Distinguish “Worldly” Rich Men
Matthew 19:23-24 (NIV)-M
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a [worldly] rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a [worldly] rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Above I modified these verses to add the specification “Worldly” rich man because it is the worldly rich men who are banned from entering the kingdom of God. This is because worldly wealth is typically associated with worldly men of self-sufficiency and worldly men of political power and worldly men of sexual immorality. Money seems to bring out the worst in wicked rich men!
This is why Jesus said it is hard for a (worldly) rich man to enter the kingdom of God. It is not that the wealth was the problem but rather the heart condition. Pride and ego and control follow those who can buy whatever they want and who can control people with money.
It should be noted that only (worldly) rich men will go to hell but there are plenty of righteous rich men who entered the kingdom of God such as Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob and David and King Hezekiah and many others. These were extremely wealthy righteous rich men who entered the kingdom of God. But these righteous rich men all depended upon the Lord and gave God the glory for their wealth. The problem with wicked rich men is that they use wealth for influence to control and manipulate and work things to their own advantage using bribes and other means to get what they want. Sexual immorality is also rampant among worldly rich men them and many worldly rich men are unfaithful to their wives.
Mark 10:23 (NIV)
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the [worldly] rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
Luke 18:24-25 (NIV)
24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the [worldly] rich to enter the kingdom of God!
25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a [worldly] rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
These scriptures should be clarified as referring to [worldly] rich men (rather that the righteous rich men). It was the righteous rich men who honored God with their wealth and used wealth to help others.
Isaiah 53:9 (NASB)-M
9 His place after death was assigned with wicked men, and He was in the place of the worldly rich man’s hell ensuing his decease. He suffered punishment for all human sin as a sacrifice even though He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit found in His mouth.
This scripture above refers to how Jesus went to hell to pay the punishment for the sin of all mankind. He took our place in hell so we would not have to go to hell ourselves. Jesus paid the penalty for sin by his own substitutionary death and suffering in hell and then He offered salvation as a free gift to anyone who would call upon his Name.
When Jesus went to hell it is said that He went to the place of the rich men. Hell is called the place of the rich men because all worldly rich men go to hell.
I modified this scripture above to indicate [the worldly rich man’s hell] because hell is often referred to as the place of the worldly rich man. Worldly rich men do all kinds of evil and pay lobbying money to change laws for their favor and pay bribes to influence court decisions for their benefit and exploit the poor and cheat employees of wages and live in gross self-indulgence and immorality is rife among them because they can buy anyone they want. These worldly rich men are full of self-sufficiency and assume they have no need of God and are full of pride for this reason. Hell is called the place of the rich man because all “worldly” rich men go to hell when they die!
Not Referring to a Tomb of a Wealthy Man
Most of the bible translations of Isaiah 53:9 give the “incomplete” idea that it is the body of Jesus in focus here (which was placed in a rich man’s tomb cut out of the rock in a cemetery near Jerusalem).
Luke 23:53 (NASB)
53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
But Isaiah 53:9 translations (saying he was placed with rich men) is not speaking of Jesus being buried in a tomb owned by a rich man on the surface of the earth. Within context with these scriptures before and after it all refer to the substitutionary death and sacrifice of Jesus who spent three days and three nights in hell (distinguished as the place of worldly rich men). Only the body of Jesus was in the tomb but his spirit and soul were suffering in a rich man’s hell for three days and three nights.
Matthew 12:40 (NIV)
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus went into the center of the earth where hell is located and here his spirit and soul were suffering the punishment for the sin of all mankind for three days and three nights. The number “three” represents “completion” so Jesus made a complete sacrifice and purchased a complete redemption for all humanity by His substitutionary suffering in hell. Only the body of Jesus was placed in the tomb in the cemetery near Jerusalem while his spirit and soul were in hell.
See “Three Parts of Man” for more details.
Context of Isaiah 53:9 Speaks of the Sacrifice of Jesus
Isaiah 53:8-11 (NASB)
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
The scriptures both before and after Isaiah 53:9 all speak about the substitutionary-sacrifice of Jesus paying for the sins of all humanity. All of these verses within context speak of the atonement of Christ. Therefore Isaiah 53:9 is not referring to his body being placed in rich man’s stone tomb in a cemetery on the surface of the earth. Isaiah 53:9 speaks of Jesus suffering in a (rich man’s hell) paying the price of an “innocent” suffering for the guilty to make remission for all sins.
See “The Atonement Series” for more details.
Righteous Rich Men
1 Chronicles 22:14 (NIV)
14 “I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them.
David was wealthy and gave generously to the building of God’s temple. He donated a thousand talents of gold (at 75 lbs. per talent this would be 75,000 lbs. of gold!) David gave a million talents of silver (at 75 lbs. per talent this would be 75,000,000 lbs. of silver) which is an unimaginable amount of wealth! But David and other righteous men like him all went to heaven because their money was used to help the kingdom of God and they gave generously to God’s kingdom and they did not make an idol out of money. This is a great contrast to worldly rich men who love money more than God and go to hell for this reason!
Distinguish Worldly Rich Men from Righteous Rich Men
Therefore “worldly” rich men should be distinguished from “righteous” rich men because they are not the same. The righteous rich men like Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Hezekiah, David and many others all went to heaven. But it is only the worldly self-indulgent and self-serving rich men who live lives of selfishness and debauchery that all end up in hell (the place of the worldly rich men when they die).