Saints, Paradise, and the "Ten Thousands of His Saints" in Jude 1:14

The observation that Old Testament saints were in the paradise compartment of Sheol rather than in heaven is well-taken. Before the finished work of Christ, the righteous dead are presented in Scripture as being in a blessed compartment of Sheol (often termed "Abraham's bosom" or "paradise"), not in the immediate heavenly presence of God in the way we would describe the position of believers today.

There is, however, an important nuance. In the earlier question we dealt especially with those saints who fall within the overlap between Israel's kingdom program and the present dispensation of grace. These particular saints are also "in Christ" as members of the body of Christ. They are not confined to the same pre-cross Sheol arrangement. They would be included among those caught up at the rapture.

Turning specifically to Jude 1:14:

"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints."

Because Jude expressly says that Enoch "prophesied," we are dealing with a prophetic vision. Enoch is shown the Lord returning with "ten thousands of his saints." Several things follow:

1. This is a future, prophetic scene, not a description of a then-present arrangement of the dead. Enoch is looking down the corridor of time to the second coming of Christ.
2. Enoch did not know the mystery of the body of Christ. As noted earlier from Ephesians 3:5, the mystery was "in other ages... not made known unto the sons of men." So what Enoch saw relates to the kingdom program, not to the rapture of the body of Christ.
3. Enoch may have seen the result, not the process. He sees the Lord returning surrounded by a vast company of "saints" without being shown how they came to be in that company or what exact heavenly or paradisiacal location they occupied beforehand. That respects the fact that the mystery was not revealed to him.

The phrase "ten thousands" in Jude 1:14 translates a Greek term that can be used for a literal multitude (ten thousand and its multiples) or for a vast innumerable number. The same or related wording appears, for example, in Hebrews 12:22:

"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels."

There the same root term is applied explicitly to angels. This reminds us that "saints" in Old Testament contexts can often mean "holy ones," which at times refers not to redeemed humans but to angels. So Jude 1:14 may, at minimum, include the host of holy angels, and possibly more.

This raises several interpretive possibilities for Jude 1:14:

1. Enoch's vision centers on angelic "holy ones." "Saints" there could primarily designate holy angels attending the Lord in His return. In that case, the passage would not be making a statement about the location or movement of human saints between Sheol, heaven, and the second coming.
2. Enoch sees a mixed company of holy ones. The phrase could encompass holy angels and glorified human saints at the time of the second coming, without specifying from which intermediate state each came.
3. The focus is the second coming, not the intermediate state. Regardless of which holy ones are in view---angels, glorified kingdom saints, or both---the prophecy addresses the Lord's return in judgment, not the precise location of saints between death and resurrection.

Regarding the location of saints prior to the cross, your point stands: Old Testament saints were in paradise, in Sheol. After the cross and resurrection, and in light of Paul's pattern in Philippians 1:23, members of the body of Christ who die go "to be with Christ," which we understand as a heavenly presence.

Thus, with respect to saints and Jude 1:14:

• Old Testament saints before the cross were in paradise in Sheol, awaiting future resurrection.
• Members of the body of Christ who die in this dispensation go to be with Christ.
• Jude 1:14, as a prophecy from Enoch, does not map out those intermediate arrangements; it simply reveals that when the Lord comes in His second advent, He will be accompanied by "ten thousands of his saints"---holy ones in attendance, at least including angels, and, by that future time, inclusive of resurrected and glorified saints as well.

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