From Genesis to Revelation: The One Story – The Golden Thread that Explains Everything – Part 28

By Andre Eksteen

The earth fell silent when He said: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

The light disappeared, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, and the earth shook. (Matthew 27:51)

The Son of Man gave up His breath — but this was not the end. It was the beginning of the next phase of the war.

The world thought He was dead.

The Romans thought the matter was settled.

The priests thought they had finally got rid of Him.

But when His body died on the cross, His Spirit moved.

The Son of God descended to the realm of the dead — not as a prisoner, but as a Conqueror.

Scripture says: “He who descended is the very One who ascended higher than all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” (Ephesians 4:10)

His Spirit entered the lower parts of the earth, the place Scripture calls Hades — the realm of the dead. This was not hell in the sense of eternal damnation, but the holding place where human souls were kept until redemption was completed.

Luke 16:22–26 describes two divisions in this realm: Abraham’s bosom — a place of rest for the righteous — and a place of torment for the wicked. Jesus mentions only these two. But according to ancient writings, including the Book of Enoch (chapter 22) and Talmudic tradition, there were in fact four divisions in Sheol or Hades.

The first was for the righteous — those who died in faith, waiting for the Messiah. This is Abraham’s bosom, a place of peace, waiting, and hope.

The second was for the wicked — those who died in rebellion against God, the place of torment Jesus describes in the account of the rich man and Lazarus.

The third was for the fallen beings — the angels of Hermon, who sinned in the days before the Flood, and who are kept in darkness until the day of judgment. (Enoch 10; Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4) This place is called Tartarus — the deepest part of the earth.

The fourth was for the unrighteous people of the nations — those who died without knowledge of the true God, held in waiting for the great white throne judgment described in Revelation 20.

When Jesus descended, He visited only two of these divisions — and He emptied only one.

The first place He entered was Abraham’s bosom — the place of the righteous, on the upper side of Sheol. Here the souls of Old Covenant believers waited for the fulfilment of the promise. According to Enoch, this place lay on the western side of the great chasm — a place of light and waiting, guarded by angels. The prophets, the patriarchs, and all who died in faith remained there, protected by God’s promise, but not yet reconciled.

When the blood of the Lamb was shed, that waiting ended.

He entered, opened the gates, and led the captives out. Paul writes: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive.” (Ephesians 4:8) These captives were not rebels — they were the righteous of the Old Covenant, now freed through Him.

But note this carefully: they did not ascend in physical bodies. They ascended in spirit — the souls of the righteous now brought into the presence of God. They have not yet received their glorified bodies, because that happens at the rapture of the Church, when “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Until that day, they are alive with the Lord, but not yet clothed in the eternal body of light that is promised. They are as John describes in Revelation 6 — the souls under the altar, clothed in white robes, waiting for the completion of the plan. They rest, they worship, and they wait for the day when the Light will again appear in flesh — this time glorified.

The second place He visited was the deepest — Tartarus — where the fallen beings from the days of Noah are bound. (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) He did not go there to redeem, but to declare that their judgment was sealed. “He went and preached to the spirits in prison.” (1 Peter 3:19) This was the announcement that the war that began in Genesis had now been decided forever.

The other divisions remain closed:

– the place of torment, where the wicked await judgment;

– the place of waiting for the souls of the nations who died without knowledge of the Covenant;

– and Tartarus itself, where the fallen beings remain bound until the day of fire.

These places are not empty — and they are not relics of the past. They are active. They continue to fill.

Every day, with every death outside of Christ, those chambers grow fuller. Souls who die without reconciliation through the blood of the Lamb do not fade into nothingness — they are drawn into these realms that still await final judgment.

The place of torment is not filled with ancient figures alone, but with people of our own time — the self-sufficient, the godless, the unrepentant, those who chose their own truth above God’s. It is a place of awareness, of memory, of guilt without the possibility of restoration. Jesus describes it Himself in Luke 16, when the rich man lifts his eyes in the flames and begs for a drop of water — fully conscious of every opportunity he rejected.

The place of waiting holds the souls of those who never knew the Gospel, who will be judged according to conscience and grace. They wait not in fire, but in silence — a neutral holding place until the great judgment determines what is just.

And in Tartarus, the lowest depth, the fallen beings remain bound — but even that place is not static. New powers of rebellion, new spirits born through human and demonic alliances, are added continually. This is why the world grows darker — what was bound begins to stir, and what was waiting begins to move.

Sheol is therefore not merely a remnant of the past; it is the antechamber of eternity for those who die without Christ. While the world laughs at the idea of hell, it fills itself daily with soul after soul. Judgment has not yet fallen — but the prisons are already full.

Only one division of Sheol is empty — the place of the righteous.

This is why Matthew writes:

“The graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and after His resurrection they came out of the graves and went into the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:52–53)

This passage is literal, not symbolic. The earth itself testified to the first movement of victory over death.

But two realities unfolded at the same time.

The souls of the righteous who had waited in Abraham’s bosom ascended with Christ — freed from Sheol and brought into the presence of God. They ascended as spirits, not as bodies. They now live with Him, conscious and at peace, until the final trumpet sounds and body and spirit are reunited — not in weakness, but in glory. “The dead shall be raised incorruptible.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)

On earth, however, another sign occurred. A number of saints — likely prophets and believers from the Old Covenant — physically rose from their graves. They did not receive glorified bodies like Christ, but ordinary bodies restored to life for a short time. Matthew says they appeared in the holy city and testified to many. They lived again as people — eating, speaking, walking — until they died once more and joined the rest of the righteous.

This was a sign. Proof that death had lost its grip. The firstfruits of resurrection, the guarantee that the rest would follow. They did not ascend to heaven, but showed on earth what was now possible: life after death, even before the final resurrection.

From that day on, paradise was no longer under the earth — it was above, where Christ is. That is why Paul later says: “I was caught up to Paradise.” (2 Corinthians 12:3–4) Paradise moved from Sheol to heaven. The way was opened.

One division of the realm of the dead was destroyed, the keys were taken, and the path to heaven was opened for all who believe. Death still holds people in flesh, but no longer in spirit. The bars are open — the enemy has lost his legal right.

For three days the world thought the story was over. But in the unseen realm, those three days caused a revolution. The gates of Hades were broken. The keys of death and hell were taken. The righteous of the Old Testament entered the presence of God for the first time.

And yet it is shocking how many people sit in churches today and recite the Creed every Sunday without understanding what they are saying.

They confess with their lips:

“I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary;

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell;

The third day He rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”

But their hearts do not grasp what these words mean.

When you confess this, you are saying that He truly descended, that He broke open the prisons of the dead, that He stood with authority in the realm of death and took the keys from the one who held humanity in fear for centuries. You are saying He conquered death — not symbolically, but in reality.

Most do not understand this. For them it is liturgy. They speak it, but do not believe it in their soul or know it with certainty in their spirit. And so the confession loses its power. Because if you do not believe He truly descended, if you do not understand why He descended, you will never understand how He rose.

Then came the third day.

The earth trembled — not because an angel rolled the stone away, but because the power of death was broken. The Light of the world rose — not as spirit only, but in flesh. The same body, but transformed, incorruptible, filled with glory.

“I live, and you shall live also.” (John 14:19)

The resurrection was not merely proof of life after death; it was the declaration of victory over every power of darkness. The cross paid the debt; the resurrection restored authority.

The devil thought the war was over when the body hung on the cross. But when the tomb opened, hell realised it had only just begun. The serpent’s head was crushed, though its body still writhed — and now the Spirit Himself would descend to finish the work.

The cross dealt with guilt.

The resurrection restored dominion.

Now heaven would begin to dwell in people.

In the next part, Part 29, we will see how this victory is transferred — how the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost, how the descendants of Japheth awaken, and how the war between heaven and hell is now carried forward through the body of Christ.