Definition:
(in Roman Catholic doctrine) a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven.
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The following came through me like sunshine on a clear day
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Job 14:1-17
1
“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
2
They spring up like flowers and wither away;
like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3
Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
5
A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6
So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
7
“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
8
Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
9
yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
10
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
11
As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
12
so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
13
“If only you would hide me in the grave
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
14
If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
15
You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16
Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17
My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
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So much is said here.
Firstly, when we die of the flesh, we sleep. Do you sense the passage of time when you rest your eyes? No. You instead wake up to the present moment.
When Jesus said to the thief,
Luke 23:43
Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."
We can say that this 'day' is an eternal expression of the present moment yet to come. We can be resolute in this, because of what Job has said.
Job 14:12
so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
And this is confirmed by Revelations when it speaks of a new heaven and a new earth:
Revelations 21:1
Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Which is strangely similar to the statement of Job:
Job 14:11
11
As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
Which suggests the root of physical existence, water, is lost, likely to the consuming fire that is foretold to be the melting of the elements prophesied in 3 Peter:
3 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
Which is hinted at by James when it is said:
James 4:14
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
But we will be renewed, no longer perishable, and our former selves will not be remembered.
Job 14:15-17
15
You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16
Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17
My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
Instead we wake as the body of Christ, those who were promised to him by the Father. That present, that eternity is now and forever, it is the day in paradise, that is come.
See?
We are to be ressurected into perfection, but the correction of our souls is done before we rest. We are then, raised; renewed.
Job 14:13
“If only you would hide me in the grave
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time and then remember me!"
In this context, are we not already in purgatory? Is this flesh not condemned? Are we not tormented and ground down? Yes, yes, and yes.
Job 14:18-22
18
“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
19
as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
20
You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.
21
If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
22
They feel but the pain of their own bodies
and mourn only for themselves.”
Do we not seek peace and have none? The only peace we know is not around us, but what is inside, that believers keep the is holy and of the Spirit of Truth.
And what of the reaper of souls, the harvester and his workers? Well we know there is wickedness in heavenly places:
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And what of the prince of this world? If being cast out of the presence of the Father meant being bound to Hades, what then is this in context:
Job 2:2
And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."
And if the prince of the world who was tasked with harvesting souls, knows we are all of sin, why then:
1 Peter 5:8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Because the enemy and his workers place mankind in trial to wear down the ego and the hope of self to exist of it's own knowledge of good and evil. So that all that remains is the faithful, and the lost.
Matthew 25:31-33
31
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
32
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
So what is hell? If all are of sin that are of the womb, and none reached heaven, what is hell but existing without hope. Hell, that is, Hades, is an eternal realm. Which means those bound for hell, are already there, and only the Law, the old mediation of Moses, or the new mediation of Christ Jesus, could save a soul from that eternal realm they are already bound to. If they were unaware of the law, then they did not know of sin, and they are whom Jesus released when he overcame the enemy.
Job 14:19
19
as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
And when Jesus brings judgement of the living and the dead, we know he is doing his Father's will. We also know he brings glory to the Father:
Romans 11:32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
The lake of fire is truly where eternal souls will be cast, these are the ones whom from the time of Noah, where either bound in the earth till judgement, or remained in heavenly realms till judgement. Because of them, the lake of fire is promised. This is the second death.
But what of Lazarus the beggar? Where was this that Hades the rich man was bound to if he was not instead resting? Lazarus was promised and although he still rests, he will awaken to paradise, so to the rich man, he is asleep but will awaken to find himself condemend and bound to an eternal realm that he was fated for. Again, they are already there, as eternity is not linear, like our time is.
The appointment of existence can be considered the mercy of reconciliation or inevitability of condemnation.
So to conclude, the Law, the prophets, and the Messiah, all were placed before mankind to bring mercy, a chance to reconcile ourselves to the Father, as none made it to his presence except the one that was sent. See?
We are all in a state of purgatory
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