What happened to Old Testament believers after Jesus died on the cross?
After Jesus died on the cross, the Old Testament believers’ sins were atoned for by the supreme sacrifice and divine blood. Until then they could not enter glory because animal blood only covered sin. Once atonement was completed, God took paradise up into heaven.
Les teaches that Old Testament believers could not go into glory when they died because their sins were not atoned for; they were only covered. The Hebrew word Kephar meant to cover, and the Day of Atonement was a covering, not a removing, of Israel’s sin. Animal blood could not take away sin. David’s psalm could say blessed is the man whose sins are covered, but they were not done away with. These believers waited for the true atoning work of the cross. After the cross, after the supreme sacrifice and divine blood had been shed, their sins were atoned for, and God took paradise up into heaven.