by Sam Waldron | Jan 26, 2026 | Eschatology
*Editor’s Note: Below are questions submitted to Dr. Sam Waldron at an Eschatology Conference. Since these questions and answers could be helpful for a broader audience, we are posting them here as a series. Click the following numbers to read other parts of this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
… there is one final resurrection, as opposed to a premillennialist’s view that there are two resurrections. Is that correct?
It is true that amillennialists hold a general resurrection at Christ’s Second Coming. This is certainly what the three main passages that speak of the resurrection of both the righteous and wicked suggest. Here they are:
Daniel 12:2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
Acts 24:15 having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
In Luke 20:34 and Philippians 3:11, there is the idea of attaining to the resurrection from the dead, but Scripture is very clear that ALL are resurrected from the dead. If there is only ONE final resurrection, why would the Apostle Paul speak that he might attain to the resurrection from the dead?
As the above passages just quoted suggest, as to the general time of the resurrection, there is one resurrection. But in that general resurrection, there are two kinds of resurrections. There is “the resurrection of life;” and there is “the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29). This language, which contrasts the resurrection of life with the resurrection of judgment, certainly suggests that only the resurrection of life is a resurrection worth attaining, a resurrection specially worthy of the name, and truly a resurrection to new life. The resurrection of life is the great goal and the consummating blessing of salvation. This is the goal of the perseverance of the saints.
This is what Paul is talking about in Philippians 3:11. (Philippians 3:11 “in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”) This is the resurrection of the righteous unto true life. It is attained by the perseverance being taught in that passage. Philippians 3:8 calls for it: “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Gaining Christ in verse 8 is basically equivalent to attaining the resurrection from the dead in verse 11.
With regards to the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, do we agree that the sheep and goats are separated at the rapture? So doesn’t that parable refer to a different separation?
I do agree that the sheep and goats are separated by the rapture. I agree, that is, if you are talking about the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” Some of those who hold my view deny that there is a rapture. It is true that, if you mean by rapture a pretribulational rapture, then we believe in no such thing. There is no evidence for Pretribulationism in the Scripture. But the term rapture is derived from the Latin translation of the words, ‘caught up,’ in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Thus, since the Bible speaks of a rapture, the real question is, What does it mean by the rapture? It simply means the catching up of the living saints at Christ’s Second Coming.
All this being the case, several comments are necessary. The assumption of the question seems to be that the rapture is pretribulational, but that assumption is mistaken. The assumption is also that the rapture has primarily to do with the separation of the righteous from the wicked. That assumption is also mistaken. Yes, it is related to that separation—a part of it we might say, but it is not that specifically. All this being the case, there is no reason to say, assume, or think that the Parable of the Sheep and Goats … refers to a different separation. There is no pretribulational separation of the sheep and goats. Matthew 25:31-32 refers to the same one that takes place at Christ’s one and undivided Second Coming described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16ff.
Binding of Satan—I am not “tracking” with how this current “binding of Satan” is any different from the time of Job.
It is different in two respects. First, the binding of Satan in Revelation 20 is universal and affects the entire world. The “binding of Satan” in Job is local and limited to Job’s situation. Second, the binding of Satan in Revelation 20 has for its purpose the preaching of the gospel throughout the world. The “binding of Satan” in Job had for its purpose only the personal protection of Job.
I know when the dragon is/was sealed in the abyss, seals are very important. But I am confused. If John wanted to convey that Satan was COMPLETELY cut off, how would he convey this?
He would say that He is cast into the Lake of Fire. That is what he, in fact, does say in this passage.
But I think the questioner’s real point is that the language seems to be complete, but the New Testament teaches that any binding of Stan is not complete. He still is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). He still goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). What is the answer to this?
It stems from the understanding that Revelation 20 is speaking of a universal and global binding of Satan. We know what it accomplishes because of what happens when Satan is loosed. He gathers the whole world to assault the church and terminate its missionary endeavors (Rev. 20:7-10). Until that time, despite all his power, he cannot do this because He is bound. The focus of the passage is on the creation of a situation throughout this age in which Satan cannot bring up such a global and universal assault on the church that the gospel cannot be spread to all the nations. Once more, I urge the reader to look at chapter 11 of my book, which expands on this subject.
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
by Sam Waldron | Jan 22, 2026 | Eschatology
*Editor’s Note: Below are questions submitted to Dr. Sam Waldron at an Eschatology Conference. Since these questions and answers could be helpful for a broader audience, we are posting them here as a series. Click the following numbers to read other parts of this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Recently, I spoke at a conference on the subject of my recent book by Free Grace Press, The Doctrine of Last Things: An Optimistic Amillennial View. Following up my lectures on the “Two Ages” (See my book, chapters 3-5.), there was a Q&A in which I answered questions submitted in writing before the Q&A. I thought the questions I was asked were typical of the kind of things being raised more widely with regard to this subject.
It seems to me that a blog series addressing those questions might be broadly helpful. So here we go. This is that series. It should be noted that my responses may assume matters that are addressed in my book. If you are interested, perhaps you should get my book and read it!
The first few questions were from a self-confessed admirer of Pastor John MacArthur. I answer them gladly because I, too, admired this teacher of God’s Word who has now gone to glory!
“It would seem to me that an amillennialist/post-millennial view depends on Revetion 19-20 as being recapitulation as opposed to sequential. Is that correct?”
Yes, this is correct. Amillennialists view the Book of Revelation as recapitulatory, and this view is crucial to their system. It is also plain that the Book of Revelation has a recapitulatory character. The clearest illustration of this is the way in which Revelation 11 ends with an account of the final judgment (or at least some judgment at the end of the age) and the Revelation 12 reverts to an account of the birth and ascension of Christ to heaven (Revelation 12:1-5). Thus, and similarly, Revelation 19 ends with an account of the Second Coming of Christ, and Revelation 20 reverts to the binding of Satan by the first advent of Christ and His work at that time.
I was told that this concept of the linearity of history started with the Jews and continued with Christianity. Does it make sense that the Apostle would then have a presentation that involves recapitulation?
This is an interesting question because it confuses two different things. It is true that biblical religion holds a linear view of history. But recapitulation is not the opposite of this. The opposite of a linear view of history is a cyclical view of history. In a linear view of history, it culminates in a grand conclusion, climax, or consummation. In a cyclical view of history, it cycles around the same things in a “wheel of time,” and a final consummation is never reached. Cyclical views of history often speak of “reincarnation” within this wheel of time. Linear views of history speak of a final “resurrection” at the end of the age.
But recapitulation is not the same as a cyclical view of history. It does not teach or hold a constantly revolving cycle, but it holds a teaching of history that is like a spiral. Let me explain.
First, recapitulation is not a philosophy of history like the cyclical view of history. It is a way of presenting history that assumes a linear view of history. Thus, the Book of Revelation constantly speaks of the gospel age, which consummates with Christ’s Second Coming, but it recapitulates by looking at it from various viewpoints. But it gradually moves its focus closer and closer to the end of the age and what follows.
Second, as we have seen in the contrast between Revelation 11 and 12, there is clear evidence for recapitulation. There is even a necessity to recognize this feature of the book if we are to make sense of it.
Third, the seven seals (Revelation 5-7) speak of events throughout the gospel age. Revelation 20-22 speaks of the gospel age (as the 1000 years), but they move past this to a contemplation of the New Jerusalem and the New Heavens and New Earth. This illustrates the gradual spiral toward the linear end of history in this age.
Fourth, there is a great deal of evidence for recapitulation throughout other prophetic passages of Scripture. John Murray speaks of this in his exposition of the Olivet Discourse (Collected Writings, volume 2, 387-400). Daniel recapitulates his vision of the four Gentile kingdoms that hold sway before the restoration of the theocratic kingdom in Daniel 2 and 7.
What should our conclusion be? Recapitulation is a characteristic of the Bible’s teaching, but recapitulation does not assume a cyclical but a linear view of history.
It would seem to me that an amillennialist view depends on the resurrections in Revelation 20:4-6 having two different meanings.
This statement expresses a common objection to the amillennial interpretation of Revelation 20:4-6. Let me reply in several bullet points.
- The question speaks of “resurrections” in Revelation 20:4-6. This assumes that the “first resurrection” is to be contrasted with a second resurrection, which is not mentioned anywhere in the passage. That is likely a wrong assumption.
- The contrast with the first resurrection in the passage is probably not with a second resurrection at all, but with “the second death.” This is the explicit contrast in the passage. Revelation 20:6 only asserts this contrast: “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” This makes even more sense when my next point is understood.
- The first resurrection is a reference to the resurrection of Christ. His is the first resurrection as “Christ the first fruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). At their deaths, believers go to heaven to participate in the glory of that resurrection. The contrast with the second death then makes perfect sense. You either participate in the glory and salvation procured by Christ’s resurrection as first fruits, or you participate in the second death. The contrast is between the saved who participate in the glory of the first resurrection and the damned who are doomed to the second death.
- If—and it is a big “if”—there is a contrast with a second resurrection, then that contrast does not involve two different kinds of resurrection. The second resurrection would be, then, the physical resurrection of believers at the end of the age. This is what 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 speaks of as the resurrection of those who are Christ’s at His coming. Christ’s resurrection is physical. That resurrection is physical. On this understanding, there would be no contrast between a spiritual resurrection and a physical resurrection.
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
by Ben Habegger | Jan 19, 2026 | Uncategorized
*Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this series are not intended as an official statement of CBTS or a uniform position of its faculty. This material is offered in the spirit of faith seeking understanding and to encourage further theological reflection. As more installments of this series are released, they will be linked here.
The Problems with a Netherworld for Old Testament Saints
In Hebrews 11:5 we read, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” If Old Testament saints were not allowed to enter the third heaven and dwell before God’s throne until Christ actually died and rose again, how could God make exceptions?
11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
(2 Kings 2:11–12a)
Were Enoch and Elijah’s sins somehow fully paid for already in a way untrue of any other Old Testament saint? Such questions are well worth pondering. On the other hand, if the point was only that Enoch and Elijah were spared physical death, then Enoch and Elijah simply went to heaven like all other saints, but without the step of physical death. We can easily make the comparison to those New Testament saints who will be instantly glorified at Christ’s return, without the experience of physical death.
In Psalm 9:17, David declares, “The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.” Notice here that Sheol is the destination of the wicked in a way that it is not for the righteous. Some respond that this is just about David’s enemies suffering defeat and an early death. On the contrary, this statement is broader than that narrow application, and it points to the aspect of death which is punishment beyond the grave for the wicked. Sheol here seems to be, at the very least, death in its full terror under God’s judgment, and perhaps akin to how Jesus speaks of the wicked in the torments of Hades.
What of the righteous in the Old Testament era? What was their hope immediately after death? David’s words in Psalm 23:6 are well known for good reason: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Here there is the sense that, once the days of David’s life are ended, things only get better, for then he goes to the Lord’s house, the heavenly temple, from which David will never be turned out. Consider also Psalm 49:
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.
(Psalm 49:7–9, 12–15)
In distinction from the fate of boastful, wicked fools, the psalmist expects a quite different death. “God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” That word translated receive in verse 15 is the same verb which Genesis 5:24 uses for God taking Enoch. Enoch “was not because God took him.” The same word is used in 2 Kings 2 of the prophet Elijah’s translation to heaven. These two extraordinary events gave Old Testament saints the vivid hope of heaven. The same verb is used by Asaph in Psalm 73:24: “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.” He continues in verses 25–28:
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
Again, as in Psalm 23, there seems to be the comfort of guidance in this life immediately followed by heavenly glory.
Then there is the account of Christ’s transfiguration. “And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:30–31) Remember that Moses had indeed experienced physical death, and the Lord had buried him (Deuteronomy 34:5–6). According to the compartmental theory of Sheol, at the time of Christ’s transfiguration, Moses should still have been awaiting his release from Sheol, not experiencing heavenly glory (let alone basking in a visible manifestation of Christ’s divine glory).
The compartmental theory of Sheol/Hades claims that Jesus promised the repentant thief that the two of them would that very day be together in the paradise section of Sheol, awaiting Jesus’ resurrection.
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
(Luke 23:39–43)
The problem is that the meaning of the word paradise and its use throughout scripture refer to dwelling in God’s glorious presence, not to mere rest or blessedness elsewhere. In 2 Corinthians 12:2–3, Paul equates “the third heaven” with “paradise.” In Revelation 2:7, Jesus declares, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” This must be compared with Revelation 22:2, where the tree of life grows on the banks of the river of the water of life in the heavenly city.
Paradise is an anglicization of παράδεισος (paradeisos), a term in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek Old Testament) for a magnificent garden, often with special reference to Eden, the garden of God. What was the whole point of Eden? It was holy ground, where God walked and talked with man in unhindered communion. Paradise is hardly a fitting word for a place, however pleasant, which keeps people out of God’s glorious presence. But it is the perfect word for the heavenly place of full communion between God and his saints, Eden restored and perfected.
Here is the real crux of the issue: Did the Old Testament saints already have full forgiveness and remission of sins before Christ’s death and resurrection, or were they barred from God’s heavenly presence, though “saved on credit” (as some have put it)? Geerhardus Vos answers decisively (though I would apparently differ with Vos on the topic of sacraments):
The doctrine of the limbus patrum collapses together with the proposition that the Old Testament saints did not partake of complete salvation. If they had justification, regeneration, the full sacraments, then there is no reason at all for denying them salvation at their death. A local descensus ad inferos [descent into hell] has been refuted earlier.[1]
Indeed, Thomas Aquinas plainly wrote that this doctrine was required because the Old Testament righteous were still condemned for Adam’s sin. In Part One, Chapter 235 of his Shorter Summa, Thomas explains the limbus patrum as a punishment of sorts:
So His [Christ’s] soul went down to Hell as a place, not to undergo punishment there, but rather to release from punishment others who were detained there because of the sin of the first parent for which He had already made full satisfaction by suffering death….
When Christ descended into Hell, He freed those who were detained there for the sin of our first parent but left behind those who were being punished for their own sins. And so He is said to have bitten into Hell but not to have swallowed it, for He freed a part and left a part.[2]
Contrary to this explanation by Thomas, the apostle Paul declares that God put forward Christ Jesus “as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith… to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:25) God did not reserve punishment in the afterlife for the sins of Old Testament believers, even for the sin of their father Adam. He passed over these former sins. The apostle then adds, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26) In the very next chapter, Paul affirms that the Old Testament saints already possessed the same justification Christian believers have in Jesus. Abraham is given as an example of a completely justified sinner, as is David:
5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
(Romans 4:5–8)
If those who are justified now are without condemnation, even for the sin of Adam, then those who were justified in the Old Testament were not condemned for Adam’s sin either.
Consider lastly Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. Lazarus, a believer under the Old Covenant, died the first time before Jesus’ own death. And yet Jesus at that time clearly referred to Lazarus as one who believed in him and who therefore, though dead, already experienced eternal, resurrection life.[3] This goes far beyond the notion of a restful but confined existence separated from the heavenly presence of the living God.
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
(John 11:23–26)
Conclusion
The Old Testament word Sheol sometimes refers to the grave, sometimes to the intermediate state in general (that is, the disembodied condition which begins at death), and sometimes it includes a further reference to the place and condition of torment for the unrighteous after death. We have already seen Old Testament implications of a tormented existence for the wicked immediately following physical death; this doctrine did not reach its fullest clarity, however, until Jesus Christ came. Next we must examine the New Testament teaching on this topic.
[1] Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics, translated and edited by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), 1104.
[2] St. Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas’s Shorter Summa: St. Thomas Aquinas’s Own Concise Version of His Summa Theologica (Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2002), 303.
[3] This is not to deny the resurrection of the body from the grave on the last day, but rather to affirm that the disembodied spirits of the righteous dead have already entered the first phase of heavenly, eternal life (cf. “the first resurrection” in Revelation 20).
Ben Habegger first served in full-time pastoral ministry near Detroit, Michigan from 2013-2017 and has now been vocational pastor at Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Aloha, Oregon (formerly Glencullen Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon) since January of 2020. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts in Reformed Baptist Studies from Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. Ben and his wife Theresa have four children.
by Ben Habegger | Jan 19, 2026 | Old Testament, Systematic Theology
*Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this series are not intended as an official statement of CBTS or a uniform position of its faculty. This material is offered in the spirit of faith seeking understanding and to encourage further theological reflection. As more installments of this series are released, they will be linked here.
Second Explanation of Sheol: A Netherworld with Compartments of Paradise and Punishment
As was said in the first post of this series, “the word sheol is used in the Old Testament of a place to which, in some sense, both the righteous and the wicked descend at death.” We are considering two contrasting explanations of this word’s use in the Old Testament. Each of these explanations fits some instances of the word sheol, but not others. We have already seen evidence for interpreting Sheol as a general word for death and the grave. As we begin to examine the idea of Sheol as a holding place for departed spirits, I concede that the Old Testament concept of Sheol sometimes overlaps with the New Testament concept of Hades as a place where departed spirits are confined. Still, I object to this as the main connotation of the Hebrew word sheol, and I further object to the teaching that deceased Old Testament saints were confined in Sheol prior to Christ’s death and resurrection.
The Old Testament certainly lays the foundation for the clearer revelation in the New Testament concerning where the spirits of the unrighteous dead go, a prison of punishment until the day of judgment, and Sheol in that particular sense still seems conceptually associated with the depths of the earth. Beyond that, as has been stated, another component to this concept has ebbed and flowed through church history (and in Jewish thought before that), the understanding that (at least before Christ’s resurrection) both the righteous and the unrighteous went at death to compartments of Sheol (or Hades, the Greek equivalent).
It must be said at the outset that this interpretation is bound up with a certain understanding of Christ’s descent into Hades (or “Hell”, as English translations of the Apostles’ Creed usually speak of it). I will refrain from directly tackling that topic until a later post, though of course some of what I say here will tie into that topic. Though I disagree with the compartmental theory of Sheol/Hades, I will say that one of the most valiant and thoughtful arguments for the theory is a book titled Crux, Mors, Inferi: A Primer and Reader on the Descent of Christ.[1]
In the old Western church, the Latin phrase for such a compartment in Hades for Old Testament saints was Limbus Patrum. Consider this helpful explanation by twentieth-century Reformed scholar Loraine Boettner:
Roman catholic theology holds that Old Testament believers at their death were gathered into a region called the limbus patrum, where they remained without the beatific vision of God, and yet without suffering, until Christ had accomplished His work of redemption. The word limbus is from the Latin, meaning fringe or outskirts, and the limbus patrum was one of the several compartments into which first Jewish theology and then later Medieval theology divided the unseen world. After His death on the cross, and while His body remained in the grave, Christ is supposed to have descended to this region, delivered the souls held captive there, and led them in triumph to heaven.[2]
In harmony with Boettner’s explanation, Geerhardus Vos before him notes the connection between the doctrine of limbus patrum and the Roman Catholic doctrine of the sacraments:
The limbus patrum (limbo of the fathers) is the place where the believing fathers of the Old Testament had to stay in a state of expectation before the coming of the Messiah. After His death on the cross, Christ descended into Hades and freed the fathers. This goes with the Roman Catholic doctrine of the sacraments of the Old Testament, to which they do not attribute power to save, as they do to the sacraments that the Church now administers. The limbus patrum is a part of Hades, of Sheol, about which more will be said below.[3]
Here it may be helpful to note that, contrary to the assumptions of some, the limbus patrum was not an unchanging teaching since the beginning of the ancient church. Significant development and pendulum swinging occurred over the course of centuries. Charles E. Hill has written a scholarly book titled Regnum Caelorum: Patterns of Millennial Thought in Early Christianity. This book posits two competing systems of thought in the ancient church regarding the last things. Hill credibly demonstrates that the original logic for expecting an earthly millennium after Christ’s return (a chiliast or premillennial position) was often that the saints had to be “conditioned” in a lesser paradise before being fit to enter God’s presence in heaven. Related logic was often used by the same people (Irenaeus, for example) to say that the righteous dead (with some possible exceptions such as martyrs) still go to a holding place beneath the earth, since they are not yet ready to enter God’s presence. Over the centuries, such strands of thought seem to have morphed into something closer to the Roman doctrine of purgatory. On the other hand, others in the ancient church believed that Christian believers go immediately to heaven when they die, and that there is no need for an earthly millennium after Christ’s return.
Today, Christians do not expect to go to a Limbo under the earth when they die (though Roman Catholics teach Purgatory, which is a related but different concept). Still, there is a resurgence of the view that the Old Testament saints went to a subterranean place of rest and expectation when they died. Let us examine the scriptural evidence for this view.
First, the Old Testament does speak of both the righteous and the wicked entering Sheol at death. Second, some Old Testament texts might suggest that the abode of deceased spirits is inside the earth. Here is one example in which the spirit of a righteous man seems to rise out of the earth:
11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
(1 Samuel 28:11–14)
In verse 19, Samuel tells Saul, “Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me.” Though this could be taken as a general reference to Saul and his sons joining Samuel in death or the afterlife, the compartmental theory of Sheol sees here a reference to a specific place of confinement for departed spirits (though with different compartments for the righteous and the wicked). Few would claim that Saul was a regenerate man, and thus it seems extremely unlikely that Samuel’s words could refer to heavenly rest for Saul (who is conspicuously absent from, say, the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11, where even Jephthah’s and Samson’s names appear). Even compromised Lot is called a righteous man in scripture, but such a clarification seems strikingly absent for Saul.
Third, a few key New Testament texts can be marshalled to suggest a limbus patrum.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
(Luke 16:22–31)
The compartmental theory hinges largely on this text in Luke 16. Much is made of the ability of the rich man to see Abraham and Lazarus, though far off, and the ability of Abraham to have a conversation with Lazarus. It is assumed that those in heaven could not have such an encounter with those in Hades (though that is quite the assumption). Caution must be taken lest we press such details too far. Such a conversation from such a distance would normally seem impossible even if we accept the compartmental theory of Sheol or Hades. Jesus is telling a story describing the realities of death to make a point about the unbelieving Pharisees (lovers of money according to verse 14 of Luke 16) and about his own coming resurrection; but Jesus is accommodating his description to images we can somewhat comprehend. Unless the dead are given temporary forms of some sort, the imagery of Abraham’s bosom and the rich man’s eyes and tongue and Lazarus’s finger do not seem to be literal descriptions of disembodied spirits. We can simply say that Jesus is telling a story about heaven (where Abraham the father of the faithful is) and hell (where the departed spirits of the wicked are currently tormented). Indeed, there is a great chasm fixed between those two realms; yet Isaiah 66 even describes the redeemed in the eternal state viewing the wicked who have been consigned to the second death. Those in the lake of fire are said in Revelation 14 to be forever tormented in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb, though the holy angels and Jesus will have their abode in the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, and none of the damned will ever enter that city. When speaking of heaven and hell, we must be careful not to draw conclusions beyond what is written, conclusions which the scriptures may not intend to imply.
The apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 have also become a battleground regarding the meaning of “the lower regions” which he mentions there.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth [or, “the lower parts of the earth”]? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
(Ephesians 4:7–10)
This text is used by some to say that Christ at his death went to the “paradise” compartment of Sheol/Hades under the earth and “took captive” those who had been captives there (Old Testament saints), bringing them to heaven in connection with his resurrection and ascension. Indeed, at the conclusion of my own Master of Divinity work at Detroit Baptist Seminary, this was my written position in the detailed doctrinal statement each of us seniors had to write and discuss. Here is what I wrote at the time:
Individual members of the human race continue to consciously exist after physical death. Before the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the spirits of all deceased people went to the lower parts of the earth (often identified as Sheol or Hades in scripture): the regenerate to a paradise of comfort and blessing, and the unregenerate to a place of fiery torment (Luke 16:22–31). These lower regions also contain holding places for certain demonic spirits (Rev 9:1–11). When Christ died, he descended to these lower parts, both to proclaim his triumph to imprisoned rebel spirits (1 Peter 3:19–20) and to release the righteous for their ascent to the third heaven (the Paradise of God) (Eph 4:7–10). These spirits of righteous men made perfect now inhabit the Heavenly Jerusalem, along with the deceased saints of the church age (Heb 12:22–23). All Christians who die immediately enter the blessed presence of Christ in heaven (2 Cor 5:8). Unbelievers continue to enter Hades at death.
That’s what I wrote in 2013. Since then, I’ve seen significant problems with the teaching that the righteous dead before Christ’s resurrection went to a subterranean holding place. Allow me to explain in the next post.
[1] Though Sam Renihan has now tragically disqualified himself from the gospel ministry and has withdrawn his self-published books (including the book just mentioned), I still feel it proper to acknowledge this notable and recent presentation of a position I respectfully reject. Sam Renihan, Crux, Mors, Inferi: A Primer and Reader on the Descent of Christ.
[2] Loraine Boettner, Immortality (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1956), 102.
[3] Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics, translated and edited by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), 1103.
Ben Habegger first served in full-time pastoral ministry near Detroit, Michigan from 2013-2017 and has now been vocational pastor at Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Aloha, Oregon (formerly Glencullen Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon) since January of 2020. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts in Reformed Baptist Studies from Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. Ben and his wife Theresa have four children.
by Ben Habegger | Jan 19, 2026 | Old Testament, Systematic Theology
*Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this series are not intended as an official statement of CBTS or a uniform position of its faculty. This material is offered in the spirit of faith seeking understanding and to encourage further theological reflection. As more installments of this series are released, they will be linked here.
Introduction
This is the first in a series of blog posts discussing the biblical words sometimes translated hell, as well as a few close synonyms. The series will conclude with a discussion of whether Christ descended to the netherworld between his crucifixion and his resurrection. My goal throughout these discussions is biblical clarity in response to current doctrinal trends among conservative and confessional Christians. These trends, which aim to retrieve aspects of creedal doctrine, biblical supernaturalism, and ancient cosmology, revolve around the ancient idea of limbus patrum (the Limbo of the Fathers) and Christ’s descent there to free the righteous dead once he himself had died. I myself am persuaded that, notwithstanding its ancient pedigree and its array of proof texts, neither the doctrine of limbus patrum nor the connected view of Christ’s descent to such a place are warranted—either by holy scripture or by a systematic theology arising from scripture. I will begin to explain this persuasion of mine by examining the Hebrew word sheol.
When we read our English Bibles, we must remember that the word hell is one English word used to translate various Hebrew and Greek words. One such term is the Hebrew word sheol, sometimes translated in the Old Testament as hell. The word sheol is used in the Old Testament of a place to which, in some sense, both the righteous and the wicked descend at death. In light of this fact, let us consider two contrasting explanations of this word’s use in the Old Testament. Both of these explanations have shortcomings. Each explanation seems to fit some instances of the word sheol, but not others.
First Explanation of Sheol: A Picturesque Word for Physical Death and the Grave
Admittedly, Sheol can easily be interpreted (and should be in certain contexts) as a general (and sometimes picturesque) word for the state of physical death and the grave. When Jacob believes his favorite son Joseph to be devoured by a wild animal, he refuses to be comforted in his grief, declaring “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” (Genesis 37:35)[1] This can be understood as Jacob’s determination to mourn Joseph’s demise until he himself goes to the grave, joining Joseph in death. Some insist that Sheol is here presented as the literal abode of departed spirits, where Jacob expected to join Joseph in the afterlife, but such a text as this does not require that understanding.
Sheol makes another notable appearance in Numbers 16, where Moses warns the Israelites to get away from the tents of the rebellious Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Those who fail to heed the warning are swallowed by the earth and perish from the camp of Israel.
28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” (Numbers 16:28–34)
Regarding verse 30 (where the rebels with Dathan and Abiram are prophesied to “go down alive into Sheol [kjv: the pit]”), Matthew Poole’s commentary appropriately comments: “Into the pit, i.e. into the grave which God thereby makes. The Hebrew word scheol sometimes signifies hell, and sometimes the grave…”[2] As will be seen, I agree that Sheol can have more than one connotation. Some, however, see only one clear reference of the word Sheol throughout the Old Testament, a reference to physical death and the grave.
The word Sheol is further used in Hebrew parallelism where it is synonymous with the basic concept of death. The psalmist David (in a psalm pointing forward to Jesus’ own betrayal by Judas Iscariot) prays that traitors against the Lord’s anointed would experience the sort of judgments recorded in the five books of Moses. He prays that their tongues be divided (as happened to the rebels at Babel): “Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.” (Psalm 55:9) He also prays that these traitors die as Dathan and Abiram, the rebels in the wilderness, suddenly perished. “Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.” (Psalm 55:15) A similar thought appears in verse 23 of the same psalm: “But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days.” The pit is a frequent Old Testament synonym for Sheol.
Reflecting on his previous illness (because of which he had initially been told to expect an early death), King Hezekiah of Judah wrote a piece of Hebrew poetry in which the concepts of death, Sheol, and the pit of destruction are all parallel.
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, In the middle of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol [lxx: πύλαις ᾅδου, “the gates of Hades”]
for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
17 Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
(Isaiah 38:9–11, 17–19)
In much of Hebrew poetry, parallelism states the same concept more than once to make the same point with more color. Sometimes the restatement goes a little beyond the first statement, but the concepts still overlap. In the Old Testament, particularly in poetic contexts, Sheol often parallels the idea of the dust, to which man’s body returns in death, and the worm, which feeds on that decaying corpse in the ground.
13 If I hope for Sheol as my house,
if I make my bed in darkness,
14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?
16 Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
Shall we descend together into the dust?
(Job 17:13–16)
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so does Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken like a tree.
(Job 24:19–20)
Notice also Isaiah 14 (a poetic response to the king of Babylon’s death), where Sheol is described as a grave-bed where the worm consumes the corpse:
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
10 All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.
(Isaiah 14:9–11)
A similar text in Ezekiel 32 again pictures Sheol as a place of graves where those slain in battle are “laid to rest” and “lie still,” with their weapons “laid under their heads.” This imagery clearly emphasizes the sleep of the body in the grave, and not so much the conscious confinement of departed spirits. This picturesque “world below” is a depiction of the earth as a mass grave, to which all the dead must go; no longer can the dead “spread terror in the land of the living.”
17 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:
19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’
20 They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes. 21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24 “Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.
26 “Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
(Ezekiel 32:17–28)
In Psalm 16:9–10, the psalmist David parallels Sheol with the “corruption” of the body: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol [lxx: εἰς ᾅδην, “to Hades”], or let your holy one see corruption.” It is helpful to remember that the Hebrew word for soul often pertains to one’s person, not just the immaterial spirit of a person. On Pentecost Sunday, this text from the Psalms is interpreted by the apostle Peter as a prophecy that the greater Son of David would not find himself abandoned to death or his body to decay in the grave.
24 “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,
“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
(Acts 2:24–31)
Peter’s whole point is that David could not have been speaking of himself as escaping Hades (the Greek translation of the Hebrew sheol), restated in Hebrew parallelism as corruption, the decay of the body (though some understand Hades here as the disembodied state of a departed spirit). The Jews know this. They know that David himself had remained in Hades. How do they know this? They know this simply by seeing David’s tomb there in their own day. The whole point is about physical death, not the unseen place where a departed spirit has gone.
Notwithstanding the evidence presented so far, various interpreters throughout church history have understood Sheol in the Old Testament as often or even primarily referring to a place of confinement for departed spirits. Before Christ’s death and resurrection, this place supposedly held the spirits of all the dead, both the righteous and the wicked. This concept will be our next topic.
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.
[2] Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Whole Bible, Volume 1: Genesis – Job (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1962), 297.
Ben Habegger first served in full-time pastoral ministry near Detroit, Michigan from 2013-2017 and has now been vocational pastor at Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Aloha, Oregon (formerly Glencullen Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon) since January of 2020. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts in Reformed Baptist Studies from Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. Ben and his wife Theresa have four children.
