“GODS ASCENDING OUT OF THE EARTH!”
There is another passage in the Old Testament, that also proves that Paradise–the first Heaven–was (or still is?) under the Earth! It is the story about King Saul, who in despair about his future went in disguise to a witch—a medium—in a town called Endor, to call up the spirit of Samuel the prophet of God. He wanted to find out what was going to happen to him and to Israel, being at war with the Philistines. (Uh-Oh! A saved child of God going to a witch! Tsk! Tsk! But yet, he got an answer through her anyway! Not recommended though!)
12 “And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.
13 “And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what did you see?
And the woman said unto Saul, I saw GODS ascending out of the earth.
14 “And he (Saul) said unto her, What form is he of?
“And she said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.”
Now, do you think for a moment, that Samuel was old and wearing a mantle in Paradise? Of course not! But for this occasion he did, otherwise Saul wouldn’t have recognised him! This is a phenomenon that often occurs in the spiritual, that the departed saints adapt themselves to our needs! Even Jesus after his resurrection, made himself invisible, and sometimes they didn’t even recognise him, or He “held their eyes!” But when doddery old geezers die and depart for Heaven, they do not look “old” in the spiritual! They normally look younger, like in the prime of life, although some DO have white hair, like Jesus does nowadays!
15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disquieted me, to bring me UP? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known unto me what I shall do. 16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then do you ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become your enemy? 17 And the LORD has done to him as he spake by me: for the LORD has rent the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbour, even to David: 18 Because you obeyed not the voice of the LORD, nor executed his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore has the LORD done this thing unto you this day. 19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow shall you and your sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host (army) of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
So, the next day Saul did die indeed! So, that was really Samuel! Why? Because he spoke the truth, he prophesied and it came to pass! This wasn’t, as some Churches believe, some demon or familiar spirit who imitated Samuel! No, that was really him! No doubt about it! And really socking it to Saul, as he used to when he was still in his flesh!
Saul actually committed suicide—”he fell on his sword”— and he went to “Heaven”
“WHAT?? How can that be?”
Well, that’s to say…to PARADISE under the EARTH! He went to be with Samuel the prophet, who “came up” it says! And if that‘s not enough proof for us, that paradise was under the Earth, it specifically says, that the witch saw “gods ascending out of the earth!” That was after she saw Samuel!
Now we know that Samuel was one of the greatest prophets of God, and if there was NO paradise under the earth, then even the greatest prophet of God, must have been living in HELL! Well, that can’t be of course! So Paradise was really UNDER the Earth, and Saul who in spite of committing suicide went to be with him in Paradise, was obviously saved.
We know actually for a fact, about his spiritual rebirth also from the following verses—A story that happened at the beginning of Saul’s career, when he was still a humble guy:
“Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? 6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. 7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee. 9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. 10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 … the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Now please don’t take this as an excuse to take your life! The Lord will take you home—if you’re saved—but He will surely not leave you undisciplined for destroying His temple, even if you are bound for Heaven! So beware!
But we did find the answer to our question, paradise and prison were obviously UNDER THE EARTH! SO Jesus went under the Earth to first visit Paradise, to deliver his newly saved friend…the thief, and to show Himself obviously to all the other saved guys and girls down there–the “gods out of the earth“–that had believed on Him back in time, as Job had, who said in the Old Testament, long before Jesus came!: Job 19:25
“For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth!”
So He showed Himself to Job, and David and Abraham, and Moses, etc. And they were all real happy to see Him and Who knows, but that they had probably seen Him there before! If it was Paradise, He must have at least visited them sometimes, right? But after that, Jesus went to prison.
Some believers might say, “Well, how are you so sure that the thief was saved? He never went to Church! He wasn’t even baptised? He hadn’t spoken in tongues yet, as proof that he had received the Holy Spirit…?”
Well, it says that he went to Paradise doesn’t it? Sounds like he was saved! Paradise!—A nice place to be! Not Hell! Sometimes we wonder about these people who say things like that. Almost as if they WISH the old thief went to Hell! Almost as if they worship “Justice” more than mercy! Brrrr!
But, we have another scripture to prove that he was saved! Romans 10:13
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord… shall be saved.”
And Acts 2:21:
“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
And he sure did call from his cross upon the Lord and so was immediately saved and on his way! Perhaps not immediately on his way to Heaven, but at least to Paradise! So the saved in those days didn’t go immediately up to Heaven, but went immediately down to Paradise! And it was under the earth! Obviously! Where else could it have been, if Jesus didn’t go UP! It was not “in” or “on the earth”, as the garden of Eden had long been destroyed! Look around you! Looks more like Hell every day!
So it must have been UNDER the earth, until that time! What do you mean: “Until that time?” Well, because perhaps it was moved since then! But the question is first: “Where did Jesus GO?” He went to the prison!
Proverbs 9:18 [This, by the way, is a good verse for our dear brethren the Adventists and Jehovas who also don’t “know that the dead are there!” but believe that after death your existence is SUSPENDED until the Resurrection. They do not believe in spirits or ghosts!]
“But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”
And Psalm 18:5
“The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.”
Jonah 2:6 prophesied about Jesus’ trip there:
“I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.”
And Peter says in ACTS 2:23
“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David speaks concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, … 31 He seeing this before, spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”
To stay there? No, because the scripture said: Psalm 16:10
“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
So besides visiting Paradise to deliver the thief and perhaps say hello to all His saved friends down there, he also visited Hell, also called Hades in the original Greek New Testament or Sheol in the Hebrew Old Testament! He went and preached to them, and who knows that a lot of them believed and got saved and promoted to Paradise under the Earth, at His resurrection! Probably not resurrected! ONLY the Old Testament Saints, it says, got resurrected after Jesus’ resurrection! As is written in Matthew 25:51
“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many—not all!—BODIES of the saints which slept… AROSE, 53 And came out of the graves, AFTER his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
Now here it talks about the bodies of the saints that slept (were dead!)—Not just their spirits— coming UP out of the graves that were opened: These were not just spirits or ghosts walking around! These were resurrected bodies of the saints! And where did they go afterwards? That’s a good question! Where did Jesus go after His resurrection? HE went UP! Where did He go? UP to the Father! Where is the Father? Up in Heaven! Obviously!
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