"Descension"

 "I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:" (Ecclesiastes 2:7 KJV)

  "That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead - so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit." (1 Peter 4:6 NLT)

 I know, it seems rather odd and quite out of sorts; but we are celebrating the power of God's salvation for the whole earth; this is the period between the death on the cross, and the moving away of the stone! In the part of this Scripture that says, "and had servants born in my house," if you look up that word, "house," Sheol is listed in the definition. So here you have it, just go with it! 

 Before Jesus had paid the price, having died for the entire sins of the world, those that wanted to ask God for forgiveness would sacrifice an animal, representing the blood that should be shed for the covering of sin. God initiated this when He clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals. They had covered themselves with fig leaves, which really did nothing but make them itch; but God, took away their itching, and gave them a covering that actually worked.

 Oddly enough, the whole thing with Cain and Abel turned out the same; as Cain sacrificed from the work of his labor, offering fruits and vegetables; but Abel offered a blood sacrifice, using the firstborn lamb from his flock. God accepted Abel's sacrifice, because of the blood that covered sin, but rejected Cain's sacrifice, which covered nothing, which made Cain furious with his brother.  

 All of these sacrifices, throughout thousands of years, they all were only a covering for sin, but never actually took away the sin, not like what happened on the cross! Jesus paid the penalty for sin, once and for all, with His blood! By His blood, He washed away all the sins, for the entire world! Those that had died before Jesus came and paid the price, if they were looking towards salvation, they were waiting in the place called, Sheol, or hell, where Jesus went to preach the Good News, to all of those that were waiting to hear it! 

 I don't really know how else to explain it, but those who have received salvation, they are the ones that accepted the Salvation that was offered them! Everyone's sins were paid for on that cross, but not everyone will receive the free gift that God has provided for them. I can only imagine that there might have been those who heard Jesus preach the Good News in Sheol, but ignored it and refused to accept it. Much like those that were bitten and refused to look at the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up on the staff; they just looked away and refused to be healed.

 Imagine the number of people that Jesus preached to and imagine how many animals were sacrificed to offer a covering for sins! I can only imagine that the numbers were staggering: Great, to say the least...

""And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."" (John 3:14-21 NLT)