelievers go when they die. The day is coming when hades will be cast into the lake of fire and men will no longer go there at all (see Rev. 20:14).
The body is merely the physical house in which we live. At death we move out of our old homes. You can do anything you want to with the old house after it is deserted, but the important thing is what happens to the spirit after it has left the body. Where is it going?
Heaven is a place, friend, and the moment you die you will either go there to be with Christ, or you will go to the place of torment where you will ultimately be judged and then cast into the lake of fire. The point is that God never intended the latter as an end for anyone of the human family. The lake of fire was made for the Devil and his angels (see Matt. 25:41). You choose your final destination.
“There is a great gulf fixed:” our Lord made that clear. You must make the decision in this life where you will go after your death. You do not get a second chance after death.
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house [Luke 16:27].
Notice his concern for his living brothers. He wanted them to repent, change their minds before it was too late. Friend, if the lost could come back, they would preach the gospel to us.
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead [Luke 16:28–31].
Many people believe that multitudes would repent if someone returned from the dead to tell them what it was like. Well, Someone has come back from the dead. His name is Jesus Christ. They did not believe Him any more than they believed Moses and the prophets. Friend, do not delay in making your choice. There will be no opportunity after death.

McGee, J. V. 1991. Vol. 37: Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Luke). Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.). Thru the Bible commentary . Thomas Nelson: Nashville

Answer 2

That wasn't a parable in Luke 16. There were never any proper names used in parables, and we're told the name of Lazarus. Also, if it was a parable, Jesus would have explained it later to His disciples as He always did. No, this is a TRUE story He's recounting. OT saints went to "paradise" also known as Abraham's Bosom.

EDIT:
Haven 17
2 of the OT saints didn't die Enoch (who the Lord translated that he might not see death); and Elijah.

Answer 3

1st of all u ve to know that heaven isn`t the sky u see evryday from ur window this sky is the atomshper of birds and O2 while the above it the astromnomy ( Stars , sun , Planets..etc) and the above this also is the Paradise which is called the waiting place for the right ppl to take them jesus in the 2nd arrival while he`s in a sky above the Paradise called the Heaven of all heavens so u ve to know that the old testamnet prophets r in the 3rd sky ( paradise) such as elijah and moses .elijah was taken up in a whirlwind and moses never really it was . died. Also Enoch.
Check ur bible

Answer 4

Their flesh is in the ground. Samuel was upset to be woken from his sleep, so to me that seems the spirit is asleep for now. But then, Moses made an error and was denied entry to the promise land and I somehow think it means more than not crossing the river. Revelations talks about elders, maybe those are the spirits of the prophets. I have many unresolved questions concerning this.

Answer 5

The people in the Old Testament went to a place in the Hebrew called "sheol", which meant the grave. In "sheol" was a paradise side, but it also had a torment side to it which was seperated by a great gulf. Every body who died under the Old Covenant would see each other in Sheol.

Answer 6

To Abraham's Bosom. Hades has two sides , one not so nice, the other (Abraham's Bosom), nice.

This is where people before Christ awaited the coming. I believe that those that are saved go straight to God since Jesus' resurrection but those who are not saved still await judgment. I am studying this second half now, sorry, I am not positive on the second half.



haven17 - Elijah

Answer 7

The same place that a person goes to today, when they die, the grave waiting for the resurrection because Jesus said at: John 3:13  "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." 4000 years had passed from Adam to Jesus, and no one had gone to Heaven, Jesus said.

Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.


The Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death. John 11:11.
The account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, did not deny this miracle.

Think about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it? And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place? Of course not!

Yet, many people say that we have a soul, and they say that the soul lives on after the body dies. They say that Lazarus’ soul was alive somewhere. But the Bible does not say that. It says that God made the first man Adam “a living soul.” Gen. 2:7, Adam was a soul. The Bible also says that when Adam sinned, he died. He became a “dead soul,” and he returned to the dust from which he had been made. The Bible also says that all Adam’s offspring inherited sin and death too.

The Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:23, 24) Likewise, Lazarus himself related no experiences of some afterlife. There was nothing to report.

Clearly, according to the Bible, the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection. You enjoy the best sleep ever, until Jesus resurrects you, sometime in the future.

Answer 8

It's a parable people. Even if you believe in going to hell when you die, no one believes that the people in hell can communicate with the people in heaven. So obviously there is exaggeration simply to make a point. The Bible says that the dead know NOTHING and they have no more reward.

Answer 9

There is no soul sleep of the righteous. Only the damned sleep in their graves. Those that have died in Christ now reside in heaven.

The spiritual bodies of the righteous will result from the joining of their heavenly natures with their resurrected bodies at the final judgment.

Those that are damned will awake from their sleep to be judged and join Satan in their separation from God in Hell.

Answer 10

That parable is just that, a parable, a story with a moral. There is also a parable about talking trees in the bible and I don't think anyone in their right mind would believe that trees can talk. Study the subject of death in the bible and you will find that it actually compares death to sleep.

Answer 11

Almighty God speaks to Moses in Book of Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 18: "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." However, it is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who is like Moses (pbuh): Muhammad (pbuh) is from among the brethren of Moses (pbuh). Arabs are brethren of Jews. Abraham (pbuh) had two sons: Ishmail and Isaac (pbut). The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmail (pbuh) and the Jews are the descendants of Isaac (pbuh). This line of reasoning ignores the context of Deut. 18. God is speaking to Moses, and says He will raise up a prophet from among "their" brethren, and not Moses' brethren. The "their" are the Israelites, and Muhammad was not an Israelite. The rest is nothing more than the same; an attempt to plug in a particular person. People are still doing the same today, claiming to be a prophet. .