“What happened to people who lived before Christ?” - Tonawanda
They went to Hades…which is not Hell as some believe it to be.
Jesus talked about it in His parable of the rich man and the poor man.
Luke 16: 19-22
“19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Oddly enough and if to prove a point, about three weeks later Jesus raised a dead man named Lazarus from the dead and His critics were still not convinced…but I digress.
From this description we can see that Hades had two parts. One part where the saints stayed and one place where the “bad” souls went. Christ had not died yet and so Heaven was not open.
But when He died the debt of sin was paid for and I believe that Heaven was opened up to all those souls in the “good” part of Hades. Those would be the souls that had been “credited with righteousness”, like Abraham in the parable above (Genesis 15:6).
Why do I believe this? While Christ was on the cross He told one of the thieves being crucified next to Him that he would later be with Him in “Paradise” (Luke 23:43)
Also, while Hades seems to have a “hellish” part I do not believe that Hades is Hell. I don’t believe that Hell is “open” yet either?
Why?
Revelation 20:14
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”
Because God tosses Hades into Hell, which is prepared for “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
I believe that Hell won’t be open until after the Great White Throne Judgment found in Revelation 20.
“What happened to the souls of the people who lived and died before Moses and Jesus?” - Tonawanda
As I said, before Christ people went to Hades. But before Moses, people went to…Hades.
What I don’t know is whether anyone ever went to the “hellish” part of Hades, because…
Romans 5:13
“To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.”
Paul is saying that before the law no one was accountable for their sin, although he states clearly that sin did exist before the law.
Hope this helps.
