Was Abraham and Lazarus in Hell Before Jesus Came and Took Them Out?
1) Direct Answer
No. Abraham and Lazarus were not in the torment of hell. They were in Paradise—“Abraham’s bosom”—a place of comfort in the lower parts of the earth, separated from the place of torment by a great gulf. After His death, Jesus descended there and then led the saints out when He rose.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Luke 16 shows two places in the unseen world: the rich man “in torments,” and Lazarus comforted in Abraham’s bosom, with “a great gulf fixed” between them. That’s not the burning hell for the righteous; it’s Paradise.
- Jesus said to the thief, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). He went to Paradise after death.
- He said He would be “in the heart of the earth” three days and nights (Matthew 12:40). Paul says He “descended first into the lower parts of the earth,” then “ascended up on high, He led captivity captive” (Ephesians 4:8–10).
- Peter says He “preached unto the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). He announced His finished work; the damned remained where they were, but the redeemed were delivered.
- When He rose, “many bodies of the saints…arose, and came out of the graves…and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:52–53). That shows the Old Testament saints were brought up.
- Before Calvary the way into the holiest was “not yet made manifest” (Hebrews 9:8), and the blood of animals could not take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). After the perfect sacrifice, the way opened, so now “to be absent from the body” is “to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If Abraham had been in burning hell, he could not have been “comforted” nor speak peace to Lazarus (Luke 16). The Bible plainly shows two separate regions.
- Before the Cross, the righteous waited in comfort because the full price of sin hadn’t been paid. After the Cross, Jesus—God manifested in flesh—paid it in full, descended, and then took the redeemed up. Paradise is now above, in the presence of God.
4) Reinforcing Statement
So Abraham and Lazarus were safe in Paradise, not in torment, and when Jesus finished the work, He took those saints out and brought them into His presence.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
We would see Jesus
62-0712 §78
Three of them come up. And watch. When they come up, Abraham went out and said, "My Lord, come by. Sit down," sitting in his tent door. There was something about those men. They were strangers, dust on their clothes. But what it was, was God Himself and two angels. That's what the Bible said. Abraham called Him "Lord," "Elohim." That's right. Lord God, Jehovah, the self-existing One. And He come up, and He sat down, and they talked with Abraham. And two of them got up, and went down into Sodom. And Abraham pleaded...
United under One Head
58-0326 §64
What are we? United under one great Kingship, that's Christ. Christ is here. Oh my! That little heart that's in you, that little thing that beats down here that's got all kind of superstitions and doubts, all kinds of fears, how many would like to unite that heart to Christ tonight? Raise up your hand. Amen! How many wants all the world took out of your heart, all of the sin took out of your heart, all of the unbelief took out of your heart, and you want to take all the denomination and creed out of your heart, so...
The Faith of Abraham
55-1118 §46
I can see when that obedient Son, when he died, he went over there and knocked on the gates of the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering of the days of Noah. Old Abraham and them was waiting that promise. And when He knocked on the door and all those wretched, maybe at one time, beautiful people, back in the haunts of hell, screamed and said, "I am He!" Hallelujah! "I am He that was prophesied by Enoch, that should come, and I've done it. And I've fulfilled every promise that was made o...
We would see Jesus
61-0208 §70
Now, when things was going hard---not great, big, fine things, but going hard---one day Abraham was sitting in the shade of the oak, and he looked out there. Must've been along about noontime, and he seen three men coming, dust all over their clothes. (Now hold that two scriptures, now.) Now he seen him, dust all over their clothes. And he walked up. And Abraham, being spiritual and waiting to see that promise, quickly (he was the called out) he recognized it. There was something strange about them men. Oh, of cour...
The Faith Of Abraham
59-0415E §85
And I pray that Your Spirit will move out there and will heal each one. Grant it, Lord. If they could not be present here, let them know that You are there. You come to the belly of a whale for a man, in the fiery furnace for one, went out into the regions of the dead and called one back to life after being dead four days. You're God, and "the hour is coming when all that's in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth." Lord, let them know now that You love them and You're going to heal...