Luke 16:30-31
"And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. (oh, if somebody could just tell them what it’s like down here, they would believe. No they won’t. Look at the next verse) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets; (now remember this is an Old Testament economy, if they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets) neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead."
And this is the very point because men love night, darkness and disorder more than they love Light and Truth which only of the day and this is the meaning of Genesis1:4-5. What does God know? The human mindset. It’s no different today. My, sometimes I guess we wonder, if only God could just sort of manifest Himself in some tremendous way people would believe. No, they won’t. I’m afraid that’s true, because the vast majority wants nothing to do with these things. They want what they want and no amount of Truth will convince them other wise, they've been told what their great grandfather said in spiritual ignorance and they wont change or receive the Truth. They have what is called a religious spirit which keeps them unteachable and in lawlessness, in a state of darkness. Darkness is nothing short of disorder, take a pain of glass and especially the older forms, there are in it bubbles and waviness or distortions. Which may not be noticed until one looks closely at the glass and this causes the object looked at to be distorted to some degree though unnoticeable at first viewing or even the second viewing or possible the third. It causes what is the greatest sin, Unbelief!
Alright so now we can establish that in the Old Testament economy before the Blood of Christ was shed, since animal blood could not take away the sin of even the greatest believer such as Moses and Abraham, they went down into the center of the earth into the Paradise side of Sheol. But when the Blood was shed and the work of the Cross was finished, that now we see as Paul teaches in Ephesians chapter 4, that it all falls in place again so perfectly, and so clearly. I want to give you time to find it because you’ve got to read this with your own eyes, otherwise it won’t sink in.
Remember the setting, all the Old Testament believers have been going down into Paradise, only in the realm of soul and spirit of course, fully conscious. But when Christ says to the thief on the cross and I don’t have to have you read that one, you all know what He said. What did He say? "Today thou shalt be with me (where?) in Paradise." Not up in Heaven, in Paradise. Alright, now here Paul, puts the frosting on the cake:
Ephesians 4:8a
"Wherefore he saith, (that is Christ in verse 7) When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,…"
In other words, He took those that were in captivity down in that Paradise side of Sheol, and removed them. Now who were the ones in captivity? These Old Testament believers waiting for the atoning Blood. Maybe I should put it this way. They’re waiting for the work of the Cross. They’re waiting for Christ to come down in those three days and three nights and declare unto them as Peter puts it in his Epistle, "He preached unto them (what?) that the atoning Blood was now shed and He could take them out and now they could go into the Heavenlies into the presence of God because, because of Christ’s Blood their sins were totally removed paraphrased of course."(1Peter 1) As some of them had seen and were told it would happen in the future or a far off, at the appointed time and yes even the day and hour. And this is revealed in the phrase; "in the last of times has come or was manifest in these last times for you", or "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son," or "in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ," and finally this one; "but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Now the word "dispensation" means economy, stewardship, or how God was dealing with a certain group of people such as Israel because this is the focus of the Old Testament and with the New Covenant this has changed. It now includes both Israel on a one by one personal bases and the nations in the same manor a personal bases.
I maintain that at our redemption we are forgiven and God has sent our sins far, far away. I think the Psalmist puts it, "as into the depths of the deepest sea." Doesn’t he? Never to be remembered against us any more. Well you see, when that happens and you and I are so cleansed by the Blood of Christ, now we have no compunction with saying, as Paul does, "to be absent from the body is to be (where?) present with the Lord."
He doesn’t hold our past against us. He’s forgotten it, the veil of smoke has been lifted that caused separation. It’s gone and we are now fit to go into His presence. But the Old Testament saints were only under the blood of animals. And it was just a stopgap, as I’ve been saying over and over. It was just a covering waiting for the finished work of the Cross. Alright, now let’s read on in Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:8-9
"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?...)."
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