The Time Between

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”—1 Peter 3:18-21

Where did Christ go when He died? After His death on the cross, He was taken down quickly before sunset by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man who was a disciple of Jesus. He was wrapped in a clean linen shroud and placed in a new tomb with a large stone rolled in front of it. But where did He go? He had died and He was soon to rise again, but where did He go between His crucifixion and resurrection? Surprisingly, scholars are divided as to where He actually went. The Scripture offers hints—glimpses into where He went, but other than a few scattered verses, it is remarkably silent on the issue. Yet, those in the early church felt that the isolated Scripture references were more than hints—they were testimonies to the power of Christ and the depth of His identification with us.

In order for Him pay the price for our sin, which is death, He had to be put to death in the flesh (physically), and experience the reality of the death that we deserve (spiritually). But where did He go? For this we have to go to a few different passages to ascertain what was meant. Peter says that He went and “proclaimed to the spirits in prison” or as one of the first creeds (declarations of faith) has stated, “He descended into hell.” Did Christ descend into hell? And who are the “spirits in prison”? There is considerable debate about who they are. The Greek term pneuma “spirit,” in either the singular or plural form, can mean either human spirits or angels, depending on the context (cf. Numbers 16:22; 27:16; Acts 7:59; Hebrews 12:23; etc.). Considering that, I believe that he is referring to both, although he is primarily referring to humans. Scholars are not unanimous in their interpretations of the Scriptures that speak to this issue. The explanation that follows is one that is supported by Scripture and is consistent with sound biblical theology. But before I address that question, allow me to illustrate something.

When someone has been captured for committing a crime, where do they go? We commonly say that they go to jail, which to most of us simply means that they have been incarcerated. But, jail is actually a temporary place for individuals who are awaiting trial. When one does go to trial they are either deemed innocent or guilty. The innocent are set free while the guilty do not go back to jail, but rather go to prison to serve out their sentence. Jail is the temporary place, while prison is the permanent place. While we may refer to jail and prison as synonyms, there is actually a significant difference between them.

When we speak of the place called “hell,” we face a similar dilemma. While we commonly understand “hell” as the place where the wicked go when they die, which is true, although there’s much more involved. In the Old Testament the word used to indicate where individuals go when they die is “Sheol”—which simply means “the place of the dead” or “the place of departed souls/spirit.” In the New Testament, the word is “Hades,” which also refers to the “place of the dead.” Many Scripture references in the New Testament indicate that Sheol/Hades is a temporal place (Revelation 20:11-15) where souls are kept while they await the final resurrection and judgment. However, in Revelation 20:11-15, we learn that Hades will give up the dead in it and will itself be thrown into the Lake of Fire, which we would more look at as hell—the permanent habitation of the lost (i.e., those who do not know Christ) that only goes into effect after the Great White Throne of Judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15. So, there is a difference between Sheol/Hades and the Lake of Fire. One is temporary (a bit like jail), while the other is permanent (like prison). Hades is the temporal place while the Lake of Fire is the eternal place.

Did Christ go into the Lake of Fire? No, He went to Sheol/Hades. Allow me to illustrate once more. In jail there are two divisions—the place of the prisoners and those of the guards. Now, while one is considered free (the guard), the other is incarcerated (the prisoner). But for a time, both are in a similar state, for the guard is also in the jail, although he or she does not belong there permanently. They will have the opportunity to go free. Like jail, Sheol/Hades has two divisions—one for the wicked who do not know God and one division for the righteous who do.

Or, if you wanted to take a slightly different tack—it’s like an airport where everyone is waiting to get to his or her destination. When I was flying back from India my flight stopped over in Abu Dhabi. As we waited for our flight, we had to pass through an additional security check to get to our gate. Once we got to our gate, we couldn’t get out, no matter how hard we wanted to. They were so concerned about a plane coming from the Middle East to the U.S. that once you were at the gate, you couldn’t get out. That’s a bit what Sheol/Hades is like. While the righteous dead get to go to the Executive Lounge of First Class, that the unrighteous cannot enter. The unrighteous are then forced to roam in torment at their gate, trapped and tormented awaiting their Judgment and then the Lake of Fire. They can see one another through the glass, but can’t cross. The Old Testament righteous dead are awaiting their flight to glory, while the unrighteous dead are awaiting their trip to the Lake of Fire.

This Executive Lounge is known in Scripture as “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22) and “Paradise” (Luke 23:43), which is separated by a chasm that cannot be crossed by the righteous or the wicked (Luke 16:26). This illustrated in Luke 16 by Jesus in the story known as the Rich Man and Lazarus, where we have the righteous Lazarus who is with Abraham, but then there is the tormented wicked rich man who calls out to Abraham, begging him to send Lazarus to bring some water because he is tormented with thirst. Abraham informs him that he cannot do that because there is a chasm that cannot be crossed, which shows that the righteous and the wicked, before Christ’s redemption were in a similar state.

We can see that this is where all people are—the righteous on one side and the wicked on the other. It is the place where Old Testament saints went (such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel) when they died. This is also where John the Baptist went when he died, because Christ’s death could not be applied as of yet. We get a picture of this from Jesus and his description of John the Baptist whom Jesus described as the greatest person ever born,

“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”—Matthew 11:11.

How could John be so great and yet lower than those who are least in the kingdom of God? It’s because John the Baptist died before Jesus’ death had been applied. Therefore, he went to Paradise, Abraham’s bosom, waiting for Jesus’ death and when victory would be declared.

We still haven’t nailed down who the “spirits in prison” were. I believe that the spirits, since they can refer to both, do refer to both. The first reason is because of what I just described to you. But the second reason—that they are fallen angels called “demons.” I gather this from three other verses that we need to pay attention to and one of those is 2 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10,

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. …then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.”

And Jude 1:6-7,

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”

Now, I mentioned that Sheol and Hades, until Christ’s death had two divisions, one for the righteous, which was cleared out once Jesus died, and the other for the unrighteous dead—which is a place of conscious torment. But, within that part there are also two divisions—those human spirits and those of demonic fallen spirits—or, carrying forth our airport illustration—business class transgressors and coach transgressors.

Or, perhaps we look upon Cook County Jail again. When I ministered there, I noticed two divisions. One for general population and one called, “SI” which stood for “Special Incarceration,” these were the worst and more dangerous offenders. So, one division of Sheol/Hades has the general population, which is for wicked humans, and the other is for fallen angels whom Jesus assigned there. Remember, the Lake of Fire wasn’t created for the unrighteous dead, but more for Satan and his demons as Jesus said in Matthew 25:41,

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” 

We can see that when Christ died, He went to “Paradise” (Luke 23:43), and set the Old Testament saints free to go to heaven. The wicked stayed in Sheol/Hades, waiting for the time of judgment to come, while the Old Testament believers went into the presence of God. Jesus Himself did not yet ascend to heaven until sometime later, after His resurrection (John 20:17).

What can we learn from this? And why should this be an encouragement to us? First, it shows the extent of Christ’s sacrifice—it was available to those who looked forward to His coming in the Old Testament, but were not yet beneficiaries of His atoning work on the cross, who hoped in the promise of what was to come. Secondly, it shows His power and authority—He robbed the place of the dead. The Lord of life has the keys to death and Hades and nothing can stop Him! If we place ourselves in His care, then not even death can stop Him—He is victorious both now and forevermore! Amen.