MY PLACE (TOPOS)
or, Our Last "Place"
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If you don’t own your house but just rent, it is easier to move at a whim. When I was a child, my family moved every year (except for three years on a farm). By the time I was 19 years old, I had lived in at least fifteen (15) places. When you are buying a house, it isn’t as easy to get up and move unless you expect to own two houses at the same time. When I was interested in preaching full time, I was told that a preacher should move places at least every three years.[i] People move for various reasons, but one can underscore this as fact: everyone will move from this earth to live elsewhere. Even if you have lived a hundred years on this planet, your domicile is scheduled to be forcibly changed.
I have lived close to 90 years on Earth and have seen or heard each year about people my age moving on. They had no visible choice in the matter. Some had assured me that they were “ready” to move on but apparently a person has no choice in the matter. Probably they really would have liked to visit in their current house a little while longer with family and friends, but they know their time here was up. But just as many or more surprised us. They weren’t ready but they had to move on anyway.
OUR LAST MOVE: WE ARE MOVING. Does this seem to you to be a morbid subject? It is a very important one. It touches each one of us regardless of age. The inspired wise man wrote, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Later, he writes, “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead” (9:3). “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Again, “the living know that they shall die” (9:5).[ii]
One caution for us. We should not be unduly worried about our last move but we must concentrate on being ready. “Do not be over-anxious, therefore, about to-morrow, for to-morrow will bring its own cares. Enough for each day are its own troubles” (Matthew 6:34, Weymouth).
PURPOSE OF OUR LIVING. This writer of Ecclesiastes questioned his purpose in living in this house of Earth. He initially and erroneously assumed it was to seek out and enjoy carnal experiences. But he finally realized that such endeavors were “vanity.” His conclusion of the matter was “Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about” (Ecclesiastes 12:13b, CEV).
LOSING CONSCIOUSNESS? I believe strongly that some statements in Ecclesiastes are misunderstood and abused by some teachers. They conclude falsely that the Old Testament teaches an unconscious state when one dies (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Anytime I have experienced an unpleasant thing such as an surgical operation or body intrusion, I appreciated “being put to sleep”. But our final move is not going to be like that. For example, this passage in Ecclesiastes is talking about not being aware of “anything that is done under the sun” (9:6); this passage does not say that they will have no mental awareness; but that “the memory of them [the dead by those still alive] is forgotten” (9:5, ASV). PARABLE OF JUDGMENT. Jesus told the story of the deaths of “the rich man and Lazarus (the poor man)” and each was conscious of his surroundings (Luke 16:19f). This is truly a parable, but Jesus always used factual examples for His parables. There was a judgment[iii] of the two following their deaths such as Hebrews 9:27 states will happen to all of us. Each was consequently separated into his respective destination. “First comes death” and then came the judgment of separation. One section of existence’s abode will be a blissful rest in what Jesus called “Abraham’s bosom” while the other is accented with agony and torture. There is a separating chasm between the two separated places. Jesus promised the thief dying on a companion cross to be with Him that very day of death in “Paradise” (Luke 23). Jesus claimed to be going to “Paradise” then when separated from His body. The repentant thief did too. Paul witnesses the existence of Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:2, 4) and associates it with the “third heaven.” Yet, he describes Jesus’ second coming to include those “asleep” in Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:15).
OUR “PLACE.” The Greek is “toposG5117” which word we use in English for topology, topiary, topic, etc. When we move from this earth, we go to a final place. It is called “our place.” We not only do not take anything with us, but “our wages” [earthly rewards] belong to others (9:5) and someone else takes charge of our domicile and possessions. Even Elijah when leaving for Heaven (without dying) did not take his mantle with him (2 Kings 2:13). It is said of Judas the betrayer of Jesus “Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.” (Acts 1:20). In a sense this is what happens to each one’s earthly habitation. Judas unfortunately killed himself which would deal in determining his own destination. For Peter said that Judas fell so that “he might go to his own place”[iv] (Acts 1:25). Oddly, he died in the Valley of Hinnon which place Jesus used to describe a place of Hell. Just like Judas we all have a specific prepared place waiting for us.
PREPARE OUR PLACE? Jesus told the apostles clearly that He was going to make ready their dwelling place (toposG5117) in His Father’s “residence”[v] (okiaG3614, house), for them. His death would be their guarantee that He did this (John 14:6). We are reminded of the “shepherd’s psalm” promise: “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). The apostles had made ready that upper room ‘place’ for Jesus, so apparently Jesus indicated He was now going to make ready their “dwelling place” with the Father (John 14:2, AFV).
WITNESSES OF AN ENDEARING PLACE. We know of at least three people that left here in death but were witnessed returning in the Scriptures. Elijah was described by 2 Kings 2 as ascending into Heaven in a chariot without physically dying. Moses is said to have died and God secretly burying his body (Deuteronomy 34:6; cf. Jude 1:9). However, both appeared centuries later to some of the apostles during the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4). And surely, Jesus came back from the dead and appeared to as many as 500 witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6).
CONTINUED EXISTENCE AT RESURRECTION. I know of at least two religious bodies that teach that a person is annihilated at death. That is, the individual is “puff!” and no more in existence. Their concept of the resurrection is what I would call a “re-creation” of both body and spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 describes new bodies for the resurrected spirits. The spirit is never mentioned as a re-created entity. 1 Corinthians 15:51b, f: “We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed, In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
FINAL PLACE: INTO A RIGHTEOUS COMMUNITY. The resurrection is described in such passages as 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18. Verses 16-17 (AFV), “Because the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds for the meeting with the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord.” This final blessed place is forever. Peter adds in 2 Peter 3:12, 13 (AFV), “Looking forward to and striving for the coming of the day of God, during which the heavens, being on fire, shall be destroyed, and the elements, burning with intense heat, shall melt? But according to His promise, we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
JUDAS’ UNIQUE “PLACE”. Commentaries on Acts 1 suggest that Judas’ “place” was “Hell.”[vi] Vincent’s Word Studies: “Τὸν ἴδιον, his own, is stronger than [a] simple possessive pronoun. It is the place which was peculiarly his.”
There are different Greek words used that describe our potential future residence which the King James Version simply translates as “hell.” For example, Jesus “went” to Hell but He did not go to the Hell that Judas went to (Acts 2:31). His soul went to Greek Hades or Sheol in Hebrew. “[David], seeing it before, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither has he been left in Hades nor his flesh seen corruption” (Darby’s). Peter on Pentecost quoted David’s Psalm 16:10, “For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption” (ASV’s). The King James says “Hell” which is misleading. The NT Greek used Hades for the Hebrew word “Sheol” (quoting from OT) which described a general place: “the grave” or “death.” Although the rich man of the parable in Luke 16 was “in Hades” and “in torment”, he was not said to be in the hell of the resurrection (yet).
Summary of the “Places” in Death in the Inspired Word: The Greek/Hebrew Generic Place of “Grave or Death”: “Topos”G5117 – Greek: A Place, “a space marked off from the surrounding space” (Thayer). Its identity is defined by judgment. 80 times as “place”, 5 times “room”, 2 times as “quarters” in the KJV. “Sheol” - a OT Hebrew term simply referencing “the grave” or “death” – Does not refer to “hell” specifically but sheol is translated into KJV’s English 31 times as “hell”, 31 times as “grave”, 3 times as “pit.” The Hebrew meaning according to Strong’s is “the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat) and includes its accessories and inmates.” “Hades” = “sheol”- A Greek term that includes a place of torment (Luke 10:15; 16:23, etc.) Equivalent to Hebrew sheol. The OT Greek translation (called LXX) was used by the Jewish communities in the first century, AD. The Greek word “Hades” translated the Hebrew sheol at least 66 times in the LXX. The word was originally used in the Greek world to refer to a mythological god of the underworld, e.g., in Homer’s day[vii] (c. 900 years BC). The word eventually was developed over the span of hundreds of years simply to denote “the grave, death, hell”[viii], but basically meant only the “un-seen.” The Greek Places for the Righteous[ix]: “Dead in Christ”, “Asleep in Jesus” – 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16. NT faithful’s resting place. “Abraham’s bosom” - (Luke 16:22) a place of comfort (v.25). OT faithful’s resting place. “With the Lord” - a key phrase that describes where believers are after death (Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 5:8). “New heavens and earth” – where believers with new bodies will be after the resurrection (2 Peter 3; Revelation 20:4-6; 21:1-4). “Paradise” - (Luke 23:43; Revelation 2:7) a place of comfort. Borrowed from the original garden of Eden concept.
Note: Jesus will never set His feet back upon the Earth. 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Believers meet the Lord “in the air.” His rule on David’s throne is from Heaven now (Peter on Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:30-34). The Greek Place for the lost unrepentant sinner: “Tartaros” ταρταρόωG5020- refers to current place of the condemned angels (place mentioned one time in 2 Peter 2:4); translated by KJV as “hell”. To the Greeks this subterranean place word was the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds. Reserved in everlasting chains under darkness until the Judgment Day (Jude 1:6). “In Torments” – Luke 16:23, βάσανοςG931 a current division of Sheol/ Hades; in flames (v.24). In the Resurrection: “Outer Darkness” – Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30. ἐξώτεροςG1857 σκότοςG4655, the reserved “forever blackness of darkness” (Jude 1:13). Residence of the lost. “Gehenna G1067” - A Greek term (borrowed from a literal burning dump near Jerusalem called “valley of Hinnon”) that always refers to eternal hell fire – a place of forever torment (Matthew 5:22, 30; 23:33). 12 times translated as “hell” in KJV. “Lake of fire”- (“pyr” G4442) prepared “for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41) but describes the final abode of unbelievers after the resurrection (Revelation 20:14,15). 74 times in KJV!
Are we ready to move from our current residence? We have no choice but to move. We have only temporary residence here. The only question is "When"? We need to imitate the faithful in the good book who confessed they were only pilgrims on this earth (Hebrews 11:13) who desire a better place; so that God is not ashamed to be called our God. He has prepared for us a city! Jesus guarantees it by His resurrection. Our destiny is therefore left up to us just as it was for Judas.
[i] It is estimated that Paul stayed at one place no longer than three years. So “they” were probably estimating the apostolic example. [ii] “Die” (or “Dead” H4191) is mentioned in the Hebrew OT 790 times. [iii] “Judgment”, krisis G2920 Thayer’s Definition: 1) a separating, sundering, separation 1a) a trial, contest 2) selection 3) judgment 3a) opinion or decision given concerning anything 3a1) especially concerning justice and injustice, right or wrong 3b) sentence of condemnation, damnatory judgment, condemnation and punishment 4) the college of judges (a tribunal of seven men in the several cities of Palestine; as distinguished from the Sanhedrin, which had its seat at Jerusalem) 5) right, justice [iv] Strong’s: toposG5117 “a spot (generally in space, but limited by occupancy; whereas G5561 is a larger but particular locality), that is, location (as a position, home, tract, etc.). Albert Barnes considers all interpretations but ends with “referring it to the abode of Judas in the world of woe” and supports the idea of hell as a place. John Gill: “to his place, that which was prepared for him in hell.” [v] AFV. “In My Father's house are many dwelling places”; John 14:2, AFV. [vi] Popular New Testament: “conveys Judas had gone to a place of condemnation.” Jamieson-Fausset-Brown: “expression of the awful future of the traitor.” Adam Clarke suggests it has the same meaning as Ecclesiastes 3:20: “all to one place: dust.” A.T. Robertson: “He made ready his own berth and went to it.” Vincent’s: “It is the place which was peculiarly his, as befitting his awful sin - Gehenna.” [vii] The Greek poet Homer was born sometime between the 12th and 8th centuries BC, possibly somewhere on the coast of Asia Minor. Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. https://www.biography.com/writer/homer [viii] “Hades.” www.etymonline.com. Cf. to Pluto, god of lower regions. The Greek definition is Strong’s #G86 in both Strong’s and Thayer’s. [ix] List adapted from https://bible.org/article/what-bible-says-about-hell.
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