These 3 things are all connected to one topic; the afterlife.

I'll start by saying that the churches have been twisting the topic of Abraham's bosom. They will teach you that Abraham's bosom is a place. This is not the truth.

Let's examine the story.

 

Luke

16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

 

(Bosom; Human Chest: The general area, used for both men and women, often in older texts or metaphorical ways (e.g., "hugged to his bosom").)

 

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

 

(Here, if you read this without outside influence of your understanding by the church which claims that his "bosom" is a place, but rather it is the embrace of Abraham in which Lazarus is held)

 

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

 

(Here you see that the rich man is talking to Abraham, because he is a person, not a place)

 

25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

 

(Here you can see, Abraham speaks, because he is a person, not a place)

 

26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

 

(This is referring to the distance between Heaven and Hell. Illustrating that no one of the dead can travel between the two places to enter into Heaven by his own accord. We know that Hell is beneath us. What you may not know is that, like Heaven, Hell has different levels as mentioned in:

 

Deuteronomy 32:22

“For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.”

Therefore we can understand that the rich man could see from the highest level of Hell, unto the lowest level of Heaven which is where the clouds are.

 

That is the place in which Jesus refers to as paradise when He says:

 

Luke 23:43

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

 

But we know that Jesus did not ascend to Heaven until after He rose from the dead. Therefore we can understand that "to day" that He is referring to means the first thousand years after His ascension, in which only the dead saints that lived and died before Jesus ascended with Him referred to in Revelation chapter 20. Which I will get to in a moment. That first thousand years is the day He refers to, as in; a thousand years to us is one day with God

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2 Peter 3:8

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”)

 

Back to Luke chapter 16:

27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

 

(In verses 27-31 you can understand that the rich man is having a conversation with Abraham, because he is a person who is holding Lazarus in his embrace aka his bosom)

 

Now that we have established an understanding that Abraham's bosom is not a place, but rather Abram holding Lazarus in his embrace while being in the lowest level of Heaven which is the paradise that Jesus refers to when he tells the other man in crucifixion that he will go there with Jesus on that day. We can see that also when we examine:

 

Matthew 26:64

“Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

 

The word "hereafter" meant "from now on". Therefore we can understand that Jesus during the period of the first two thousand years is reigning from the lowest level of Heaven which is in the clouds. This is the level in which the saints that died and went to Heaven with Jesus for the first thousand years would reside with Him. Then in the second thousand years the rest of the dead would go up to be with Jesus and reign with Him for the second thousand years while satan is let loose to deceive the world. All that is mentioned in Revelation chapter 20. One of the reasons that people don't understand this is because they just repeat what they've been told about the thousand year reign with Christ without examining the chapter for themselves. A huge problem with this is that what has been repeated over the years has had the people who don't understand it assuming that the reign is one Earth. The verse does NOT say on Earth. People have added that in due to their misunderstanding and parroting each other.

 

Revelation 20:6

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

 

The assumption that this will be on earth can be eliminated when we examine the timeline. We know there is a period of great tribulation, which is not as anything the world has ever seen.

 

Matthew

24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

 

Verse 21 is referring to the period of great tribulation. Verse 22 is referring to rapture. We can therefore understand that satan being let loose for a thousand years would end with the period of tribulation. After that there would be no more this Earth, or the current establishment of Heaven because there will be a new Heaven and new earth.

 

Revelation 21:1

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”

 

In which we will be with the Lord for eternity. The thousand year reign then would not make sense to happen after tribulation because we are already going to be with God/Jesus for eternity.

 

Now let's examine Revelation chapter 20 to understand the timeline that is widely misunderstood.

 

Revelation Chapter 20

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

 

(Verses 1-2 is referring to satan being bound for the first thousand years, starting at Jesus' ascension. Which is after the betrayal by Judas who was possessed by satan.

 

Luke 22:3

“Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.”

 

So satan possessed Judas, Jesus was crucified, Jesus went "into the heart of the Earth" in:

 

Matthew 12:40

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

 

Then was the resurrection. Jesus was on Earth for a short time and when He ascended to Heaven. satan was then bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. This was the same thousand years that the saints went up with Jesus to the paradise that was mentioned previously in Luke 23:43)

 

Back to Revelation chapter 20:

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

 

(In verse 4 we can now understand that those being mentioned are reigning with Jesus for the first thousand years starting ar Jesus' resurrection)

 

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

 

(In verse 5 we can now understand that the rest of the dead had not yet ascended to Christ until the first thousand years were finished. This gave time for the New Testament to plant seeds in the minds of believers which then spread and grew in the hearts of those on earth without influence from satan because he was bound in the pit)

 

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

 

(Verse 6 is now referring to the second thousand years in which the rest of the dead would rise and reign with Christ as the previous saints had already been in paradise with Christ for a thousand years while satan was bound)

 

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

 

(Verse 7 is referring back to the beginning of the second thousand years in verse 5, when satan is let loose to deceive the world. This is how the wheat and the tares will be established by the unbelievers weeding themselves out through their actions, not just there claiming to have faith as we can understand in reading:

 

Matthew 7:21-23

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.)

 

Back to Revelation chapter 20:

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

 

(Verses 8-9 are also referring to the second thousand years in which satan had been let loose and the end of that is the great tribulation)

 

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

 

(Verse 10 is the end of the tribulation and the end of satan's deception. After which there would be no point to have a thousand year reign with Christ because we then will be with the Lord forever)

 

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

 

(Verse 11 is referring to the end of the Old Heaven and old Earth, because God will make a new Heaven and New Earth)

 

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

 

(Then the rest of the dead are judged. But now you may ask "who are these that are left?" because rapture had already happened. There are many. Some are those who endured through the tribulation because they were still alive when tribulation began and realized they were those who were left behind. Which scared them enough to believe and change/repent. The others were the lukewarm "Christians" who were "spewed out of Jesus' mouth"

 

Revelation 3:16

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

 

Notice that it doesn't say He sent them to Hell but rather just spewed them out. It doesn't mention to where they were sent. Most of us know there is a spiritual world all around us that we cannot see. This is what I call "the parallel" which is the highest level of Hell and also on Earth but cannot be seen and is the place where the rich man speaking to Abraham was being tormented. The lukewarm Christians were spewed out into this place where they had to read the Word of God until the day the rest of the dead were judged. This place is not only reserved for the lukewarm Christians, but also where the unknowing unbelievers would be held. Scripture says no one can go to Heaven unless they are reborn and believe in Christ. So where does that leave the innocent people who never even heard of Christ due to where they were born, who their parents were and what they taught them. It also includes those such as babies who have died before ever having the chance to know of Christ and be reborn. God is a just and righ

 

Mark 5:12

“And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

13 “And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.””

 

They requested this because when they kill themselves they are sent to a separate place that the place they would have been sent if Jesus had just cast them out into Hell. Jesus complied with their request to illustrate this fact, that the two places are not the same.)

 

Back to Revelation chapter 20:

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

Hopefully now you can understand the topic of Abraham's bosom, the thousand year reign (two separate thousand year reigns in Heaven) and what happens when we die. May God bless you with eyes to see and ears to hear for understanding these.

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Below you will find the timeline for the 1000 year reign that I had previously written. I did not want to eliminate it because it may help further your understanding of this. So I kept it on this page for you to read. For an even better understanding of what happens when we die, including the dreams God gave me in order to understand these scriptures, see my page titled "The Parallel ~ What Happens When We Die"