This is all the knowledge we can obtain of the character, circumstances and condition of the rich man.  Jesus says nothing more of his character and we can find no account of him in any other part of the Bible.  From this we learn that he was rich and lived very luxuriously every day, as thousands now do.  He is not said to be an evil, dishonest, unmerciful or unjust person.  Jesus does not even indicate that he was an immoral man. If Jesus would have been talking about a time of endless misery to those who do evil, He would have mentioned what this man was guilty of!

You see, men have assumed that this man was doomed to suffer endless misery and consequently must have been deserving of it. It is not a sin to be wealthy and to live luxuriously.  There is nothing in this story to indicate that this mans wealth was obtained dishonestly.  We can just as easily assume that this man was honest, moral, and as good and virtuous as any church member in the land! 

Let's look now at what Jesus said about the beggar,

"At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table."

This is all the information we have respecting the character, condition, and circumstances of the beggar.  Jesus did not say or even indicate that the beggar was a good man or that he loved and served God or that he walked humbly, loved mercy or dealt justly.  He simply says that Lazarus was a beggar full of sores.  There are thousands of people who have reduced themselves to poverty, nakedness and starvation by their own laziness and brought upon themselves painful diseases and afflictions. We are justified in supposing that the beggar was reduced to his miserable condition by his own folly and idleness. 

We might even proceed further and prove by the strongest circumstantial evidence that the rich man was a good man, and the beggar a wicked man. Because throughout the Old Testament scriptures, wealth, riches and earthly enjoyment is promised to those who are pure in heart, who love God and keep his commandments.  While poverty, disease and disgrace is threatened to those who do wickedly.

The story goes on to say, 

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side."

Jesus said that Lazarus was carried into Abraham's bosom and there is not another place in the Bible where mention is made of any one being carried into Abraham's bosom at death.  And yet we have been taught that Abraham's bosom means heaven, which is a place of absolute happiness.  Why is Abraham's bosom more than the bosom of any other saint in glory?

The story goes on to say,

"The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side."

If Jesus intended to introduce the doctrine of endless punishment, doesn't it seem that he would have chosen someone that was a fit subject for such a place?  Especially, when this is the only place in the whole Bible where any indication is given of suffering after death?

The story goes on to say,

"So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'"

We have been taught that the damned were filled with cursing and blasphemy. Yet, here is one supposed to be in the prison-house of woe, praying, and that most earnestly and fervently.  And it should be observed that his prayer is offered to Abraham instead of God, which makes the common exposition of the passage still more difficult. For supposing that what we have been taught is true, then, why would this man be praying to Abraham instead of God?  Did he suppose that the patriarch had authority and power to mitigate his sufferings and alleviate his distress? Now, notice what a strange request he made,

"'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'"  

Just suppose that the rich man was actually in a flame of fire in the spirit world, what possible good could he have expected from a drop of water?  If both he and the beggar were in the spirit world, why should the one be represented as having eyes and a tongue, and the other fingers?  And where were they going to find a drop of water?  And what authority did Abraham have to send Lazarus to the rich man? Have we not been taught to believe that in the kingdom of immortal blessedness, all are free and equal?  Or are we to suppose that the relations of master and servant exists there as the request of the rich man would seem to imply?  And then again, why should the rich man have requested Lazarus to be sent to him? Did he suppose the beggar to be indebted to him for the crumbs which he had permitted him to be fed?  No satisfactory answer ever has or ever can be given to these questions on the ground that this is a statement of literal facts.

Now, let us notice the answer of Abraham to the prayer of the rich man,

"'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

Notice that Abraham does not even hint that the torment of the rich man was a punishment for sins committed while on earth and neither does he reprove the rich man for offering his prayer to him instead of God. He simply tells him that in his lifetime he had received good things, and Lazarus evil things. And then as a further excuse for not complying with his request, he tells him that between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.

Now if the hell here spoken of were such a place as it is generally supposed to be, and Abraham's bosom is the place of immortal blessedness, is it not rather a novel idea, to suppose that in order to keep the saints out of hell, it was necessary to confine them in heaven, by fixing a great gulf between the two places?   It is obvious that the purpose of this great gulf was to prevent the inhabitants of what is supposed to be the celestial world, from emigrating to what is supposed to be the world of woe!  And is it not surprising also that those who suppose this parable to be literal facts, that a gulf however wide and deep would be no sort of hindrance to a disembodied spirit upon which the laws of matter could have no power or control? (Think about it!!)

Let me leave you with this question to ponder. If what we have been told about God’s intention to punish billions of people forever in the most horrendous torturing fire then He would be worse than Hitler ever thought of being. This would not be the God that Jesus taught us about. He said that we were to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us and yet He is not going to practice what He expects us to do? Think about it.

If you want to read this whole article then just click on Have We Misinterpreted The Parable of Lazarus and The Rich Man?