Yesterday we began a study on Hell. Let's recap a bit.
There are four words translated as hell in the Bible.
1. Sheol
2. Hades
3. Geenna ( gehenna )
4. tartaroō
Sheol is one of the words used for hell. In a verse from Psalms David is prophesying of Jesus and he says this--
Psa 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Hell- sheol)
Paul repeats the words of David-
Act 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Hell- hadēs)
We know for a fact our Savior never went to man's fictional idea of hell, upon His death. Christ did go to the grave and He was left in the grave for three days.
Let's look at the word Hades.
Hades
G86
ᾅδης
hadēs
It never means the place of punishment. Its meaning is 'an unseen place', 'the grave', 'pit', 'region of the dead'.
Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Wait… what?! What was that last verse? 'And death and HELL were cast….' WHERE? 'INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.'
Okay, let's get this straight. Hell is imagined by the majority of people to be a lake of fire right? I mean we've all seen it depicted in movies and such and it's always a huge fiery place where people are suffering endlessly. And yet the Bible clearly says- and HELL is going to be cast into a lake of fire. So if Hell is a huge fiery place of torment and it's cast into a lake of fire would that make any sense at all whatsoever?
Again this word can mean grave as we've already noted.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
That word grave there is hades.
Now the word - Geeena- Gehenna
G1067
γέεννα
geenna
gheh'-en-nah
Of Hebrew origin ([H1516] and [H2011]); valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem.
(2Ch 28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did NOT that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:
2Ch 28:2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.
2Ch 28:3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
(2Ch 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem
2Ch 33:2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. )
2Ch 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
This was a REAL place. And it was considered a place of punishment. There WILL be a punishment for evil make no mistake about that, none. The Bible is clear that that wicked will be punished and this place of punishment was a place of punishment that no one who walk through that fire in the valley survived- they were destroyed utterly after suffering the pain of burning in that fire. There will be a LAKE of FIRE. Remember we just read about 'hell' being cast into a lake of fire. That fire will exist and the wicked will be punished in that lake of fire- but it isn't a place that exists right now where spirit bodies go to suffer endlessly.
Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell (geenna)?
Mar 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
Jas 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Read this--
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Every man in his OWN order shall be MADE alive- after death.
Christ
The firstfruits
They that are Christ's at his coming
THEN cometh the end… he must reign till he hath put ALL enemies under his feet.
And read this--
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
There is a lake of fire for those NOT written in the book of life- but NO ONE is cast into this lake of fire until after Christ comes, until after Christ and His people reign in heaven 1000 years!
Now the last word for hell-
G5020
ταρταρόω
tartaroō
ONE time in the entire Bible does the word hell mean this.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment
Cast them to hell- to chains of darkness to be reserve unto the JUDGMENT. Who was cast there? A person? No! Angels that sinned! Angels are not flesh and cannot die as our flesh dies. Angels can suffer eternal death- the second death, but only after the judgment. Until then - these angels that sinned are kept in darkness- hell. This word hell doesn't mean those angels are suffering eternally in a pit of fire.
Surprisingly hell as people have been taught to believe- DOESN'T EXIST!
A lake of fire will exist at the end of the world.
Another question that is brought up is the eternity this fire is supposed to burn.
I don't know about you but I cannot ever imagine God keeping a lake of fire burning forever and ever and ever, never ending it, but having people (those who are with Him) see and KNOW former loved ones, suffering horrifically. I can't comprehend this aspect and with good reason- God would NEVER do that. God would never keep a place we would call the HELL people imagine exists even now-forever and eternally in existence. Satan is the root of all pain and suffering, not God! Satan would win a victory even in eternal, endless suffering if people were to be forever reminded of sin and it's horrors. God is a JUST God. God is a fair God! All we know of goodness and of God the Father was revealed to us by His Son and His Son showed ONLY compassion for the suffering.
So these words- eternal fire, unquenchable fire, forever and ever- what exactly are meant by them?
Let's look at a few examples--
Jeremiah 17:27
But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Obviously there is NOT fire STILL destroying Jerusalem. Right? Jerusalem was destroyed as Jeremiah predicted it would be if the people did not turn from their evil ways. They didn't turn from them and they were taken captive to Babylon, though many were killed and the temple was completely destroyed. There were fires but saying it would not be quenched did not mean it would go on forever and ever without end. Not being quenched as any fireman could tell you means a fire that is unable to be subdue burns until there is NOTHING left to burn. It's not quenched by man, it goes out on its own only when it no longer has a source of fuel.
2 Chronicles 36:19-21
2Ch 36:19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
2Ch 36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
2Ch 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
Jude 7
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
READ that again!
Suffering the vengeance of ETERNAL FIRE.
Is Sodom still burning?
Is Gomorrha still burning?
No and no. The eternal part of the fire is the END results. Eternal destruction, eternally destroyed. That eternal fire from God was truly an eternal fire as only such as God can possess.
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly
Ashes.
Eternal fire.
You don't burn ashes- the result OF the burning- is the ashes. The fire has burned all it can burn.
Mal 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
Do you see? With Sodom and Gomorrha as our example for the ungodly- we know that there will be a punishment that will be eternal in its results. Just as stubble is burned to ash, the wicked will be burned to ash without any ROOT or BRANCH left for them to ever live again. This is the second death- the death that NO ONE who receives it will live again. There will be no spirit body given to these people to suffer endlessly, they will be GONE, entirely gone. Anyone that has had the great misfortune of living through a house fire understands the eternal state of things they possessed being forever gone. Medical examiners understand that a cremated body is beyond examination-the fire having destroyed all that was flesh. God's eternal fire, eternal in its results is ALL consuming and hotter than anything we can ever fully imagine. Satan will be destroyed in that fire, death will be destroyed in that fire.
There is NO eternal suffering, but there is eternal nothingness. And honestly this is a just punishment for all evil, for all sin- not some ongoing ever burning pit of agonizing pain.
People love to use that idea to scare people into wanting to be good, into wanting to be in heaven, but at the same time it has people wondering about the LOVE of GOD. They can't comprehend a loving God allowing something so horrifying to exist- with good reason too. How many people have NOT wanted to know anything about their Savior because people have succumbed to this belief in hell, to this belief in ongoing suffering?
If we believe our God is love then we KNOW in our hearts just as we abhor the suffering going on in the world, that He abhors it infinitely more than we do. He could NEVER be an advocate of ongoing suffering, but rather just punishment and then and end to all sin and the results of all sin.
The earth will be made new and it will not contain any lake of fire for people disembodied or not to know suffering.
So, yes, there is a hell- but really studying the Bible reveals the truth to it all.
Death is a sleep. (Jn 11:11-14)
Resurrection will come when Christ returns- the holy in Christ will rise to meet the Lord then and the wicked will be killed. (1 Thess 4:16,17; 2 Thess 2:8)
A second resurrection will come after 1000 years as the earth is left desolate- Satan confined- having NO one to deceive. (Rev.20:3-7)
The wicked dead will rise again in this resurrection and Satan will be loosed allowed to deceive all over again and then all will be judged and accordingly punished, and destroyed in the second death. (Rev.20:7)
Sin, Satan, Death- all will be GONE ENTIRELY! (Rev.8-15)
Rev. 21 (All)
AMEN!!!!!!!
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