Interpreting Prophecy
Lesson 9The Intermediate State
This past class looked at the Church – both the organized Church, and the body of believers called the Church, as seen through the seven parables Christ taught in Chapter 13. While many observations can be made about the make up of the organized church, i.e., it contains both good and bad elements, we can conclude from our study that the church as the body of Christ is not present during the Tribulation Period and will return with Christ at his second coming.
This week will look at what happens when our physical bodies die, where do we go, what happens to us while we’re there, and so on, as we look at the next element in understanding end time prophecy called “The Intermediate State.”
Questions For Our Ninth Week
- Read Luke 16:14-31 and answer the following:
- Both the rich man and Lazarus go to the place of the dead – Hades. How many sections are there in this place? (verse 26)
- Could both Lazarus and Abraham see each other? (verse 23)
- Do Lazarus and the rich man have bodies or are they spirits without bodies? (verses 23 and 24)
- At the moment of death what was the basic difference between what happened when Lazarus died and when the rich man died? (verse 22)
- What sins did the rich man repent of after he died and saw what state he was in?
- Is the rich man in hell, the eternal lake of fire?
- What is Christ trying to teach the Pharisees in this lesson? (verses 14-16)
- Read Luke 23:43, where did Christ promise the thief on the cross he would be that day? Is this place the bosom of the Abraham in Luke 16:14-31, or could it be heaven? (Read Ephesians 4:8-10, 2 Cor 5:8.) In addition, Read Revelation 6:9-11 and 7:9-17. Where do these people go when they die?
- Read 2 Cor 5:1-8. Could this passage be telling us that when we die we receive an intermediate body? Where does this passage tell us we go when we die?
- What determines where you go when you die? (John 3:15-17)
God bless.
Yours in Christ
Wes