When Heaven was empty

What happened to those who died before Christ came?


Romans 3:23 tells us ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. Psalm 14:6 confirms that ‘None is good, no not one’. Romans 14:12 tells us that ‘all of us will give an account of ourselves to God’.

We are sinners because we have broken God’s law, the 10 commandments, therefore when we stand before God, we will be deemed guilty of breaking His law. Because of this we cannot be in the presence of God, nor have a relationship with Him, nor enter Heaven. On earth, justice tells us that if you break the law you are to be punished. This is correct, however the reason for God’s punishment goes much further than this. God is perfect and we are not. Hebrews 12:29 describes God as ‘a consuming Fire’. His very nature is that of fire. If we, a sinner were to come into God’s presence we would be burned to ash in an instant. It is literally impossible for somebody who is sinful to be in the presence of God, who is perfect. God cannot look upon sin whatsoever. If we turn to the OT, we can see in Exodus at the giving of the 10 commandments on Mount Horeb, God instructed Moses to stand behind the cleft of the rock in order to protect himself from God’s glory. If Moses were to see God face to face he would surely die.

John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world, that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever shall believe on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Christ was perfect. He was able to keep God’s law, therefore He was a sufficient sacrifice to take away the sins of us all, much more sufficient than those animal sacrifices the Jews had to continuously make when coming before God. 1 Peter 3:18 tells us ‘Christ died for sins once for all’, past, present and future. Christ has taken the punishment that we deserve and paid the price. This is called grace. It means an undeserved gift. Something that is impossible to earn by our own merit, because our attempts are futile. As stated above, none are good, no not one. However Jesus is, therefore if we recognise He is the Son of God, who died in our place and we follow Him He will be faithful and answer that call (1 John 1:9). This means that when we stand before God, no longer will God look upon us the sinner, but upon His perfect Son within us who has already paid the punishment we deserve. If the punishment has been paid then we are free. Jesus acts as our Rock. Just as Moses stood behind the rock for protection from God’s glory, our sinful selves are protected by the Rock of Jesus. It is through Christ that we are able to enter heaven.

Christ is the only way to heaven. John 14:6 states: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 3:3 states: “Verily, verily I say to you, nobody can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:13 states: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man.”

Now according to genealogy, the world was around for about 4,000 years before Christ. Therefore it leads to the question, if you can only enter heaven through Christ, what happened to those who died before Christ came?

Before Christ, there was a place called Paradise, referred to as Abraham’s Bosom. It is described in Luke 16 in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus.

Luke 16 19 – 26 ¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell^[d] from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ “Then 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.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

This interpretation if paradise fits in with Biblical scripture. Sin is death. (Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord'). Now Jesus took your sin upon Himself and died, however Jesus had no sin, therefore death had no power over Him and could not hold Him. Jesus rose again on the third day, defeating death. In that time before He rose again the Bible tells us that He descended into hell to get the keys of death. (Revelation 1:18 ¹⁸ I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. [and] Ephesians 4:9⁹ (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first^[a] descended into the lower parts of the earth? [and] Matthew 12:40 ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.)

Many people question Luke 23:43: ‘And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”’ How is it possible that Jesus was able to make such a claim to the thief on the cross if He was in Hell defeating death? Even Christ Himself in Matthew 12:40 stated that He would go into the ‘heart of the earth’ for three days and three nights. The answer: Jesus would see the thief on the cross in Paradise that day, because paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom, was located in the same place; made up of all those saints who died before Christ came, to act as a sort of happy dentist’s waiting room until Christ came. One could imagine that the magazines on offer and the fish tank must have been pretty special to keep everybody happy for 4,000 years!

Read the account of what happened after Christ’s death in Matthew 27 ‘⁵¹ Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;’

After Christ died he descended into the earth to defeat death and to preach to the saints in Paradise, to raise them up and take them with Him to heaven. Now Christ had died and the law had been fulfilled, people where able to enter Heaven through Him.

Psalm 68:18 states “You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive;” By going into the heart of the earth and defeating death, the Bible tells us that Christ led ‘captivity captive’. Captivity is death, the hold of sin. Now through Christ’s death, Christ has defeated death and taken it captive.

Returning to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus we can see that some were in Paradise, happy and content, waiting for Christ to come, and some were in Hades in constant torment. Now the question raised is, what determines whether a person went to Paradise or to Hades? Well, obviously God determines this, but on what basis?

This question can be answered based on the same principles of the answer to the question of ‘was there any sin before the giving of the 10 commandments?’ If there is no law to break then it is impossible to break the law. The answer is given in Romans 1:19-20 “¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” We all have an innate knowledge of God in our hearts. We also have a God-given conscience that tells us right from wrong (2 Corinthians 4:2 ‘² But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.’). God is God. He is a just God and we know that His decisions are right and good. God is able to look into man’s heart and see whether He is good or not.

Returning back to who would go to Paradise and who would not, before Christ came, it was also determined by faith. Faith in God has existed since time began and this is what counts, not sticking to religious requirements such as circumcision that the Jews thought necessary to gain righteousness. Romans 2:26-29 states ‘²⁶ Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ²⁷ And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? ²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.’

It was faith that Abraham was able appear righteous, not circumcision or any religious requirement. Genesis 15:6 states: ‘⁶ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.’ As stated in Romans 3 righteousness was accounted to Abraham before he was circumcised. The circumcision was simply a sign of that righteousness he received through his faith in God. Romans 3:9-12 ‘⁹ Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. ¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, ¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.’ It was faith in God that made Abraham righteous before God, not the physical act of circumcision. Abraham certainly would have been one of those in Paradise that Jesus preached to before he had risen again.

Have a look at Hebrews 11 for a commendation of faithful followers of God in the Old Testament before Christ came.

-BACChristian