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.
Sirs, we would see Jesus
60-0109 §48
Now, Abraham had separated himself. That meant the church spiritual. Lot was church nominal, and Sodom was the world. That's exactly the position we stand in today. There is the world, perverted; there's the church nominal; and there's the church spiritual. Now, watch. While Abraham was sitting out under his oak, three men came up. Abraham didn't know who they were, and they seemingly didn't know Abraham. Perhaps dust on their clothes, but there was something in Abraham, he wanted to hear them. Said, "Won't you dro...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-129
But to go on. These elect were not only the eternal thoughts of God which were to be expressed in flesh in their due season, but these same elect are called by another name. Romans 4:16. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." Romans 9:7-13, "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-89
You know God looked down and declared, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. It is separated from Me. It can't approach unto Me." We know that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That meant that all died, all were separated, and one day a time would come when even that bit of life would be snuffed out and it would be all over. But God in love, took an animal and took its life in the place of the sinner's life.
Investments
63-0126 §103
We find out that Moses, he had pallbearers that had to take him up. Man couldn't do it. But this rich man had probably the celebrity of the city for pallbearers. But in hell he lifted up his eyes. But why? His investment in the... Now, he was a church member. You say, "He wasn't." He was. The Bible said he was. He called Abraham "Father," see---"Father Abraham," see, seeing Lazarus. But he was a professed church member, but he did not want any investment in Jesus Christ. So you see where he lifted up his eyes? In h...
We would see Jesus
62-0704 §62
And there came three messengers from heaven, dressed like men. And Abraham set in the door of his tent one morning, and looked, and three men come up. Now, they had dust on their clothes, like they had been traveling. And Abraham, there was a little something down in him, he knew that them were strange men. They looked like somebody that he ought to know, so he run out. There's something about a real borned-again Christian, when you meet one! I was coming through a restaurant today, somebody said, "God bless you."...