12. Hell God's Purpose for Man

Chapter 12
Hell


Hell/Sheol

There is an underworld in the earth, way down in its depths somewhere. Most people simply refer to this place as hell (Phil 2:9-10). The word “hell” is an English word referring to various underground places (plural) of abode. For instance, under the Old Covenant, hell is also referred to as Abraham’s bosom or Paradise. The Hebrew word Sheol, or grave, is more commonly known by its English word of hell. The same is true for the Greek word Hades.  To understand each place, a basic knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages are essential; however, you can also research each “hell” word in the Strong’s Concordance to find out which place it is referring to. It is important to know that, with the exception of the Eternal Lake of Fire, ALL English Bible uses the word “hell” to refer to any of these places.

Let’s now look at each place to see that each are different, having their own Hebrew or Greek name, with their own functions.

1. Tartarus: Tartarus is a Greek word (Strong’s 5020) meaning a place of incarceration. This is the place where Satan's fallen angels who had sexual intercourse with the daughters of men in very ancient times reside. The Bible explains it as a place of fire and torment. These fallen angels are held in chains awaiting God’s further judgment where they will then be sentenced to the Eternal Lake of Fire. No human being ever goes to Tartarus.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell (Tartarus) and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;  

Jude 6-7 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

2. Abraham’s Bosom: Abraham’s Bosom, often referred to as Paradise, was the resting place in the core of the earth for the saints of God before the resurrection of Jesus (Luke 16:19-26). 

When Jesus hung on the cross, there were two thieves that hung on each side of Him. The thief on the right believed that Jesus was the Son of God and understood why He was on the cross. The thief said to Jesus: “Remember me.” Jesus then promised him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).  The thief on the cross with Jesus died and also went with Him to Paradise – or Abraham’s bosom with Jesus. On the third day when God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus unlocked the keys of Abraham’s bosom, or Paradise which many scholars claim, was then either lifted out of hell and ascended into heaven where it resides today as the Garden of God or it was emptied out of its residents who then were ascended into heaven in the Garden of God known as Paradise today.  

  • That would mean that all Old Testament saints now reside in Paradise in heaven today aaccording to Eph 4:8-9.  

Believers in Christ – those who have died after His resurrection no longer go to Paradise in the core of the earth.  The Paradise of God in heaven is where all believers in Christ go immediately upon death (2 Cor 5:6-8; Rom 8:11).

3. Sheol (Hebrew) or Hades (Greek): This is a holding place for the dead without God (O.T.) or Christ (N.T.) in the core of the earth.

Let’s revisit the scripture passage in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. 

Luke 16:19-31 Now there was a rich man…And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores…Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me…for I am in agony in this flame…there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us…If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.

This place of torment where the rich man resides, who saw Abraham’s bosom from afar, is called Sheol or Hades. All of its inhabitants stay in this place of fire and torment awaiting their eternal judgment before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. Since the ancient time of Abraham’s bosom, or Paradise, God offers eternal salvation to “everyone.” No one ever has to go to hell (Sheol or Hades).  The faithful in God looked forward to their Messiah who would come to save them, and then after He came (Jesus, the Son of God) the requirement is belief – belief in His Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16).  All of God's faithful can then be given eternal life with Him forever away from the torments of hell.  Knowing now that Paradise has been lifted from hell into heaven, or emptied out, we also know by scripture that all who die not believing in Jesus, accepting Him as Lord, go to this same place of torture immediately upon death. They join all of the other wicked lost to await their judgment before God at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15).

A story from a Russian geologist

In December of 1989, Paul Crouch of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) read excerpts of a letter on his television program from a Russian geologist:

“Scientists are afraid they have opened the gates of hell. Geologists who have been drilling a nine-mile hole through the crust of the earth heard screams of the condemned souls coming from the world’s deepest hole. The second surprise was the extreme heat that was noticed in the depths of the earth. Their gauge calculations indicated temperatures of about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature was about ten times hotter than what they had anticipated. It almost seemed like a fiery inferno is raging in the center of the earth.”

This recent discovery was made when Russian geologists attempted to listen to the movements at different layers of the crust of the earth by highly sensitive microphones lowered through a drill gorge. It was stated that there was a faint, high sound that they thought was caused by their equipment. However, after fine tuning their instruments, they perceived that it really did come from the core of the earth. They could hardly believe their ears. What they heard was voices, human voices, screaming in pain. Although one voice was distinguishably separate, they could hear the screaming of thousands, maybe millions of tortured souls in the background. “Hopefully,” it was stated, “what we have found down there will stay down there.”

What unnerved the Soviets (apart from the voice recordings, which the spokesman tried to dismiss as geological noise distortion) was the “appearance that same night of a fountainhead of luminous gas shooting up from that drill site. Out of the midst of this incandescent cloud shown a brilliant being with bat wings with the written words in Russian stating “‘I have conquered.”’ This chief geologist was given a gag order, which he could not observe. [i]

4. Abyss or bottomless pit: The abode of demons and some angelic beings. No humans ever go to this place. It is an infernal depthless pit (Strong’s #12) (Luke 8:26-31) 

There is an additional place in hell called the abyss or the bottomless pit where Jesus also went after he died. He went to preach to the spirits, meaning unclean demons or spirit in prison (1 Peter 3:19)  Jesus openly triumphed over the spirits in the abyss, along with all of hell’s residents when God rose Him and all of the Old Testament saints out. Up out of the grave they arose. (Col 2:14-15).

During the time of the upcoming Tribulation Period, of which will be discussed later in this book, the abyss or bottomless pit will be opened and many unclean spirits will come out to torment men upon the earth (Rev 9:1-3).  Following the Tribulation Period, during the time of peace in the 1000-year Millennial Period, Satan and his demonic powers will be bound and cast into that same bottomless pit. He, and them, will be sealed there until the "almost" end of the 1000-year millennial reign of Christ. At that time, he, and his followers will be release for a short time to come back to earth to deceive all he can before his final judgment (Rev 20:1-3).

5. Gehenna – the Eternal Lake of Fire: This place may rest somewhere in outer space somewhere. This will be the eternal holding place for Satan, his angels, demons, all Old Testament people without God, and all who refused Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Lake of Fire was never meant for man to occupy. It was originally created by God to hold Satan (Lucifer) and his fallen angels because of their disobedience in trying to take over the throne of God (Matt 25:41).

The Great White Throne Judgment

God gave man the choice of his will - to freely choose Him or Satan. Isn’t it sad that the sinner who refused the Lordship of Jesus Christ will die and descend into hell, followed by the eternal Lake of Fire, which was not even created for him?

The Eternal Lake of Fire is the second death in which the Bible refers. When the final judgment of God comes, all of hell (all of its compartments) will open up and those inhabitants will come forth to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. The books will be opened. As the dead, small and great, stand before God, every man or angel will receive his or her final judgment sentence. All beings will be condemned according to their deeds (John 5:27-29; Rev 20:12-15).

The Book of Life

One of the books that will be opened up at the Great White Throne Judgment is the Book of Life (Rev 20:12-15). None of these people who stand before the Great White Throne Judgment will have their name written in the Book of Life, so they cannot enter into heaven.  They, in turn will all be cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire.

In this Eternal Lake of Fire, there are different positional levels. The severity of each level is uncertain. Adolph Hitler, or someone of such great evil, would obviously be subject to a greater level of damnation. Yet, there are pew sitters who sat in church for many years, hearing the Gospel of Truth, and did not make a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord. They had a mental assent of Him, but not a heart-felt belief. They also face the judgment and eternal damnation in the Eternal Lake of Fire. But you may say, “They were such good people. How can they go to hell?” The Bible says: 

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  

Rom 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Why then should good people who did not believe and accept Christ spend an eternity with Him when they refused to accept Him on earth? These people still face hell. But to what degree of damnation, only God knows.

Those Without Christ

Hell is a place of damnation. It is a place of memory and remorse, pain and torture. Just as we saw from Luke 16, the rich man in hell sorrowed and suffered over his wrong decisions on earth. So will everyone who does not make a conscious decision to follow Christ and His ways while living on the earth.

You may also be asking about the people who never heard of Christ. What about the people in third world countries who know nothing of Jesus?  We must remember that heaven is a place where people live eternally with their God. Hell is separation from God – separation from Christ.  So then, I ask you, how can any one who has never heard of Christ spend an eternity with Him - with a god they never knew? Hell and the Eternal Lake of Fire does await these people, but to what degree, only God knows. You can be sure, however, that those who knew of Christ will experience a far worse torture in hell and the Eternal Lake of Fire than those who never knew.

Personal Experiences of Hell

I came to Christ because of a near drowning experience at the age of twelve. While that experience was 68 years ago, its impression in me is like it happened only a few years ago. Wanting to swim out to a dock while vacationing with my cousins one summer day, I chose to brave the deep water and swim the 50 feet to where my cousins were having a good time jumping off the dock. I could not swim, so I dog paddled my way through the deep water. After a few feet I could no longer paddle above water and I started to go under. Upon the third time going under I saw in a vision within my spirit of every sin I had committed in my life. It was like a television screen scrolling around and around showing each sin I had ever committed. I felt myself sinking lower and lower, as I saw within me the flames of fire below me - identical to the flames in the picture above - which I knew to be the entrance into hell. Then I blacked out.  By the grace of God, my cousins saw me go down and came to my rescue. I was pulled out of the water, brought back to the shore dock and given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The thought of my sinking down to hell plagued my for months until one day I called my youth director at church and told him I did not want to go to hell. He told me to come in, and in his office I accepted Jesus Christ into my life. Hell no longer plagued me because it was no longer my eternal destination. Heaven is now my eternal reward.

Another Experience of Hell

Another experience happened only a few years ago. While in prayer I had a vision of several small row boats on an ocean in the darkest of night. Each of these rowboats housed one person. In the dark ocean waters were what seemed like millions of people struggling for life. Those in the rowboats were trying to pull these struggling people into the safety of the boat one at a time. Some people struggled against the helping hand and drowned, sinking down into the deep water, which I knew was hell.  There were others who grabbed onto the oar or the hands of the person in the boat and was pulled to safety. God showed me that there are so few laborers for Christ and so many millions of people who are dying without Him. Every one of these people in the water was on a death route and heading for hell. While some rejected, there were still masses of people who wanted to be saved, but wasn’t. I saw the brevity of the huge responsibility that all Christians have in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to a dying world (Matt 9:37-38).

Click here for Chapter #13 -Dispensations

 

End Notes


[i] End Time Handmaiden Tract Inc., Jasper, Ark. “Though They Dig Into Hell.”

Written by Pastor Joyce A. Erickson

Believers Bible School, Founder https://believersbibleschool.com/