5. What did the Pharisees believe and teach about the state of the dead? Compare Luke 16:22-26 with the passage below in which Josephus, a Pharisee, describes his beliefs about the state of the dead, and see how many details of this parable are not taken from the writings of Moses and the prophets, but from the doctrine of the Pharisees.
‘Hades [translated as “hell” in the parable] is allotted as a place of custody for souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary punishments, agreeable to every one’s behaviour and manners. In this region there is a certain place set apart, as a lake of unquenchable fire, whereinto we suppose no one hath hitherto been cast; but it is prepared for a day afore-determined by God, in which one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men; when the unjust, and those that have been disobedient to God, and have given honour to such idols as have been the vain operations of the hands of men as to God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting punishment, as having been the causes of defilement; while the just shall obtain an incorruptible and never-fading kingdom. These are now indeed confined in Hades, but not in the same place wherein the unjust are confined. For there is one descent into this region, at whose gate we believe there stands an archangel with an host; which gate when those pass through that are conducted down by the angels appointed over souls, they do not go the same way; but the just are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed over that place, unto a region of light, in which the just have dwelt from the beginning of the world; not constrained by necessity, but ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see. . . . This place we call The Bosom of Abraham. But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to the left hand by the angels allotted for punishment. . . . Now those angels that are set over these souls drag them into the neighbourhood of hell itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the hot vapour itself; but when they have a near view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgement, and in effect punished thereby: and not only so, but where they see the place of the fathers and of the just, even hereby are they punished; for a chaos deep and large is fixed between them; insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.’ Josephus: Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades.
6. Why did Jesus use the false teachings of the Pharisees about the state of the dead in this parable? Luke 16:29. Compare Matthew 16:11-12 and consider Matthew 15:6, Mark 7:13.
NOTE: ‘We find our Saviour at the commencement of the gospel age, saying to His disciples, [Matthew 16:6,7,12,] “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Says Josephus, “The Pharisees believe that souls have immortal vigour in them, and that UNDER THE EARTH there will be rewards and punishments.” The Sadducees denied the resurrection: and the Pharisees, though they believed this, held an error in supposing that men were rewarded at death. Christ testified to them, “Ye make the word of God of none effect by your traditions.” He taught, “Thou shalt be recompensed AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.”’ James White: Review & Herald, January 10, 1856. [Capitalisation in original.]