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.
The healing of Jairus' daughter
55-0227E §92
And so they took the picture in, not knowing what this would be. They took Mr. Bosworth's picture in so they could get it to Mr. Best, the glossies. And they put it in the acid, and he sat there and smoked a few cigarettes, so it went through the acid. Brought the picture out, and every one of Mr. Best, with his finger under Mr. Bosworth's nose, every one of them was blank. God would not permit that man stand there and put his finger under that godly, saintly, old warrior. No, sir. And when he pulled my picture out...
Abraham restored
61-0211 §40
Now we find out that Abraham took this food out there, and set it down before these men and they ate. Now Abraham was curious to find out what their journey was, because he knowed that one of them there, that main one, was God. He knew that was God. He called Him "Elohim." So now, what did it represent? We find out two of them rose up, and went on down into Sodom. They were going down there to preach, and to call out those that would be called out. And we see that when he got down there, and began to preach, that.....
The Calling of Abraham
55-1116 §41
"What are you trying to do, Brother Branham?" Get you to a place where you can see what God has done for you. That's why these things take place. God has promised to do them, and He's got to do them. In order to be God, He has to keep His promise, brethren. Notice. In the Old... Many ways we make covenants. Here in America, when we make a covenant, why, we just go out and make an agreement and reach over and shake one another's hands, and say, "That's it, boy. Seal her! Here we are. All right." We shake on it. That...
El-Shaddai
59-0416 §33
God promised Abraham there just what He was going to do. So we took the covenant, how they made it. Tore the contract in two, one person made ... took one part of the contract, the other person took the other part of the contract. Now, when this contract was finished, they had to come together, and both pieces of the contract had to dovetail. You see? You write a contract out and tear it, and then try to duplicate it one time. You'll never do it. See, because it's just the tearing of the paper and everything, it ha...
Abraham's covenant confirmed
61-0318 §60
Then he said, "Isaac, put your hands behind you." He took a string, and begin to tie his hands. Isaac knew, then. Watch his obedience, like Jesus, the true Son of God, obedient unto death, took the cross. Tied his hands and his feet. Abraham lifted up the little boy and laid him upon the rock. I can imagine him standing there and trying ... his intellectuals trying to go to work, "What are you going to tell Sarah when you get home?" But the little buzzer kept saying, "I'm Jehovah. I will provide. You just follow me...