...Mat 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels....
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In the Old Testament, *sheol* refers to “the grave” (cf. Num. 16:30,33; Ps. 16:10). Everyone went to Sheol when they died, not just the wicked. Sheol was not a “place of suffering” for we see Job asking to go there to escape suffering. Also, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia refers to it as “the unseen world” and Young’s Analytical Concordance refers to it as “the unseen state.”
The Greek word *hades* means “the grave” not “hell.” The word *hades*, often translated as “hell,” came into biblical usage when the Septuagint translators chose it to represent the Hebrew word *sheol*. Everyone went to Hades when they died, not just the wicked. Luke 16 pictures righteous Lazarus in hades, and Acts 2:27, 31 says Jesus was there. In 1 Cor. 15:15 Paul used the same word when he said, “O, death, where is thy sting? O, *grave* where is thy victory?” We also see “death and hades” as a unit in Rev. 1:18, Rev. 6:8 and Rev. 20:13, 14. Again, sheol/hades refers to “the grave” or “the dead who are *unseen*.”
Both *sheol* and *hades* are also used in relation to national judgments (i.e. leading to the *vanishing* of a nation). See Isa. 14:13, 15, Ezek. 26:19-21, Mt. 11:23 and Lk. 10:15. Babylon, Tyre, and Capernaum were judged and “brought down to hades.” They did not go to some particular location; they were utterly destroyed and consequently vanished. Jesus warned the generation of his time that the nation of Israel was going to be judged (cf. Mt. 12:41; Lk. 11:29-32). By AD 70 that nation to which Jesus spoke did, indeed, go through a fiery judgment.
So, we see that *sheol* and its equivalent word *hades* refer to the dead who are unseen and to national judgments. The only time “hell” is actually used in the Bible is in 2 Peter 2:4 where Peter speaks about the abode of fallen angels (“Tartarus”) awaiting judgment. So, hell is not eternal and it’s not for humans.
Speaking of “fiery” national judgments, John the Baptist’s preaching consisted of announcements of an *imminent* (“who warned you to flee from the wrath to come” Lk. 3:7 and “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees” Mt. 3:10, Lk. 3:9) fiery judgment (cf. Mt. 3:12 “unquenchable fire”) on Israel if she didn’t repent. That *imminent* fire was the fire that came upon Jerusalem in AD 70. See also Luke 12:56 where Jesus warns of the imminent crisis to come upon that generation.
*Gehenna* is also commonly translated “hell.” Gehenna is derived from a valley nearby Jerusalem that originally belonged to a man named Hinnom. “This was a valley near Jerusalem, and appears to have held this name perhaps as far back as the time of Joshua. This valley was used by the more idolatrous kings of Judah as a place where they would sacrifice their own children to the god Moloch. It may also have been the location where, in a single night, the Messenger of Yahweh killed a massive number of Assyrians from the army of Sennacherib. Going from there, it was traditionally associated with the location Isaiah refers to in his final chapter ('they shall go out' implies exiting Jerusalem into the valley), where *dead* bodies are devoured by unquenchable fire (i.e. fire that does not stop burning until it has completely consumed everything in its path) and undying worms (i.e. the maggots that unceasingly feast upon corpses). In ancient Aramaic translations of this chapter of Isaiah, the dead bodies are explicitly stated to be in the Valley of Hinnom, where the wicked suffered the 'second death'. Jesus confirms the traditional association by describing the Valley of Hinnom in the same way Isaiah describes the location filled with unquenchable fire and maggots. The Valley of Hinnom is only ever used by Jesus (with a single, extraneous usage by James) when speaking to his fellow Jews. He uses it especially when warning them about sinning unrepentantly. Jesus uses the Valley of Hinnom because it had become a common symbol for God's divine punishment. In this sense, it is analogous to the lake of fire (especially since both are referred to as the 'second death'). According to Jesus, God is able to destroy both body and soul in the Valley of Hinnom.” (“The History of Hell” by Mark Edward). See Joshua 18:16, 2 Kings 23:10 and 2 Chron. 33:6. I’d like to emphasize Luke 12:5 where it states that *after* God has killed the wicked ones, He has authority to cast the wicked *dead* into “hell” (actually, Gehenna), which is why it is called the “second death”—the dead body goes through a second death in the unquenchable fire that devours the dead body until it has been completely consumed.
So to the Jews, the Valley of Hinnom (aka Gehenna) came to mean a place of burning and fiery judgment. Josephus indicates that that very same valley was heaped with dead bodies of the Jews following the Roman siege of Jerusalem AD 70.
There are twelve passages with the use of *Gehenna*. The first occurrence of the word *Gehenna* is in Mt. 5:21-22 in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus warns, “…and whosoever shall say, ‘Thou fool’ shall be in danger of the hell of fire.” When Jesus’ audience heard his use of this word, what came to mind was the Valley of Hinnom, the place of burning and fiery judgment where Yahweh had slaughtered the wicked Assyrians, where Isaiah said the dead bodies of the wicked are devoured by unquenchable fire and undying worms, where the dead bodies of the wicked undergo the “second death.” The other nine passages where Jesus uses the word *Gehenna* are found in Mt. 5:29-30, 10:28, 18:9, Mk. 9:43-45, 23:15, and Lk. 12:4-5. In all, Jesus is speaking to and warning the unrepentant Jews of his generation of what is to come if they do not repent and believe his words.
The eleventh occurrence is in Mt. 23:33 and just three verses later Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation.” Again, this speaks to the imminency of the judgment to come (which included being thrown into “hell” (actually, Gehenna) upon their death & experiencing the “second death”) upon that generation if they did not repent.
The twelfth and last time the word *Gehenna* is used is found in James 3:6. It’s interesting to note that James uses the word in a very similar context as the first time the word was used: misuse of the tongue. Jesus condemns one who curses another with the tongue and James condemns misuse of the tongue: “…out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing.”
As previously mentioned, the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) is only ever used by Jesus (with the one exception by James) when speaking to his fellow Jews because it had become a common symbol for God's divine punishment, and the nation to which Jesus spoke was about to endure a fiery judgment in their lifetime (i.e. generation). Even in James when he uses the word, he warns of the coming slaughter (Jas. 5:5), the coming of the Lord (Jas. 5:8), and that the judge stands before the door (Jas. 5:9). Jesus was “standing at the door”! Divine judgment was about to come upon these very people, this nation, and the warning of being cast into “hell” (Gehanna), the place outside of Jerusalem where dead bodies were cast to be utterly consumed by unquenchable fire, was used with these people specifically because they knew exactly what Jesus meant by it: national judgment is coming.