Punctuation Problem?
Punctuation can sometimes make or break a complete conveyance of thought - especially since Hebrew has no punctuation. Luke 23:43 is a good example.
Throughout, Scripture continuously refers to death in the terms of sleeping, ie, "and he slept with his fathers", etc. This passage is no exception (because there are no exceptions in The Word). However, these words have continued to falsely support the idea of an immediate ascension to a heavenly place when we die. Let's move the punctuation just a bit and see what Messiah may have actually said:
"And he said to him, 'Truly, I say to you today,you will be with me in Paradise.'" (emphasis added)
A question that we must answer: IF we do indeed go to "heaven" when we die, what's the purpose of the Judgement? Will God say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I sent you to heaven, but you were really supposed to go to hell." (or vice-versa) I think not.
Created over 1 year ago