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3 O LORD [Yahovah], thou hast brought
up [`alah] my soul [nephesh] from the grave [sha'owl]:
thou hast kept me alive [chayah], that I should
not go down [yarad][yarad] to the pit [bowr]. KJV-Interlinear
3 O Lord,
Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should
not go down to the pit. NASB
The words, Sheol and Hades, are often used interchangeably when referring to the underworld or, the land of the dead. There are four compartments in the underworld. The first is Paradise, the second Tartarus, the third Torments, and the fourth compartment is the Abyss.
All four of these compartments are temporary holding areas for those who have died (people) or for those who have been condemned (demon angels).
The first compartment, Paradise, is the destination of all human believers in the Savior, when they died. In death they were taken to Paradise, and there waited for Jesus Christ to complete His work of salvation, when once completed, Christ went to Paradise and brought out all of its occupants and led them I a great victory parade to heaven. Those in Paradise were often called prisoners, as Satan objected to anyone going to heaven before Christ completed His work of salvation. In Satans mind, no one deserved to be in heaven, which of course he tried desperately to prevent, but failed. Paradise is now an empty compartment, serving no purpose now that salvation has been achieved by Christ. Since the Cross, all believers in Christ, when they die, go straight into Heaven.
Tartarus, is the holding compartment of the disobedient angels and their hybrid human/angel offspring from Genesis six.
Torments, is the holding compartment of all unbelievers from the time of Adam and Eve, up to now, and continuing until the last day of human history. All unbelievers are held there until the Great White Throne, which will occur at the end of the Millennium, when they will all be brought up out of Torments and made to stand before Christ and receive their final judgment. Persistent in their rejection of Christ, they will be condemned to the Lake of Fire, and there remain forever along with their eternal defiance.
The Abyss, is the holding compartment of the worst of the worst of the demon angels from eons long ago. They will be released temporarily during the Tribulation, to run to and fro across the world doing their best to torment and torture and terrify. And then they will be returned to the Abyss, to await the final judgment and disposition of all demon angels, all destined for the Lake of Fire.
The pit, which is mentioned in this verse, is a mere hole, into which dead things are thrown or buried, and forever lost to the elements.
And now in our verse, the Lord has brought up, raised up, lifted out of, the soul, from the grip of death and eternal separation from God. The soul is connected to the underworld and the eternally lost, were it not for God and His plan and grace and work of salvation.
For without God, Christ and doctrine, there would be nothing for any of us. No human effort, no restarts, no reincarnations, no return to different elements of life, nothing.
Without God and His plan, there would be a descent into the land of the dead, and nothing better, ever.
The pit receives the body when the person dies. The body once dead does not recover, does not rejuvenate itself, does not come back fresh and better. The body decays and is therefore lost to the elements of nature, to be forever forgotten.
Only God can resurrect the dead. Only God can resurrect the corruptible into the incorruptible, the limited into the unlimited, the eternally lost into the eternally living.
No religion can accomplish this. No philosophy can accomplish this. No belief system invented or pretended by man can accomplish this.
Only God can save and only God through Christ is the source of all life and eternal life.
In your life, the one second it takes or took for you to believe in Christ, is your single most important second in all of your life. There is no single thought or moment more important, none more beneficial, none more phenomenal than that of your moment of salvation.
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