The Rich Man's Review of Hades (Tartarus)

19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his arms. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31 We have probably all had a friend or two that has given us a bad report about a service, restaurant and/or a vacation experience that they have had, stating that it was the worst service experience ever. In this day in age, we find hundreds of such reports listed online in the form of things called blogs.

The "Rich Man" gives us his true to life experience in Luke 16:19-31, and if we could hear his voice from this side of the grave, I am sure he would be yelling in anguish, "You do not want to come here"! For he says above in verses 27 through 30, that "I beg you", "I have five brothers--...warn them", and "...they will repent!"

What is sad is that the rich man is talking to us from a place of torment, not because being rich was a sin, but because of what he did not do and was able to do in terms of stewardship. Interesting how the story begins, and we can all picture the rich man stepping over and/ around poor Lazarus, and maybe Lazarus asked for a meal or spare change, maybe he said nothing, but we know for certain that Lazarus condition was ignored by the rich man. Lazarus, the same man that the Rich Man stepped over day after day-the one he probably saw the dogs licking Lazarus' sores-the same person that the Rich Man saw afar off in Abraham's Bosom (Paradise), who he now desired to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue.

Most of us can probably point to one experience in our life with regret, stating had I not done this, I would be... Even worse, the rich man is conscious during this time of torment, and he recalls and begs. . .for he says, "I am in agony in this flame", "send Lazarus", and he remembers his brothers, and cares enough for them to desire for them to repent and not come to the place where he's in torment.

Abraham replied in response to the Rich Man's plea, "they have Moses and the prophets..." Jesus responds in Matt 11:13 that all the prophets till John prophesied about Him, closing with why call me Lord, Lord and do not my will in Luke 6:46. We can benefit from the Rich Man's review of Hades, if we humble ourselves and submit to the will of God, before we're called away in death and/ or the return of our Lord. How terrible it would be to wait in such a place, knowing that there was something we could and should have done, that would prevent us from ever being in such a place—

Remember this review of Hades is simply a place to wait in torment until the final judgment occurs and then death, Hades, Satan and the lawless ones will be cast into the everlasting lake of fire called Hell. Scripture states that a Christian should be a hearer and doer of God’s will-- Do not “party crash” the wrong gathering!

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; Matt 25:41

Damon Long