THE ADVENT TRUTH.
August 19th

Many claim the story of the rich man and Lazarus proves eternal torment because Jesus used proper names. But using names or places doesn’t make a parable literal.

Isaiah 28:10 says: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Truth must be confirmed across Scripture, not built on one isolated passage. And nowhere else in the Bible do we see souls talking across a gulf of fire, asking for water on their tongue. That’s because the point of the parable was to show that if people reject God’s Word, even a miracle of someone rising from the dead won’t convince them (Luke 16:31).

When we compare line upon line, the Bible is clear—hellfire is not eternal torment. The wicked are consumed and destroyed:
• “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be” (Psalm 37:10).
• “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).
• “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
• “They shall be as though they had not been” (Obadiah 1:16).
• “They shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up… and ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet” (Malachi 4:1, 3).
• Even Revelation 20:14 shows death and hell are cast into the lake of fire—meaning hell itself is destroyed.

This is why the Bible calls it the “second death” (Revelation 20:6, 14). Not eternal life in torment, but the opposite of eternal life—death.

So no, the use of Lazarus’ name doesn’t make the story literal. And no, the Bible does not teach eternal torment. When we follow Isaiah’s command for “line upon line,” the evidence is overwhelming: God is just, hellfire destroys, and eternal life is only for the redeemed.