March 18th

The Lower Parts of the Earth

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

(Ephesians 4:9-10) KJV

After the crucifixion Jesus descended into the lower parts of the Earth. He went there to gather the souls of the Old Testament saints who were awaiting his coming.

While he was there he preached to the spirits in prison. We can understand this by incorporating what the Bible teaches us about the interior of the Earth into our model of its internal structure.

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We all have the same evidence. Our choice of paradigm determines what we think it’s evidence of.

– Matty’s Razor

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Couplets and Triplets

Most people who know anything about Old Testament Hebrew will be familiar a form of writing known as the Hebrew couplet. Is there a triplet? Ezekiel appears to be using a form of triplets to educate us about the interior of the Earth. Bear in mind that the lower parts of the earth and the nether parts of the earth are two ways to translate the same Hebrew words, they’re synonyms.

To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

(Ezekiel 31:14) KJV

Here’s the triplet that appears to describe a descent into the lower parts of the earth:

1. for they are all delivered unto death,
2. to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men,
3. with them that go down to the pit.

First they die, they descend into the lower parts of the earth, then go to the pit. Ezekiel has at least three examples of this progression, or something like it.

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Faith is believing in something that you can’t see, because of evidence.

– Faith, definition

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I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

(Ezekiel 31:16) KJV

The arrangement is slightly different here, but it has the same three parts:

1. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell
2. with them that descend into the pit:
3. and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

In this example those that descend into the pit aren’t comforted in the nether parts of the earth, that’s the reason why the sequence is different. Therefore the nether parts of the earth and the pit are different things.

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Salvation

1. Call upon the name of Jesus Christ,
   • believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
2. confess your sin.

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There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

(Ezekiel 32:24) KJV

Here is is again with the progression of going from death to the nether parts of the earth, and then to the pit.

1. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
2. which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living;
3. yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

Is this teaching us that death is where we pass into the underworld realm of the dead, and then those that knew the Lord during life are comforted in the nether parts of the earth while those who did not descend into the pit? If this is the case, then this is fully compatible with the model of the internal structure of the Earth which we’ve developed. We may be able to confirm this by looking at some nuance:

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The reason for creation is the manifestation of sentient life with free will.

– The Reason for Creation

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When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;

(Ezekiel 26:20) KJV

The low parts of the earth are translated from the same Hebrew word as other examples of it used in the phrase the lower parts of the earth, but grammatically it’s rendered as lowest. There is some overlap in application and usage, but if we use our model to help refine the meaning then we can summarize:

• The mantle includes the lower parts of the earth.
• The core is the lowest part in the earth.

Here is how our model incorporates these features: The lower/nether parts of the earth is the lower mantle which we have identified as the foundations of the world/mountains/hills and the belly of hell. The pit is the molten core of the Earth.

Read through the Bible in a year

Reading plan	March 18
Linear	1 Samuel 17-19
Chronological	Deuteronomy 21-23

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