The Place Called Hell

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 STUDY NOTES “HELL” PART 2 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES THE PLACE CALLED HELL INTRODUCTION There are people who don’t want to hear about Hell or talk about the true place known as Hell There are preachers who never preach a sermon on Hell or mention the word Hell in the pulpit People today want to hear a prosperity message and not an eternal punishment sermon Liberal theologians mock the message of a place known as Hell calling it an ancient superstition The Bible presents Hell as a real place where real people will spend an eternity in torment There are several terms used in the Bible to identify the place that is called Hell In the Old Testament the Hebrew word “Sheol” is translated “Hell” The Hebrew word “Sheol” was translated into Greek as “Hades” In the King James Version there are three different Greek words translated into the English word “Hell’” The three words are: Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus They are all translated “Hell” but they each one point out something specific about Hell A study of those three words will give a better understanding of the place we call Hell The true picture of Hell will be better understood through a study of the meaning of these words Hell is the common term of today to describe a place of punishment for the unbelievers Hell is used to describe the place that the lost go immediately after death and spend an eternity there DEATH In scripture, death never refers to a state of non-existence, it does not refer to the cessation of being The thought is not the annihilation of life, death is a state of separation from a certain life Spiritual death is the separation of life from God, without Christ there is no spiritual life Those who are lost and without Christ in their life are physically alive but spiritually dead, Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Spiritual death is being dead to the life of Christ, it is the opposite of life “in Christ” The lost have physical life, mental life, and emotional life, but there is no spiritual life So, you can be physically fit, mentally alert, emotionally excited, and spiritually dead The meaning of “quickened” is explained in, Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) “We” refers to those who are now spiritually alive, “We” were spiritually dead before we received Jesus, 1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The only way to receive eternal life is to receive Jesus into your life, 1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. “Physical death” is life separated from the body that we now live in Physical death is when the soul departs from the physical body, people die as a-result of sin, Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Those who die physically without being born spiritually will experience the “Second Death” The “Second Death” is the eternal separation from the immediate presence of God Page 1 of 5 At the time of physical death, the lost are immediately separated from God, that is Hell (Hades/Sheol) Hades is the present state of the lost after death, the Second Death is the eternal state of the lost There is a place called Hell, but there is more punishment in that place them most people understand HADES The word “Hades” is found 11 times in the KJV of the New Testament: Translated Hell twice in Matthew (Matthew 11:23; 16:18) Twice in Luke (Luke 10:15; 16:23) Twice in Acts (Acts 2:27, 31) Translated “grave” in 1Cor. 15:55, Translated Hell 4 times in Revelation (Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14) The word “Hades” means “the unseen world,” the meaning is “the world of the dead” It is the region where departed spirits of the lost go between death and the resurrection of the body The word “Hades” is not presented as the place of eternal punishment (see Gehenna) Before Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, all departed spirits went to Hades Before the cross of Jesus there were divisions of Hades, a separation of those in Hades Probably the best way to think of this division is by “upper” and “lower” parts The “upper part” is referred to as “Abraham’s bosom” or “Paradise” Abraham’s bosom and Paradise refer to the same place in Hades Paradise was separate from the place of torment, the rich man was in the place of torment (Lk. 16:23-25) Lazarus went to Hades but into the place known as “Abraham’s bosom” (Lk 16:22) The rich man and Lazarus were separated from each other by the “great gulf fixed” (Lk 16:26). The “lower part” is referred to as “lowest Sheol” in, Psa 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. (Sheol) In the NT, there is a “lower part” of the place of torment, referred to by the Greek word “Abyss” The “Abyss” is to be distinguished from the place known as Sheol/Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus The “Abyss” is the place prepared for the imprisoned fallen angels or demons (Revelation 9:1-21) “Abyss” is found 9 times in the New Testament: It is translated “deep” twice (Luke 8:31; Romans 10:7) It is translated “bottomless pit” 7 times in Revelation (Revelation 9:1,2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3) The Greek word “abyss” means “bottomless” or “unfathomable” The demons pleaded with Christ not to send them into the torment of the abyss (Luke 8:31) They did not want to be tormented before their predetermined time (Matthew 8:29) HADES BEFORE THE CROSS Before Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension all departed spirits went to Sheol/Hades The Greek word Hades is used in the NT as the equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol in the OT Old Testament saints were gathered-together in Sheol (Genesis 25:8-9,17; 35:29; 49:29,33) It is declared of Moses, “Thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people” (Numbers 27:13) Which could not mean the grave, Moses was buried “in a valley in the land of Moab” (Deut.34:6) Abraham was “gathered to his people” (Genesis 25:8-9) But none of his ancestors were buried in the cave of Machpelah where he was buried “Gathered to his people” cannot refer simply to his death and burial “Gathered to his people” is a reference to life after death for those who died in faith Those who are lost go to Hades and enter-into the division of torment (Luke 16:23-25,28) Those who were saved went into the division of Paradise before the cross of Jesus Jesus promised the repentant thief that he would be with Him in “Paradise” (Luke 23:43) Peter preached that Jesus descended into Hades after His death, His soul was in Hades (Acts 2:27,31) While His body was in the tomb, His spirit was in Hades (1 Peter 3:18-20) Jesus arose from the grave and brought forth the first-fruit offering unto the Father (Matthew 27:50-53) Note, “after His resurrection,” Mat 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Page 2 of 5 When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He delivered Paradise unto the Father (Eph 4:8-10) Jesus transferred Paradise from Hades to the “Third Heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:1-4) Jesus now has full authority over Hades (Rev 1:18; Mt 16:18) The believer now goes to the “Third Heaven Paradise” at the time of physical death (Acts 7:55-60; Philippians 1:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) The lost continue to go to “Torment in Hades” at the time of physical death They will remain there until the time of their resurrection and judgment (Revelation 20:13-15) SHEOL “Sheol” from the Old Testament refers to the same place as “Hades” in the New Testament The Hebrew word “Sheol” appears 65 times in the Old Testament: 31 times translated “grave,” 31 times translated “hell,” 3 times translated “pit” Sheol describes an unseen place where the spirits of dead men are confined until the resurrection It is the place where both the righteous and unrighteous went at death, death is not the end of life At the time of death, the body goes to the grave, the spirit goes to Sheol/Hades Sheol/Hades is the place of their existence between physical death and resurrection The Lord declares that He will ransom His people from “Sheol,” Hos 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; (Sheol) I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, (Sheol) I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. Sheol is not the permanent or eternal state for those who are lost, it is the intermediate state of the lost Sheol/Hades is the temporary residence of those who are lost, they are awaiting their final judgment It was the region where the spirit of the saved went before the completed redemptive work of Christ Sheol/Hades is not the final state of Hell according to Scripture Hades is the present dwelling place for the departed spirits of those who are spiritually dead They are now in torment and will remain in torment But their present state of torment is not their final or eternal state of punishment Hades is where they will be until the time of the “Great White Throne Judgment” (Rev. 20:13-15) That is when their eternal punishment will be determined They will then be cast into the “Lake of Fire” to experience the second death (Revelation 20:14) GEHENNA “Gehenna” is found 12 times in the New Testament and is translated “Hell” each time Jesus used the term 11 times (Matt. 5:22,29,30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5) James used the term “Gehenna” one time, and it is translated “Hell” (James 3:6) “Gehenna” was the name of a deep narrow valley south of Jerusalem, the Valley of Hinnom At one time it was the place where idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to the god Molech (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:1-6; Jeremiah 7:31-34; 32:35) Later it became a dumping ground for the city of Jerusalem It was used for the dumping and burning of garbage and the bodies of dead animals The bodies of dead criminals and the bodies of the poor were dumped in Gehenna A fire burned continually to consume all that was dumped there It was the most horrible place that the human mind could imagine in the day of Jesus It was known as a horrible place, gnawing worms and maggots worked in the waste At night wild dogs fought over the garbage, howling, and gnashing their teeth Jesus used the name “Gehenna” as a symbol to identify the future place of punishment of the lost Gehenna is the place of final punishment for the lost and is also known as the Lake of Fire It is an eternal fire that will never be quenched, Mar 9:46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Page 3 of 5 It is the place already prepared for the devil and his angels, Mat 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 and his angels: Only God can cast wicked men into Gehenna, Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; (Gehenna) yea, I say unto you, Fear him. The first ones there will be the antichrist and the false prophet, Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire after the 1,000 year millennium, Rev 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. After the great white throne judgment all-of the lost, of all ages, will spend eternity in Gehenna Gehenna is also called the lake of fire and the second death, Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. All whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be there, Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire Hades will be cast into Gehenna, the final and eternal state of the lost is the Lake of Fire The “Second death” is the eternal separation of a person from the presence of God They will be tormented day and night forever and ever, Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Eternal is another Biblical truth that we cannot fully comprehend through our earthly vocabulary We cannot comprehend time that is limitless, but everyone will experience an eternal state Either an “eternal life” in Heaven or an “everlasting punishment” in Hell, neither will ever end Earthly language cannot explain the eternal torment that the lost will experience It will be far greater than we can imagine by the terms used to describe it There has-to be a mental torment for those in Hell knowing that their torment will never end TARTARUS “Tartarus” is found only one time in the New Testament, Peter used the word “Tartarus” in, 2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; “Cast down to hell” translates the word Tartarus, which is the deepest and darkest dungeon of Hell Tartarus is not the same as “Sheol/Hades” or “Gehenna,” it is a special prison of punishment A place of confinement for a certain group of fallen angels who committed some ungodly act in the past Peter says they “have been delivered into chains of darkness” The word “chains” does not refer to literal shackles around the hands and feet Peter indicates that it is the darkness itself that has chained the angels These angels are in such darkness that they are bound or imprisoned by “darkness” Jude said they are chained in darkness until the final judgment of God, Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. CONCLUSION The place called Hell is a real place, it is the place of torment and eternal separation from God Christians should have the same desire that God has for the eternal state of every person, 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Page 4 of 5 Christians should have the same desire that the rich man in Hell had for his family, Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. The rich man had no desire for his family to join him in his place of torment God’s desire is for the Christian to do exactly what the rich man was asking for someone to do Someone, please go to my family and tell them the truth of Hell so that they might repent Earthly language is limited when it comes to describing the “Glory” of Heaven Scripture is telling us that until you die and go to Heaven you will not fully understand it Scripture is telling us to be sure that when we die, we will then “experience” the glories of Heaven Earthly language is limited when it comes to describing the torment of “Hell” The torments of Hell are so terrible that no earthly language can express the pain of them No one will fully understand the pain and torment of Hell until they go there Scripture is telling us to be sure that you are not going to go to Hell when you die You can be sure that you will go to Heaven and not Hell when you die You can have that assurance if you go to the place called “Calvary,” Listen to the song Page 5 of 5