Hell

Hell – The word probably brings on as many different feelings and concepts as there are people who hear it. But this is unfortunate. Hell is the temporary abode of lost souls. It is not where lost souls will suffer for eternity as is so commonly taught. And it is not the same thing as the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire causes a “second death” according to Revelation 20:14, with the first death being that of the physical body only, and the second being the death of the soul, likely animating whatever form of body one is given in which to stand judgment, possibly some re-creation or form of their initial physical body. There are four different Hebrew or Greek words that are translated to the English word “hell” in our Bibles, one of them only being used once in the entire Bible, the other three occuring a number of times. This over-interpretation of multiple terms into the one term “hell” is the source of much of the confusion over the doctrine of hell.

The following is excerpted from the rough draft of Chapter Four:

Even though we touched on the matter in Chapter One, in this chapter we will take a closer look at the three Hebrew or Greek words that are most commonly translated into the English word “hell”. And we’ll see that these describe two very different places or scenarios; we'll see that there is a real place where lost souls go after physical death, but that the word used most often in the New Testament to describe final judgment indicates full destruction. After we establish this, we will look at related topics such as the purpose of an intermediate state of suffering, the idea that an intermediate state was foreshadowed as well as openly written of in the Old Testament, and we will see some very plain language from the New Testament that indicates its reality as well. We will also look at the Biblical idea of varying levels of suffering for those in hell, and examine the claims by many that the dead (saved and unsaved) are in a literal soul sleep.

Let me first state that I do not believe in purgatory, and this is not what I am advancing here. Hell is not a place where sins are paid for or purged. Once in hell, a soul is literally on death row. There are no second chances. The next destination for a lost soul in hell is the Lake of Fire, also called the Second Death, after which that soul will no longer be. It will have no being whatsoever after this, according to Scripture.

What did Jesus really say about “Hell”?

It is often said that Jesus spoke more of Hell than He did of Heaven. I’ve never counted His references to Heaven, and so I have never compared the counts, but I would not doubt this claim at all. We know from 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is not willing that any should perish, so it only makes sense that He would give many warnings about perishing or being destroyed. And we will see that in fact, this is exactly what He did. While he most certainly gave a very clear warning about the intermediate state which is the main subject of this chapter, He more often spoke of the ultimate destruction of souls. But before we can delve into the study of the intermediate state of hell, we first need to establish that there are two very different words and ideas which are unfortunately both translated into the same English word "Hell".

Keep in mind that Jesus did not speak in English. Most scholars believe that He spoke in Aramaic, and that His words were originally recorded in Greek. So Jesus never actually said “hell.” The two different Greek words being translated as hell that Jesus spoke are so very different, and the contexts in which they are spoken of are so very different, it is impossible to deny that these are two very different ideas. This causes much confusion for people who do not look beyond English translations because both are unfortunaltely translated as “hell.”

There are sixteen times in Scripture where Jesus is recorded as uttering a word that is translated as “hell”. Five of these sixteen times, Jesus used the Greek word Hades, and eleven times He used the word Gehenna which is a combination of two Hebrew words meaning “valley” and “Hinnom”, and we’ll come back shortly and discuss this word, and why it is such a perfect description of final judgment, and how it confirms the teachings that death and full destruction await the lost.

Hades is the place of departed souls, and equivalent to Sheol in the Old Testament(translated as hell and grave). At the time that Christ spoke of Hades, there was no essential difference in Hades and Sheol. Hades is the Greek word and Sheol is the Hebrew word for the same place or state. But Hades has changed now that Christ, through His death on the cross, has entered the Holy of Holies once for all (Hebrews 9:12) and has ascended to the Father. Now, souls of saved people go to be with Him there (2 Corinthians 5:8), whereas before, all souls, believers or unbelievers, went to hell(Hades), but believers didn’t suffer, whereas the lost always have, do, and will until they are resurrected for judgment at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth(Rev. 20:5 and 13). But there is every indication that this is more of a mental suffering than physical. This claim may sound preposterous, but we’ll return to it shortly and I’ll elaborate.

Paul told us in 2 Corinthians that absent from the body is present with the Lord, but while he can say this now, after Christ’ sacrifice, this was never claimed before. It wasn’t even possible for the saved to go to the Father/Heaven prior to Jesus’ death because He had not done the cleansing with His own blood that was represented in the Old Testament yearly by the Israelite high priest entering the Holy of Holies with the blood. Once a year, according to God’s exacting specifications, the lone Israelite high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies portion of the Temple with a blood sacrifice, that we now know represented what Christ would one day do by taking on flesh and losing His life for us. In Matthew 27:51, we see that when Jesus died, the veil to the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn in two. This represented the fact that now there is access to heaven that was previously denied. And Jesus confirms that none had ascended to heaven yet in John 3:13 where he says that only the Son of Man has ascended to heaven.

I’ve read where some try to claim that this is not what Jesus meant here, and they reference Enoch and Elijah, neither of which died a normal human death. While several Bible versions, in Hebrews 11:5, say that Enoch went to heaven, the Greek text doesn’t actually say that, but only indicates that he was translated in such a way that even his flesh did not see death, and most believe that this was done as a singular example and foreshadowing of the future bodily rapture of Christians, and this thinking is probably correct. As far as Elijah being taken up in a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:1), this does not necessarily mean he went into the presence of the Father. Even in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, which we will take a close look at shortly, Lazarus is said to have been carried away by the angels. But he was carried to a place of comfort commonly called Abraham’s Bosom by the Jews. He did not ascend to the presence of God the Father. And concerning Elijah being seen going “into heaven”, the Hebrew word being translated as “heaven” is shâmeh, and it can mean where the Father resides or simply “the sky”. The first time the word appears in Scripture is during Creation when God creates “the shâmeh and the earth”, and then a few verses later we are told that it is the firmament that God named the shâmeh . It appears that generally in the Bible this word is used to describe the physical heavens. And it was in fact the physical heavens that Elisha witnessed Elijah going up into, not that he saw him enter the presence of God. What God did with Elijah’s and Enoch’s bodies, I couldn’t say. But I cannot deny that Jesus said that the only one who has ascended into heaven was the one who had descended from heaven, meaning Himself. And while one might argue that Elijah was not technically “a man” after his translation to “heaven”, we still wouldn’t be able to deny that the veil was still whole in the temple, symbolically denying Heavenly access to any sinner, even God’s prophet who is as much a sinner as anyone else, until after Jesus physically died. And regarding Enoch, Hebrews chapter eleven, commonly called the “hall of faith”, mentions him in the long list of people who were justified before God by their faith. But then the writer of Hebrews concludes that none of these(including Enoch) had yet attained the promise, as though they would be perfected before Christ’ death (Hebrews 11:39,40). All of this is enough evidence to believe that neither Elijah nor Enoch entered the eternal heaven, or what Paul called the third heaven, until after Jesus opened access to it through His death. It may surprise the reader to know that several believing people are referred to as going to Hell(Sheol/Hades) in the Old Testament. Job talks about going to hell, and David does too.

This is Job speaking:

Job Chapter 14: 11As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, 12so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. 13Oh that you would hide me in Sheol(the same Hebrew word that is translated as “Hell” in other places), that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.

This is an incredible passage. The book of Job is said by scholars to be the first penned book of the Bible, yet Job already has knowledge of several things that are confirmed later in Scripture. First, he knows that Hell(Sheol/Hades) is a place of safety for those that know God. Second, he knows that there is a day of renewal coming for those in Hell who know God. And third, he is aware that there will be souls in Hell while the wrath of God is occurring on earth. Job also understood that this present heavens was temporary(v.12) and would be destroyed. This destruction of the heavens that Job speaks of is referred to in 2 Peter 3:10 where we read, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with rushing sound, and having burned, the elements will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be burned up", and then earlier in 2 Peter 3:7 where we read, “But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgment and of destruction for the ungodly.” And we see the resurection of the unsaved and the destruction of both them and the physical earth and heavens referenced in Revelation 20:11 through 21:1. But Job did not appear to know yet that the Lord was going to open access to the third heaven at the time of His death, and that the place of safety where the righteous dead resided would literally be moved out of Hell(Sheol/Hades) and to Heaven, or we might rather say that Hell was emptied of the righteous dead at that time.

When David, the man after God’s own heart, said that the Lord’s presence would be with him in Hell (Psalm 139:8), he did not mean a hell of judgment. David knew he was saved, but that even in Hell(Sheol), the Lord’s presence would be with him, just as it always had been. Just like Job, he knew that he would be safe in hell, comforted by the Lord. The word Sheol is used in at least two different ways in the psalms, and one can usually tell from context or surrounding language which one is intended. Sometimes it is used to simply refer to death itself or the grave, and it is often translated “grave”. But at least three times it is referring to the place of departed souls and psalm 139 is one of them. But there are two reasons I don’t believe the psalmist is referring to a negative place of judgment. One, he knows God and is not in fear of judgment. Two, there are at least two other passages from the psalms that speak of redemption from Sheol(hell).

Psalm 49:16 (Sons of Korah) But God will redeem(ransom) my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me. (their soul, not just a body in the grave. This has the same tone as some of Jobs sayings)

Psalm 86:13 (of David) For thy mercy is great towards me: and thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell. (speaking of what He would do in the future, I believe. Some see this different and think this means that he is “delivered” in the sense of not having to go there, but it says “out of”, and the Psalm 49:16 reference above says “ransom my soul from the hand of hell”.

But I don’t think we could emport that David feared God’s judgment after this life. He seems to always be praising God for His salvation. But I also don’t think we can claim that anyone ascended to heaven before Christ’ death, especially when Jesus said that none had done this, and since the Old Testament Holy of Holies atonement practice had a deeper meaning, representing access to God, that was not fulfilled until the crucifixion of Christ, when he, as our high priest entered once for all into the Holy of Holies.

In Acts 2:31,32, we see that Christ even went to hell(Sheol/Hades).

31He(David) seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

This is a reference to Psalm 16:10, a Messianic psalm, and verse 31 makes a distinction between His soul, and His flesh. And while the flesh was in a tomb, it was the soul that went into hell(Hades/Sheol) where even saved people were at that time (in Abraham’s Bosom [a Hebraism for paradise], according to Jesus in Luke 16). And He had told the thief on the cross that “today” he would be with Him in paradise, but He didn’t say he would be in the presence of the Father that day. But Jesus’ soul was not left there, and I don’t believe any of the saved were left there after the resurrection, or at least after the ascension, but it is at least possible, for whatever reason, that some may have been left. A Biblical argument could be made that only some of the saved souls in Hades came out at that time, but I do not think it is a strong case.

So both the saved and lost went to Hell (Hades/Sheol) before Christ cleared the way to heaven, but there was an impassable chasm there, according to the story of Lazarus and the rich man, between where the believing and unbelieving went, and the lost are in torment while the saved are comforted(according to the same story, and several other scriptures).

To add further evidence that Hell(Sheol) of the Old Testament and hell(Hades) of the New testament are the same place, Strong’s primary definition of “Sheol” is “Hades”. Here is what Strong’s has for the definition of Sheol: “hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates.” And their primary definition of Hades is: “unseen” and “the place of departed souls” notice-(not just lost souls – although now, since Christ death, it is probably only the place of lost souls)

We’ll come back to discuss Hades shortly. But Hell(Gehenna) is a completely different concept from Hell(Sheol/Hades). Gehenna is a transliteration of “Valley of Hinnom”, a valley just outside of Jerusalem that served as a trash dump where fires were kept burning to consume their waste, and even sometimes dead bodies of people and animals. So when Jesus spoke of the detriment of being cast into hell (Gehenna), given all of the massive amounts of language about the ultimate destruction of the wicked elsewhere in the Bible, it seems clear that He was using Gehenna figuratively to warn of full destruction/eternal death, not eternal conscious torment. What was cast into the valley of Hinnom burned up, and the people Jesus was speaking to understood the object lesson, I’m sure. And to any familiar with the prophet Jeremiah, the valley of Hinnom had a further connection with death and destruction because it had been the place where the disobedient Jews had built high places and offered their own children as sacrifices to the false god Molech (Jer. 32:35). David said in psalm 37:20 that the wicked “consume away like smoke”, and as we’ve already looked at in chapter one, there is good evidence from surrounding verses that he was speaking of eternal judgment and not only something that would happen bodily to the enemies of the Lord. But even if he was speaking of earthly demise only, I think the foreshadowing is significant. There are numerous other references to the total (and often sudden) destruction of the wicked in the Old Testament, and I think all of it prefigures what ultimately happens to souls after they are judged as well. (We’ll look more deeply at this in Chapter Six) And God is often referred to as a consuming fire in numerous places in the Bible. Here are just a few verses that indicate full destruction for the unbelieving:

“Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly, will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ” (Malachi 4:1).

"As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” (Psalms 68:2,).

“For yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more.” (Psalms 37:10,).

“The enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish, into smoke they shall vanish away.” (Psalms 37:20,).

"How suddenly are they destroyed, perished and horribly consumed," (Psalm 73:19)

“But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.” (Psalms 37:38,).

“ He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish(apollumi – be fully destroyed) but have eternal life." John 3:16

This is literally the tip of the iceberg. This is the consistent theme of how the Lord deals with the faithless, and what will happen to his enemies. There is never even so much as a foreshadowing of endless torment for God’s enemies, much less does the Lord or any inspired writer ever come right out and state such a thing.

Matthew 10:28 reads, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna)."

The Greek word being translated as “destroy” here is “apollumi”, and it means “destroy completely” according to Greek lexicons. It also looks a lot like the English word “abolish”, and I wouldn’t doubt if it is the source of it, since that is essentially the meaning, but I don’t know this for a fact. “Apollumi” is also used in John 3:16 and translated as “perish”. Traditionalists claim that this destruction doesn’t really mean destruction but that we are indestructible, able to endure the wrath of God for all eternity, and that we will never truly perish either. But this is never taught in the Bible. And you will also notice when you study it, concerning the use of Hades and Gehenna, Hell (Hades) is the only one ever mentioned in conjunction with human torment; And Hell(Gehenna) is always used in conjunction with either death or destruction. Hades and Gehenna are clearly two different concepts.

And further, if Hades is full of literal fire and torment, and if the Lake of Fire is also full of literal fire and torment, as many traditionalists claim, what then is the purpose of raising those in hell up for judgment, only to then cast them into another hell virtually identical to what they were just in? It really makes no sense at all. It not only lines up with what Scripture teaches, but it makes far more sense to understand that Hades and Gehenna accomplish two very different things in the process of God’s judgment. One is a holding place, a place of torments and regrets, a death row, and very much part of what should be a deterrent to remaining in unbelief. The other is the place of destruction, the second death.

This was a small excerpt from Chapter Four. In the full chapter, Hades is explored much more deeply, and the story of Lazarus and the rich man is studied in detail. I hope though, that this excerpt exposed the problem with encompassing two very different terms and ideas under the one term “Hell”.