THE FOUR HELLS

Monday 30 December

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 (NKJV)

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Revelation 20:14 (KJV)

Do unbelievers burn in hell for all eternity? Are they in hell fire right now? I used to think so but not anymore because the Bible doesn’t actually say anything about a place called hell where people suffer forever. Does that surprise you? In fact, It is unscriptural. I hope you are not too shocked right now. As always, make sure you do your own personal study on the subject.

There are four hells mentioned in the Bible. Sheol, Hades, Gehenna and Tartarus. There are terms such as ‘outer darkness’ which Jesus used and the ‘day of the Lord’ which Peter used to describe the different aspects of hell and the second death.

Firstly, hell is not a place. Also, Hell fire is a future event. Sheol in the Hebrew and Hades in the Greek is a place for departed spirits or the dead to go to awaiting judgement. This is why the Bible talks about the day of judgement. Remember what the demons said to Jesus ‘have you come to torment us before the time?’ What time? The Day of the Lord. What is the reason for their judgement? Not having responded to the gospel of Christ. This includes humans, Satan and demons.

The way Jesus described Sheol or Hades is very instructive. He called it outer darkness. Many have thought that this is one of the many levels of hell in the past because they believed hell was a place of eternal fire and eternal suffering. It is actually just another name for Sheol or Hades. In Matthew 22:13 Jesus told the parable of the wedding banquet where one found without wedding clothes was ‘cast into outer darkness where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth’. Why? One word. Regret. What did the clothes represent? The metaphorical robe of Jesus’ righteousness that is a covering to every believer.

Is hell really forever? Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 10:28b He said ‘fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ What does this tell us? Hell is an event of destruction, not a place of torment.

The Bible says in Jude verse 7 that the cities Sodom and Gomorrah are suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. This gives the impression that they are still burning now and will burn forever. But are they and will they? Does this make sense to you?

Revelation 20:14 should read ‘And death and hades where cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death’, not hell. Why? Because the place Jesus called outer darkness which is hades, is going to be burned up and all its occupants sadly. Tartarus is a word for prison or abyss giving the impression that there is no escaping from this inevitability. Peter talks about this terrible event in 2 Peter 3:10.

‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.’

Now you can understand why Jesus Jesus likened hell to Gehenna which was basically a dump south of Jerusalem, where they would cast in and burn off dead animals and rubbish. Total annihilation and destruction is what is going to happen at the end of the world which will coincide with the day of the Lord which includes the second death.

It is important to remember that books like Daniel and Revelation cannot be used for doctrine as they are based primarily on visions and are therefore not doctrinal by nature as can be said for most of the book of Acts. So where do people go when they die? Old Testament saints went to Abraham’s bosom which was in hades but has since been removed. Unbelievers go to ‘outer darkness’ awaiting final judgement at the Great White Throne. Believers in Christ however don’t go anywhere!

The Apostle Paul explained it this way ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 5:8).

When you drop this mortal body you will have nothing limiting you from experiencing your spiritual realities in Christ. Those who have died in Christ are here with us now. We are ‘surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses’. They are around us not above us. Some have their spiritual bodies and some are waiting to collect theirs at the second trumpet when God calls ‘time’ to end the age.

Maybe it never sat right with you that a loving God could cause people to suffer for all eternity. I have good news for you, He doesn’t.

APPLICATION

Go through and study the doctrinal books of the Bible that speak about Sheol, Hades, Gehenna and Tartarus, putting aside every preconceived idea you may have and let the Bible interpret itself.