.
I'm not really sure what Abraham meant by his comment, but there is a
reference to circumstances similar to the rich man's in the book of Isaiah.
"From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all
mankind will come and bow down before me-- speaks the Lord. And they will
go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me:
their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be
loathsome to all mankind." (Isa 66:22-24)
That rather ghastly scene depicts a sort of tourist attraction similar to the La
Brea Tar Pits museum in Los Angeles where the remains of prehistoric
creatures, excavated from ancient asphalt deposits, are on display.
A worm that thrives in brimstone is pretty amazing, but not unreasonable.
The 4 inch Pompeii worm lives in sea water temperatures of 176° F which is
hot enough to kill salmonella and sanitize an egg. So I guess if God could
create a worm like the Pompeii, it shouldn't be too difficult for Him to create
worms that like it even warmer.
* To my knowledge none of Moses' writings speak of anyithing like Isaiah,
but his writings do speak of numerous curses for non compliance with the
covenant that his people entered into with God; e.g. Ex 34:6-7, Lev 26:3-
-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69. I'm assuming the rich man was a
Jew because he addressed Abraham as "father" and he in turn addressed the
man as "son", so Moses and Isaiah very definitely pertain to him.
If perchance the rich man's brothers were all brought up in a yeshiva, then
they were aware of both Isaiah and the curses but apparently chose to turn
deaf ears to sacred teachings.
_