27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
16:27-28
Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
The rich man wanted Lazarus to return to earth to warn his family of the reality of Hades.
16:29
Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
The phrase “Moses and the prophets” refers to Old Testament Scriptures. Abraham stated that all the rich man’s brothers had to do was believe the Scriptures. Scripture was sufficient for such an issue; it was enough for his brothers to read Scripture.
16:30
And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
The rich man appealed to Abraham that Lazarus being raised from the dead and going back to warn his brothers would be more effective than their reading of Scripture. He argued that the miracle of someone coming back from the dead would convince them of the reality of heaven and hell. He wanted to show them a miracle so they would repent.
Repentance means they must believe in what God provided rather than in what they can do for their salvation. It is a radical change of mind about what is true, from believing what we deem to be true to what God states is true.
16:31
But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
The appeal to Scripture is sufficient to have an adequate view of God. Even if one rises from the dead, some people will not believe. If they do not believe Scripture, they are skeptical to the point of rejecting everything they hear. Unbelief is intransigent. People will not believe, even if they see someone risen from the dead.
PRINCIPLE:
The issue of salvation is not a lack of information but an attitude of rejection of what God has to say.
APPLICATION:
Our parable is not about money but about our attitudes, or what our terminal values are. One’s financial lot is no indication of his spiritual status. Divine riches are eternal values. One’s wealth does not equate to being right with God. Wrong values are something other than God’s values. His values rest in what He says in Scripture.
The Scripture makes it clear what is necessary for one to possess eternal life. Our passage says that Moses and the prophets (the Old Testament) contain all the information necessary to receive salvation (Acts 3:18; Jn 5:39,40; Ro 3:21; 1 Co 15:3-4; 2 Ti 3:15). Nothing is more effective than God’s Word at convincing people of eternal issues. Faith in God’s Word yields truth.
