Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 29, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 13.

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Question Corner

By Editor

1633.—Spirits in Prison. 1 Peter 3:19.

1 Peter 3:19: "By which He went and preached unto the spirits in prison." Give explanation. J. J. W.

Our correspondent, like many others, refers to the wrong text. The quotation is 1 Peter 3:19. Let us question the text.

To whom does the "He" refer?—"Christ." Verse 18.

To what does the "which" refer?—The Spirit; "Christ . . . made alive in the Spirit." Verse 18.

Who were the spirits?—The souls shut up in the prison-house of sin, with no power to save themselves. For this Christ came. Compare carefully Gal. 3:22; Isa. 61:1. What put them in prison?—Sin; "that aforetime were disobedient." Verse 20.

When did He preach to them?—"When the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing." Verse 20.

Through whom did He preach by His Spirit?—"Noah," "a preacher of righteousness" "by faith." 2 Peter 2:5; Heb. 11:7.

What was the result of the preaching?—"Few, that is, eight souls, were saved." 1 Peter 3:20. That preaching also "condemned the world,"—those who did not believe. Heb. 11:7.

1634.—Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

Please explain through your paper the case of the rich man and Lazarus. How about his torment? How about the gulf? How about Lazarus going to Abraham’s bosom at death? F. M. S.

In the first place, the story is one of a series of parables spoken by our Lord to teach certain lessons; and it is a well-settled rule of interpretation (1) that no parable should be used as a basis for doctrine. It is used to enforce truth established by plain scripture, but is in itself not designed to establish or reveal truth. Oftentimes it is in itself pure fable or allegory, in which inanimate things are made to act and speak, tho in reality they may not even be alive. (2) Parables should not be made to "go upon all fours." Certain features must be brought in to make the parable consistent to itself, but these things often have no part in enforcing the lesson for which the parable was given.

The parables of the supper, the ninety and nine, the prodigal son, the unjust steward, and the rich man and Lazarus were all given to rebuke the indifference, the pride, the selfishness, the unfaithfulness, the exclusiveness, of the Jewish people, and set over against all these, the all-comprehending love of God.

In the last of this series Jesus uses the belief of the Jews, erroneous tho it was, to show, according to their own view, how utterly unreasonable was their pride of wealth and contempt of the poor and their national pride and contempt of the Gentiles.

1. The belief of the Jews at that time, according to Josephus, was that Hades was a subterranean region "not regularly finished," in which none of "the light of this world shines," a region of "perpetual darkness." Here souls are taken by the angels, "who distribute to them temporary punishments." Here also is a lake of unquenchable fire, in which as yet no one will supposedly be cast till the judgment day. As the souls go into Hades the wicked are "dragged" to the left hand by the angels, within the very sound of hell itself; while the righteous are taken to the right hand, a place of happiness. "This place we call Abraham’s bosom." Between the two classes there is a great gulf which can not be crossed by souls on either side. All this we know is neither true nor Biblical. When man dies, he dies. "In that very day his thoughts perish." His love, his hatred, his envy, are all perished till the resurrection day. Yet Jesus used this erroneous belief to show the Jews how utterly inconsistent they were, and what their judgment as individuals would be according to their own theory.

By and by the rich man dies. Lazarus dies. According to their own theory, he who had lived for himself, must suffer. He who had trusted God, according to the same theory, was placed in Abraham’s bosom. The fixing of characters prevented forever any change in their condition. Such, according to their own view, would be their ultimate fate.

But Jesus taught more than this. In the light of all the prophets they rejected Him of whom all the prophets spoke. They counted themselves as children of Abraham. John 8:33, 34. According to their view, which Jesus on another occasion used, they counted the Gentiles as dogs. Mark 7:27. Lazarus (whom God aids) well represents our Lord, who came to His own personally and in His apostles, but "His own received Him not." Since that very time facts have demonstrated the truth of the parable. The Jewish people have been in trouble, in pain, in anguish, but still holding between them and the Christ of God the great gulf of their own national pride and exclusiveness and self-righteousness, elsewhere symbolized by the veil upon the heart. They want Lazarus to relieve them, but He must come in their way. They are still in "torment" (basanos, trial, testing), yet unwilling to yield and cast themselves wholly upon His mercy. His salvation will not span their unbelief. They can not cross upon it to Him. And God will work no marvelous signs while they refuse to believe His word. John 5:41-47. For fuller exposition on this parable see chapter on the subject in "Christ’s Object Lessons."

1635.—The Unquenchable Fire. Mark 9:43, 44.

What is meant in Mark 9:43, 44, by "their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched"? S.

The word "hell" of the verse 43 comes from Gehenna, a Greek term meaning what is expressed in the Hebrew, as the Valley of Hinnon, also called Tophet (See Jer. 19:6, 11, 13; 7:31, 32). Because of the awful sins of the Jews committed there, it became a place where the offal and filth of the city, the bodies of malefactors, etc., were cast. Upon this mass of corruption worms constantly preyed, and constant fires were kept burning to avert pestilence. Gehenna, with its worm and fire, came to symbolize utter and absolute destruction.

"The fire that never shall be quenched" is an utterly wrong translation of "to pur to asbestos." It ought to be "the unquenchable fire," as in the Revised Versions. "Fire" comes from pur, meaning simply fire. Asbestos means that which man can not extinguish; that which burns up what it preys upon, which does its work; but it does not mean that which shall never be extinguished. For instance, the unquenchable fire burned the city of Jerusalem, and went out. Compare Jer. 17:27 with 2 Chron. 36:19, 21. Unquenchable fire burns up the chaff, a symbol of the wicked. Matt. 3:12. The word is used in a similar way as a symbol of destruction. See Isa. 51:8; 66:24. Observe that in this latter text these destructive agencies prey not upon live men, but upon their dead bodies—carcasses. The hell of Gehenna means absolute and utter destruction.