Hell

[HoneyBee]

Okay, so quick question. Does it say in the Bible what Hell is actually supposed to be like? If so, what does it say?

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[Call me Nic]

There are two greek terms in the NT that are translated to hell if I remember correctly: one is "Gehenna", which means utter and absolute darkness, and "Hades" which is a term akin to a fiery punishment.

In the OT, Sheol is translated from Hebrew into the word "hell" but is not a state that the Hebrews believed was associated with punishment.

So Sheol (not associated with punishment, but still a chamber or location in hell), Gehenna (utter darkness), and Hades (fiery torment) are the three main terms that are translated into hell.

The following is personal speculation, so take all of this with a grain of salt because I can't prove much of this past my own suspicion:

Sheol, I believe, was the holding place for the Old Testament Saints that were saved; they couldn't ascend into heaven to be with God because Jesus Christ hadn't physically come to earth to be sacrificed yet for the sins of the world. They were saved because they believed on Jesus Christ (the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, Revelation 13:8), but they hadn't physically had their sins paid for yet. Which is partly what I suspect happened in the Matthew 27:52-53 incident, where the previously dead saints arose out of their graves after Christ arose - I believe he was in hell for three days to testify, minister, and rescue the Saints from Sheol. I now believe that Sheol is empty, because when any believer dies, they're immediately in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-9) in heaven. The reason the thief on the cross went to heaven when he died was because Christ had died just before him, so the sacrifice was complete. He went on to heaven to be with God (remember, Jesus was in hell at the time to gather his saints, but God is omnipresent as the Trinity).

Gehenna I believe is a punishment that is reserved specifically for the fallen angels, because it says in Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 that he is keeping the fallen angels imprisoned in darkness to await the final day of judgement (in which the saints will judge the fallen angels, I believe which will happen after the events of the Great White Throne in which Jesus Christ judges all who have ever lived out of the book of life and the books of the dead).

Finally, Hades, is what I believe is the common picture of hell - fiery torment, brimstone and unspeakable horrors. Luke 16, the story of Lazarus and the Rich man is a perfect illustration of this - the rich man ended up in Hades while Lazarus ended up in Sheol, which is why there was no passable way between the chambers, but it was still viewable. The Old Testament Saint holding cell theory is backed up by the fact that Abraham was present, and rebuked the Rich Man. This is why I believe that the Luke 16 parable is not merely a story to illustrate the end results of two differing lives and hearts, but to emphasize the purpose of hell. Hell is more than just a place of punishment - the Bible not only demonstrates the fact that it's eternal and absolutely horrible to be in hell, but hell is also used by God as a holding place for all of the wicked and condemned until the final judgement, in which all those not found in the Book of Life are cast into the more permanent, more unspeakably horrible Lake of Fire - which is why both angels and mankind burn side by side in the Lake of Fire.

Sheol was placed in hell by God, I believe, because God's glory and consuming fire would have not been good for the Old Testament Saints (who were forgiven and saved), but hadn't physically had their sins accounted for yet, neither did they have the righteousness of Christ to protect them from God's wrath. So, God, in his greater and ultimate wisdom, kept his people there until the Messiah physically came and died for all men.

This is my theory, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[1213]

Here are few helpful scriptures that may give you better understanding about hell:

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.
Matt. 10:28

Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-15

 

[com7fy8]

Because Jesus knows how hell is, He considered it worthwhile to suffer that much on the cross so we don't go there.

 

[R. Hartono]

Hell i a place of torment
Luke 16:22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

 

[Bible2+]

Searching_for_God said in post #1:

Does it say in the Bible what Hell is actually supposed to be like?

It is eternal, continuous torture:

Revelation 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night . . .

Revelation 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.

-

It is sometimes asked: "But isn't torture wrong?"

The answer is that to torture their fellow creatures is wrong for humans, because, as mere creatures, they have no right to do it. But it is not wrong for God, because, as the Creator, He has the right to do with His creatures whatever He wants (Romans 9:21-22). Also, the eternal suffering which He will mete out to non-Christians (Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Matthew 25:41,46) will not be some sick or capricious act of cruelty, but an expression of that aspect of His perfect holiness called His righteous judgment and wrath against evil (Romans 2:5, Hebrews 12:28b-29).

Also, the suffering in the lake of fire (the future, eternal hell) may not be torture in the sense of it being so bad that it causes uncontrollable screaming, or the loss of one's mental faculties. For an unsaved person in Hades (the current, temporary hell) can still carry on a calm, rational conversation, even while he is being "tormented" by flame (Luke 16:23-31).

But, sadly, the torture perpetrated by humans against their fellow humans, which was practiced by the CIA in the past (under "rendition", and in its "black sites"), and which is still being secretly practiced by even some Western intelligence agencies today, and of course by many non-Western intelligence agencies, is still ongoing without any legal recourse for the victims. And it is utterly evil, Satanic. For it thinks that the end justifies the means, which is false (Romans 3:8), a lie of Satan himself, who loves to secretly torture and murder people (John 8:44; 1 Peter 5:8).

Searching_for_God said in post #1:

Does it say in the Bible what Hell is actually supposed to be like?

What is eternally punishing (Matthew 25:46, Revelation 14:10-11) about the future, "Gehenna" hell (Luke 12:5, Greek) is fire eternally burning the physical body, and worms eternally eating the physical body (Mark 9:46, Isaiah 66:24). The physical bodies of non-Christians in Gehenna need not be exactly like people have now, which do not regenerate parts of themselves if those parts are burned or eaten. For before non-Christians are cast into the Gehenna hell (also called the lake of fire), they will be physically resurrected (Revelation 20:12-15, John 5:29b). And their new, physical resurrection bodies could eternally regenerate parts of themselves whenever those parts are burned or eaten. But then the regenerated parts could be burned or eaten again, only to regenerate again, only to be burned or eaten again, and so on, forever: an everlasting suffering (Revelation 14:10-11).

In the future Gehenna, the fire will never go out (Mark 9:46). It will never run out of fuel, but will continue to punish non-Christians forever (Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 14:10-11, Revelation 20:10,15). The fact that the fire will already be burning before the physical resurrection bodies of non-Christians are cast into it (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:15) means that their bodies will not be the fire's fuel. The fire will have its own source of fuel by which it will burn/punish non-Christians forever (Revelation 14:10-11, Revelation 20:10,15, Matthew 25:41,46, Mark 9:45-46).

Searching_for_God said in post #1:

Does it say in the Bible what Hell is actually supposed to be like?

There are two literal hells, one temporary and one eternal. The temporary hell, called Hades in Greek (Luke 16:23), and Sheol in Hebrew (Psalms 86:13), is where the souls of non-Christians go when they die, and where they are tormented by flame (Luke 16:23-24). Before Jesus Christ's first coming, Hades was also where the souls of saved people went when they died. But the part of Hades for the saved was a place of comfort (Luke 16:25).

After Jesus Christ fulfilled the Gospel by suffering and dying on the Cross for our sins, and rising physically from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), He went down into Hades and preached the fulfillment of the Gospel to the souls there (1 Peter 3:19; 1 Peter 4:6), and then drew the souls of obedient believers there who had died in faith (Hebrews 11:13) up with Him when He ascended into heaven (Ephesians 4:8-9, Hebrews 12:22-24). Since then, the souls of obedient Christians go directly into heaven to be with Jesus when they die (Philippians 1:21,23; 2 Corinthians 5:8, Revelation 6:9-11).

At Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, He will bring with Him from heaven the souls of all obedient Christians who have ever died (1 Thessalonians 4:14), and their bodies will be physically resurrected into immortality at that time (1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:21-23,52-53). They will then reign on the earth with Jesus for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29). After the 1,000 years and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-10), all non-Christians of all times will be physically resurrected out of Hades and judged (Revelation 20:12-13), and then cast into the eternal hell, called the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:15, Revelation 21:8), where they will be tormented along with Satan and his fallen angels forever (Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11). This eternal hell is also called Gehenna in Greek (Luke 12:5, Mark 9:45-46), and Tophet in Hebrew (Isaiah 30:33).

Tophet was also the name of a place in ancient times called the valley of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10), just outside the southern wall of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8). "Gehenna" literally means "the valley (ge) of Hinnom". Just as the ancient Tophet/Gehenna was outside the wall of ancient Jerusalem, so the eternal Gehenna, the lake of fire, will be just outside one wall of New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:15, Revelation 21:8), on the future, New Earth (Revelation 21:1-8). Christians will go forth from New Jerusalem in order to witness the eternal torment of non-Christians in the lake of fire (Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:46, Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11).

 

[Noxot]

it's a spirit just like the kingdom of heaven is a spirit. thinking of heaven and hell as places is not fully correct because the spirit is a much higher form of reality than the universe of images we exist in, which is btw in a condition of a fallen nature which is why it is how it is. it is literally a mixture of good and evil which is why hell can be known from our own world and this problem with our world seems to be rooted in the being of this universe. most people might ignore that we have to kill billions of living beings in order to live but that is not what I call "good" or "heaven".

the image and physical part of reality is important and exist in the spiritual worlds of heaven and hell too, but it's in a different form that is freer in certain ways which is why terming hell and heaven as a "place" can't be fully correct.

when Jesus was in the world he said he was in heaven. so this is proof that we can already be in heaven and hell.

consider these verses when you think of the nature of hell.

Matt 5:27-30 (ESV2011)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Jas 3:6 (ESV2011)
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Luke 11:37-40 (ESV2011)
While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

 

[Mountainmanbob]

Hot place
away from God
close to the evil one
no love
no couch
much suffering

I hate that place
M-Bob

 

[Bible2+]

Noxot said in post #8:

it's a spirit just like the kingdom of heaven is a spirit.

Do you mean that hell is spiritual, just like the kingdom of heaven is spiritual?

If so, note that both hell and the kingdom of heaven can be both spiritual and physical at the same time, just as we humans are both spiritual and physical at the same time:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ¶And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Also, regarding the kingdom of heaven, it is also called the kingdom of God. For the Gospels use "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" interchangeably to refer to the same aspects of God's Kingdom. For just three examples, compare Matthew 8:11-12 and Luke 13:28-29. And compare Matthew 13:31-33 and Luke 13:18-21. And compare Matthew 11:11 and Luke 7:28.

Presently, the Kingdom of God is in heaven (2 Timothy 4:18, Hebrews 12:22-24), and is on the earth spiritually within Christians (Romans 14:17, Luke 17:21). But in the future, the Kingdom will come fully upon the earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). It will also be physically (Luke 22:30, Matthew 19:28) on the earth (Revelation 5:10), first during the future Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 2:26-29, Psalms 66:3-4, Psalms 72:8-11, Zechariah 14:3-21), and then forever on the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-8), as in a new surface for the Earth.

Jesus Christ's Kingdom is Israel (John 1:49, John 12:13-15, John 19:19, Luke 22:30). And at His future, Second Coming, He will sit on the earthly throne of King David (Luke 1:32-33, Isaiah 9:7), and restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6-7, Acts 3:20-21). Jesus is, in His humanity, the son of David (Matthew 1:1, Matthew 21:15-16, Romans 1:3), of the house of David (Luke 1:69). So at Jesus' Second Coming, He will restore the tabernacle, the house, of David (Isaiah 16:5, Amos 9:11) to its royal glory (2 Samuel 5:12), which it had lost (2 Kings 17:21a). And Jesus will fulfill the prophecy and prayer of 2 Samuel 7:16-29. And He will bring salvation to all of the still-living, non-Christian elect Jews of the house of David. For they (along with all other still-living, non-Christian elect Jews) will become Christians when they see Jesus at His Second Coming (Zechariah 12:10-14, Zechariah 13:1,6, Romans 11:26-31). And so they will all become part of the Church at that time. For there are no Christians outside of the Church (Ephesians 4:4-6).

After Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:7 to 20:3, Zechariah 14:3-5) will occur the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Zechariah 14:8-21), during which time the Gentile nations will come to seek the returned Jesus ruling the whole earth (Zechariah 8:22, Zechariah 14:9, Psalms 72:8-11) on the restored throne of David (Isaiah 9:7) in the earthly Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-4, Zechariah 14:8-11,16-19). And the physically resurrected Church will reign on the earth with Jesus during the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29). For the Church is Israel (Romans 11:1,17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29, Revelation 21:9,12; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

 

[Shempster]

Not derailing the thread here. These questions play a major part though.

Who made hell?
Jesus?
Satan?
How did it come into being and how does it exist?

 

[1213]

Not derailing the thread here. These questions play a major part though.

Who made hell?
Jesus?
Satan?
How did it come into being and how does it exist?

If hell is punishment for Satan, he probably didn’t invent it.

 

[Drifter Kybe Scythe Kane]

By the time Satan arrived in hell, he was a Demi God in the Old Testament. By the time of the New Testament, he became a full blown God, just how do you pull such an achievement off if hell is like fire all the time? I thought hell was around before lucifer came in and held it by the throat. I'm sure there were former dark lords before the second strongest being forever took that place as a center of his operations.

 

[ClementofA]

Okay, so quick question. Does it say in the Bible what Hell is actually supposed to be like? If so, what does it say?

The final hell is the lake of fire. It is spoken of as "second death" and, at least for some, a place where they will be tormented (or tested, as it is has been understood by some). Whether or not this results in the wicked suffering forever is debated.

 

[justbyfaith]

See Matthew 13:41-42 and Matthew 13:49-50.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity: and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

[Josip Bosnjak]

According to this : "Hell is God’s absence, Here the souls of the damned are punished with tortures matching their sins. Gluttons lie in freezing pools of garbage, while murderers thrash in a river of boiling blood."

 

[Call me Nic]

According to this : "Hell is God’s absence, Here the souls of the damned are punished with tortures matching their sins. Gluttons lie in freezing pools of garbage, while murderers thrash in a river of boiling blood."

That's a quote from Dante's Divine Comedy.

And hell is not separation from God according to Revelation 14:10-11. Those in hell are tormented day and night in the presence of the Lamb forever.

 

[JackRT]

That's a quote from Dante's Divine Comedy.

And hell is not separation from God according to Revelation 14:10-11. Those in hell are tormented day and night in the presence of the Lamb forever.

When most modern Christians think of hell, they without thinking almost always have Dante's lurid medieval fiction in mind. Hell is never mentioned in the Bible --- no, not even once. Sheole, Ghenna and Hades are but none of them carry the freight of hell. Hell is not a Biblical doctrine but rather is a conflation of all the understandings above.

 

[Call me Nic]

When most modern Christians think of hell, they without thinking almost always have Dante's lurid medieval fiction in mind. Hell is never mentioned in the Bible --- no, not even once. Sheole, Ghenna and Hades are but none of them carry the freight of hell. Hell is not a Biblical doctrine but rather is a conflation of all the understandings above.

That's a bold faced lie when you say hell is not a biblical doctrine when the Bible specifically teaches it. I mean, what is the Lake of Fire? And why are Death and Hell cast into it and those who are not written in the Book of Life? Jesus specifically referenced Hell and fire together.

I'm going to believe the Bible literally rather than just metaphorically thank you very much.

 

[JackRT]

That's a bold faced lie when you say hell is not a biblical doctrine when the Bible specifically teaches it.

A lie is an untruth knowingly told in the full knowledge that it is an untruth. Since I do not understand the Bible in the same way that you do, that accusation is without validity. After over seventy years as a Christian my beliefs have changed dramatically and I do understand that this might be disturbing to you but I am not a liar. I might be mistaken and you might be mistaken but neither one of us are liars.