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 Faith Of Abraham
59-0415E §56
Now, Abraham, sure he was heir. Then after while, Lot got in trouble. Now we will close in a minute. Lot got in trouble. And you always get in trouble when you backslide. Wish we had time to dwell on that. But he got in trouble. What happened? The enemy come and packed him off. Now, Abraham played the part of the Saviour again. He garrisoned himself and went after the enemy that took away his poor backslidden, corrupted brother. That's what Jesus did. Sickness bound you, sin bound you---poor, backslid, and corrupte...
Christ
55-0221 §54
Look. In the Old Testament when an agreement was made, it was under the basis of the shed blood. Quickly now, listen. What did they do? In the oriental type they took an animal, and cut it and killed it, and cut it in two. And they took it out here, after they'd torn it in two, torn the animal in two, and laid it out here. Each man got in there and they wrote this agreement with each other. And they cut that ... or, tore it in two. One man took one piece, and the other piece was taken like this. And they made a vow...
From that time
60-0716 §56
Now, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and he looked, and before him went a smoking furnace. Every sinner that dies and every man that's born in this world comes through sexual birth; it's subject to death. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and every man is born in this world a sinner. I don't care how holy your parents was, you come to this world the same way a sinner or anybody else comes. You are sinful. "We are born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies," says the Word. Yo...
The true vine and the false vine
55-0607 §50
All of His former glory will return to it again. All that it was in the first place will come back again. I thought, What does God send a wind for anyhow? To shake them trees. Every time you shake a tree, it loosens up the root, and causes it to grow deeper, deeper. Every time the Holy Ghost falls on the church in an old-fashioned revival, it shakes up the roots like this so it can get rooted and grounded, ready for the storms and trials as they come upon the earth. Hallelujah! "I will restore, saith the Lord, all...
I will restore
54-0620A §60
Oh, that what the... They took out a healing out of here. They took shouting out of here. They took speaking in tongues out of here. They took prophecy out of here. "But I will restore, saith the Lord." Amen. I feel religious. My, I feel twice my size now. [Gap in the audio] " I will restore, saith the Lord." Do you see where the churches are? They're right up into the vine, right up into the end time. Let's see. My, we got to close. Do you love Him with all your heart? Are you glad that your spirit is fresh today,...