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The Rich Man And Lazarus


Copyright by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.

Much argument has taken place over whether the words of Jesus in
Luke 16:19-31 were intended to be understood literally or as a
parable.  Some Christians feel that in this story, Jesus was
offering His hearers a glimpse of what existence in the
afterlife is like.  Others, citing numerous passages of
Scripture which seem to contradict the portrayal of heaven and
hell contained in this passage, feel that Jesus was teaching an
altogether different kind of lesson.  Unfortunately, many modern
religious teachers have isolated the story from its original
context and used it as a device for scaring people.  Religious
"conversions" resulting from a fear of hell as it is depicted in
this passage have indeed occurred, but are based on a foundation
sorely in need of the strength which comes only from a genuine
appreciation of God's character and a proper understanding of
Scripture.
To begin this study, we'll take a closer look at just what a
parable really is, and then examine the setting in which Jesus
told this story.  Perhaps then we will better understand what
lessons there are for us in the story of the rich man and
Lazarus.
The Random House College Dictionary describes a parable as "a
short, allegorical story designed to convey a truth or moral
lesson."  Cruden's Complete Concordance further expands this
concept, saying that parables in the Bible were used "more
generally than elsewhere."  We know that the Bible writers used
situations both imaginary, as in the trees asking the bramble to
be king over them (Judges 9:8-15), and realistic in parables.
Whatever form the parable took, it was only a vehicle for the
moral lesson being taught.
Jesus recognized the value of parables in teaching the  people.
He desired to stimulate their deepest thought and contemplation,
and He knew if He spoke too literally, certain of His hearers
would quickly forget His words.  Not only that, but others, for
whom certain of His parables contained stern rebuke, would be so
angered by straight speaking that they would attempt to silence
Him by violence.  Wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove,
Jesus recalled the words of Isaiah 6:9 and told His disciples,
"Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
God:  but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see,
and hearing they might not understand."  Luke 8:10.  Cruden's
Concordance explains:  "Our Saviour in the gospels often speaks
to the people in parables.  He made use of them to veil the
truth from those who were not willing to see it. Those who
really desired to know would not rest till they had found out
the meaning."
It is appropriate here to ask to whom Jesus was speaking in Luke
16:19-31.  Which category of people was He dealing with?  The
last verse before Jesus' voice begins in this passage tells us.
Verse 14 says, "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard
all these things:  and they derided him."  Jesus was speaking to
the Pharisees, a class of men who were notorious all through the
gospels for their refusal to deal honestly with Him and the
truths He taught.
We can be sure that of all the people Jesus taught, none were
handled more guardedly then the wily Pharisees.  They dealt in
deception and subterfuge, but Jesus dealt with them wisely and
truthfully.  The safest way for Him to do this was by parable
and allegory. Evidence that they did not understand many of His
teachings can be found in Jesus' prayer in Luke 10:21,  "I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them
unto babes."  Mark 4:33, 34 clearly shows that Jesus' lessons
were almost invariably couched in parables:  "And with many such
parables spake he the word unto them: as they were able to hear
it.  But without a parable spake he not unto them; and when they
were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples."
Now we are ready to examine the story of the rich man and
Lazarus itself, and try to ascertain the real message Jesus was
seeking to convey through it.
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:  And there was a
certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of
sores.  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from
the rich man's table:  moreover the dogs came and licked his
sores."  Luke 16:19-21.
Who was the symbolic rich man?  The Jews had been blessed above
measure by a knowledge of God and his plan of salvation for all
mankind.  They had received "the adoption, and the glory, and
the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
God, and the promises."  Romans 9:4. Only a Jew would pray to
"Father Abraham," as we find the rich man doing later in the
story.  The Jewish nation was clearly represented by this
character.
By contrast, Lazarus symbolized all those people in spiritual
poverty--the Gentiles--with whom the Israelites were to share
their heritage.  The words of Isaiah were well known to the
Jews,  "I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that
thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth."  Isaiah
49:6.
Unfortunately, the Jews had not shared their spiritual wealth
with the Gentiles at all. Instead, they considered them as
"dogs" who would have to be satisfied with the spiritual crumbs
falling from their masters' tables.  The metaphor was known.
Jesus had used it before, testing the faith of the Canaanite
woman,  "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to
cast it to dogs."  She responded accordingly:  "Truth, Lord:
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters'
tables."  Matthew 15:26, 27.
The rich Jews had hoarded the truth, and in so doing had
corrupted themselves.  Only moments before relating this
parable, Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees for their spiritual
conceit,  "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but
God knoweth your hearts:  for that which is highly esteemed
among men is abomination in the sight of God."  Luke 16:15.
What was to be the result of this terrible conceit?
"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; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  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.  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.  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."  Luke 16:22-26.
The Jews had enjoyed "the good life" while on earth but had done
nothing to bless or enrich their neighbors. No further reward
was due.  "Woe unto you that are rich!  for ye have received
your consolation.  Woe unto you that are full!  for ye shall
hunger."  Luke 6:24, 25.
Conversely, the poor in spirit, symbolized by Lazarus, would
inherit the kingdom of heaven.  The Gentiles who hungered and
thirsted after righteousness would be filled.  The "dogs" and
sinners, so despised by the self-righteous Pharisees, would
enter heaven before they would,  "Verily I say unto you, That
the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before
you."  Matthew 21:31.
The parable concludes with the rich man begging for his brethren
to be warned against sharing his fate.  Asking Abraham to send
Lazarus on this mission, he alleges that "if one went unto them
from the dead, they will repent."  Luke 16:30.  Abraham replies,
"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead."  Verse 31.
Jesus thus rebuked the Pharisees for their disregard of the
Scriptures, foreseeing that even a supernatural event would not
change the hearts of those who persistently rejected the
teachings of "Moses and the prophets."  The miracle of raising
the real-life Lazarus from the dead soon afterwards confirmed
the accuracy of Jesus' conclusion.  One did rise from the dead,
yet the brothers of the "rich man" did not repent. In fact, the
Pharisees even plotted to kill Lazarus after his resurrection.
His very life was a reminder to them of their own hypocrisy.
Today many Christians believe that the story of the rich man and
Lazarus is a historical account of two individuals' literal
experiences in the afterlife.  On the basis of this belief, some
people teach that those who are consigned to the fiery torments
of hell will never stop burning throughout all eternity.  As
with the parable of the trees and the bramble (Judges 9:8-15),
however, serious problems arise with a literal interpretation of
the story elements.
Can we believe that all the saints are even now gathered in
Abraham's bosom?  If they are, in whose bosom does Abraham rest?
And if there is really a great gulf fixed between heaven and
hell, how could the rich man possibly have been heard by
Abraham?  Perhaps more disturbing, how could the saints enjoy
the comforts of heaven while enduring the cries of the wicked
being tormented?
Another dilemma that arises with a literal interpretation of
this story could be called "the mystery of the empty graves."
If this is taken literally, apparently neither of the two
leading characters spent very long in the grave--both being
whisked away rather quickly to their respective places of
reward.  Their bodies obviously came along, for we find the rich
man lifting up his eyes, and desiring to have his tongue cooled
by a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus who was resting,
as we have seen, in Abraham's bosom.  Enough graves have been
exhumed in recent years to know that the bodies of the deceased
are carried neither to heaven or hell after burial.  They
finally turn to dust and await the resurrection.
From these few examples, we begin to see that in this parable,
Jesus was not trying to explain the physical realities of the
afterlife.  Instead, He was referring to the unfaithfulness of
the Jews regarding their assigned responsibility.  As stewards
of the special message of truth, they utterly failed to share it
with the Gentiles, who were eager to hear it.  In fact, the
entire chapter of Luke 16 is devoted to the subject of
stewardship.
Beginning in verse one, Christ gave another parable about
stewardship of money or property.   "There was a certain rich
man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that
he had wasted his goods."  After dealing with the principle of
being entrusted with material goods, Jesus opened up the issue
of being entrusted with the truth.  By the parable of another
rich man, He graphically illustrated how they had proven just as
unfaithful with spiritual riches as the first rich man's steward
had been unfaithful with his physical wealth.
To attempt to stretch the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to
cover the doctrine of hellfire is to miss the point Jesus
intended to convey.  The Bible speaks with unmistakable clarity
on the subject of hell in many other places.  Nowhere do the
Scriptures teach that the wicked will continue to suffer in the
fires of hell through the ceaseless ages of eternity.  Rather,
they will be utterly destroyed.  Jesus never would have
compromised the integrity of the Holy Scriptures by teaching a
doctrine contrary to its own overwhelming testimony on the
subject.
The truth about hell may be ascertained by examining even a few
of the many Bible texts that speak directly on the subject.
Before examining these, however, we must remember that "the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life."
Romans 6:23.  There are only two alternatives for every soul.
Those who accept Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice will
live forever; those who do not accept Jesus will die.  If the
wicked suffered without end, eternal life--however painful--
would be theirs.  But we know that eternal life is available
only to those who accept Jesus.
Consider these clear texts of Scripture that speak of the reward
of the wicked:
"But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall
be as the fat of lambs:  they shall consume; into smoke shall
they consume away."  Psalm 37:20.
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble:
and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."
Malachi 4:1.
"And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes
under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this,
saith the Lord of hosts."  Malachi 4:3.
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul:  but rather fear him which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell."  Matthew 10:28.
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in
the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned up."  2 Peter 3:10.
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone:  which is the second death."  Revelation
21:8.
Many other texts could be cited, but these clearly illustrate
that the ultimate fate of the wicked is death.  Notice that the
Scriptures choose the strongest possible words to describe the
complete annihilation of the wicked.  In no way should these
clear words be misunderstood by one who honestly desires to know
truth.  There is a fire reserved for the wicked, but a fire so
hot it will utterly destroy all who are engulfed by it.  When
the fire has done its work, it will go out.  Eternally burning
fire is not taught anywhere in the Bible--not even in the story
of the rich man and Lazarus.  (Some people have wondered what
the expression "for ever" means in the usage of Revelation
20:10.  Other similar passages demonstrate this merely to mean
as long as a person lives.  See Exodus 21:6; 1 Samuel 1:22;
Jonah 2:6, etc.  Also, the expression "eternal fire" may be
understood in terms of consequences rather than duration, as in
the example of Sodom and Gomorrha in Jude 7).
It would be tragic to miss the actual point of the parable by
removing it from the setting in which Jesus gave it.  Let's
accept the lesson He was trying to teach and apply it to our own
lives.  Are we doing all we can to spread the message of
salvation to others?  Do we have a genuine love for those around
us, and have we invited them to share our spiritual inheritance?
If we hoard our riches, like the Jews of old, we will become
self-righteous and corrupt.  In contrast, by active, loving
service, our relationship with Christ as well as with others
will become stronger and more meaningful.
Let  us not make scary stories the basis of our Christian
experience.  Instead, let us understand that "God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16.

Some Difficult Texts Explained

1 Samuel 28:14:  "And he said unto her, What form is he of ?
And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a
mantle.  And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped
with his face to the ground, and bowed himself."
This spiritualistic s ance has been cited as evidence for life
after death.  But here are points to the contrary:
1.  Wizards had been sentenced to death and banned from the land
(verse 3; Leviticus 20:27).
2.  God had left Saul and would not communicate with him (verse
15).
3.  Samuel was supposedly "brought up."  Other expressions:
"ascending out of the earth,"  "Cometh up,"  and "Bring ... up."
Is this where the righteous dead are--down in the earth?  Not
according to those who believe in the immortal soul.
4.  "Samuel" is described as "an old man covered with a mantle."
Is this the way immortal souls appear?  And where did the soul
get the body?  They're supposed to be disembodied.  Was there a
resurrection?  Did God obey the beck and call of the witch, and
raise up Samuel?  If not, can Satan raise the dead?
5.  The apparition of Samuel told Saul, "Tomorrow shalt thou and
thy sons be with me."  Saul committed suicide on the battlefield
the next day.  Where did Samuel dwell, if the wicked Saul was to
go to the same place?
6.  The record never says that Saul saw Samuel.  He received his
information as second hand from the witch, and only concluded it
was Samuel from her description.  The truth is that the devil
deceived the dissolute old woman, and she deceived Saul.  It was
nothing more than a devil-generated s ance.
7.  The enormity of Saul's sin is revealed in these words,  "So
Saul died ... for asking counsel of one that had a familiar
spirit, to inquire of it; And inquired not of the Lord:
therefore he slew him." 1 Chronicles 10:13, 14.

Matthew 10:28:  "And fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soul:  but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell."
Jesus clearly teaches in this text that the soul is not
naturally immortal.  It can and will be destroyed in hell.  But
what does He mean about killing the body, but not the soul?   Is
it possible for the soul to exist apart from the body?  Some say
it is, but the Bible indicates otherwise.
The Hebrew word "psuche" has been translated "soul" in this
text, but in forty other texts it has been translated "life."
For example, Jesus said, "Whosoever shall lose his life (psuche)
for my sake shall find it."  Matthew 16:25.  Obviously "psuche"
could not mean soul in this instance, or people could be said to
lose their soul for Christ's sake.  It is properly translated
"life."
But what of Matthew 10:28?  Put in the word "life" instead of
"soul" and the text makes perfect sense in its consistency with
the rest of the Bible. The contrast is between one who can take
the physical life, and He who can take away eternal life. Here
is proof in the words of Jesus:  "And I say unto you my friends,
Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no
more that they can do.  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall
fear:  Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast
into hell."  Luke 12:4, 5.
In other words, the word "soul" here means not only life, but
eternal life.  Notice that Luke says everything just like
Matthew except that he does not say "kills the soul."  Instead
he says "cast into hell."  They mean the same  thing. Men can
only kill the body and take away the physical life.  God will
cast into hell and take away eternal life.  Not only will their
bodies be destroyed in that fire, but their lives will be
snuffed out for all eternity.

Matthew 25:46:  "And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment:  but the righteous into life eternal."
It is well to notice that Jesus did not say that the wicked
would suffer "everlasting punishing."  He said "everlasting
punishment."  What is the punishment for sin?  The punishment is
destruction, and it is of eternal duration.  2 Thessalonians
1:9.  In other words, it is a destruction which never ends,
because there will be no resurrection from that destruction.
Paul says, "the wages of sin is death."  Romans 6:23.  John
describes that death as "the second death" in Revelation 21:8.
That death or destruction will be eternal.

Mark 9:43, 44:  "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off:  it is
better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands
to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
In this verse the word "hell" is translated from the Greek word
"Gehenna," which is another name for the Valley of Hinnom just
outside the walls of Jerusalem.  There the refuse and bodies of
animals were cast into an ever-smoldering fire to be consumed.
What might escape the flames was constantly being destroyed by
maggots which fed on the dead bodies.  Gehenna symbolized a
place of total destruction.
Jesus taught in this verse that the fire of hell could not be
quenched or put out by anyone.  Isaiah said "they shall not
deliver themselves from the power of the flame."  Isaiah 47:14.
Yet he hastened to say in the same verse, "there shall not be a
coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before it."  So the
unquenchable fire will go out after it has finished its work.
Jerusalem burned with unquenchable fire (Jeremiah 17:27) but it
was totally destroyed (2 Chronicles 36:19-21).
The flames and worms of Gehenna represented the total
annihilation and obliteration of sin and sinners.  With the
fires of Gehenna burning before their eyes Jesus could not have
spoken a more graphic word to the Pharisees to describe the
final total destruction of sinners.
Those who cite this text to support their doctrine of the
natural immortality of the soul are thrown into a real dilemma.
Why?  Because the fire and worms are working, not upon
disembodied souls, but bodies!  In Matthew 5:30 Christ said,
"the whole body" would be cast into hell.
In Isaiah 66:24 the same Gehenna picture of hell is presented
with the unquenchable flame and the destroying worms.  But in
this case the word "carcasses" is used, revealing the fact that
the fire consumes dead bodies, not disembodied souls.
Luke 23:43:  "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee,
To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Some have assumed from this verse that souls go to their reward
immediately after death, contrary to scores of other Bible
texts.  But notice two things wrong with this assumption.
First, even though Jesus told the thief "verily I say unto thee,
To day shalt thou be with me in paradise," three days later He
told Mary that He had not yet ascended to His Father.  Here is
the evidence that His Father was in Paradise:  Revelation 2:7
says the tree of life "is in the midst of the paradise of God,"
and Revelation 22:1, 2 describes the tree of life by the side of
the river of life which flows, in turn, from the throne of God.
So there is no question about Paradise being where the Father's
throne is located.  The question is:  How could Jesus tell the
thief that he would be with Him in Paradise that day, when He
did not go there until three days later?
In the second place, Jesus and the thief did not even die on the
same day.  When the soldiers came just before sunset to take the
bodies off the cross, Jesus was already dead (John 19:32-34).
The thieves were very much alive, and their legs were broken to
hasten death and to prevent them from escaping.  They
undoubtedly lived on past sunset into the hours of the Sabbath
and possibly longer. So how could Jesus assure the thief of
being with Him in Paradise that day when they did not both die
on "that day"?
The apparent contradictions clear up when we consider that the
punctuation of Luke 23:43 was added by uninspired men when our
English Bible was translated.  They placed a comma before the
word "today,"  when in reality it should have been placed after
"today."  Then the verse would correctly read, "Verily I say
unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise."  In other
words, Jesus was saying, "I give you the assurance today, when
it seems I can save no man; today when my own disciples have
forsaken me and I'm dying as a criminal dies--yet I assure you
of salvation right now."
Please notice that the thief did not ask to be taken to Paradise
then.  He asked, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom."  That's exactly when he will be remembered and taken
into that Kingdom.

2 Corinthians 5:6, 8:  "Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord: ... We are confident, I say, and willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."
In verses 1-8, Paul is contrasting the present mortal state with
the future immortal life in Heaven. Notice the expressions he
uses for the two conditions:

MORTAL    IMMORTAL

earthly house    building of God
this tabernacle    house not made with hands
mortality    our house from Heaven
in the body    absent from the body
absent from the Lord    present with the Lord
He also speaks of being clothed with "our house which is from
heaven," (verse 2) and again, he longs "that mortality might be
swallowed up of life." Verse 4.  But the key to the entire
discourse lies in the description of a third condition.  After
desiring to be clothed upon with immortality, Paul states that
"being clothed we shall not be found naked."  Verse 3.  Putting
it yet another way, he said, "not for that we would be
unclothed." Verse 4.
Clearly the naked or unclothed state was neither mortality nor
immortality but death and the grave.  Paul realized that one did
not pass instantly from being clothed with this tabernacle into
being clothed with our house from Heaven.  Death and the grave
came in between, and he referred to it as being unclothed and
naked.
In another text  Paul spelled out exactly when that change from
mortality would take place.  In 1 Corinthians 15:52, 53 he
wrote, "the trumpet shall sound ... and this mortal must put on
immortality."  That will be when Jesus comes.

1 Peter 3:18-20:  "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;
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing,
wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
There has been considerable misunderstanding of these verses of
Scripture.  It has been preached that Christ actually descended
into the lower regions of the earth and preached to lost souls
that were in prison in some purgatory or limbo.  This is very
far from what the text actually says.   Let's look at it closely
now and get the real message of these verses. It says, "Christ
hath once suffered for sin 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. ..." First of all, notice how Christ
preached to those spirits in prison. He did it by the Spirit,
and that word is capitalized in your Bible. It actually refers
to the Holy Spirit. So whatever Christ did in preaching during
this period of time, He did it through or by the Holy Spirit.
With that in view, let's ask this: When was the preaching done?
The answer is plainly given in verse 20,  "When once the
longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark
was a preparing."  So the preaching was actually done while the
ark was being built--during the preaching of Noah to that
antediluvian world.  Now, one more question:  To whom was the
preaching done?  The text says here "to the spirits in prison."
Throughout the Bible we find this terminology used in describing
those who are bound in the prison house of sin.  David prayed
"Bring my soul out of prison."  Psalm 142:7.  Paul spoke of his
experience in these words, "bringing me into captivity to the
law of sin."  Romans 7:23.
What Peter is telling us here is simply that Christ through the
Holy Spirit was present while Noah preached;  Christ was there
through the Holy Spirit to speak conviction to their hearts and
appeal to them to come into the ark.  There is absolutely
nothing here which indicates that Jesus departed from the body
during the time He was dead to go to any subterranean place to
minister to wicked spirits.  The three questions are clearly
answered in the text itself, that He preached by the Holy
Spirit, He did it while the ark was preparing, and He did it to
the spirits in prison or to those individuals whose sinful lives
were bound in the prison house of sin.

Revelation 14:10, 11:  "the same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup
of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the
presence of the Lamb:  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth
up for ever and ever:  and they have no rest day nor night, who
worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the
mark of his name."
The words "for ever" do not necessarily mean "without end."  In
fact, the Bible uses the term fifty-six times ("For ever" can be
found in your biblical concordance under "Ever") in connection
with the things which have already ended.  In Exodus 21:1-6 the
Hebrew servant was to serve his master "for ever," but it was
obviously only as long as he lived.  Hannah took her son Samuel
to God's house to abide "for ever," but she plainly limited that
time to "as long as he liveth."  1 Samuel 1:22, 28.
The term is clearly defined in Psalms 48:14, "For this God is
our God for ever and ever:  he will be our guide even unto
death."  The desolation of Edom was to continue "for ever and
ever."  Isaiah 34:10.  Christ is called "a priest for ever"
(Hebrews 5:6), yet after sin is blotted out, Christ's work as a
priest will end.  The Bible states, "The wicked ... shall be
destroyed for ever."  Psalm 92:7.

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