'As Hell Falls'--he has given a good description of the teaching concerning hell from the OT to the NT.
Scripture is not confusing; it is our lack of understanding of it that brings confusion. Until I studied in depth both the OT & the NT, the WHOLE of Scripture, comparing terms & seeing which ones were synonymous, it appeared to be a little confusing. Now it stands out to me & is clear.
In the older translations of the Scriptures, hell was used for the temporary place or abode of the dead in the spiritual realm, as well as the eternal or permanent place of the unsaved/unbelieving/wicked.
This does not have to be confusing if one knows that even though the term hell covers the temporary abode of the dead as well as the permanent abode of the wicked in the older translations.
Other terms are similar, such as using the one English word, love, for four different Greek words in the Scriptures (agape, phileo, storge, eros) or the different 'heavens' for one English word or or the actual use of the Word in English for several different Greek words (logos & rhema)
Some of the newer ones describe it as Sheol (OT), Hades (NT), Tartarus (NT) & the permanent abode is known as the Gehenna of fire (Mt 18:9; Mk 9:47; Mt 5:22, etc.) or the Tophet of fire (another OT term--Is 30:33; Jer 7:31,32; 2 Kings 23:10) or the Lake of fire (Rev 19:20; 20:10,14,15; 21:8) or the Second Death (Rev 3:11; 20:6,14; 21:8) . All these terms are describing the same place in the spiritual realm in the new heavens & earth.
In the OT it was primarily called Sheol, but also the pit, the abyss, Abaddon (Greek 'apollyon') & the place of oblivion. God described it to Job, instructing him as to whether Job knew where it was at, like God did.
Job 38:17 Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death (deepest darkness)?
Psalm 107:18 They loathed all food & drew near to the gates of death.
In the NT, the Greek word synonymous with Sheol is Hades. They are one & the same place in the spiritual realm, the abode of those who have physically died & where the form of their soul & spirit reside until the resurrection, although the occupants in Hades changes over time after the resurrection & ascension of Christ.
Job 10:21 ...Before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom & utter darkness.
Job 26:6 Sheol is naked before Him & Abaddon has no covering.
Psalm 88:12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
Eccl 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor learning nor wisdom.
Psalm 86:13 For great
is Thy mercy toward me & Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Ezek 26:20 Then I will bring you down with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the earth below like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or set in splendor in the land of the living.
Isaiah 14:9,10,14,15 Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the spirits to greet you...All of them will answer
& say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!’ You are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
2 Sam 22:6 The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
Psalm 18:4,5 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of ungodliness (Heb: literally 'Belial'--both demonic & ungodly people) terrified me. The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death came upon me.
Psalm 116:3 The cords of death encompassed me & the torments (terrors, anguish) of Sheol came upon me; I found distress & sorrow.
Luke 16:22-31 One day the beggar DIED & was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died & was BURIED. And he went to Hades & there, being in torments, he looked UP & saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
24So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me & send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water & cool my tongue. For I am in torments in this fire.’
25But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are left there to suffer. And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us & you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’
27‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so they will not also end up in this place of torments.’
29But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses & the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses & the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Ezek 32:18 "Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt & consign to the depths of the earth both her & the daughters of the mighty nations, with those who descend to the Pit."
The Law, the Prophets & the Writings (3 divisions of the Jewish OT) are full of descriptions of Sheol/Hades/abode of the dead.
Daniel 12:2 And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame & everlasting disgrace.
Matt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life everlasting.
Ezek 37:12 Therefore prophesy & tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'O My people, I will open your graves & bring you up from them & I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
Acts 24:15 And I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous AND the wicked.
Jonah 2:2,6 And he said: “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction & He answered me. “Out of the depth of Sheol I cried & You heard my voice. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her gates closed upon me for ever & yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit of destruction, O LORD my God. (Jesus' used this example of Jonah's death & resurrection out of Sheol as an illustration of His gospel message of the same)
Hosea 6:2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence. (OT Scripture on the death & resurrection of the Messiah out of Sheol)
Matt 16:18 I will build My church & the gates of Hades (hell) will not prevail against it.
I Sam 2:6 The LORD brings death & gives life; some He brings down to Sheol & others He raises up.
Psalm 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let your Holy One see decay.
Psalm 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the POWER OF SHEOL: for He shall receive me. Selah
Acts 2:24 Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
Psalm 30:3 O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.
Isaiah 38:10 "I said that in the prime of my life I must go to the gates of Sheol; I will be deprived of the remainder of my years.
Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead
men shall live,
together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake & sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew
is as the dew of herbs & the earth shall cast out the dead.
Rev 20:13 The sea gave up its dead & Death & Hades gave up their dead & each one was judged according to his deeds. (This is the second resurrection of the unbelieving)
Rev 19:10 And the beast was captured & with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast & those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown ALIVE INTO into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 20:10,15 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire & sulfur where the beast AND the false prophet WERE & THEY will be tormented day AND night--forever & ever. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 14:11 And the SMOKE of their torment goes up forever AND ever, & THEY HAVE NO REST, DAY AND NIGHT, these WORSHIPERS of the beast & its image & WHOEVER receives the mark of its name.”
Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the sides of the pit.
This is just scratching the surface of what the whole of Scripture has to say concerning the abode of the dead, those under the earth, those in Sheol/Hades/Gehenna/Tartarus.
I haven't yet discussed the 'levels' that are found in Sheol/Hades which some others have somewhat addressed. The Garden of Eden was the original Paradise, where Adam & Eve were originally, clothed in glory. They lost their glorious covering & place there & experienced the law of sin & death when they sinned.
Gen 2:10 A river went out of Eden (Heb: 'delight, pleasure) to water the garden...
Gen 13:10 And Lot looked out & saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered LIKE the garden of the LORD...
So what happened to it? It was a spiritual place where glorified people are & it ended up IN SHEOL in the OT until it was taken up with Christ in the ascension to the third heaven. Abraham & all the OT saints went there & that is why the beggar, Lazarus, ended up there by Abraham's side. Remember that Dives, the certain rich man, LOOKED UP & saw Abraham & Lazarus by his side. He saw them because the light of God is there & the river of the waters of life is there.
Jeremiah 2:12,13 Be stunned by this, O HEAVENS; be shocked & utterly appalled,” declares the LORD. For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned Me— the FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER. And they have dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water at all!
Ezek 31:9 I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.'
Ezekiel 13:14-18 This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height & set their tops among the clouds & no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’
15This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused grief. I covered the deep (Heb, 'tehom' again, abyss) because of it...I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit.
Then all the trees of Eden...were consoled in the earth below. They too descended with it TO SHEOL, to those slain by the sword...
18Who then is like you in glory & greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be WITH the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh & all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
Jeremiah 31:12 They will come & shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine & oil & the young of the flocks & herds. Their life will be LIKE a well-watered garden & never again will they languish.”
Rev 22:1,2 And he shewed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God & of the Lamb, down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood THE TREE OF LIFE...
Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
Haggai 2:7 I will shake all the nations & they will come with all their treasures & I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
Psalm 36:8 They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land & strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Zechariah 14:8 And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem
John 14:10 Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God & who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him & He would have given you living water."
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water & God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"
Rev 22:17 The Spirit & the bride say, "Come!" Let the one who hears say, "Come!" And let the one who is thirsty come & the one who desires the water of life drink freely.
I Cor 10:3,4 They all ate the same SPIRITUAL food & drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them & that rock was Christ.
Rev 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes & there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away."
Rev 21:22,26 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty & the Lamb. But nothing unclean WILL EVER ENTER IT, NOR ANYONE who does what is detestable or false, but ONLY THOSE who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Luke 13:28,29 There shall be weeping & gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham & Isaac & Jacob & all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, & you
yourselves THRUST OUT(SIDE)…
There is the upper level where Paradise was before Christ ascended & took it, with all the OT saints, to the third heaven, where Paul briefly went. (2 Cor 12:2-5). Paradise is called by different names: Abraham's Bosom, Gan Eden--garden of Eden, the abode of bliss, the city of God)
The lowest level is described as the Greek term, Tartarus (hell), where the wicked angels were cast into & chained.
2 Peter 2:1-4,9 They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow in their depravity & because of them the way of truth will be defamed.
In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force & their destruction does not sleep.
For if God did not spare
the angels having sinned, but having cast
them down to Tartarus, in chains of gloomy darkness, delivered
them, being kept for judgment...The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations & to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling--these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
Job 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction...they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Rev 20:1,2 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
Matt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil & his angels...
https://www.biblesprout.com/articles/hell/names-hell-bible/