What exactly is hell?

[BukiRob]

Below I quoted the bible, where is mentioned that there is a place from which condemned humans cannot return to the living. Sounds like some prison to me. So if someone say to me that Hell ain't real I am not sure what you believe. Also, bible also writes satan is imprisoned for a 1000 years, then released. Inmagine, if you share the same place with satan for 1000 years. I guess human can be evil, but sharing your place for 1000 years with someone who is most evil.... this is going to be a torture!

Luke 16:19–31, New International Version:

“ 19“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
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. 23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So 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.’

25“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Oy vie.... you CAN NOT use a parable as being literal. It is inherently dangerous.

A) be WILLING to set aside what you have been "taught" as often it is the traditions of man and NOT what is found in scripture.

B) What was the cultural belief among the Jewish people in the land at the time if the ministry of Messiah? Did Yeshua ever teach as a correction against the belief of the Jews at that time? The answer to the first is that they DID NOT believe in the modern view of Hell. The did NOT believe you died and went to heaven (or hell for that matter) They believed that you awaited for the day of resurrection. This is what Paul teaches.

We have prima-facia evidence in the account of Yeshua traveling to Mary and her sister as a result of Lazarus death. No where does he tell them that Lazarus is in heaven. In fact the entire conversation is centered around the fact that Lazarus is in the tomb and will stay there until the day of resurrection. Yeshua NEVER ONCE gives any indication what so ever that anything she has stated about WHERE Lazarus is and what his future disposition.

It is AMAZING how clear scripture becomes when we STOP trying to FORCE it to agree with our man taught doctrine and simply accept what it is actually saying.

 

[A_Thinker]

Burned up? That is not written in the bible is it? Eternal death as the bible says is not like what many people think: "There is nothing after death". Just like you said, being burned up is not biblical. No where is written that this what you write is true.

Matthew 3

11 I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

12 His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn;but He will BURN UP the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

 

[Ron Gurley]

Luke 16: 19-31 is MORE than a parable. It was Jesus' story incorporating the Hebrew Nation's beliefs of life after death.
Abraham's Busom = Hades + Paradise = holding place of spirits until the coming of the Divine Messaiah.

1 of 7 Sayings by Jesus on the Cross:
Luke 23:43
And He (Jesus) said to him, “Truly I say to you (repentant thief), today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Jesus descended into "hell" after death and before resurrection on earth....SEE: Apostle's Creed

1 Peter 3:18-20 "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and
preached to the spirits in prison ("Abraham's bosom")… ~ NKJV

Acts 2:29-33 "He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
David, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ,
that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of (God) the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."

1 Peter 4:5-6 "They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, (Hades + Paradise)
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."

Rev. 1:17-18 "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. ~ NKJV

Matt. 27:51-53 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;
and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened;
and many bodies of the saints (believers) who had fallen asleep were raised; and
coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Col. 2:13-15 "He has made (us) alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. ~ NKJV

Eph. 4:8-10 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
(Now this, "He ascended" - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) ~ NKJV

 

[marineimaging]

Hell is a very very old term and means secret place according to Norse legend. Unfortunately, the word was incorrectly substituted for Hebrew and Greek words that mean things other than a physical place of unending torture.
Sheol and Hades speak of the grave. The dirt hole. Tartarus is the pit where certain demons are chained up. Gehenna was a place on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It would be similar to a landfil in our day. There is some imagery of fire connected to it, so people take others terms Yeshua used that sounded real bad, so they associated it with this idea of Hell.
The idea of a scary place bad people go to was and still is used by religious leaders and fed up mothers to scare folks into submission.
Have to admit it, it works alot.

I am not saying that everyone good and bad goes straight to heaven when the die.
The bible seems clear that some have a pleasant experience while others have bad ones. Though it looks to me that the story of the rich man and Lazarus was a parable, It also appears that the wicked are in for much trouble and grief. Exactly what that is, I'm not sure. But if you are going to create entire doctrines out of it then you need to conclude that the rich will burn in hell while the poor go to heaven.
There was not one mention of anybody being a born-again person in any way.

Why do you seen to completely disregard scripture and prose speculation, tales from legends, substitutions..., the Word is very clear about hell and what it is. There is no need to assume or speculate.

 

[Ron Gurley]

FIRE!
Revelation 21 (NASB)...
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are also;
and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.... (NOT annihilation!)
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the (Lamb's) "book of life", (saved believers)
he was thrown into the "lake of fire" (UNbelievers)

 

[Shempster]

Why do you seen to completely disregard scripture and prose speculation, tales from legends, substitutions..., the Word is very clear about hell and what it is. There is no need to assume or speculate.

I only disregard some interpretations.

 

[BukiRob]

1 of 7 Sayings by Jesus on the Cross:
Luke 23:43
And He (Jesus) said to him, “Truly I say to you (repentant thief), today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Jesus descended into "hell" after death and before resurrection on earth....SEE: Apostle's Creed

Sheol is the GRAVE. Secondly, as you may or may not know, biblical greek does NOT have grammar placement in sentences. The same translators who's bias caused them to mistranslated Sheol/ Hades as hell made the same error with comma placement in what Messiah is saying to the thief. Notice how radically different the above verse changes by where you place the comma from what YOU are asserting to the correct translation: Truly I say to you today, you shall be with me in Paradise.

1 Peter 3:18-20 "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and
preached to the spirits in prison ("Abraham's bosom")… ~ NKJV

Acts 2:29-33 "He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
David, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ,
that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of (God) the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."

1 Peter 4:5-6 "They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, (Hades + Paradise)
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."

Rev. 1:17-18 "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. ~ NKJV

Matt. 27:51-53 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;
and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened;
and many bodies of the saints (believers) who had fallen asleep were raised; and
coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Col. 2:13-15 "He has made (us) alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. ~ NKJV

Eph. 4:8-10 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
(Now this, "He ascended" - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) ~ NKJV

 

[TKICBS]

Wow, I'm really surprised that a lot of you are basically implying that you don't believe in a literal place called Hell.. you reject the biblical teaching that there is a place of unspeakable pain and torment where those who have rejected God spend eternity?

I say thank you and Jesus says Thank You!

 

[TKICBS]

So is the Word of God The Word of God?
Is there such a thing as an Atheist or Agnostic Christian?
We are told to cast down every imagination and high thought that rises up against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought into Christ!
Babylon the Great in Revelations 17 is guilty of spiritual fornication. Hosea 4 tells us that whoredom and wine and new wine takes away the heart.
What does this mean?
We know that the word of God is wine because Jesus is the Word and he said his blood is the wine. We know that the new wine is the new testament and revelation of God's word by the Holy Ghost.
Whoredom is the practice of giving your body to many for a price.
So the fornication of Babylon is the whoredom Hosea spoke of.
It is blending the Word of God with the teachings of other religions. Eventually it takes away the heart so that we cannot discern God's Word of truth.
Thank God we are able to confess our sins to one another and repent and be delivered.
No Jesus went to the lower regions of the earth and took the keys of death and hades from the devil.
So yes there is a hell or Hades and it is located in the lower regions of the earth.
Hell is described as a place of torment and fire. So what is in the lower regions of the earth? Is it not the place where lava flows as a fiery furnace? Then why would we doubt God's Word when the proof of it is right before us?
As for the Lake of Fire I believe it does not exist in the natural yet. I believe for very good reasons in a hollow earth and that the bottomless pit is a real place with an entrance at one or both North and South Pole. It is bottomless because when you enter you can just keep going until you enter the inside of the hollow earth. There are creatures there and they have a king over them that once lived here on the surface but is no longer on the surface but he is still alive and will ascend from the bottomless pit when the light at the center of his world is put out. That is the star at the core will come crashing down inside after an asteroid hits out here with such a blow that it moves the earth out of its place, Isaiah 13:9-13.
The result of the star inside impacting the inside surface will result in a forest fire that will be impossible to extinguish. The king who reigns supreme inside once lived out here. He was, is not and yet is and will go into perdition. In other words he once lived out here, he went inside so no longer is out here, and will ascend from the pit through the smoke rising out of the bottomless pit. His ary is described in Rev 9 and in Joel 1&2.
I am a little off topic but this will straiten out.
Many things are explained with the understanding of a hollow earth. The creation story in the order it is described is obvious once you accept that there was water in the universe before God said let there be light. The reason storms were unknown in the garden, the water bursting forth like from a mothers womb according to Job 38, the bottomless pit, the army and the king and the smoke like the smoke of a great furnace and the fact that the beast and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire alive but Satan is bound for 1000 years alive in the bottomless pit.
So where is the lake of fire? Rev reveals that death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. It is a physicle place because the false prophet is thrown in alive.
I believe the fire that results from the star inside crashing inside becomes the lake of fire.
And there you have it. All is explained and all is scriptural.
As to what happens to sinners after death it is as the bible says. But there is a spirit and there is a soul and these can be separated by the word of God. The soul is an entity created through the life of a person. It did not exist before conception. It is your mind will and emotions. Your spirit is the power of life in you that came from God. Our souls are sold to hell as a result of Adam. They were all bought back through the blood of Christ but only through receiving the Holy Ghost are they freed from the clutches of sin. This is why Jesus said you must be born again, of the spirit.
Hell is reserved for Satan and his demons and all who reject the blood of Christ. Though children are not accountable for sin until they reach the age of accountability. According to Hebrew doctrine this is at the age of 12. This is why Babylon will lose her children in one hour. They are raptured with the child of Rev 12.

 

[Mark Noo]

No one cursed us as far as I know. God just gave a command. Do not eat or you will surely die. Curse means God directly cursed us. And He did not. What happened is disobeyed and our flesh started to die. God did came and looked for Adam and Eve. I guess He was hoping that they would ask for forgiveness, but they didn't

Cursing means: to speak something bad like a curse of death upon someone.

Genesis 3:
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
15
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall [d]bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
16
To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain [e]in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

Cursed is the ground because of you;
In [f]toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
18
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the [g]plants of the field;
19
By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
..............................
Technically he curses the ground. Not Man. Just as you said. I have always heard that we were under the curse. I wonder what this means if we are not cursed.

(the cut and paste is from here. I it is NASB:
Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 3 - New American Standard Bible)

 

[emtor]

We see Jesus describe it in His parrable of Lazarus.

 

[emtor]

What is a parable? Is it something to be understood literally or is it simply a parable?
Furthermore,-the gospels say that Jesus spoke in parables, so any further discussion of hell should be conducted with the above facts as a basis.

 

[SeventyOne]

What is a parable? Is it something to be understood literally or is it simply a parable?
Furthermore,-the gospels say that Jesus spoke in parables, so any further discussion of hell should be conducted with the above facts as a basis.

He didn't always speak in parables. In fact, He spoke plainly until He was rejected by the masses, then He began to speak in parables. When asked why He said he did so in order to hide the truth from the listeners.

 

[MJFlores]

Hell with its fire isn't occupied yet.
Even the devil isn't there yet.

Hell which is the grave - a lot of people are there.
When we die, we all go to hell (Sheol).
The devil is there too.

Heaven - God is there, his angels are there, the 4 living creatures are there and the 24 elders are there. Only 3 people are there.

 

[food4thought]

Hell with its fire isn't occupied yet.
Even the devil isn't there yet.

Hell which is the grave - a lot of people are there.
When we die, we all go to hell (Sheol).
The devil is there too.

Heaven - God is there, his angels are there, the 4 living creatures are there and the 24 elders are there. Only 3 people are there.

What is physical death? The separation of the soul from the body. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Where is the Lord? Heaven. Where, then, are believers since the resurrection? With the Lord in heaven.

 

[food4thought]

Oy vie.... you CAN NOT use a parable as being literal. It is inherently dangerous.

What makes you think it is a parable?

 

[surrender1]

What makes you think it is a parable?

You think it's a true story? That people in hell can see and have conversations with people who aren't in hell?

 

[food4thought]

You think it's a true story? That people in hell can see and have conversations with people who aren't in hell?

First, it isn't hell, it is hades, the temporary holding place for the unsaved dead, not hell. To answer your question, I am not sure, but I see nothing in the context to suggest that it is a parable, so I lean towards it being a literal account of a dead rich man and a poor man named Lazarus.

 

[surrender1]

First, it isn't hell, it is hades, the temporary holding place for the unsaved dead, not hell. To answer your question, I am not sure, but I see nothing in the context to suggest that it is a parable, so I lean towards it being a literal account of a dead rich man and a poor man named Lazarus.

What's the difference between hell and hades in your understanding? Where is the word "hell" in the NT? And how many times do we see the word "hades" used in the NT?
And why would you think people in hades could literally talk to people not in hades? Does that still happen? How are they talking to one another without being in their resurrected bodies? How is it that a finger dipped in water on someone's tongue could relieve a person in flames? These can't be literal descriptions.
This story is one of a sequence of parables. The parable of the lost sheep (rejoicing over a sinner who repents and ends up in the kingdom of God). The parable of the lost coin (rejoicing over a sinner who repents and ends up in the kingdom). The parable of the lost son (rejoicing over a sinner who repents). The parable of the shrewd manager (rebuking the "righteous" Pharisees for not sharing their wealth). The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (rebuking the "righteous" Pharisees for not sharing their wealth).

 

[Shempster]

One other thing about the parable was that Yeshua clearly stated the reason that each person was where they ended up.
Lazarus was there because he experienced bad things and was poor.
The rich man was there because he was rich and would not help the poor.
Where's the belief in that? There isn't any mention of belief. So therefore if we insist that each word of this story is absolute fact, then it looks like your best bet to get to heaven is to be poor and abused.