What Jesus Teaches about Who Is Locked Away in the Lower Regions

In the book of Ephesians and several other places in the Bible, the Word of God alludes to the fact that there are prisons in the heart of the earth. Paul, speaking by the Spirit of God, calls these places the lower regions. Today’s question is just who exactly is in these lower regions? We can also follow up on that question by asking what are these lower regions in the first place? Everybody knows that hell is below. If a person dies without Jesus, that’s precisely where they go when they die. It’s a hard fact, but it’s an actual Bible fact — a scriptural reality. Some time ago, a traffic officer gave a citation to a woman in Brooklyn. And when the officer handed it through the window to her, she snapped it out of his hands and said, “You can go straight to hell!” So the officer took her to court. A few days later, they appeared before the judge, and he dismissed the officer’s complaint about the woman’s language because he said, and I quote, “It wasn’t a command, or a wish, but a statement of fact, for going to hell is a possibility.” Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 266. What Jesus Teaches about Who Is Locked Away in the Lower Regions that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#047: What Happens to a Person When They Die? [Podcast]

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You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

The Lower Regions of the Earth

Ephesians 4:7–12 (ESV) — 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

So, today we are looking at verse nine, particularly where it says that Jesus descended into the lower regions of the earth.
Last week, we looked at one of those lower regions, Sheol or Hades.
Sheol is Hebrew and Hades is Greek for the same place.
We took note of the fact that ‘regions’ is plural meaning more than one place.
But, you must add the word ‘below’ because that’s what the word ‘descended’ means.
Jesus visited multiple places — because there are numerous places below.
So, Hades was one place Jesus went to when He paid the price for your sin and mine.
We have seen that Jesus did all of this visitation; can we say it that way? — in three days and nights.

Matthew 12:39–41 (ESV) — 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

The Lower Regions: Three Days, Three Nights the Price of Calvary

So, three days and three nights in the lower regions is the price of Calvary.
It’s not just the fact that Jesus, the Prince of Life, died.
It’s not just the fact that He suffered so horribly at the hands of men; all of that is true, but the actual price that Jesus paid was in number one, the Father God forsaking Him, and number two, because He was made sin, having to spend three days and three nights in the lower regions of the earth.
But hell was not the only place in the lower regions that Jesus went.
There is a second place that Jesus went, and there is a third place.
This second place Jesus went within the first 24 hours after He died.

Luke 23:32–35, 39–43 (ESV) — 32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments… 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus told this thief today; you will be with me in paradise.
Jesus descended into the lower regions of the earth, so we know that paradise is down.
It is one of the lower regions of the earth.
So, Jesus went to hell, to hades, but he also went to paradise within 24 hours of His death because ‘this day you will be with me in paradise.’
The Greek word ‘Paradise’ is one we want to look at, and with that thought, here’s the Definition of the Day.
The word ‘Paradise’ means an enclosed space, park, or garden Justin ¹
It means heaven understood as a protected, walled garden full of delightful delicacies.
But this heaven is down in the lower regions, not up past the atmospheric heavens.
So, let’s look at what the scriptures teach about this place called paradise.

The Lower Regions: Paradise, the Rich Man, and Lazarus

We know that there is a place called Paradise because the beggar Lazarus went there.
And we know that there is a great gulf between Paradise and hell because the rich man didn’t go to paradise when he died; he went to Hades, to Sheol.

Luke 16:19–26 (ESV) — 19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

So, we know that there is a paradise, and we know that Jesus went there because of what He told the thief.
We also know it because of Ephesians 4:9–10, the passage we are studying.
So Jesus went to Sheol first, and within 24 hours, the Father God, by the Spirit of God, raised Him from that place of torment, and He did what no man was able to do — bridge the great gulf that separated these two areas, hell, and paradise.
There is a great gulf between the two; no earthly man can bridge that gap.

between us and you [Abraham said] a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

Note some ‘lower region’ Bible facts about hell and paradise.

The Lower Regions: Abraham Was There

You have to get this now, during the 1st century, the year was approximately AD 29, when Jesus died, Abraham was in paradise.
Righteous Abraham, the father of faith, was not in heaven with God; he was in the lower regions below.
Abraham, when he died, went down, not up.
He went to paradise below, not to heaven above where the throne of God is.
We know that the thief on the cross was there also.
Abraham died in the year, and this is an estimate of 1975 BC, or approximately 2000 years before Jesus visited paradise.
So, what happened to all of the other righteous, God-fearing people who died BC?
They all went down to the ‘lower regions’ and went to paradise.

2 Corinthians 12:1–4 (ESV) — 1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

The second letter to the Corinthians was written in AD 56.
Jesus died and rose again in AD 29.
Paradise is no longer down in the lower regions between those two periods. It’s up past the 3rd heaven.
Do you see that?

Paul said, he was caught up to the third heaven. He was caught up into paradise.

So, Paul is up, not down.
He ascended, not descended.
So paradise has moved.
And the time of this writing, paradise is up, not down.
Paradise moved!
It is no longer in force in the regions.
There is a ‘Business Closed’ sign on it.
That’s at least one reason Jesus went there — that’s the reason Jesus knew that He would be there with the thief.
Listen to this again in Ephesians four.

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

These ‘host of captives’ that Jesus led when He ascended were these Old Testament saints who, when they died in their generations, went down to Paradise instead of up to heaven where the Throne of God is.
So, there is something about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus vital in the change of venue.
We have a clue about what that was.
Consider this next piece of information and stick this in you’re thinking concerning the timeline.

John 20:11–17 (KJV 1900) — 11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Touch me not, Jesus told Mary.
Mary was so glad to see Jesus that she just wanted to reach out and hug him.
Jesus said, ‘Don’t touch me — touch me not; I have not yet ascended to my Father and your Father.’

Luke 24:33–40 (KJV 1900) — 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. 36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.

Now we see something different. *Jesus now says to his disciples, touch me handle me a spirit has now flesh and bone as you see me have.
Look at this same in John’s gospel.

John 20:20 (KJV 1900) — 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

Now, drop down to verse 24.

John 20:24–27 (KJV 1900) 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

So you see something happened between these two accounts – between the account where Jesus appears to Mary and tells her – don’t touch me and when He appears to His disciples.
First, He said to Mary, don’t touch me then Jesus said now it’s OK to touch me which means in between those two periods, Jesus ascended to heaven.
That’s what He told Mary — touch me not; I have not ascended.
So now that He is saying touch me, handle, stick your finger in my side, it’s evident that He ascended and then turned around and came back to the earth.
What happened between the period of Mary and the disciples?
What took place – something changed.

Hebrews 9:18–24 (KJV 1900) — 18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

I believe this is what Jesus did when He first ascended – when He told Mary, don’t touch me.
He went to heaven.
Jesus purified the heavens.
Why did He have to purify the heavens?
There was a rebellion there.
Satan rose against God.
The heavens had to be purified.
The Blood of the Covenant had to be ratified.
So, what we see here with Jesus during these three days and the first day of his resurrection is a lot of movement.
He’s moving around in the lower regions.
He is sentenced to Sheol and spends an UN-designated amount of time there.
He visits paradise within 24 hours.
At one point, he ascends to the earth and visits Mary.
Says to her, don’t touch me.
Ascends to heaven – ratifies the covenant.
He comes back down to the earth and visits with the disciples.
At some point, He shuts paradise down and leads captivity captive, and moves paradise to heaven.
But, before He did all of that before He saw Mary and told her don’t touch me, Jesus went somewhere else in the lower regions during those three days and nights.

The Lower Regions: Tartarus, the Prison House of Rebellious Angels

1 Peter 3:18–20 (KJV 1900) — 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

There is a region called ‘the prison house of spirits.’
These spirits are angels.
I used to think differently about this passage.
Before studying this passage, I used to think that these spirits were the ones that were in paradise that Jesus led to heaven when He moved paradise to heaven.
And that He went to this place to preach the gospel to them so that He could take them to heaven.
I used to teach that this prison house was like a prison to these saints because they weren’t directly in the Presence of God — they were in the lower regions.
Separated from God is a prison to me.
That’s how I used to think.
But, upon further review, there are a couple of problems.
First, these spirits in this prison house were active in the Days of Noah.
Meaning they are from a specific time.
Second, these are disobedient spirits.
If they were disobedient, they wouldn’t be in paradise; they would be in Sheol — across the gulf.
Third, the Greek word preached is not the usual word used when referring to preaching the gospel.
That standard word for preaching the gospel is euangelizomai, to announce good news;²
The word for preach here means to deliver a message.
It’s the word ‘kerusso’ which means proclamation.
Good news is not in it.
It could be any kind of message.
Listen to it in the ESV.

1 Peter 3:18–20 (ESV) — 18 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, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 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.

So Jesus went to this prison to deliver a message to these spirits.
We have the same thing alluded to in Second Peter.

2 Peter 2:4 (KJV 1900) — 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

In Greek, the word hell here is Tartarus, not Hades.
Hades is a different place in the lower regions.
In the days of Noah, there were only eight souls who were saved.
The earth, at that time, was full of rampant wickedness.
That’s why God sent the Flood.
So, it may just be that these spirits are those ‘fornicating angels’ mentioned in Genesis six that locked up.
Here’s another reference that seems to refer to the same thing.

Jude 6–7 (ESV) — 6 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— 7 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.

So, Jesus went to proclaim to these spirits.
What did He say to them?
I don’t know.
The scripture doesn’t say what He said.
I don’t know for sure, but maybe Jesus went to those spirits and said, ‘I told you so. — I told you that you shouldn’t have left your first estate. I told you that the Father would fix what you tried to corrupt. Today is that day, and you should have listened.’
One thing is for sure — there is a prison house for spirits.
Again what’s the value of these ministry gifts — the value is in the price paid.
Jesus went to Sheol/Hades.
He went to Paradise.
He went to Tartarus.
These are at least some places in the lower regions that Jesus visited.
You guys have a great God week in Jesus’s Name Amen.

#S2-042: Terrorizing the Terrorist Encore [Podcast]

__________
References:

W. Bass, “Paradise,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). ↩
Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 82. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

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What Jesus Teaches about Who Is Locked Away in the Lower Regions

Podcast: Light on Life Season 9 Episode 20

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe on Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Question: What has been the value of God’s ministry grace gifts to you? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Lower Regions of the Earth

The Lower Regions: Three Days, Three Nights the Price of Calvary

The Lower Regions: Paradise, the Rich Man, and Lazarus

The Lower Regions: Abraham Was There

The Lower Regions: Tartarus, the Prison House of Rebellious Angels

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe on Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Question: What has been the value of God’s ministry grace gifts to you? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Lower Regions of the Earth

The Lower Regions: Three Days, Three Nights the Price of Calvary

The Lower Regions: Paradise, the Rich Man, and Lazarus

The Lower Regions: Abraham Was There

The Lower Regions: Tartarus, the Prison House of Rebellious Angels

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