For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
The verse records the rich man in torment pleading for Lazarus to be sent to his father's house to warn his five brothers who are living for self-pleasure as he had, so they will not come to that place of suffering. The dialogue is figurative, framed around the hearers' belief in conscious existence between death and resurrection to teach about stewardship. Eternal destiny is fixed in this life while grace is offered, and wasting probation in self-pleasing leaves an impassable gulf that the dead cannot choose or change. The brothers are already sufficiently warned by Moses and the prophets, and those who refuse that word will not be persuaded even by a messenger raised from the dead. The rich man is condemned not for possessing riches but for unfaithful stewardship in spending entrusted means on himself instead of relieving the needy at his gate.
Plea in Its Setting
The verse records the rich man in the place of torment asking that Lazarus be sent to his father's house to warn his five brothers so they will not also come to that place of suffering. He realizes too late the folly of a life spent pleasing himself with no provision made for eternity, and in that lost condition he thinks of his five brothers still in his father's house who are going on as he had gone, living to please themselves. The plea turns on heeding Moses and the prophets, for even a messenger risen from the dead will not persuade those who refuse their testimony. That refusal is illustrated by the priests' rejection of the evidence of Lazarus, who had been raised after four days in the grave, showing that a miraculous sign does not produce belief in hearts set against the truth. The rich man in this represents people who enjoy abundant temporal and spiritual blessings but use them selfishly, and the Jewish nation which had been entrusted with sacred truth and grace yet exalted itself and refused Christ whom God sent to warn them.
The conversation about sending the warning is figurative, with Christ shaping the story around his hearers' belief in conscious existence between death and the resurrection in order to teach about stewardship. Possessions are lent by God, and misusing them can place a rich person below a poor, afflicted person who loves and trusts God. The request reflects as though the brothers had not been sufficiently warned, but they already have enough light and grace in Moses and the prophets for the duties required. Each person is given sufficient light and grace for the duties required, and greater evidence will not persuade those who reject the light already given. The rich man's plea also represents the Jewish nation's disregard of the light and instruction it had received, including its duty to help the poor and suffering.
The rich man was a Jewish steward who knew God's command to love the Lord with all heart, soul, and might and to love his neighbor as himself. God had made him a steward of means, knowledge, talents, and capabilities to uplift humanity and to attend to just such a case as the beggar, and his abundance increased his obligation. He forgot his accountability, used God's abundant blessings selfishly to honor himself, lent money and took interest but returned no interest to God for what God had lent him, and left knowledge and talents unimproved. He devoted all his powers to pleasure, gave himself to amusements and the praise and flattery of friends, was surrounded by pleasure and praise while forgetting God and neglecting the Word he knew, and failed to remember that he would answer to God for them. He lost all sense of responsibility to cooperate with God in mercy, and let pleasure-loving society crowd out understanding and practice of God's word.
After death his probation has ended and he is reduced to hopeless poverty and nakedness without the robe of Christ's righteousness to cover him. In life he had all that money could procure but did not possess the riches that keep the account right with God, living as if all he possessed were his own and neglecting the call of God and the claims of the suffering poor, rich in this world's goods but not rich toward God, so that earthly wealth could not save him. By a power he cannot question or resist he is commanded to quit the premises of which he is no longer steward, for he brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out of it. His torment is held up before priests and rulers, scribes and Pharisees, and all in the same condition, to contemplate that what is highly esteemed among men is abhorrent in the sight of God, and that it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his own soul.
During sickness he had learned what suffering meant and remembered his heartless treatment of Lazarus, yet he had no knowledge of God. Selfish pleasure and enjoyment do not bring true happiness, for he had a duty to use his abundance to help Lazarus but instead lived luxuriously. When suffering came, he longed for relief and called on Lazarus for it, and would have given everything to exchange places with Lazarus, who had been poor and covered with sores. The fixed gulf between them shows that their positions could not be changed.
Probation Closed, Warning Sufficient
The verse belongs to a parable showing that eternal destiny is decided in this life while grace is offered and opportunity to choose remains. Wasting that probation in self-pleasing cuts a person off from everlasting life, and no further probation after death is granted. The impassable gulf is fixed by character formed in life, a gulf of disobedience that the dead have no power to choose or change. When awakened they rise with the same appetites and passions cherished in life, for God does not remake the person who refused opportunities to be remade, and a life taking no pleasure in God forms a chasm nothing can bridge.
The parable contrasts the rich who do not depend on God with the poor who trust Him and patiently endure suffering. Earthly riches and hardship do not determine final condition, for Dives tormented after death while Lazarus is comforted shows positions reversed. Wealth and human honor do not determine worth before God, who values true faith and moral worth. Thus Lazarus though poor and despised is welcomed into the company of holy angels, while the wealthy man lacking moral soundness is rejected, and those who trust God will be exalted above those of high worldly status who have not surrendered to Him.
The request to send a miraculous warning to the five brothers treats them as though not sufficiently warned, but they already have enough light and grace in Moses and the prophets for the duties required of them. Each person is given sufficient light, and greater evidence will not persuade those who reject the light already given and refuse to receive it. Those unwilling to hear and do God's will, who refuse that word and its testimony, will not be persuaded even by a messenger raised from the dead. A miraculous sign does not produce belief in hearts set against the truth, as illustrated by the priests' rejection of the evidence of Lazarus who had been raised after four days in the grave.
The rich man's plea also represents the Jewish nation, which had great spiritual and temporal privileges and gifts to bless and enlighten the world. Entrusted with sacred truth and grace and with light and instruction including duty to help the poor and suffering, it kept God's gifts selfishly for itself, exalted itself, neglected eternity, and failed to let its light shine to help people in need. It disregarded what it had received and refused Christ whom God sent to warn them. Thereby it brought ruin upon itself, a warning its hearers remembered when Jerusalem was destroyed and its people suffered starvation and other calamities.
Stewardship and Call to Help
Being rich is no sin when riches are not gained by injustice, and the rich man is not condemned for having riches. Condemnation rests on spending entrusted means in selfishness, hoarding treasure for self and forgetting obligation to God. Such hoarding proves unfaithful stewardship, leaves nothing of lasting value, and cannot be taken to heaven, though the possessor had his good things in this lifetime. By using money to do good he would lay it up beside the throne of God and devote himself to seeking eternal riches that death cannot take away, and faithful service and good deeds done to lead people to Christ are lasting heavenly riches.
Living for self and covetousness lead to loss of life, as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus warns. The wealthy man had been entrusted with means and blessings but used them for himself and for sumptuous self-gratification instead of helping the beggar at his gate, misusing what was entrusted to him and neglecting Lazarus. Those who spend God's resources on selfish gratification instead of God's work are accountable stewards and will face a reckoning. God blesses and commends the suffering faithful, represented by Lazarus, while dealing with those who spend on self what they should share with the poor.
The needy are entrusted to the wealthy for help and sympathy, and Lazarus left in great need while a wealthy man who could have helped him lived for himself shows that indifference to their suffering is a grave failure of that responsibility. The duty therefore is to share food and clothing and to provide shelter for the poor. The same picture belongs to large cities where multitudes are destitute of food, clothing and shelter fit for a human being while men of wealth live luxuriously and spend on richly furnished houses, personal ornament and gratification of sensual appetites, tobacco, liquors and other things that destroy the brain, unbalance the mind and debase the soul. Means were given to honor the Creator by blessing the world, and to turn them to selfish indulgence is unfaithful stewardship, dishonor to God and neglect of His heritage, while all heaven looks down and God and angels mark the course of those who so indulge themselves.
Dives enjoyed the good things of this life while making no right use of what God gave him to carry out God's purposes. The right use is to lift up a standard against the ruin Satan is working and to be human channels through which Christ communicates His pitying tenderness and His treasures of food and clothing and words fitly spoken to wretched, fallen, hopeless beings, restoring the moral image of God in man. Those who claim to be sons and daughters of God are not at liberty to live like Dives and leave that work undone. Lazarus full of sores lying at the gate of Dives portrays the colored people of the South in their need of moral uplifting, education and higher home life, lying at the gate of the white Christian race. Dives is the white race, on whom rests heavy responsibility to bend part of its energies to lifting them, for seeking supremacy as an end in itself and overriding justice causes loss of what is sought, while trying honestly and justly to uplift this people uplifts those who do it, and woe will come if the warning is not heeded.
The verse records the rich man in torment pleading for Lazarus to be sent to his father's house to warn his five brothers who are living for self-pleasure as he had, so they will not come to that place of suffering. The dialogue is figurative, framed around the hearers' belief in conscious existence between death and resurrection to teach about stewardship. Eternal destiny is fixed in this life while grace is offered, and wasting probation in self-pleasing leaves an impassable gulf that the dead cannot choose or change. The brothers are already sufficiently warned by Moses and the prophets, and those who refuse that word will not be persuaded even by a messenger raised from the dead. The rich man is condemned not for possessing riches but for unfaithful stewardship in spending entrusted means on himself instead of relieving the needy at his gate.
Plea in Its Setting
The verse records the rich man in the place of torment asking that Lazarus be sent to his father's house to warn his five brothers so they will not also come to that place of suffering. He realizes too late the folly of a life spent pleasing himself with no provision made for eternity, and in that lost condition he thinks of his five brothers still in his father's house who are going on as he had gone, living to please themselves. The plea turns on heeding Moses and the prophets, for even a messenger risen from the dead will not persuade those who refuse their testimony. That refusal is illustrated by the priests' rejection of the evidence of Lazarus, who had been raised after four days in the grave, showing that a miraculous sign does not produce belief in hearts set against the truth. The rich man in this represents people who enjoy abundant temporal and spiritual blessings but use them selfishly, and the Jewish nation which had been entrusted with sacred truth and grace yet exalted itself and refused Christ whom God sent to warn them.
The conversation about sending the warning is figurative, with Christ shaping the story around his hearers' belief in conscious existence between death and the resurrection in order to teach about stewardship. Possessions are lent by God, and misusing them can place a rich person below a poor, afflicted person who loves and trusts God. The request reflects as though the brothers had not been sufficiently warned, but they already have enough light and grace in Moses and the prophets for the duties required. Each person is given sufficient light and grace for the duties required, and greater evidence will not persuade those who reject the light already given. The rich man's plea also represents the Jewish nation's disregard of the light and instruction it had received, including its duty to help the poor and suffering.
The rich man was a Jewish steward who knew God's command to love the Lord with all heart, soul, and might and to love his neighbor as himself. God had made him a steward of means, knowledge, talents, and capabilities to uplift humanity and to attend to just such a case as the beggar, and his abundance increased his obligation. He forgot his accountability, used God's abundant blessings selfishly to honor himself, lent money and took interest but returned no interest to God for what God had lent him, and left knowledge and talents unimproved. He devoted all his powers to pleasure, gave himself to amusements and the praise and flattery of friends, was surrounded by pleasure and praise while forgetting God and neglecting the Word he knew, and failed to remember that he would answer to God for them. He lost all sense of responsibility to cooperate with God in mercy, and let pleasure-loving society crowd out understanding and practice of God's word.
After death his probation has ended and he is reduced to hopeless poverty and nakedness without the robe of Christ's righteousness to cover him. In life he had all that money could procure but did not possess the riches that keep the account right with God, living as if all he possessed were his own and neglecting the call of God and the claims of the suffering poor, rich in this world's goods but not rich toward God, so that earthly wealth could not save him. By a power he cannot question or resist he is commanded to quit the premises of which he is no longer steward, for he brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out of it. His torment is held up before priests and rulers, scribes and Pharisees, and all in the same condition, to contemplate that what is highly esteemed among men is abhorrent in the sight of God, and that it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his own soul.
During sickness he had learned what suffering meant and remembered his heartless treatment of Lazarus, yet he had no knowledge of God. Selfish pleasure and enjoyment do not bring true happiness, for he had a duty to use his abundance to help Lazarus but instead lived luxuriously. When suffering came, he longed for relief and called on Lazarus for it, and would have given everything to exchange places with Lazarus, who had been poor and covered with sores. The fixed gulf between them shows that their positions could not be changed.
Probation Closed, Warning Sufficient
The verse belongs to a parable showing that eternal destiny is decided in this life while grace is offered and opportunity to choose remains. Wasting that probation in self-pleasing cuts a person off from everlasting life, and no further probation after death is granted. The impassable gulf is fixed by character formed in life, a gulf of disobedience that the dead have no power to choose or change. When awakened they rise with the same appetites and passions cherished in life, for God does not remake the person who refused opportunities to be remade, and a life taking no pleasure in God forms a chasm nothing can bridge.
The parable contrasts the rich who do not depend on God with the poor who trust Him and patiently endure suffering. Earthly riches and hardship do not determine final condition, for Dives tormented after death while Lazarus is comforted shows positions reversed. Wealth and human honor do not determine worth before God, who values true faith and moral worth. Thus Lazarus though poor and despised is welcomed into the company of holy angels, while the wealthy man lacking moral soundness is rejected, and those who trust God will be exalted above those of high worldly status who have not surrendered to Him.
The request to send a miraculous warning to the five brothers treats them as though not sufficiently warned, but they already have enough light and grace in Moses and the prophets for the duties required of them. Each person is given sufficient light, and greater evidence will not persuade those who reject the light already given and refuse to receive it. Those unwilling to hear and do God's will, who refuse that word and its testimony, will not be persuaded even by a messenger raised from the dead. A miraculous sign does not produce belief in hearts set against the truth, as illustrated by the priests' rejection of the evidence of Lazarus who had been raised after four days in the grave.
The rich man's plea also represents the Jewish nation, which had great spiritual and temporal privileges and gifts to bless and enlighten the world. Entrusted with sacred truth and grace and with light and instruction including duty to help the poor and suffering, it kept God's gifts selfishly for itself, exalted itself, neglected eternity, and failed to let its light shine to help people in need. It disregarded what it had received and refused Christ whom God sent to warn them. Thereby it brought ruin upon itself, a warning its hearers remembered when Jerusalem was destroyed and its people suffered starvation and other calamities.
Stewardship and Call to Help
Being rich is no sin when riches are not gained by injustice, and the rich man is not condemned for having riches. Condemnation rests on spending entrusted means in selfishness, hoarding treasure for self and forgetting obligation to God. Such hoarding proves unfaithful stewardship, leaves nothing of lasting value, and cannot be taken to heaven, though the possessor had his good things in this lifetime. By using money to do good he would lay it up beside the throne of God and devote himself to seeking eternal riches that death cannot take away, and faithful service and good deeds done to lead people to Christ are lasting heavenly riches.
Living for self and covetousness lead to loss of life, as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus warns. The wealthy man had been entrusted with means and blessings but used them for himself and for sumptuous self-gratification instead of helping the beggar at his gate, misusing what was entrusted to him and neglecting Lazarus. Those who spend God's resources on selfish gratification instead of God's work are accountable stewards and will face a reckoning. God blesses and commends the suffering faithful, represented by Lazarus, while dealing with those who spend on self what they should share with the poor.
The needy are entrusted to the wealthy for help and sympathy, and Lazarus left in great need while a wealthy man who could have helped him lived for himself shows that indifference to their suffering is a grave failure of that responsibility. The duty therefore is to share food and clothing and to provide shelter for the poor. The same picture belongs to large cities where multitudes are destitute of food, clothing and shelter fit for a human being while men of wealth live luxuriously and spend on richly furnished houses, personal ornament and gratification of sensual appetites, tobacco, liquors and other things that destroy the brain, unbalance the mind and debase the soul. Means were given to honor the Creator by blessing the world, and to turn them to selfish indulgence is unfaithful stewardship, dishonor to God and neglect of His heritage, while all heaven looks down and God and angels mark the course of those who so indulge themselves.
Dives enjoyed the good things of this life while making no right use of what God gave him to carry out God's purposes. The right use is to lift up a standard against the ruin Satan is working and to be human channels through which Christ communicates His pitying tenderness and His treasures of food and clothing and words fitly spoken to wretched, fallen, hopeless beings, restoring the moral image of God in man. Those who claim to be sons and daughters of God are not at liberty to live like Dives and leave that work undone. Lazarus full of sores lying at the gate of Dives portrays the colored people of the South in their need of moral uplifting, education and higher home life, lying at the gate of the white Christian race. Dives is the white race, on whom rests heavy responsibility to bend part of its energies to lifting them, for seeking supremacy as an end in itself and overriding justice causes loss of what is sought, while trying honestly and justly to uplift this people uplifts those who do it, and woe will come if the warning is not heeded.