8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

Jesus did not commend the unjust steward. It reads as if he did; but a due regard to the context will shew the matter in a different light. The statement, "the lord commended the unjust steward," is spoken by Christ. It is not Luke's record concerning Christ. It is Christ's statement about the lord of the unjust steward.

‭The Christadelphian, ‬ Sept 1871

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Christ means to say that as men cannot in the nature of things retain the wealth they have,—seeing they are bound to part company when death comes, the course of wisdom is to so use them that when the day of reckoning comes, everlasting results may come from them instead of results of destruction, which are the usual results, for, as he says,

"How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God."

The Christadelphian, July 1898

The apostle James (1:9, 10) exhorts the rich man to rejoice in his humiliation, and the poor man in his exaltation; for the same power, operating in the minds of the two, causes one to rejoice in his humiliation and the other in his exaltation.

And we see this brought about when the truth operates upon a rich man, and causes him to open his heart and purse for all necessary things connected with the truth of God, for its confliet with error in this world, and to consider that he himself has been bought with a price; that the price paid for his redemption was the precious blood of Jesus Christ; and to consider also that not only was he himself purchased, but that all that he possessed was purchased with him.

When in old times a man purchased a slave, if that slave had any property, the master became the possessor of the property as well as the person.

In Roman law, the slaves had in fact no property; but he that had property in the slave, had all that he possessed. And so Christ not only purchases the persons of those who are purchased with his blood, but also the things they possess.

And they come into a new relation to what they possessed before and now. While they were rebels and sinners against the authority of God, what they had was their own, and they did what they liked with it; but, when they are purchased by Christ Jesus, they should regard themselves as purchased by his blood, and that they are stewards of Jesus Christ, and that all they hold is held for him, and that they are bound so to administer their temporal affairs, that those for whom they administer them, shall introduce them into eternal habitations.

Christ says (Luke 16:9),

'Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.'

Now, 'the mammon of unrighteousness' in the Scriptures signifies riches; so it amounts to this—Make to yourselves friends who, when you fail, shall enable you to enter into everlasting habitations.

Well, we naturally ask, How can riches be used, so as to influence the only parties that can give us an introduction into everlasting habitations? Well, the apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy, tells us how that may be done. In 1 Tim. 6:17, he says,

'Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.'

Charge them 'that they do good, that they be rich in good works; ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time (or age) to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.'

That is the way that, scripturally, the rich man can make use of his riches, so as to make to himself friends who will be able to give him eternal life, or an introduction to the everlasting habitations.

Well, who are those friends?

There are but two friends in the universe that a man is able to make, that will be able to introduce him into everlasting habitations; and these are the Father and the Son.

There is no one who can give us eternal life, but He who has given authority to the Son to give life to whomsoever he will; and if we can secure the friendship of the Son, we are sure, also, to secure the friendship of the Father; and we thus have two very influential and important friends; and when the time comes for those that are here called the rich, to make a report of their stewardship, and to show how they have used their means in connection with the truth, if they have used them well, they will be rewarded.

If their riches are not used in connection with the truth, they may as well throw them away into the river, as expect any eternal life from the use of their riches, apart from the truth, for it is only in relation to the truth—in its belief and obedience—that their gifts are sanctified.

The Christadelphian, Dec 1871

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

8-10. It was good policy on the part of the steward to use his vanishing opportunity while it lasted, as to make it provide a future for him which it did not yield in itself. The point of Christ's remark lies here, that the children of light -- (those who embrace and profess the faith of the kingdom) -- do not, as a rule, make a similarly wise use of their vanishing opportunity.

They have only one life to live, and but a short time in which to use the power and opportunities they may have as stewards of the manifold grace of God. And yet, in most cases, they live as if this life would last for ever, and as if its one business were to provide for natural and personal wants. The consequence will be that, sowing to the flesh, they will reap corruption (Gal. vi. 8).

In this they are not so wise as the children of this world, who, when they see a thing is going from their hand, make the most of their chance, "making hay while the sun shines." That is the view Jesus wished to enforce by the parable, is evident from the remarks with which he accompanied it. "And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

The mammon of unrighteousness is a phrase by which Jesus defines worldly wealth. Why he so designates it, we need not concern ourselves to enquire beyond noting that, as a rule, wealth is acquired and used unrighteously, which sufficiently accounts for Christ's expression. The important question is, How can the Mammon of unrighteousness be turned into "friends" against a time of failure? The time of failure is certain, in view of the fact that everyone of us must shortly part with all that we have.

Death dissolves a man's connection with all he may have: and resurrection will not restore it. He will emerge from the ground a penniless man. How can wealth be so handled now as to be at such a time a "friend" providing us "everlasting habitations?". Jesus indicates the answer in saying, "He that is faithful in that which is least (mortal wealth) is faithful also in much (that which is to come).... If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's -- (the property of Christ in our hands now as stewards), -- who shall give you that which is your own?" (what a man receives in eternal life will in a peculiar sense be "his own").

Faithfulness, then, in the use of what we have now is the rule of promotion when the time comes to "give to every man according to his works." "Unrighteous mammon" used in the service of God will be found to have been turned into a friend for us in the day of account, when we have no longer any control over it. How it may be so used is abundantly indicated throughout the Scriptures. It is not confined to any particular form, but certainly does not consist in bestowing it wholly on one's own respectability and comfort, whether in self or family.

The mode is indicated in Paul's words to Timothy about the rich: "Charge them that are rich in this world ... that they do good; that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Tim. vi. 17-19).

Jesus strongly recommends this application of the unrighteous mammon, by which a dangerous foe is turned into a friend. He emphasizes his exhortation by dogmatically asserting, "No servant can serve two masters ... Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The doctrine may be unacceptable, but it is true, as will be found in joy and grief by two different classes in the day of the issues of life.

There is no real ground for the difficulty that some feel about Christ parabolically holding up an unjust steward for imitation. He did not do so in the matter of the unjustness. The falsifier of his master's accounts is only introduced to illustrate the wisdom of providing for future need. The children of this world do it in their way, the children of light are exorted to do it in theirs, by a faithful use of "the unrighteous mammon."

Nazareth Revisited Ch 30.

11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Mammon is universally worshipped.

Let us beware lest we fall down before him.

Niggardliness may accompany a purse of silver as well as a purse of gold. When a worthy object requires it, let us not give pence when we are able to give silver. God's eyes are upon us, and He will ultimately recompense us according to our doings.

Let us seek the friendship of the rich in faith rather than the rich in pocket. Let us "condescend to men of low estate." Let not our riches cause us to walk on stilts among our brethren.

To regard the rich more than the poor is very displeasing to Christ. The Word strongly condemns such an attitude (Jas. 2:1; Job 34:19). Here again it is possible for the poorly-off to be equally guilty with the opulent. Let us avoid

"having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."

Crouching at the feet of the well-to-do is as contemptible as the lofty look of the money-inflated man.

"God is no respector of persons . . . in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."

If we would please God we must imitate Him. The friends of mammon will avail us nothing in the day of judgment. Let us remember that Christ was poor, that he was sent to preach to the poor, and that it is with the poor that God's choice mainly lies.

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, 1888

14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

A Free Gospel.‭—‬The Louisville‭ ‬Examiner tells a story of a church member who had always been more remarkable for opening his mouth to say amen than opening his purse.‭ ‬He had,‭ ‬on one occasion,‭ ‬taken his usual place near the preacher's stand,‭ ‬and was making his response with great admiration.‭

After a burst of burning eloquence from the preacher he clasped his hands and cried out in a kind of ecstacy:‭ "‬Yes thank God‭! ‬I have been a Methodist for twenty-five years and it hasn't cost me twenty-five cents‭!"

‭ "‬Bless your stingy soul‭!" ‬was the preacher's emphatic reply.

Herald of the kingdom and age to come, Dec 1854

Judged by the tests that men apply

Men ask if the thing is respectable, if the learned approve; if it is popular and well supported. A negative answer on all these points is fatal to popular approval.

It was fatal in the first century. It is fatal in the present century. Here we have the Truth.

..."Yes, but you have no respectable people among you. You have no learned men. You are a poor uneducated lot".

We admit the charge. We have no human credentials or recommendations of any kind. When our case is examined, it is found we are nobody according to the current standard. But we have the Bible; we know it; we daily read it; we understand it; we believe it; and we try to obey it; and what other recommendation will prevail with God at last?

Jesus (the rejected; the unlearned, the killed but raised again) said,

'If any man hear my voice and follow me, him will my Father honour."

This is all we claim; this is all we try to enforce, that the belief of the Father's promises and obedience of His commandments is the sole ground of acceptance with Him; and with this qualification, we can afford to be without those adjuncts that are highly esteemed among men.

Nay, we can see that in the present state of things those adjuncts are liable to be barriers and hindrances to the way of truth and holiness. God so works that His claims should not rest on human prestige, but on His own authority.

If the learned in the land are against us, that is in our favour; for God never has chosen the wise of this world to do His work. He so tells us by Paul. If we have no standing or prosperity, we say, neither had Christ in his day. God so works His works that no flesh should glory.

We see nothing and claim nothing but this: that we believe what the Bible teaches, and try to do what it commands, and cannot consent to any departure from its standard.

Seasons 2.18.

19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

It is a parable; consequently not a true history of two men, but a comparison or similitude illustrative of the truth.

...there is no evidence that the story had any such basis in fact. The Pharisees may have believed it, because from their point of view it appeared probable and intelligible, but they did not perceive all its bearings, nor could they. To them it was as a parable, but to us, it is impossible, and, therefore, a fable, and this may be the reason why in Scripture it is not called a parable.

Jesus evidently planned it from a tradition of the Pharisees, and under the mask of that tradition, turned certain particulars of the story to point to certain truths,

The Rich Man...

'...represents the "workers of iniquity" whom Jesus was addressing; and who at that time were "first," being the rulers and leaders of the people, and wore purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. These were they who sought to enter into the kingdom, but should not be able. They would then, when the door was shut, cry Lord, Lord, open to us! We have eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets! But all this will avail them nothing.

It was their malice that brought them to his presence; and their fears of the people that permitted him for a time to go at large in their streets. "Depart from me, I know not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity"—"Depart from me, I say, ye cursed into the enduring fire prepared for the devil and his emissaries"—this is all the response the "upper ten thousand" of the nation will be able to elicit from the King when he promotes "the blessed of the Father to the possession of the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world."

Nazareth Chapter 30

20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

It is not to be wondered at that the moderns should find the interpretation of the parables beyond their skill. They are alchemists like their prototypes of the forty-second generation of Israel.

The exposition of the parables relating to the kingdom is as impossible to them, as the analyses of the alkalis and of water were to the alchemists of the age of Paracelsus. The fact is that the moderns generally understand less of the kingdom of God than the ancient scribes, pharisees, and lawyers. They have resolved it into a kingdom of grace and a kingdom of glory, with an intermediate state, or not, according to their taste.

They tell us not to pray "Thy kingdom come," because it is already come. It came, they say, on the Day of Pentecost! It is the kingdom of grace, or the church; the very reign of favour itself!

Where is the throne? In reply, they point to the throne of the invisible majesty, somewhere in the milky way, which they call the throne of David, and tell us that there is the Lord Jesus reigning over the House of Jacob forever!

They teach also the Greek philosophy, or mythology rather, concerning souls. At the instant of death they translate them to heaven or hell—a theory by which the real kingdom of God is entirely superseded.

Pledged to this leaven they can see nothing in the Bible pertaining to the future free from the fermentation of immortal-soulism, and its consequences, an intermediate state with its separate localities for the souls, or disembodied ghosts, of the righteous and wicked dead.

As if conscious of the weakness of their theories, they seize with avidity upon every text (and they are but few) not to prove what they affirm, but out of which they think they can create difficulties for those who repudiate their dogmas.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

The Rich Man...

'...represents the "workers of iniquity" whom Jesus was addressing; and who at that time were "first," being the rulers and leaders of the people, and wore purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. These were they who sought to enter into the kingdom, but should not be able. They would then, when the door was shut, cry Lord, Lord, open to us! We have eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets! But all this will avail them nothing.

It was their malice that brought them to his presence; and their fears of the people that permitted him for a time to go at large in their streets. "Depart from me, I know not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity"—"Depart from me, I say, ye cursed into the enduring fire prepared for the devil and his emissaries"—this is all the response the "upper ten thousand" of the nation will be able to elicit from the King when he promotes "the blessed of the Father to the possession of the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world."

Nazareth Chapter 30

This parable illustrates Yahoshua's teaching in Luke 13

"Behold there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

The Beggar...

'... represents "the blessed of the Father," who in the forty-second generation were "the last," the helpless among the people—the poor of the flock—and therefore "named Lazarus," or God's help, for he alone is their helper, pulling down the mighty from their thrones, and exalting them of low degree; filling the hungry with good things, while the rich he sends empty away.—Luke 1: 52. of this class were the least of the King's brethren.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

***

The rich man and Lazarus is a parable illustrating a mystery of the kingdom of God. Now the question is, what is that mystery, or hidden thing, which it illustrates?

Our answer is, that it illustrates the saying contained in the thirteenth of Luke and thirtieth verse, and in the nineteenth of Matthew and thirtieth verse, also the twentieth chapter and sixteenth verse, namely,

"Behold there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

If it be inquired when and where? We reply, when the "first which shall be last"

"shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and they themselves thrust out."

If it be asked, what is meant by being "tormented in this flame?" We answer, to be the subject of "weeping and gnashing of teeth," because of being thrust out of the kingdom: the thrusting out being two-fold; first, by the Roman power when the Mosaic constitution of Israel's common-wealth was subverted; and second, by their exclusion from the kingdom subsequently to their resurrection to judgment. In short, what is testified in Luke 13:24–30, without a figure, is parabolically represented in Luke 16:19–31.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

They were full of sores and desiring to be fed from the leavings of the rich and ruling class of the nation. They were hungry, but their princely superiors gave them no meat; they were thirsty, but gave them no drink; strangers at their gates, but they took them not in; naked, but they clothed them not; sick in prison but they visited them not. These were their sores which experienced no relief at the hands of the purple-clad and luxurious livers of their age.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

22 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;

At the time of the supposed conversation the parable represents the parties as dead. It is a fictitious conversation between suppositions dead men concerning what is in relation to the then living; and what will be hereafter in regard to themselves then dead. We have an example in Isaiah of the dead holding discourse in the parable against the king of Babylon. The dead kings of the nations are there made to address him in these words—

"Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations.

For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the Mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms! that made the world as a wilderness, that destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?"

Here the dead kings are made to rejoice over their fallen adversary by anticipation; for at the time Isaiah penned this parable the kings were not even born, and Belshatzar had not fallen from the political heaven. It was written in the reign of Ahaz or Hezekiah, about 130 years before Nebuchadnezzar, "the destroyer of the Gentiles," began his conquests, and about 200 before Belshatzar was slain in the midst of his revels.

The parable was therefore prophetic of what should be when the time of the fall of the Chaldean dynasty should arrive; and so also the parable of the rich man and the beggar is prophetic, not historical; but an anticipative fictitious narrative, prophetic of what shall obtain when the kingdom of God is established in the land.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

I will believe the words of Jesus, come what may! He teaches that men are to be rewarded according to their works, when he comes and raises them from the dead. This being incontrovertibly true, it follows that between death and resurrection, men are neither "comforted" nor "tormented."

This being inevitable, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus doth not represent the relation of things subsisting,—being the righteous and the wicked in a state between death and resurrection. ... the parable is a shadowy representation of the reality that will obtain in regard to the rich-man class and the Lazarus class, after the resurrection of the two classes from the death state.

But another question suggests itself here, in connection with this contemporaneous comforting of Lazarus and tormenting of the rich man after resurrection, namely, where are the said comforting and tormenting to be developed?

... according to the parable, heaven and hell are within speaking distance!

Seeing then that we can get no information from the devil and his angels, we will now put our question to the holy Prophets and Apostles. Where, O ye faithful and infallible exponents of the truth, are the rich despisers of your testimonies to be tormented; and your righteous brethren to be contemporaneously comforted in the presence of Abraham, after resurrection?

Hear them!

"the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more, the wicked and the sinner."

Letters from Bro Thomas

Ambassador of the coming age, Feb 1869

The reader will remember that before the Judgment Seat of Christ in the wilderness of Teman, there were two classes of saints in Christ Jesus constitutionally; the one class consisting of "the called, the chosen, and faithful;" or as Paul styles them in 1 Cor. 3 12, "gold, silver, and precious stones," which are made manifest as such in the day when things are revealed by fire; and the other class consisting of "the called," but not "chosen," because not "faithful;" or, as Paul styles them in the same place, "wood, hay, and stubble".

The constitution and destiny of these two classes, though originally built upon the same foundation, is widely divergent. The gold, silver, and precious stones, of the New Jerusalem community, are fire proof. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they can dwell with devouring fire, and with the burnings of Olahm; fire having no power over their bodies to singe a hair of their heads, nor to leave its smell upon them.

Not so, however, the wood, hay, and stubble. They cannot continue to exist in fire, being in nature destructible. The judicial inspection of his house-hold, having separated the refuse and the vile, from those "accounted worthy to obtain of the aion, and of the resurrection;" the rejected, by virtue of the sentence pronounced upon them by Christ, saying, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into the aionian fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels," forthwith enter upon their journey to the place of exile or torment; or, in the words of Jesus, "they go away into aionian punishment;" while the righteous, by their being quickened, enter into aionian life.

Eureka 19.11.

24 And he [ The unrighteous in Israel] 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.

When... the poor brethren in Christ are comforted, the mean-spirited rich, their former oppressors, are represented as piteously supplicating the favour; but no mercy will be shown them; for

"he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy;" and "with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again."

If it be asked, what is meant by being "tormented in this flame?" We answer, to be the subject of "weeping and gnashing of teeth," because of being thrust out of the kingdom: the thrusting out being two-fold; first, by the Roman power when the Mosaic constitution of Israel's commonwealth was subverted; and second, by their exclusion from the kingdom subsequently to their resurrection to judgement. In short, what is testified in Luke 13: 24-30, without a figure, is parabolically represented in Luke 16: 19-31.*

Abraham being in the kingdom when this answer is returned, shows that the place of torment is not accessible at will, nor territorially continuous with Palestine; in other words, the Mediterranean Gulf separates the Lake of Fire countries from the kingdom of Israel. They are the countries invaded by the King of kings upon the white horse with his hosts of the heaven, styled, inch. 14:10, "the holy angels and the Lamb;" in whose presence the countries are kindled into flame; and the resurrected exiles, and the worshippers of the Beast, are all tormented with fire and brimstone; and made to drink of the unmixed wine of the wrath of the Deity, poured out into the cup of his indignation.

Thus "Death and Hades," or the condemned resurrected exiles, are cast into the lake of fire, which is to them "the Second Death;" for by the fiery judgments of the lake, death and corruption overtake them a second time, and their "sorer punishment" is consummated according to their works (ch. 20:13-15; 21:8; Heb. 10:26-29).

Eureka 19.11

This territorial lake of fire is "the place of torment" "far off" from the territory of the kingdom, where Abraham and the Lazzaroni "are comforted." The premillennial and postmillennial judgements upon the nations are consummated in this place; and while these judgments are in progress, the unrighteous who have died under Times of Knowledge, having been raised from among the dead, are driven like Cain from the presence of the Lord to partake in the torment with which the nations are being judged.

In the exegesis of the parable we confine ourselves to the rich and beggar classes of Israel; because it is concerning them alone that the Lord is speaking. The judgment of Gentiles must be considered under a different aspect.

The unrighteous in Israel of the forty-second generation (for we are considering this more particularly) will be raised to enduring shame and contempt; will weep and gnash their teeth at the cruel destiny they have brought upon themselves by their own madness and folly; and will be "thrust out" of the Land of Promise, and exiled to the papal countries as the place of their enduring punishment; where they will be subject to all the evils of the premillennial wrath and fury of their offended and insulted King, for whose death they clamored when Pilate would have let him go.

Then they were zealous for the favour of Cæsar; with Cæsar then they will perish, when

"God shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: for this is the portion of their cup."

In the parable the postmillennial judgment of dead men is not brought into view. We shall therefore merely remark here in passing, that "the rest of the dead" not raised to everlasting or enduring shame and contempt at the premillennial coming of the Lord; and the unrighteous dead, who, having died under the millennial reign, are raised at the end thereof,—these, we say, will meet their doom in common with the rebel nations, "Gog and Magog," which will be exterminated at the end of the thousand years.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

25 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.

They "shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and they themselves thrust out."

Now the parable represents a perfect and entire change of fortune with respect to those two classes; for Abraham is represented as saying to the rich Israelite,

"Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented."

Here it will be perceived that the classes change situations—the hungry are filled with good things, that is, "are comforted;"

while the rich are sent empty away, that is, "are tormented" even worse than the poor whom in their previous lifetime they had despised.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

26 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.

The parable brings to view two states—a present, or lifetime-state; and a future, or state of comfort or torment, as the class may be. The "now," when the righteous shall be comforted, appears to be when the two classes, contemporary with the days of his flesh, shall both stand in his presence, when He as King, attended by all his holy angels, shall sit on the throne of his glory. This has not come to pass yet. There must therefore be a resurrection of these two classes of Israelites, according to the words of the prophet.

When this happens, the rich will see the poor in Abraham's bosom, and themselves, like Cain, driven out of the country where the kingdom will then be "into a place of torment," in the parable termed "this place of torment."

But where will this be? "Far off" from where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets then are. Far off as to distance; and as the kingdom is to be established in the land of Israel, it will be far off in relation to that country; from which, having risen from the dead, they are expelled from the presence of the Lord. But this country of their exile is a place where an unquenchable, or an enduring, fire is prepared for the devil and his emissaries:

"for, behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many."

The Devil and his emissaries are thus alluded to in the Apocalypse.

"The great Dragon was cast out (of the heaven, c. 12:8,) that old Serpent, surnamed the Devil and Stan, who misleads the whole empire: he was cast out into the earth, and his emissaries were cast out with him."

This is a symbolic representation of what came to pass in that great revolution when the face of the Roman world was changed by Constantine. The Devil and his emissaries here represent "the Accusers of the brethren," or party hostile to the kingdom of God and the power of his Christ. This party reappears in the fourteenth of Revelation, and is referred to in these words,

"If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 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 unto ages of ages," (eis aionas aionon.)

This tormenting in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb, is the war waged between them and the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, or "the goats." The result of the war is thus expressed,

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, &c. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword, &c"

That is, the territory on which the dominions exist, symbolized by the Beast and the False Prophet, shall become a lake of fire burning with the flame of artilery in war. This territory is Germany, or "the land of Magogue," Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, and Greece. "I will send," says God,

"a fire upon Magogue, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles."

So that the lightnings of heaven will be added to the flames of war. This contest with the nations results in the prostration of all the thrones, or kingdoms of the world, and their transfer to Jesus and the Saints. This overthrow is described as the laying hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and the binding him for a thousand years.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

28 For I have 5 brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

...the number of Dives's# brethren as five, in order that he being represented as in torments, should be the sixth, the number six being the one in Scripture, judgment and suffering are chiefly associated with.

This prominently appears in the punishments to be inflicted at the second advent, at which the picture represented by Dives and Lazarus will become the fact. See under the sixth seal, the sixth trumpet, the sixth vial, and the sixth angel which came out from the altar.—(Rev. 14:8.)

Consider it also in view of six, six, six, the number of the beast, not as the exposition of its name, but as the symbol of her, who, like Dives, has been clothed in fine linen and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones and pearls, but is now being wrecked, ruined, and in fear of that torment, weeping and wailing hastening upon her, when "thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets" who have been trodden under her feet as the poor, the despised and rejected, will be comforted, while she will be tormented.

Compare it also as associated with the sufferings of Christ. On the sixth day he was crucified, six hours was he dying, and at the sixth hour darkness came over the land. So also with the sixth of a hin of water, as the symbol in Ezekiel for that scarcity of it which he prophesied was to come for a punishment.—(4:11, 16, 17.)

So far, therefore, from the passage, "I have five brethren," proving the story a narrative of facts, it but proves it a narrative of figures. And more than this, it presents us with a certain evidence and illustration of the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, from which we may perceive, in the microscopical view of little things imperceptible to the naked eye, the same author's finger, the same impress of the divine mind as we see in the bold outlines of Scripture, and the same great harmony involving the greater in the less as we see in the history of nations the evolutions of prophecy. *

Ambassador of the coming age, Jan 1869

29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

Moses and the prophets saw the kingdom of Yahweh afar off. This is the subject of the parable - a contrast between The poor in spirit who suffer now but receive the kingdom in the day of Israel's consolation, and the well to-do blind leaders who enjoy good things now and justified in their own eyes but unsanctified.

Bro Thomas - 'The Rich Man and Lazarus'.

This is the great lesson of the parable put into the mouth of Abraham. Jesus considers the claims of Moses and the prophets to be established on such grounds, that the submission of true and docile reason is inevitable, and in effect says that a man standing out against those claims is beyond reach of conviction.

Nazareth Revisited 31

30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

...the dead are truly in a state of death, not only having no capacity for any rational function whatever, but having no existence of any kind, except in the history which their life has written in the book of God's indelible memory.

It is the great doctrine of the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, that on the foundation of this history, their existence will be resumed by the Resurrection power God has given to Christ, at whose command the dead will be re-organised and come forth for judgment in accordance with what he may deem the deserts of mortal life; incorruption of nature and consequent deathlessness, with every attendant circumstance of glory, honour, and joy, being awarded to those of whom he approves; and condemnation to second death, corruption and final perdition to those whose case in his judgment calls for so terrible a fate.

Nazareth Revisited Chapter 31