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.
Church Ages, part 10: The Laodicean Church Age
60-1211E §29
But there'll be a powerful woman. Now, remember (this is on tape too), a powerful woman, great woman (She'll either be president, or it'll be a woman representing the Catholic church---which I think it is.) will take over here some day, and she'll rule this country. This nation is a woman's nation. Flag was made by a woman. It's number thirteen. She started out thirteen stars, thirteen stripes, thirteen colonies. Everything's thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, right on down. Thirteen stars on her silver dollar now. Ever...
We would see Jesus
62-0627 §69
Then we find out that she was in the tent behind. Said, "Where is Sarah, thy wife?" And remember, Abraham specifically said now, "She's in the tent behind you." And He said, "Abraham, I am going to visit you [that "I," that personal pronoun, that shows who He was, right there]. I am going to visit you according to the time of life." Now, we're a mixed audience. You listen at your doctor; I'm your brother. Now they were old. Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety. Now as husband and wife it had ceased...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-132
A son of God can go a long time before he recognizes that he is a son. In fact a lot of true Christians are like the story of the baby eagle that was hatched out under a hen. You know that the eagle is a type of the true believer. Well, a farmer took an egg from an eagle's nest and he placed it under a hen. In due time all the eggs under the hen hatched out. The baby chicks got along fine with the mother hen but that little eagle could not figure out the clucking and scratching for food in the manure pile. He manag...
Christ is identified the same in all generations
64-0415 §38
...... or--or Noah took Moses' message. Neither could Joshua have took any of their message, see, each one. Isaiah could not have took another's. Each message is for that age. And with the age that we're living in, when that Word is interpreted, God speaking that Word out and making the Word for that age live, giving the interpretation of it, that is God in Christ, manifesting. See? Because, Christ is the Word, and when the Word is made manifest, that is Christ in every age, then.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-75
Antipas My Faithful Martyr There is no other record in the Word or in any profane history concerning this brother. But surely there need not be. It is more than enough that he was fore-known and known of the Lord. It is more than enough to see his faithfulness unto the Lord recorded in the living Word. He was a Christian. He had the Name of Jesus. He had the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and he was amongst those who lived by it. He had responded to the words of James, "Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ w...