Pst Akinrinlola Olumide
Paradise is a word derive from Greek word which actually means “a beautiful garden or a royal park”. But the Scripture recognises paradise as Abraham’s bossom which means the house of the dead saints and the righteous who died in Christ before the sounding of the trumpet for the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 16:22, 23).
Jesus Christ also opened our understanding to the biblical meaning of paradise when He died on the cross and promised the thief on the cross to meet Him in paradise before He gave up the ghost. In short, paradise in its biblical context means the abode of the dead saints (Luke 23:42-43).
So, where exactly are paradise and hell located? To answer this question, please take note of the following:
1. That God house is in heaven, not in paradise.
2. Heaven and paradise are not the same thing. There is Heaven and there is paradise and obviously, both are different from one another.
3. The dead saints are housed in paradise now, and not in heaven, while the dead sinners are housed in hell now, and not in the lake of fire.
4. Nobody goes to heaven not until the Trumpet sounds.
5. Notes that Paradise and hell are direct opposite and there is a gulf that separates both according to the book of Luke (16:22-28). Those in paradise cannot cross over to hell, and those in hell cannot cross over to paradise, Vice versa . (Lk. 16:22-26).
To answer the question of where exactly both paradise and hell are located, it may interest you to know that there are many Bible passages that confirmed to us that hell is beneath the earth.
The Bible indeed established to us that hell is beneath the hell and not in heaven.
Check these scriptures about the location of hell: (Psalm 86:13, Proverbs 9:18, Proverbs 15:24, Isaiah 14:15, Ezekiel 31:16, and Amos 9:2.
All the verses I referenced here above said that Hell is a pit beneath the earth, not in Heaven. Even the word pit alone is okay to know that hell is not in heaven.
Don’t also forget that in the book of John, chapter 3 verse 13, Jesus himself said that nobody has ever ascended into heaven except only Him. Go and read John 3:13.
Now, remember the Bible gave account of the rich man and Lazarus in the book of luke early quoted above where it was stated that the rich man was in hell and that Lazarus was in Abraham blossom (paradise). The verses said they (both Lazarus and the rich man, including our Father Abraham saw themselves face to face but they cannot meet one another bcos a gulf separated them. What that means is that paradise and hell share thesame boundary.
It shows that hell is in the same location as paradise ( direct opposite). It is very straightforward that both hell and paradise are beneath the earth. If they shared boundary and Bible already said hell is beneath, then why would you think paradise is in heaven. The same Jesus said nobody has ever gone to heaven in John 3:13. So why will anyone think paradise is in Heaven or that hell is in Heaven especially when we have Bible passages that say otherwise?
When Jesus died, the Bible did not say he went to heaven to conquer death but the Bible said he went to the land of the dead to conquer death and became the firstborn of the dead.
Before he died, he promised the thief on the cross to meet him in paradise. He did not say meet me in heaven.
He went to paradise (the abode of the saints and also went to hell to conquer death (the abode of dead sinners).
This means paradise is located beneath the earth as hell.
The land of the dead is certainly not on earth but in the world beneath the surface of the earth. The Bible also confirmed to us that Jesus descended to the lower part of the earth( beneath the earth) when he died. See Ephesians 4:9-10.
Recall we said earlier that Jesus went to paradise in the land of the dead saint when he died before he resurrected and rose to heaven. So, paradise and hell are both located beneath the earth and they are located in the same place (direct opposite as seen in the story of Lazarus and the rich man in the book of Luke 16, where paradise was figuratively described as Abraham’s bosom.
Now, some people will ask about what happened to paradise after Jesus completed the redemption work, resurrected and ascended to Heaven? Many will ask this question, suggesting that paradise may have been relocated after redemption work of Christ. But I disagree.
This is because after our Lord Jesus Christ completed redemption work and resurrected, the Bible said that the graves were opened and that many bodies of the saints rose up from the grave and entered into the Holy City with Christ to appear unto many.
Let’s produce Mathew 27:52-53 which says: “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
Is this passage suggesting that paradise was relocated to Heaven after resurrection? The answer is No. Then where were the dead saints who rose from the graves and followed Jesus Christ to the holy city (Jerusalem) after the resurrection?
The Bible only said that the dead that rose with him entered into the holy city with him . The Holy city here is Jerusalem and not paradise. Unfortunately, the Bible remains silent about the whereabouts of the Saints who rose from the dead when Jesus resurrected.
According to the story, Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after his resurrection in the presence of his disciples and there is no Biblical account that said He (Jesus) resurrected with the dead saints who followed him to the Holy City and appeared to many people.
There is nowhere it was stated in the scriptures that those who rose from the graves ascended with Jesus Christ to Heaven. Probably, they might have reunited with their family following their appearance in the Holy City, Jerusalem.
Also, there is no proof that Paradise or hell was relocated to heaven after Christ redemption work.
So, paradise and hell are not in heaven based on scriptural proofs and revelation. Both paradise and hell are located beneath the earth.
According to Barnes’ note under Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the book of Mathew 27:52-53: He said, “There is nothing said of the reason why the dead Saints were raised. What became of them after they had entered into the city whether they again died or ascended to heaven, is not revealed, and conjecture is vain.
Above all, Please repent today! Give your life to Jesus Christ and confess Him as your Lord and Saviour.
Say : Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my sin. Forgive me. (confess your sin) I accept you today as my Lord and Saviour, come into my life and remain there forever. Amen.
Note. This is an extract of my incoming book titled “The Mystery of Creation”. Watch out!
Leave a Reply