I have just read Ray's paper about this and it's like I've had a revelation, I'm overjoyed!
I might not have announced this yet, but I am generally over the fear of hell that I used to have already. But last night I got no sleep because I was worrying about life after death. Obviously I remembered Lazarus and the Rich Man and I was lost with it. I've read the whole thing today and it makes a heck of a lot of sense. I really wasn't expecting to find out that they represented Jews and Gentiles.
I just want to praise Ray for the work he's put into it. He darts back and forth throughout the bible, it's phenomenal. I probably wouldn't have spotted the things he did in a lifetime. I mean granted, some of it has already been researched... but I still couldn't have written that paper.
I guess if there's one thing that bugs me (because now all else makes sense), why does it mention that Lazarus and the Rich Man died and were buried? This is obviously significant, but I was thinking, does it represent literal death or a symbolic changing of the ages? If it does, then it's quite a weird symbol to use. Jesus never talked about any ages before the harvest in his other parables; or not that I'm farmiliar with.
- Ryan