Why does Les review the story of the rich man and Lazarus when teaching on 2 Corinthians 12?
The story is reviewed because it helps explain what Paul later teaches about paradise, contrasting its meaning under Paul with its Old Testament setting and Christ's earthly ministry. Luke 16 shows the beggar carried into Abraham's bosom and the rich man in hell, illustrating the abode of the departed.
Les teaches that although this is a familiar story and not new to his audience, he goes over it again because it helps them understand what Paul now teaches regarding paradise, compared with what it was in the Old Testament and during Christ's earthly ministry. In Luke chapter 16, beginning at verse 19, the beggar Lazarus dies and is carried by angels into Abraham's bosom, while the rich man dies, is buried, and is in hell. Les points out that the Old Testament Hebrew word was Sheol, the Greek was Hades, and the English is hell, all meaning the same thing: the abode of those who had departed this life.