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aging with the sun god in his ship,
or dwell in the Field of Iaru, the
"fields of the blessed."
The Egyptians believed that the
souls of the dead had to traverse a
vast wilderness region called the
Tuat, which was inhabited by gods,
demons, fiends, evil spirits, wicked
souls, snakes, monsters, etc. After
successfully traversing this nether
region, they would reach the pres–
ence of Osiris.
The dead were ushered into a
Hall of Judgment presided over by
Osiris. Those receiving a favorable
verdict were, after severa! purifying
ordeals, transported tq the fields of
Alu to enjoy perenniallife under the
shadow of the tree of life, the
sycamore of
N
u
t.
However, the con–
demned were dismembered, under–
going a "second death," tortured by
burning coals, plunged into deep
waters, and cut into pieces by sharp
swords. Declares Kohler: "We have
here the very origin of the Inferno
and Paradiso" (Kaufmann Kohler,
Heaven and Hell in Comparative Re–
ligion,
p.
23).
But if the earliest evidence shows
the concept of a heaven a nd hell
after death originating in ancient
paganism, where did today's profes–
sing Christian world obtain its doc–
trines of heaven and hell? Are these
doctrines pagan myths carried over
by theological orthodoxy into mod-
PLAIN TRUTH July-August 1973
ern times? Does the bíblica! record
affirm these ancient beliefs?
Shocking as it may seem, the
Bible says something altogether dif–
ferent from what millions have sup–
posed!
Shocking Scriptures
If the Bible teaches that the righ–
teous go to heaven when they die,
then certainly such bíblica! heroes
as Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, Moses,
Samuel. David. and Daniel must be
in heaven right now. Yet , hundreds
of years after all those great men
died and when Jesus began his pub–
líe ministry, he remarked to his dis–
ciples,
"No man
hath ascended up to
heaven .. .." (John 3: 13).
After the death and resurrection
of Christ, the apostle Peter told a
large crowd of people in Jerusalem,
on Pentecost, A. D. 3 1, that David
"is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day."
He added, so that he would not be
misunderstood, "For David is
NOT
ascended into the heavens ..." (Acts
2:29, 34).
These two scriptures disprove the
fond il lusions and cherished beliefs
of millions of people who assume
that the Bible teaches that the righ–
teous go to heaven when they d ie!
David was a man after God's own
heart (Acts 13 :22). Yet the Scrip–
tures plainJy state that he did
NOT
"go to heaven."
In all this storry universe, where is the
Heoven of the hereofter?
Original Art
by
Saritka Saloman
T hen where did he go? What
really happened to David and the
biblical patriarchs?
The Reward of the Righteous
To begin to answer these ques–
tions, the apostle Paul made an im–
portan! statement in the book of
Galatians. He asserted: "And if ye
be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and
heirs
according to the
promise" (Galatians 3:29).
Christians, then, are Abraham's
spiritual "children" or "seed." They
are to inherit something that was
"promised." To learn what Chris–
tians are to inherit, then we must see
what was promised to Abraham.
The biography of Abraham is re–
corded in the book of Genesis.
Abraham left the sophisticated city
of Ur of the Chaldees to journey to
the land of Canaan toward the west.
He determined to obey God and do
the things he commanded.
God, in return for Abraham's
obedience and submission to his
way, made a specific promise to
Abraham and his descendants.
"And the Lord said unto Abram ...
Lift up now thine eyes, and look
from the place where thou art
northward , and southward, and
eastward, and westward: For aU the
land which thou seest , to thee will 1
give it, and to thy seed for ever"
(Genesis 13: 14-15).
God later confirmed the promises
to Abraham (Genesis 21:1-3; 22:15-
18) and made the same promise to
Isaac, Abraham's son (Genesis 26:2-
5). Notice that this promise primar–
ily included an inheritance of land
forever. In order to inherit this land
forever,
eterna! life also must have
been part of the promise!
The promise made to Abraham,
then, was the land of Canaan, wllich
he and his "seed" would inherit for
all etemity. Later, however, God ex–
panded this promise to include the
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