... He then descended into hell upon his death ...
Slade wrote:
When you state this, are you implying "grave" when you say "hell?" If not, can you please tell me where I can find the concept that Yeshua went to hell (Gei Hinnom) after his death?
I understand hell to be Sheol, divided into parts. One part is not firey while the other part is a firey place of torments. There are two words used for hell in the Greek Bible, Gehenna, which corresponds to Ge Hinnom, being the firey place of torments, and Hades, which corresponds to Sheol, being the entire nether region of the departed souls. Josephus wrote an account about Hades which corresponds closely with what Yeshua taught in Luke 16. I do not believe that Yeshua went to Gehenna, but he did go to Hades (or Sheol). I believe his spirit and soul descended into the Abraham's bosom part of hell, and there he preached and declared what was happening. Upon his resurrection, I believe that he "led captivity captive" meaning that he delivered those righteous souls in Sheol to await in heaven the resurrection of their bodies, although some of them received their resurrected bodies immediately following Christ's resurrection. Following are some passages which lead us to this understanding that Yeshua descended into Sheol / Hades:
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.
(Matthew 12:40)
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
(1 Peter 3:18-19)
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Sheol); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
(Psalms 16:10)
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Hades), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
(Acts 2:27-32)
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
(Ephesians 4:8-10)
Peace be with you.
David Miller.
---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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