Thank you for your comments Enow. They are a wonderful addition to the thread!
I believe Abraham's Bosom is where the Saved go after death. In addition, I believe
Abraham's Bosom is very literal and is the Microcosm/Within. I don't agree with some teachings that Abraham's Bosom was somehow 'emptied of captives' long ago.
Thus another way of looking at it is...
Heaven #1) Where God dwells
Heaven #2) Without (Macrocosm) -> Earth's Atmosphere and Outer Space
Heaven #3) Within (Microcosm) -> Abraham's Bosom
I believe Paul may have been speaking about himself. It could have been John as well. Either way, I believe they both saw the same place... Paradise. However,
I believe that Paradise is Abraham's Bosom.
Look closely at how Paul writes the verse...
"whether in the body" <- Microcosm
"or out of the body" <- Macrocosm
It has a double meaning. In other words, Paul wasn't sure if the Third Heaven was 'in the body' or 'out of the body'.
So you believe John was caught up to God's throne as per Revelation right?
Let's take a closer look at that...
Throne of God = Heart
Four Beasts = Four Chambers, Four Forces of Nature
Slain Lamb = Blood
Twenty Four Elders = Ribs
Seven Spirits = Lungs
You know what that's a picture of? A Bosom.
Who's Bosom? Abraham's...
John was caught up into Abraham's Bosom... the Third Heaven. See that? We may be in agreement after all.
Now to relate all of this back to the Seed...
Matthew 13:24
"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field"
Who is the Seed again?
Galatians 3:29
"And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise"
Thus, those in Abraham's Bosom are Abraham's Seed. They rest there until the Lamb leads them to the Tree of Life in which they can partake and become Born Again into the Glorified Body...
Revelation 7:17
"For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes"
Remember, the Lamb is in the Heart of the Third Heaven...
Luke 23:43
"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise"
Paradise = Third Heaven = Abraham's Bosom = Microcosm = Kingdom of God Within
I am not sure you know this or not, but just in case you did not, Abraham's bosom was underneath the earth before Christ had ascended? That the saints in Abraham's bosom was resurrected temporarily at Jesus's resurrection before "Paradise" aka Abraham's bosom was taken upwards to the third heaven when Jesus had finally ascended?
Saul deceived a medium to raise up the spirit of Samuel in 1 Samuel 28th chapter and this was the description of that sinful act.
1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. 14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. 15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
So I tend to believe that the parable of the rich man and Lazarus was true in that Abraham's bosom was across the great chasm that separated them from hell. We see how other scripture ties in about Jesus descending to preach to those in captivity.
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient,....
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
So by what Jesus has said in John 3:13, and what Peter has said as led by the Spirit in 1 Peter 3:18, the only way O.T. saints can enter into Heaven is by Christ providing the way. So the apostle John being taken to Paradise in Heaven was possible because Jesus was there.
So I do not see Paradise aka Abraham's bosom as Heaven where God dwells when originally it was beneath the earth, but thanks to Jesus Christ, Paradise aka Abraham's bosom is now IN Heaven as those who die in the name of the Lord after His ascension are present with the Lord in Heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.