3. 3 Texts I Thess. 4:13 (NIV): –“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” II Cor. 5:8 (NIV): –“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

4. 4 Introduction Today we continue with our studies on the intermediate Heaven. –Among other things, we will look at some examples from the Bible that can help us to better understand the intermediate Heaven.

5. 5 Enoch, Elijah, & Moses Enoch and Elijah were taken to the intermediate Heaven in their physical bodies. Gen. 5:24 says, –“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

6. 6 Apparently, Enoch’s body was not left behind to bury. –This was an Old Testament example of a “catching away,” or ‘rapture’. –The Septuagint translates it that Enoch’s body “was not found.” Heb. 11:5 (NIV) explicitly says that Enoch did not die:

7. 7 –“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.” Elijah was also taken to Heaven without dying.

8. 8 When he was translated, he didn’t leave a body behind either, as we read in II Kings 2:11-12a (NKJV): –“Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven...

9. 9 –“... And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more.” Against Elisha’s will, they even sent out a search party of fifty men to look for Elijah, but they did not find him. (II Kings 2:15-18).

10. 10 We do not know how bodies born under the Curse could be taken into Heaven, but God can make any exceptions He so wishes. –It definitely looks as though they went to the intermediate Heaven in their earthly bodies. –Certainly no bodies were left behind.

11. 11 Our spirits are also under the curse, but based on Christ’s redemptive work, we will be allowed entrance to Heaven. –Evidently God extended the same grace to Enoch and Elijah to permit them to go bodily into the intermediate Heaven. That being the case, they represent exceptions to the norm.

12. 12 It means that they are presently living in pre-resurrection bodies in the intermediate Heaven, just as Jesus is living there in His resurrected body. –Again, God is God and He can do as He chooses. –He does have a purpose in preserving their lives in Heaven.

13. 13 It seems clear in the Bible that these two men will return to Earth in the end times as the two witnesses of Rev. 11:2-8. –They will be killed at that time, after prophesying and witnessing to the Earth’s inhabitants in the last days. –They will then return to Heaven while their bodies remain behind.

14. 14 Given that at least one, and perhaps three people, now have bodies in Heaven, it argues that others who go to Heaven will have intermediate, physical forms as well. –We discussed this in some detail in Wednesday night’s Bible lesson.

15. 15 On the mount of transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ in tangible bodies. (Luke 9:28- 36). –They had already gone to Heaven. –Moses had died, and Elijah was taken bodily from Earth in a whirlwind.

16. 16 If souls in the intermediate Heaven were disembodied, then God would have had to create temporary bodies for them when they came from Heaven to be with Jesus on the mountain. –If that were true, they would have gone from being disembodied to embodied.

17. 17 –And following their meeting with Jesus, they would then have become disembodied again to await the Resurrection. –I don’t believe this was the case. I believe that those awaiting the Resurrection in the intermediate Heaven have tangible bodies (in that realm) that will serve them until the Resurrection.

18. 18 This means that Moses and Elijah came to Earth in the same bodies they already had in Heaven. –Elijah in his original earthly body which never died, and Moses in his intermediate body, are in the intermediate Heaven awaiting their Resurrection bodies.

19. 19 The physical, tangible presence of Moses and Elijah at the mount of transfiguration seems to demonstrate beyond question that people have tangible bodies in Heaven which they inhabit prior to the resurrection of their dead bodies.

20. 20 The Rich Man & Lazarus The story of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus, is instructive regarding intermediate Heaven. –In this New Testament account, Jesus ascribes tangible, physical properties to people after they have died.

21. 21 Let us read Luke 16:19-31 (NKJV): –“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,...

22. 22 –“... 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off,...

23. 23 –“... and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then 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.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus…

24. 24 –“... evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,...

25. 25 –“... 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him,...

26. 26 –“... ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’” Some mistakenly believe that this account is nothing more than a parable intended to convey a central idea about the after-death consequences of our choices made on earth.

27. 27 The wrong assumption by those who believe this is that Lazarus and the rich man were not real people, and that references to ‘fire’, ‘thirst’, ‘finger’, and ‘tongue’ are not intended as literal, physical realities. –I believe it is a mistake to dismiss this narrative as strictly figurative.

28. 28 Such a position is based on an assumption that the afterlife consists of disembodied people in a non-physical realm. –I hope I have convinced you by this time that this is not the case. Jesus could have easily portrayed the rich man and Lazarus in other ways.

29. 29 For example, He could have said something like: –“When Lazarus died, his spirit drifted without a body into a realm without sin and pain.” –But He said nothing like that. It seems unlikely that Jesus would have depicted the afterlife in such concrete detail if the events in the story did not actually happen.

30. 30 The reason He did give such concrete details is because this story has much to teach us about the nature of Heaven and Hell. –This is not a parable, because Jesus gave specific identity to Lazarus in the story. –His parables did not do this. –Jesus spoke of Lazarus, a real person of that name.

31. 31 Consider the story’s main components: –When Lazarus died, angels immediately carried him to Paradise. –The rich man died and went immediately to a place of torment. –Lazarus was with Abraham (and by inference, others) in Paradise.

32. 32 –Paradise in the Old Testament was divided into ‘Abraham’s bosom’ (for the righteous) and a place of torment (Hades, or the intermediate Hell). –These were separated by a “great gulf,” or a fixed chasm. –People on both sides could see and communicate with each other; at least in this instance.

33. 33 –After Christ’s resurrection, he “led captivity captive” and took those who had died saved up until that time to the intermediate Heaven (Eph. 4:7-10), which is currently very likely somewhere in the starry heavens. –Both the rich man and Lazarus reasoned and communicated after their deaths.

34. 34 –They also maintained their distinct identities from Earth, indicating direct continuity from their earthly lives to their afterlife. –The rich man and Lazarus are depicted as having physical forms. –The rich man had a tongue and a thirst that he longed to satisfy.

35. 35 –There was water available in the part of Paradise inhabited by the righteous dead, and the rich man wanted Lazarus to dip his finger into the water and cool his tongue. –These physical properties demonstrate that when they died they received temporary, transitional physical forms existing in a tangible Paradise.

36. 36 –Their human identity, between their death and the resurrection, was housed in these intermediate bodies to sustain and manifest their identity (just as ours will be if we die before the Rapture). –The rich man remembered his lost brothers. –He expressed concern for their welfare.

37. 37 –He asked that Lazarus be sent to warn them. –This demonstrates consciousness after death, and a clear memory of the Earth and people on the Earth. I think it unlikely that people in the eternal Heaven and Hell will continue to talk with each other.

38. 38 –The biggest part of the punishment of eternal Hell will be separation from God, and presumably His people, forever. This account pictures people in the intermediate Heaven and Hell as real humans with thoughts and (and I believe tangible forms) with the same identity, memories, awareness, and relationships they had on earth.

39. 39 Surely Jesus intended us to see both Heaven and hell as real places where there are real people who come from Earth. –In the intermediate Heaven or Hell, we will await the time when we will be resurrected to an eternal Heaven or an eternal Hell (see John 5:28-29).

40. 40 Until that day, those who die will go to a very real, but intermediate, Heaven or Hell. –Here they will have conscious memory of their lives and relationships on Earth. –Those in Hell will live in misery, hopelessness and isolation, separated from those who die in the Lord.

41. 41 Those who die in the Lord will live in comfort, joy, peace and have a rich relationship with God and all the other saved individuals from every age. –And it will be so sweet to fellowship with our loved ones and friends who have preceded us in death.

42. 42 Do People in Intermediate Heaven Pray for Those on Earth? Since Wednesday’s Bible Study, I have thought about this question. –Based on the Scripture, I believe that departed saints currently in the intermediate Heaven do intercede in prayer (at least sometimes) for those on Earth.

43. 43 Certainly Jesus, who is God made flesh, is in Heaven, interceding for people on Earth (see: I Tim. 3;16; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). The martyrs in the intermediate Heaven are also shown as praying for those on earth (Rev. 6:10). –They ask God to take specific action on Earth.

44. 44 –They pray for God’s justice on earth, which has intercessory implications for Christians now suffering here. –The sense of connection, loyalty and love for saints still on earth would likely be enhanced, not diminished in Heaven. –Whether in Heaven or on Earth we are still a family (cf. Eph. 3:15).

45. 45 Rev. 5:8 speaks of the “prayers of the saints” in a context that may include saints in Heaven, not just on Earth. –Since we have seen that people in Heaven are allowed to see at least some of the things that happen on earth, it would seem very strange for them not to be interceding for us in prayer.

46. 46 People in the intermediate Heaven are aware of events on Earth. –They talk to God about His plan, His purpose and His people, so it seems inconceivable to me that they would not also pray for us. We DO NOT pray to saints, but they do pray for us.

47. 47 It is a great comfort to me to know that Jesus and the saints already in the intermediate Heaven are praying for us.

48. 48 In Conclusion We will continue to discuss the subject of Heaven, transitioning from the intermediate Heaven to the Eternal Heaven, beginning with a look at why the Earth’s redemption is essential to God’s plan.

49. 49