He will be called a Nazarite. Matthew 2:18-23.

 We ended our last dive into Matthew’s gospel with Matthew 2:16.

So let’s see what we can come up with after recapping the last verse. This will give us a foundation for the following few verses.

“When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.”
(Matthew 2:16 BSB)

While most will look at this and see an evil man, it is much more profound than that.

Do you actually believe that “our enemy,” Satan, did not have everything to do with this vile murder of innocent children, as he tried to, once again, eliminate, in this case, the toddler Jesus, that would bring salvation to all humanity?

This battle started when God spoke “prophetic” words over Eve.

Here is a side note for your extracurricular education.

Time, as far as humanity was concerned, began with Genesis 3:1-7. Time was of no concern, and no record was ever kept until this day in the garden. Why do you suppose that is? Because it impacted all of humanity, damaged by the genetic transfer of sin, and it was the beginning of God’s plan to restore a relationship with anyone who would choose to accept this salvation. If you are a thinker, I know I opened a big can-o-worms for you. Lean on the Holy Spirit; He will straighten it out for you. 

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” 
(Genesis 3:15 BSB)

Every time I see this word, enmity, I struggle to remember what it means because this is no longer a commonly used English word.

Webster’s dictionary defines it like this. “The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence.”

It doesn’t get real until you hit those words: hatred and malevolence. 

Striking his heel sounds like child's work compared to getting your head crushed. I would also note that the crushing of the head sounds like a permanent death blow, while the striking of the heel can be a temporary discomfort.

If this is the case, then why is Satan still alive?

The endless question. Because the entirety of God's plan will be completed, as it takes us all the way out to the judgment at the white throne, where it all comes to a final end. As a follower of Christ, from the catching away of the bride, we will live in peace from that point on.

In case you did not know, this relationship between Satan and the seed was guaranteed to go both ways, and what we see in Matthew 2:16 demonstrates that Satan does not care one bit about you and wants you dead.

Why? 

Because being in Christ and made in God’s image, you look like the enemy.

If you haven't noticed, God and the enemy use people to carry out many of their wishes. Therefore, since you are in a spiritual battle, attack it with the weapons of Spirit, the Word of God, and stand your ground.

“For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
(2 Corinthians 10:3-4 BSB)

If I have left you hanging, wondering what the weapons are, here is verse five.

“The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy's strong places. We destroy people's arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 10:4-5 ERV)

Do you see that the most significant battle always occurs in the mind?

Ask yourself, what are the things that can raise themselves up against the knowledge of God. Most are associated with doubt and defeat.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.”
(Philippians 4:8 BSB)

True or honorable things can only come from God as they are based on His moral authority. The LSV translation expands this to anything from the heart of God that is true and honorable.

“As to the rest, brothers, as many things as are true, as many as are revered, as many as are righteous, as many as are pure, as many as are lovely, as many as are of good report, if any worthiness, and if any praise, think on these things;.”
(Philippians 4:8 LSV)

Ephesians 1:3-9 (LSV) lays out many things that you could think about.

• “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

• “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,”

• Foreordained us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

  Honestly, I could not get any of my dictionaries to define the word foreordained.

  We should understand that fore implies a previous state or event, like before the worlds were created. Ordained is to be Appointed; instituted; established; invested with ministerial or pastoral functions; settled.

  Do you realize these are the things that God thinks about you? HE established you, invested His life in you for a purpose, and gave you the giftings to make that happen. 

• (We are) to the praise of the glory of His grace.

• (And, it is through this grace that) He made us accepted in the beloved,

• (It is because of that grace that) we have redemption through His blood.

• The forgiveness of (all) trespasses.

• (Because of His grace) He has lavished all of the wisdom and intellectual insight we need.

  Even if it doesn't seem like it.

• And, because of that grace – unmerited favor, He has made known to us the secret of His will.

  Some would say we can't know God's will. Well, you can, and He has made it known through the scriptures. A clue, as you read, you are looking for the nature and character of God. His Word is His will, and Jesus walked that out perfectly.

Several years ago, we used to sing a worship song that goes like this. “I remind myself of all that He's done.” I just spelled out many things that He has done for you. If Satan has you going in circles, it is because you have forgotten who you are, a child of the King.

Consider being proactive. Paul, in his letters to the various church bodies, told the recipients, including you and me, that the enemy is restrained from being able to launch total frontal attacks because WE, God's people, are doing everything in our power to resist the enemy. 

Well, that was quite the introduction.

Herod's interactions with the Magi and subsequent order to kill all the little boys in the Bethlehem region were foretold. Unfortunately, the intended person that was meant to be receiving the brunt of Herod's jealousy is not spelled out in Jeremiah 31.

“This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15 BSB)

If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, why is the slaughter, according to Jeremiah, focused on Ramah? 

• Potential answers lie in what Herod learned from the Magi.

• The star took them to the home where the family was NOW living.

• And the Magi were able to calculate His approximate age, about two.

The commentary written by Albert Barnes tells us that Ramah was the mother of three tribes, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, but Rachel is regarded as “the mother of the whole ten.”

All this about the tribes happened before they left Egypt, where the final few were the sons of Joseph. So can I assume that the ten referred to those born through Jacob? I am still determining.

Adam Clarke's commentary states that Rachel was buried very near Ramah.

The UCRT gives us a few additional reasons why there is such symbolism in Ramah. “(1) A city of Benjamin, where captives captured by Nebuchadnezzar were guarded, Jer_31:15; Jer_40:1, (2) A town in Mount Ephraim, also called Ramathaim-zophim, the birthplace of the prophet Samuel, 1Sa_1:19, (3) A town on the boundary of Asher, Jos_19:29, (4) A fortified place in Naphtali, Jos_19:36, (5) Another name for the city of Ramoth-Gilead, 2Ki_8:28-29, (6) A place where some Benjamites returned after the captivity, Neh_11:33.”

So there is a tremendous amount of symbolism, but for me, it is the place that the Magi identified merely by their presence.

“But when Herod died, behold, an angel of Adonai appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are dead.”
(Matthew 2:19-20 TLV)

Joseph, having been warned in a dream to escape to Egypt, did so. You might think that Joseph was an expert at prophetic dreams by now, and this is where they stayed until they were given the green light to return.

The only question left to answer is, where are they to go upon their return?

Why would I bring up the idea of where they should go?

Because their hometown of Nazareth (a relatively small city) may still be hostile toward Joseph and Mary, both for what the town folk deemed was their respective silence about their premarital activities or the possibility that Mary had an extramarital relationship. If you are struggling to understand or believe this, consider that Joseph took his pregnant wife to Bethlehem, his hometown, under Roman orders, to be counted in the census.

What would Joseph expect to find there?

Kinfolk. Kinfolk or not, NO ONE took them in, and they had to make due in a stall alongside cattle and their excrement.

For the longest time, I was not clear about the city they came out of. Luke's gospel solved that problem for me.

“In the sixth month (of Elizabeth's pregnancy), God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
(Luke 1:26-27 BSB)

You see, unless you have had vivid, clear dreams yourself, you are NOT going to fully understand what God has told them and what they were to do, and you may not want to understand what “God” has been telling you, such as, you are going to have a child without any human contact.

So, Joseph now has the green light to go back home.

“So he got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel.”
(Matthew 2:21 TLV)

Ah, so he does not go directly back to Nazareth. The land of Israel is relatively big; it only makes sense that they might have gone back to Bethlehem or Ramah, but I am only guessing.

But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
(Matthew 2:22-23 BSB)

1. It seems like fear motivated Joseph at this point. Just saying.

   Archelaus, being a son of Herod, may well act just like his father. You have heard the saying, the fruit does not fall far from the tree. So it would be reasonable to feel fear about this man. Nazareth was not Joseph's first choice of places to live.

2. Again, Joseph is warned in a dream.

3. “he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.”

   This sounds like this was the first time they had been here, but that isn't true.

   I pointed out some reasons that Yeshua might sustain attacks from people, which you can perceive as you read the gospels. If you, like me, had concerns about the abuse Yeshua might receive upon their return to Nazareth, then perhaps we should try to do the math.

   By the time the Magi arrived, Jesus was about two years old, and they were living in a house, most likely in Ramah. Joseph was identified as a craftsman by the Pharisees. The Bible translators assigned the word carpenter to the Greek word tekton, which means craftsmen but covers poets, artisans, and stone masons. Details about how they afforded that house are unimportant at this point. The family flees to Egypt, fully funded by the gifts that the Magi brought. 

   And there is a strong possibility they will return home to Israel when Jesus is about four. 

   At this point they have been gone from Nazareth for at least five years. Nazareth is not a big town, and people are always willing to remind you of your past, but we don't see that in scripture. This does not mean it didn't happen, but I think the damage may have been minimal at this point, and Jesus might have attended synagogue school unnoticed. 

   Besides, have any of them seen Jesus or pictures of Him as He grew to the age He is? NO.

   To demonstrate that there was evident knowledge and almost open aggression, I give you several scriptures.

   “They replied to him, “You were born completely in sin, and you’re teaching us?” And they threw him out.” (John 9:34 TLV)

   This comment, “you were born completely in sin,” is not a casual comment. It is a direct and aggressive challenge to Jesus' parentage.

   “We know for certain that God spoke with Moses, but as for this Fellow, we know nothing about where He hails from.” (John 9:29 AMP)

   His surrogate parents were from Nazareth, and Jesus spent most of His life here. They knew exactly where He was from, so once again, they challenged His parentage.

The law given to Israel while they wandered in the desert clearly spoke about illegitimate children.

“A person begotten out of wedlock shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall his descendants not enter into the congregation of the Lord. 3) An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation their descendants shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord forever,” (Deuteronomy 23:2-3 AMP)

Jesus, according to family lineage, was a descendant of Moabites through Ruth, and because of the silence of His surrogate parents, He was thought to be the product of adultery. Please don't get the impression that Mary and Joseph were wrong; they were, in fact, bold and brave, declaring that He was the son of God. Sadly, you quickly learn that no one cares about the truth, as they each have their own truth.

The Magi, what did they want, and why were they demanding answers from Herod?

 The next thing we encounter in Matthew's gospel is,

The Visit of the Wise Men

“Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod, the king, magi from the east, arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
(Matthew 2:1-2 NASB)

The Magi, what did they want, and why were they demanding answers from Herod?

One brother in Christ, who is very skillful in the Word of God, explained that one of the roles of the Magi was to be kingdom changers (Consider that this knowledgeable man had to look at extra-biblical information not contained within the pages of the Bible to make his valid assertion. I only point this out because a “brother in Christ” verbally lashed out at me, saying I do not believe that we should use extra-biblical texts and information to form our thoughts about God and scripture.) The Magi were the group of men that Daniel, as a young man, had been assigned to and eventually became the head of while remaining a captive in Babylon.

Seeing the size of the entourage and perceiving a threat to his power, Herod went into panic mode and called the chief priests and elders before him to tell him what they knew about this situation.

“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.”
(Matthew 2:3-4 NASB)

“When Herod the king heard this.” What did he hear?

“ Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Since when has the Middle East changed so that you can merely gather up a large, armed crowd and go rolling up to another kingdom’s gates unannounced and immediately expect an audience with a king known to live in fear?

It hasn't, and so I don't expect that was the case here, but the word was received and taken to the king. Now, what does the fearful man do? He consults the people who most likely know the corresponding answer, the Jews, as they should know the prophecy.

All prophecy, like a criminal court case, must have two or three witnesses; one of those witnesses is found in the Book of Daniel. It is not likely that Herod, being a half-Jew, would have studied Daniel chapter seven, as it plays a significant role in testifying to what the angel declared to Mary as he explained the function of the child that she carried.

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
(Luke 1:32-33 NASB)

So, no, Herod would not know these words that we see in Luke’s gospel as they were written long after Herod’s death, and that makes his fear and the lack of reaction by the elders even more peculiar.

The Magi, on the other hand, may have studied Daniel's words with intensity.

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away, And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”
(Daniel 7:13-14 NASB)

The reply of the Jewish elders is alarming to me.

“So they told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
(Matthew 2:5-6 TLV)

They knew the answer to the question, but do we have any record that they went there and bowed before this new king?

Not at all. Herod responds to this by double-checking. Perhaps because even Herod could see that these magi were taking this king being born seriously, and he called them in to speak with them.

“Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child. And when you have found Him, bring word back to me so that I may come and worship Him as well.”
(Matthew 2:7-8 TLV)

With terminology such as “determined from them the exact time,” Herod now has a ballpark idea of how old this new king is; and nothing will happen until they come back to Herod and give him the word of exactly where to find the child. Watch what the magi do.

“After listening to the king, they went their way. And behold, the star they had seen in the east went on before them, until it came to rest over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great gladness.”
(Matthew 2:9-10 TLV)

These magi had not yet found the child, but they will. They will not go back to Herod for the child's protection. Notice where the family is now living.

“And when they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Miriam; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.”
(Matthew 2:11-12 TLV)

Never once do you see the number three. What you do see are three specific names: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A key word here is treasures, as the quantity may have been great and enough to sustain the family for several years. We, because of the age bracket that Herod orders killed, would logically assume the age of Yeshua to be about two as they take off to the safety of Egypt.

“Now when they had gone (the magi), behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in a dream (so he has had a couple of these over the last few years), saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death. This was to fulfill what was spoken by Adonai through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My son.” Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became furious. And he sent and killed all boys in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding area, from two years old and under, according to the time he had determined from the magi.”
(Matthew 2:13-16 TLV)

Astronomy.com tells us that “On the morning of August 12 in 3 B.C ., Jupiter and Venus would’ve sat just 1/10th a degree apart in the dawn sky. That’s one-fifth the diameter of the Full Moon. (The December 2020 conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn will have an identical separation, albeit in the evening sky.) That wasn’t the end of the show, either. Venus and Jupiter continued their dance over most of the next year before finally appearing to merge into a single star in June.”

So approximately August of C.5, Christ was born. (I am still not clear. If time is based on this dramatic change called Jesus birth, all I wanted or needed was a time frame that I could start with. If this is based upon Christ, it would seem that this timeline information puts the starting point at five months. An obvious fact is that He was NOT born at six months old, we also know that the shepherds were with their flocks, and that tends to put His birth far enough into the season for shepherds to be working the flocks comfortably in the hillsides.) At the age of two, his family takes him to Egypt to protect him. History (and I must admit this is rather sketchy) records that Herod died around April 4 B.C.; therefore, it would seem that the family was only in Egypt for slightly over a year. The presumption then is that Jesus was brought back to Nazareth when He was four or five.

Why is this information important?

First, this has never been clear in my head, and that may be because no one ever talked about it. Secondly, questions occasionally arise about Jesus from toddler to maturity, which in the Jewish culture seems to be about age 13, a time when the sons are required to step up and learn their fathers' trade. Three, I made the mistake of reading Kahlil Gibran's book Jesus, the son of Man. The title alone should tell you something about the lack of understanding and possible disrespect the man had for Jesus. A point that Mr. Gibran tried to make was that Jesus may have been a malicious brat, as he allegedly injured animals and then healed them. Sorry, but that did not sound right then, nor does it sound right now.

After the incident where the family, while in Jerusalem, had to go looking for Jesus, a 12-year-old child, they found Him in the temple where He had been for two days, with the Jewish leaders, discussing the scriptures. Remember, all they had were the law and the prophets, and they were precious and expensive scrolls that only the richest of synagogues had copies. So learning was almost exclusively through repetitious hearing.

A problem with this entire process. If your child had a disability, would you focus on that, merely enabling that they lean upon that disability, or would you focus on their ability? In Jesus' case, He, by those who knew about His birth, would have been called a mumzer – an illegitimate child and those same people had a long history, based on the law, that allowed them to treat a child like this poorly. 

As far as I can see, Jesus, had He been known, would have been violently expelled from the temple. An answer to this lies in the outer courts of the temple, as these were accessible to even the gentiles.

The final thought on this tells us that after His parents found Him, and I am sure they expressed their displeasure at Him being lost, is that Jesus submitted Himself wholly to their wishes until He was old enough, able to take care of Himself and act on His own accord. I am thinking now of Mary. As the eldest son, Jesus would have probably been the one to care for her after Joseph died. Keep in mind that Mary continued to have other children, and several of them, including sisters, may have taken that role.

We don't see support from the other family members, nor do we hear anything about siblings until the day that they came to restrain Him – so to speak.

“When His family heard about this, they went out to take hold of Him; for they were saying, “He’s out of His mind!”
(Mark 3:21 TLV)

He conflicted with the 600+ added-on Jewish laws, but He was amazingly kind to the down and out while excoriating the scribes and the Pharisees.

“Then His mother and brothers come. Standing outside, they sent word to Him, summoning Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they tell Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking at those sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
(Mark 3:31-35 TLV)

If Mary (Miriam) had not been the surrogate mother of Jesus, we would probably never hear of her either.

I decided to post this, even though it is not, in my mind, done. I do not elaborate on this merely to convince you to think negatively about Jesus; just the opposite is true. If you happen to be one that thinks that every God aspect was little more than some high-speed download, I think that is illogical and works in opposition to His mission here on earth. Remember, He came as man and defeated Satan as a human.

We have learned that Joseph, "his father," was a righteous man. Some translations refer to Joseph as a good man. To be deemed a righteous man indicates that he was known among the synagogue crowd as one that took notes (just kidding) and paid attention. Because of this, he fastidiously practiced the scriptures with Jesus. 

So, how did Jesus become so knowledgeable? 

Joseph, his foster father. Let that sink in. 

If you do not know my Jesus, He is as close as your breath. Merely submit yourself to the greater power and ask Him into your life, then watch the changes begin to happen because the Holy Spirit has now entered, permanently, and will begin teaching you all things and showing you things to come. 

If the rapture has come, there will be no denying when that happened. (Yes, I know that the government has put it off on aliens taking the "bad" Christians off the earth.) 

If the church is gone, all hell will begin to break loose. 

• Constant rioting in the streets and death will come from multiple directions. 
• Those you thought would be on your side and protect you will be trying to kill you. 
• Injections will be mandated that are intended to kill you. 
• Efforts to monitor your every move will be demanded. 
• The earth and the water supplies will be poisoned. The oceans will be filled with death. 
• Commerce will come to a halt. 
• The economies will become digital and tightly controlled, but will all, in a matter of time, collapse. 
• This time on earth, as seen in Revelation six and beyond, will include God's anger against unbelieving humanity and the Jews who rejected God. 

Within days of the Church being removed, the antichrist persona will come to the forefront. If you have access to a Bible (it will be a forbidden book,) you can read about the emergence of the antichrist.

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and (then) that that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition,"                 (2 Thessalonians 2:3 Geneva)

Yes, I Americanized the old 15th-century wording, and yes, most translations use the phrase falling away. Just this morning, 3/11/23, I saw that the Church of England is now teaching four-year-old children, in their Sunday school class, about transitioning and perverted sex education. Try to convince me that we, the church, have not fallen over the cliff already. 

There is only one hope; it is Jesus, and if nothing else, make your life with Him personal. 

Trust me, once He touches your heart, you will want to tell someone about Him.

I cannot remember how we got to this point, but something got said about hell.

I know many who believe God has already thrown people into hell, but that has NOT happened yet, and, in general,  it will NOT happen until the great throne event at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. 

Why do I have the right to say that?

Well, there are passages like this:

“Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32 TLV)

“And you—being dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh—He made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all the trespasses,”
(Colossians 2:13 LSV)

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.” (1 John 2:12 BSB)

Do I realize that this forgiveness was established by Jesus' actions on the cross?

Yes, I do, but this forgiveness, in a sense, is just hanging out in there in space until you choose to accept that forgiveness and the Father's love through the death and resurrection of the Son.

So, at least for now, I can exclude Judas, who hung himself from hell.

(At the end of the seven years of wrath, the beast and the false prophet, along with Satan, will be thrown into the lake of fire. The only one that gets out of that lake is Satan at the end of the thousand years so that he can deceive the nations. Having done that, he is tossed, along with those he deceived, back into the lake of fire.)

So a common problem I see is that some of us believe we have been appointed judges and have the right to send people to hell. The fact that all sin was forgiven on the cross should shut many mouths or at least change their condemning hearts. But, unfortunately, I merely stated what far too many of us are willing to do, especially when this job of judging is for Jesus alone. 

Wow, is that in the Bible?

“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wants. The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son.”
(John 5:21-22 TLV)

There are two outstanding aspects of these passages.

• First, here is one you may have yet to notice.  So, not only does the Son do all the judging, but He gives life “to whomever He wants,” and He is NOT asking your permission to whom He can give life.

• Secondly, there are NO limitations on whom the Son can give this life to. 

So, I said, Jesus took the keys to hell by going there Himself and set the captives free.

This was met with what seemed like an angry response, and it went like this.

Jesus did NOT go into hell! After a few seconds of glaring, the person added it was the place of the dead.

A few seconds later, I pulled out my cell phone and found this.

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Revelation 1:18 KJV)

I am not a big fan of the King James version, but most who spent a lot of time in a church would admit that the KJV was not only a standard but the primary version most would buy. However, that began to change, and we saw the Amplified, the NIV, and the NASB enter the mix.

It sounds like our King and savior got the keys to both places. As attendees at church, we, for the most part, were content to let the pastor do all the studying, as we assumed he would never lead us astray.

With a conversation like that, don't you think the average answer would be Jesus took the keys to hell? But, when the standard Bible translation tells us that He did, there is a propensity to believe He did. And, there is no reason to think that someone did this and then slipped Him the keys so He could look good. No, Jesus did all that.

So hell is actually the Greek word hadēs and means the abode of departed spirits.

Since the KJV was the new standard, then hell would have been the common assertion and expected answer. Because we, as the church in general, DO NOT READ our Bibles, then we would never know the origins of the word hell, which we just discussed to be hades, the place of the dead.

I think we believe that the lake of fire is hell, but we do not allow for an abode of departed spirits. A common picture comes from Revelation 19:20.

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
(Revelation 19:20 KJV)

The final scene is found in Revelation 20.

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. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
(Revelation 20:13-15 KJV)

Something notable in Revelation 20:13-15, death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. Once again, we are constrained to use the word hell, which is Greek the word hades, the place of the dead. Is it any wonder that we call this place of the dead hell?

In “The Chosen,” there is a discussion between Jesus and Matthew about the substance of “the sermon on the mount.” Matthew humorously elaborates on this portion by adding you would have a city full of people with only one eye.

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-29 KJV)

The point here is not the eye but things that we cannot validate from scripture. In this case, the conversation leaned toward potentially being sent to hell over poor decisions. Hell, in this case, is NOT hades but an allusion to Gehenna, the place of perpetual burning or the lake of fire.

A piece of information to help confuse you is the narrative about the beggar Lazarus (a person that the audience of that day may have been well aware of) and the rich Jew.

“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;   (23)  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
(Luke 16:22-23 KJV)

Hell, as used here, is hades, the place of the dead. To the Jews, the idea that a rich man would go to hell is unacceptable; now, the beggar, maybe. But they also had the understanding that heaven initiated with Abraham's bosom.

Now, what am I to make of a statement that tells me that the dead lie in a condition of inactivity after what Jesus told us about Lazarus and the rich man?

A piece of substantiating evidence comes from King David. I am using the Amplified, in this case, as it typically has other defining terms or words.

- “Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, or disappointed, for I am calling upon You; let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the place of the dead).”
(Psalms 31:17 AMP)

First, an awareness that this was written in Hebrew, which used Sheol instead of Hades, which means the same thing, to define where David wishes these people would go.

The writer of Ecclesiastes 9:5 gives us a clue.

- “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing;..” (CJB)

To know is to have comprehension, care, or recognition. But the Hebrew word m^e'ûmâh, meaning nothing, puts the entire thought into the negative and implies that they do not know a speck of anything.

Another passage that affirms the prophetic qualities of Ecclesiastes comes from Job.

• Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.” (Job 30:23 BSB)

The general idea, it would seem, is that this is the earth as we return to dust; and yet, Job refers to them as living.

• He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
  (Luke 20:38 BSB)

At least, we can agree that there is an appointed collection place for the dead, and, since we should understand that the spirit or soul never dies, then even in hades, Sheol, or hell, depending on your preferred language and Bible translation, your soul lives on forever. Now, if you are a part of the body of Christ, then it's an entirely different matter, as, upon your graduation from this earth, you are in the presence of Jesus.

"having courage, then, at all times, and knowing that being at home in the body, we are away from home from the LORD— for we walk through faith, not through sight— we have courage, and are well pleased, rather, to be away from the home of the body, and to be at home with the LORD."
(2 Corinthians 5:6-8 LSV)