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.
Sir, we would see Jesus
63-1112 §87
But now notice, at Sodom, there was your three classes of people. There was your Sodomites, who were unbelievers. There was Lot and his group, which were lukewarm believers, church natural. There was Abraham, the spiritual, called-out, elected, out into the wilderness away from Sodom. Watch, three angels came down from heaven, one day. The sins of Sodom got about as bad as it is in the world today. They come down. Now, they were looked like men, they were dressed in clothing like men wear; dust upon them, and their...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-35
Just as the early church started out under the pure ministry of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders and manifestations such as prophecy, tongues, and interpretation, wisdom, knowledge and healing, so in the days of Israel when they left Egypt, they were under the leadership of the Spirit of God manifesting in gifts. God was the leader of the people. Actually He was their King. He was a Father-King. He took care of Israel like a man cares for his family. He fed them, fought their battles, smoothed away their diff...
We would see Jesus
60-0708 §60
There was Abraham, the called-out, having life kind of hard, persecuted, made fun of, sitting out in the wilderness on the bare ground in the shade of the oak tree. But when the hour of the message came, he looked out in the heat of the day, and he seen three men coming up, dust all over their clothes. And Abraham looked again---he knowed there was just something about it. A real borned-again child of God knows the Spirit of God when it strikes. Yes, sir. "My sheep know my voice." Abraham looked real quick. He walk...
Abraham
60-0803 §21
Now, we left Abraham last night. Are you enjoying Abraham? One time in the ... I preached a year at home in my tabernacle on Job. And I got him over as far as on the ash heap, and I kept him on the ash heap about six weeks. The people got real nice, you know, but they were tired. That was where I was making my killing point right there: Job on the ash heap. That's when the Lord did something for him. One fine sister, she didn't want to hurt my feelings, but she wrote me a letter, said, "Brother Branham, you ever go...
We would see Jesus
59-0422 §42
Now, God's going to do this. As it was in the days of Sodom. Always watch your three classes of people. There was the Sodomites. There was the religious world, Lot's people, in Sodom. And here was Abraham out of Sodom, out of the world, living in a place... He was the elect. One day, standing in his tent door, he saw three men come walking to him. They looked like men. They might've had dust on their clothes. But somehow, Abraham standing there, thinking about the goodness of God, when he saw them coming, there was...