Scripture: Jesus said, “Between us (heaven)
and you (hell) a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want
to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
Luke 16:26 NIV
Clothes
on the floor?
Won’t close the door?
Drivers too fast . . . Drivers too slow?
Somebody snore?
Down to your last nerve,
And somebody on it?
Telephone rings, and nobody on it?
All stressed out, and nowhere to explode?
Ah! Yes; been there, done that, and more, too!
Little things can itch and annoy. Isn’t it the constant
heat that boils the kettle?
The medium heat that bakes to the middle?
The continual flexing that fatigues the metal. . .
Until something gives?
Such is the fate of the man in the parable of the
Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31.
The beggar, Lazarus, has had it rough in the worldly
life; the other all the earthly pleasures. Now, after death, their
fortunes are reversed, and unchangeable. No fine linen and luxury for the
rich man now. In the heat of torment, he can only gaze upon the glory that
surrounds Lazarus, safe in Abraham’s bosom.
The view of an unattainable heaven, and his situation,
will ‘bug’ the former “rich” man forever.
The author of the apocryphal and apocalyptic book
of 2 Esdras also raised the question of the state and treatment of the departed.
(2 Esdras, Ch. 7:75-87) In his comparison of Gehenna and Paradise, he poses
that it is not just the heat that will make the suffering so unbearable,
but the knowledge that they have scorned the way of The Most High that will
bug condemned ones throughout eternity. They will wander in torment, grieving
and sad, because:
They have scorned the ways of God.
They can no longer repent.
They will see the reward for those who are saved, who have believed
God.
They will acknowledge the torment destined for them.
They will see the dwelling places of the righteous, guarded in silence
by angels.
They will see others like themselves pass over to (hell)
to be tormented.
They will be consumed in disgrace at seeing the Glory of The Most
High, before whom they will be judged.
And you think something is bugging you now?
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