Everything You Need To Know About Hell

Everything You Need To Know About Hell

Over the past month, I have been meditating day and night on the subject of hell. First, I must explain something about the word itself. The word hell in the Bible means two different things, depending on the context. It either refers to the abode of the dead/the grave [[Hebrew: sheol / Greek: hades]], or it refers to the lake of fire [[Hebrew: gehinnom / Greek: gehenna]].

Hades is the Greek god of the underworld, so when the word was translated, the word Hel was used because that is the Norse god of the underworld, and this was the correct translation. The problem is, during the days of the translators of the early English bibles, they made no distinction between the words hades and gehenna. By that time, the Latin word infernus (hades) was used interchangeably with gehennae, despite the fact they were two distinct words with different understandings at the time of Christ. One does not need to know the Greek or Latin to see this, because I saw the differences based solely on context. In other words, hell does not always mean lake of fire.

For example, scripture says the soul of Jesus was not left in hell (sheol/hades), neither will he see corruption (Acts 2:27). Jesus was obviously not in the lake of fire, so that means the verse is referring to Jesus being in the netherworld/abode of the dead. You can also see a distinct difference between the lake of fire and hell because scripture clearly says death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire on the last day (Rev 20:14). We know based on the usage of the concept that the lake of fire and gehenna are the same thing. One may ask, “Why does this matter?”

If one doesn’t understand the differences between the usages of hell in scripture, they will come to the conclusion that the people who die in unrighteousness are now presently in the lake of fire. This is not true, because not only is it contrary to what the scriptures say, but that would make the White Throne Judgment irrelevant. Why would people be judged on the last day if they were already judged immediately upon death? And what about the resurrection of the body? Scripture teaches that when a man dies, his soul is stored in hell (hades/netherworld) to await the final judgment (Jhn 5:28-29, 1 Th 4:16, 1 Cor 15:50-55). This is what Jesus meant when he said, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Mat 12:40 [KJV])

I know many people seem to be confused by this subject. They ask, “What happened to Jesus when he died?”

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” -Luke 23:43

Some people have used this to suggest Jesus never went to hell (hades/netherworld), and he ascended to heaven instantly. However, this is incorrect for two reasons.

Jesus said that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so must he descend to the “heart of the earth” (hades/netherworld).

Jesus said no man has ever entered heaven but himself (John 3:13). This means everybody who has died prior to the resurrection of Christ were located somewhere else (hades/netherworld).

I have heard may people say, “Hell is separation from God.” This statement is only true as an inward reality. The fact of the matter is, the tormented are in the presence of God and the angels (Rev 14:10), not somewhere else.

”In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

-2 Thessalonians 1:8-9

God is a consuming fire (Deu 4:24, 9:3, Heb 12:29). Hell (gehenna) is not somewhere away from God, it is God. Scripture says the wicked are punished from the presence of the Lord. The presence of God’s glory is, in of itself, the source of the punishment. God destroys with the brightness of his coming (2 Th 2:8). One must not look at the second coming of Christ and the final judgment as two separate things. The presence of Christ is the judgment. You’ve heard it said, “But, God can’t be around sin!” As if God were the elephant on the table, and sin were the mouse. No, I tell you, it is sin that can’t be around God. When the infinitely unholy encounters the infinitely holy, it is like a frozen turkey encountering the boiling oil– explosion. Heaven and Hell (gehenna/lake of fire) are two sides of the same coin. The holy can stand in the fire (Dan 3:25), and the unholy can only burn (Dan 3:22). Hell is Heaven– perceived and experienced wrongly. Heaven is rightly experiencing God and His glory in the way He is to be experienced, whereas Hell is inversely experiencing God: feeling His glory like it was fire to the soul, and seeing good as evil and evil as good (Isa 5:20).