- The Wages of Sin
- “Hell” in the Old Testament
- “Hades” in the New Testament
- Gehenna and Unquenchable Fire
Chapter I
“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” —Romans 6:23
The Bible clearly teaches that by divine
decree there is an adequate yet just punishment for sin. What is
the nature of this punishment? Our text declares that the “wages”
of sin is death, and one might think that such a statement of fact
would settle the question in the minds of all; but there are differing
views as to what the Bible means by “death.”
We all realize, of course, that the Bible was
not written in the English language, and that the versions we use are
translations from the Hebrew of the Old Testament, and the Greek of the
New Testament. There was a time when this presented a real
barrier to critical Bible study on the part of any except those
conversant with the Hebrew and Greek languages. But now Hebrew
and Greek concordances of the Bible are available, in which can be
found the true meaning of the original words used in any text on which
there may be a variance of opinion. This is a great help.
It is also important to realize that the Lord
often speaks to his people in pictorial, or symbolic language.
Many of God’s most precious promises are presented in picture form, as
for example, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still
waters.”—Ps. 23:1,2
Likewise, when the Scriptures describe the
“wages of sin,” pictorial language is sometimes employed. If we
fail to take this into consideration we cannot hope to find and
appreciate the harmonious testimony of the Word on this important topic.
The word “hell” is used many times in both
the Old and New Testaments, and on occasions the expression,
“hellfire.” The Bible also speaks of a “lake of fire,” and of
“everlasting fire.” This language is related to the punishment
for sin, and regardless of our individual views on the subject, must be
taken into consideration if we are to attain an accurate understanding
of what the Bible means when it tells us that “the wages of sin is
death.”
The first human sin recorded in the Bible was
the one which caused the death penalty to be imposed upon Adam and
Eve. They had been forewarned as to the result of
disobedience—“Thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) After they
disobeyed, the penalty fell upon them: “Dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19) No explanation is given as to
what it would mean for them to die; no hint, that is, that some part of
them would not die, but would continue to live and suffer after the
body died.
While there are many symbolic expressions
used in the Bible, death, the punishment for sin, does not seem to be
one of them. Death and life are presented as opposites.
“The wages of sin is death,” but the “gift of God,” Paul wrote, is
“eternal life.” To us it seems essential that in our search for
the truth we should be guided by this basic and clearly stated
fact. We should recognize, in other words, that whatever symbols
the Lord may use to illustrate the idea of death, they must be
interpreted in harmony with this fundamental truth of God’s word.
There are other nonsymbolic expressions used
in the Bible to describe the divine punishment for sin. They are
synonymous with the word death. One of these is “perish.”
John wrote, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.”—John 3:16
The word “destroy” is also used to describe
death. Jesus said, “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28) We all know what is meant by the
destruction of the body, and here Jesus tells us that not only the
body, but the soul, as well, is destroyed in “hell.”
Taking these plain statements of the Bible
into consideration, the pattern of truth which appears is that through
sin the human race lost the opportunity of continuing to live, hence
has been going into death; that God in his love sent Jesus to redeem
the race, and that in the resurrection all will be awakened from the
sleep of death and given an opportunity to live forever. We
believe that the Bible’s testimony on the subject of hell will be found
to be in harmony with these plainly stated truths concerning the “wages
of sin” and “gift of God.”
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Chapter II
Our English word “hell” appears in the Old
Testament Scriptures thirty-one times. It is of Old English usage
but like many other English words, through the years it has taken on a
radical change of meaning. Originally it simply meant to conceal,
to hide, to cover; hence it was properly descriptive of any concealed,
hidden, or covered place. In Old English literature may be found
references to the helling of potatoes—that is, putting them into
pits—and of the helling of a house, meaning to cover it with a thatched
roof.
The word hell was therefore properly used by
the translators as synonymous with the words “grave” and “pit” to
translate the Hebrew word sheol—the only word in the
Old Testament that is translated hell in any English Version of the
Bible. It is interesting to observe in comparing these various
translations of the same Hebrew word—as they appear in the King James
Version of the Bible—that as a rule the word hell is given when the
text applies to wicked people, while the words grave or pit are used if
righteous persons are
involved. Thus the reader is led to an entirely wrong conclusion
concerning the death state of the two classes.
The translators of the Revised Version Bible did a little better in that they left sheol
untranslated, giving the reader an opportunity to draw his own
conclusion as to the meaning of the text. This was being only
partially helpful, for had they given a correct and consistent
translation in every instance, the truth concerning hell would have
been discerned—readers would have known that it was not a place of
torment.
The Hebrew word sheol
appears in the Old Testament in all sixty-five times, and in order that
no doubts be left in the mind of anyone as to the meaning the Lord
intended to convey by its use, we will examine all sixty-five passages
in which it is found. This is a serious subject. The
torment theory has been believed by millions. If it is true it
should be widely preached. Certainly it behooves all of us to
determine beyond any possible question just what the Bible does say on
the subject.
The word sheol was first used in the Old
Testament by the good patriarch, Jacob. Through the treachery of
his sons who, because of their jealousy, sold their young brother,
Joseph, into slavery in Egypt and induced their father to believe that
he had been slain by wild beasts, he became broken-hearted, and in his
anguish said, “I will go down into the grave [sheol] unto my son
mourning.” (Gen. 37:35) No student of the Bible has ever supposed
that Jacob expected to go to a place of torment when he died, yet from
his own words he did expect to go to sheol.
Later Jacob expressed a similar thought in
connection with the possible loss of his son Benjamin, explaining that
if he were taken to Egypt and did not return, it would bring down his
“gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [sheol].” (Gen. 43:38) The
fear that he would lose Benjamin, and thus be caused to mourn the rest
of his life, is repeated twice by Jacob’s son Judah in Genesis 44:29
and 31. In both these instances the translators have also given
us the word “grave.” Apparently they did not like to send Jacob
to hell, for in view of the meaning which has been given to the word
hell, it would have raised too many questions in the minds of Bible
students.
The next time the word sheol appears in the
Old Testament, the translators felt justified in translating it hell
for it is used in association with the wrath of God. Here the
Lord speaks through Moses, and says, “For a fire is kindled in mine
anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell [sheol].” (Deut.
32:22) This is a highly symbolic phrase, descriptive of the
punishment that was to come upon the nation of Israel, denoting the
utter ruin of the nation, when, as Paul expresses it in the New
Testament, “wrath to the uttermost” would come upon the nation. Leeser,
a noted translator of the Old Testament, translates the expression the
“lowest deep,” and the British revisors made it read “lowest pit.”
The prophetess, Hannah, next uses the word
sheol, and in a very revealing statement of fact. Extolling the
works of God, she said, “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he
bringeth down to the grave [sheol], and bringeth up.” (I Sam.
2:6) One point in this statement precluded the possibility of
using the word hell, with its distorted meaning, to translate sheol;
namely, that the Lord will bring up from sheol those who go
there. This would completely upset the theology concerning hell
which insists that it is a place from which there can be no return, and
where the victims suffer forever.
But how beautiful is the thought when
understood in the light of God’s great plan of salvation! “The
Lord killeth,” the text states. This began in the Garden of Eden
when our first parents were sentenced to death because of their
sin—“The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23) But Jesus died to
redeem the human race from death, and because of this, the people are
to be restored, that is, brought back from sheol. Moses, in his
prayer, expresses the same thought in slightly different language,
saying of the Creator, “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest,
Return, ye children of men.” (Psa. 90:3) Paul confirms this
viewpoint and shows that the promised restoration will be through
Christ, saying, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive.”—l Cor. 15:22
In I Kings 2:6,9 the word sheol appears
twice, and both times is translated “grave.” The passage is part
of a charge of King David to his son, and successor, Solomon. It
concerns the attitude Solomon should take toward a certain one who had
dealt unjustly with David, and reads, “Let not his hoar head go down to
the grave [sheol] in peace. … His hoar head bring thou down to the
grave [sheol] with blood.” By no stretch of the imagination is it
possible to read the idea of torment into this passage. Sheol is
here used, as always, to denote the death condition.
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In the Book of Job the word sheol appears
eight times. Twice it is translated “hell,” five times “grave,”
and once, “pit.” In view of such inconsistency, is it any wonder
that the truth concerning hell has been kept from the public?
Job 7:9 reads, “As the cloud is consumed
and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to the grave [sheol] shall
come up no more.” Here the translators must have been tempted to
use the word hell, for, on the surface at least, it would tend to
support the theory that those who go to hell never return. They
were obliged to use the word grave, however, because Job was speaking
of himself, and they feared to give the impression that one of whom it
was written that he was “perfect and upright,” who “feared God, and
eschewed evil,” had gone to a place of eternal torture.—Job 1:1
Nor can this text be used to prove that
there will be no resurrection of the dead. In the passage Job is
merely comparing his restless nights of suffering, followed as they
were by equally unhappy days of distress, with the time when he would
be resting in sheol, a rest that would be unbroken by the pains of a
diseased and dying body.
Job 11:8 reads, “It is as high as heaven;
what canal thou do? deeper than hell [sheol]; what canst thou
know?” These are the words of Zophar, one of Job’s
“comforters.” He is referring to the wisdom of God and using the
best illustrations he could think of to convey the thought of its being
unlimited. Both the heavens and sheol are used pictorially in
this passage, and certainly no suggestion is given that sheol is a
place of torment.
The next use of the word sheol in this book
is a most interesting one. Job’s suffering became unbearable, and
while he did not deny God, he did pray to the Lord to let him die; and
his use of language in the prayer is most revealing. We quote: “O
that thou wouldest hide me in the grave [sheol], that thou wouldest
keep me in secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint
me a set time, and remember me!”—Job
14:13
According to the view originating in the
Dark Ages, sheol, the Bible hell, was supposed to be a place where God
visits his wrath upon sinners; but here we have Job, a righteous
servant of God, praying to go to hell to escape God’s wrath. How
different is the Word of God from the teachings of the creeds!
The wrath of God from which Job asked to escape by going to sheol is
the manifestation of his disfavor toward the human race because of
sin. It began in Eden in the pronouncement of the death sentence
upon our first parents, and all the pain and sorrow in the world since
have been incident thereto.
But Job, through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, looked forward to a time when God’s wrath would be past,
when, according to the Book of Revelation, there would be no ,more
“curse.” (Rev. 22:3) With this hope in mind, he simply asked God
to allow him to fall asleep in death—to go into sheol—until it was the
due time for divine love to be manifested in the restoration of the
dying race. Then, as Job expressed it, he would hear the Lord
call him forth from death.—Job 14:15
“If I wait,” declares Job in a later
statement of his outlook as a sick and dying man, “the grave [sheol] is
mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.” (Job 17:13)
There is certainly no support for the torment theory in this text.
In the last verse of chapter seventeen, Job
declares, “They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest
together is in the dust.” The “they” referred to here, and with
which Job declares he would rest together in the dust, are “corruption”
and the “worm.” These, he says, were his father and his
mother. In the use of this language, Job is simply emphasizing
that with the coming of death, the disease that was preying upon him
would also cease. There is no thought here of eternal torture in
a hell of fire and brimstone.
Speaking of the experience of many of the
wicked, Job says, “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go
down to the grave [sheol].” (Job 12:13) In the preceding verses,
Job is telling of the boast of the wicked—and what is, as a matter of
fact, often their experience—that they fare well and enjoy the good
things in life. In the verse quoted, he points out that often the
wicked continue to enjoy the supposedly good things of life right to
the end, and then suddenly, without suffering, fall asleep in death go
down to sheol.
This viewpoint, of course, is true only
during the reign of sin—during this time when God is permitting evil
for a wise purpose, the time referred to by the Prophet Malachi when we
“call the proud happy,” and when those who “work wickedness are set
up,” and they that “tempt God are even delivered.” (Mal. 3:15) It
will be different when the kingdom of Christ is in full control of the
affairs of men, for then the righteous will flourish. (Psa. 72:7)
But the main point is that this use of the word sheol by Job does not
in any way indicate that it is a place of torture.
“Drought and heat consume the snow waters:
so doth the grave [sheol] those which have sinned.” (Job 24:19)
What happens to water under the heat of the sun is certainly not a very
good illustration of eternal torture, but it does, even as Job here
indicates, serve well to illustrate the outworking of the penalty of
death upon sinners.
The translators have given us the word hell
in translating Job’s last use of the term sheol. We quote: “Hell
[sheol] is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.” (Job
26:6) There is no support here for the torment theory; rather,
the reverse, for sheol is shown to be synonymous with
destruction. In this statement, Job is describing, symbolically,
the unlimited wisdom and power of the Creator.
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The Hebrew word sheol appears in the Book
of Psalms fifteen times. It is translated hell seven times, and
grave eight times. There is no valid reason at all why it should
not have been translated the same in every instance. Had this
been done, much would have been accomplished in freeing the minds of
the public from the Dark Age blasphemy against the glorious name of our
loving God. These uses of the word sheol in the Book of Psalms
are as follows:
“For in death there is no remembrance of
thee: in the grave [sheol] who shall give thee thanks?” (Psalm
6:5) What a clear and positive statement we here have to prove
that those in sheol are unconscious! The reference is to the
righteous who, being always glad to praise God while they are alive,
would be glad to give thanks to him after they die were it possible to
do so; but it is not, for they remain asleep in death until the
resurrection.
“The wicked shall be [re] turned into hell
[sheol], and all the nations that forget God.” (Psalm 9:17) The
word “turned” is here a translation of the Hebrew word shuwb,
which is properly translated returned. The message of this psalm
applies to the period of Christ’s reign, during which the Lord will
“judge the world in righteousness.” (Verse 8) It will be then
that the Lord will be a “refuge for the oppressed.” (Verse 9)
“The Lord will then be known by the judgment which he executeth.”—Verse
16
Revelation 20:7-9 informs us that the
people of the nations who fail to obey the laws of Christ’s kingdom are
to be destroyed by the direct judgments of God; and it is evidently to
this that Psalm 9:17 refers. Hence we can see the appropriateness
of the use of the Hebrew word shuwb, meaning
returned. These wicked nations, having been awakened from the
sleep of death and given a full opportunity to obey the laws of the
kingdom and live, will be “returned” into sheol, the Bible hell—not a
place of torment, but the condition of death, oblivion, for ultimately
“all the wicked will God destroy.”—Psalm 145:20
“Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell
[sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
(Psalm 16:10) The Apostle Peter quoted this text during the
course of his Pentecostal Sermon and explained that it applies to
Jesus—that it was Jesus’ soul that was not left in sheol. (Acts
2:27-32) Thus we have an irrefutable proof that sheol is not a
place of hell-fire and torment, for surely no one could think of Jesus
going to such a place when he died.
The translators must have known that the
“Holy One” of this text was Jesus, yet they used the word hell to
describe his condition in death, despite the fact that in most other
instances where the righteous were concerned they have translated sheol
by the word grave or pit. The reason for this is obvious, for
they were caught in a dilemma by the fact that it is Jesus’ soul that
is said to be in sheol. Had they used the word grave, they would
have been admitting that Jesus’ soul was in the grave, in oblivion; so,
knowing that in the minds of the average reader hell was at least a
place of life, they used it, hoping perhaps no one would inquire too
diligently as to why Jesus was in hell, or just what his experience
there might have been.
To admit, through a translation, that
Jesus’ soul was in the grave, the state of death, would have disproved
another of the Dark Age dogmas; namely, the erroneous theory of the
immortality of the soul. Actually, Jesus’ soul did go into death,
into sheol. The Prophet Isaiah writes concerning him that “he
hath poured out his soul unto death”; his soul was made “an offering
for sin.” (Isa. 53:12,10) It was essential that Jesus thus give
his life, his soul, in order for the human race to be redeemed from
death. It was because Jesus took the sinner’s place in sheol, in
death, that an will be awakened from death and given an opportunity to
live forever—“As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive.”—I Cor. 15:22
“The sorrows of hell [sheol] compassed me
about: the snares of death prevented me.” (Psalm 18:5) Here,
although the text applies to David, a servant of God, the translators
tried hard to make it appear that there are sorrows in sheol.
However, the Hebrew word which they have translated “sorrows” simply
means a twisted rope, or a noose. The marginal reference makes it
“cords.” Leeser renders the expression; “The bonds of death
[sheol] encompassed me.” It is a highly figurative expression of
deep anguish and fear of death. By no stretch of the imagination
can it be made to mean that there is torment in sheol.
“O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from
the grave [sheol]; thou has kept me alive.” (Psalm 30:3) This is
a prayer of thanksgiving for recovery from a severe illness which
threatened death. Sheol is here employed by the psalmist as a
synonym for death.
“Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be
silent in the grave [sheol]. Let the lying lips be put to
silence.” (Psalm 31:17,18) Here is an instance where the
translators have given us the word grave to translate sheol when the
reference is to the wicked. Doubtless, as in so many other
places, they would like to have used the word hell instead of grave,
but to do so would have revealed that the wicked are silent in the
Bible hell, and this would have been quite contrary to creedal
theology, which pictures them as almost constantly shrieking with pain
and cursing God.
“Like sheep they are laid in the grave
[sheol]; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion
over them in the morning; and their strength [margin] shall consume,
the grave [sheol] being an habitation to every one of them
[margin]. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave
[sheol].” (Psalm 49:14,15) In view of the erroneous meaning
attached to the word hell, the translators found it impossible to
employ it in this text as a translation of sheol because it states that
human beings are laid therein “like sheep.” They realized that
even an unenlightened public would know that sheep do not go to a place
of torment when they die.
In passing it is well to note a fact, borne
out by this text, that sheol is not literally a burial place in the
ground, for sheep are not ordinarily thus buried. The Hebrew word
geber is the one denoting literally the grave, while
sheol is a condition, the condition of death, oblivion. Sheep do
go into this condition when they die, and remain there, but human
beings are to be restored to life in the resurrection.
The text under consideration also implies
strongly, what is elsewhere in the Scriptures definitely promised;
namely, resurrection for all mankind, for David says that the “upright
shall have dominion over them in the morning”—that is, the morning of
the millennial age. In Romans 14 :9 the Apostle Paul explains
that because Jesus died for the people, and was raised from the dead,
he now is the Lord, or Ruler, over both the dead and the living.
The church will share this dominion with him, and in the exercise of
their power and authority during the Millennium, will restore all the
willing and obedient to life everlasting. They will have dominion
over them to bless, not to torment.
“Let death seize upon them, and let them go
down quick into hell [sheol]: for wickedness is in their dwellings.”
(Psalm 55:15) Some, in the reading this text, and supposing that
the “hell” mentioned was a place of torment, have wondered how David, a
man after God’s own heart, could be so cruel as to pray for his enemies
to go to such a place. But when we realize that sheol—the word
here translated hell—is simply oblivion, the absence of life, then all
is clear, for David’s prayer is thus seen to be in harmony with the law
of God which states that the “wages of sin is death.”—Rom. 6:23
“Great is thy mercy toward me: and thou
hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell [sheol].” (Psalm
86:13) Here the translators were confronted with the choice of
putting the psalmist’s soul in the grave—had he not been delivered from
death—or let the reader wonder why the soul of a servant of God should
go to “hell” in the event of death. They chose the latter, for
otherwise they would have proved by their translation that human souls
are not immortal. The text actually does prove this fact, for
sheol is the state of death, oblivion. The expression “lowest
hell” (sheol) is poetic in nature, signifying an eternity of death
except for the mercy and grace of God.
“My soul is full of troubles: and my life
draweth nigh unto the grave [sheol].” (Psalm 88:3) Here the
Psalmist clearly indicates that he expected to go into the Bible hell
when he died, but the import of his statement is kept from the reader
by the use of the word grave as a translation of sheol.
“What man is he that liveth, and shall not
see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand [power] of the grave
[sheol]?” (Psalm 89:48) Here it is as clear as language can state
it that sheol is the state of death. And the translators had no
alternative but to use the word grave even though the text emphasizes a
known fact, that no member of the fallen race can keep from dying, that
all souls go down into death. They could not use the word hell in
this instance, for the claim is that by living righteous lives people
can indeed keep their souls from going to “hell.” How plain it is
from this text that sheol, the Bible hell, is not a place of torment!
“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the
pains of hell [sheol] gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.”
(Psalm 116:3) Sheol in this text, as elsewhere, simply signifies
the condition of death, and the psalmist is speaking of the suffering
and pain associated with the dying process as the “pains of sheol,”
that is, the pains which lead to death. It is a poetic
expression, the meaning of which is clearly discernible.
“Whither shall I go from Thy spirit
[power]? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend
up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell [sheol]
behold, Thou art there.” (Psalm 139:7,8) According to the
teachings of the Dark Ages respecting hell, this text would indicate
that God is a resident of that awful torture chamber. But how
reasonable is the text when we view it in the light of the real meaning
of sheol, the Bible hell. The psalmist is merely reminding us
that there is no place, or no situation in the whole universe, that is
beyond the reach of divine power, that even those who have gone down
into death, into sheol, oblivion, are not beyond his reach. This
coincides perfectly with the many promises of the Scriptures which
assure us that divine power will be used to restore the dead to life.
“Our bones are scattered at the grave’s
[sheol] mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.”
(Psalm 141:7) Here again, sheol denoting the death condition, is
used in a poetic sense; and while the full meaning of the text is
somewhat obscure, it certainly has nothing in it to indicate that sheol
is a place of torment.
Thus we find that throughout the Book of
Psalms the use of the word sheol consistently denotes the death state,
or condition, and never a place of torment.
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Now let us go on to examine the use of the
word in the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of
Solomon. Solomon was noted for his great wisdom; and, besides, he
wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. How did he use
the word sheol?
“Let us swallow them up alive as the grave
[sheol].” (Prov. 1:12) These are suggested as the enticing words
of criminals addressed to one whom they desire to join them in their
murderous assault upon victims they wish to rob. It is a
description of the sudden death usually inflicted under such
circumstances. No thought of torment can be read into the passage.
“Her feet go down to death; her steps take
hold on hell [sheol].” (Prov. 5:5) This text describes the ways
of an evil woman, and to what they lead. Because an evil person
is so manifestly involved, the translators have given us the word hell;
whereas in the text considered foregoing (Prov. 1:12), because it is
the victims of evil persons that go to sheol and not the evil persons
themselves, grave is given as the translation. No wonder the
public has been misled into believing that the wicked go to a different
place when they die than do the righteous.
“Her house is the way to hell [sheol],
going down to the chambers of death.” (Prov. 7:27) In view of the
distorted meaning which became attached to the word hell, it would seem
very logical to believe that the house of an evil woman is the way to
hell, and the average reader might not notice the explanatory phrase
telling us what sheol, or hell, really is; namely, that it is the
“chambers of death.”
“Her guests are in the depths of hell
[sheol].” (Prov. 9:18) Here the translators, in their zeal to
associate a harlot and her friends with a place of torment, have
overstepped themselves in the use of the word hell to translate sheol,
for they put the harlot’s guests in hell before they die. But
there is no inconsistency in the text when we realize that sheol means
the state of death, for the Scriptures represent all sinners as being
dead in trespasses and sins.
“Hell [sheol] and destruction are before
the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?” (Prov.
15:11) There is no thought of torment in this use of the word
sheol, even though the translators have given us the word hell, for it
is here associated with destruction. Sheol and destruction are in
reality synonymous.
“The way of life is above to the wise, that
he may depart from hell [sheol] beneath.” (Prov. 15:24) The
translators very nearly made this text support the idea that the
righteous go up to heaven when they die, and sinners go down to
hell. But, of course, their effort fall short of doing this once
we realize that it is the word sheol which they have translated
hell. The revised Version translates the passage thus: “To the
wise the way of life goeth upward that he may depart from sheol
[margin, the grave] beneath.”
The thought of the text is that the path of
life for the wise is an upward one toward righteousness; and for such
there is a promise of deliverance from the power of sheol, a
deliverance through the power of the resurrection. This hope of
deliverance for those who walk uprightly goes beyond the mere awakening
from the sleep of death which will come to all. For the righteous
of ancient times it will mean a “better resurrection,” and for the
followers of the Master now, the “first resurrection.” Over such
“the second death” will have “no power.” The “unjust” who are
awakened from sleep of death will have to walk up the “highway” to
holiness and thus prove worthy of everlasting deliverance from sheol,
death.—Heb. 11:35,39,40; Rev. 20:6; Acts 24:15; Isa. 35:8-10
“Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and
shalt deliver his soul from hell [sheol].” (Prov. 23:14) Keeping
in mind the true significance of the word sheol, that it signifies the
death condition, the meaning of this text is clear. It teaches
that by properly training a child to obey the laws of God and to
respect the rights of those with whom he is associated, his life, his
soul, will be prolonged, or kept from going into premature death, here
described by the word sheol.
“Hell [sheol] and destruction are never
full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.” (Prov. 27:20)
Here, again, sheol is associated with destruction. Instead of
this text emphasizing that “hell” is so large that there is no end to
its capacity, thus implying a threat to sinners, it simply denotes that
there is no limit to the capacity of death, as it is a condition, not a
place.
“There are three things that are never
satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave [sheol];
and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the
fire that saith not, It is enough.” (Prov. 30:15,16) The meaning
of this text with relation to sheol is the same as that of the
preceding one; namely, that death, as a condition, can never be filled:
It does not, even in the remotest sense, lend color to the idea of
torment after death.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it
with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor
wisdom, in the grave [sheol], whither thou goest.” (Eccles. 9:10)
This is a most positive statement respecting sheol, the Bible hell, and
the language used describes beyond any question of doubt a condition of
unconsciousness.
“Jealousy is cruel as the grave [sheol].”
(Song of Sol. 8:6) Here the death state, oblivion, is represented
as the very personification of relentlessness. It swallows up the
entire human family, making no exception, either of character or
condition.
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Isaiah was one of the outstanding prophets
of the Old Testament, and the word sheol appears nine times in the book
which bears his name. These are as follows:
“Therefore hell [sheol] hath enlarged
herself, and opened her mouth without measure.” (Isa. 5:14) The
prophet here uses the word sheol to describe the loss of prestige, the
ignominy, the dishonor which had come upon Israel. They had
become as though dead, they had passed into oblivion in large
numbers. The passage has no reference to a literal grave, and
certainly has no reference to a hell of fire.
“Hell [sheol] from beneath is moved for
thee to meet thee at thy coming.” (Isa. 14:9) This is highly
symbolic language. The context indicates that it applies to
“Babylon,” and particularly to “the king of Babylon.” (Verse 4)
It could hardly be fulfilled through the overthrow of literal Babylon;
so the real application is to mystic Babylon of which there is so much
said in the Book of Revelation. Symbolic Babylon is, briefly
stated, a great counterfeit system of Christianity, the
antichrist. This system is to be destroyed; that is, it will go
into oblivion; and the great king of Babylon, Satan, will also finally
be destroyed.
“Thy pomp is brought down to the grave
[sheol].” (Isa. 14:11) This is a continuation of the same
symbolic picture as seen in the preceding text. It has no
reference whatever to a place of torment.
“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell
[sheol], to the sides of the pit.” (Isa. 14:15) This is a
reference to “Lucifer,” who, although depicted in this prophecy as the
king of Babylon, is quite generally believed to be Satan, the
devil. The Scriptures clearly teach that he is to be destroyed.
“Ye have said, We have made a covenant with
death, and with hell [sheol] are we at agreement.” (Isa. 28:15)
The reference here is to a class who exercised authority over the
professed people of God—“this people which is in Jerusalem.” (Verse
14) The language is, of course, symbolic, but apparently it has
reference to dogmas concerning death and hell (sheol) which have been
laid down by religious rulers. In this same verse and the 17th
verse, these “agreements” are referred to as a “refuge of lies.”
Putting the thoughts together, it would
seem that the text is calling our attention to the misrepresentations
of death and sheol which have been foisted upon the people by those who
have agreed that death is not really death, that actually “there is no
death”; and that sheol—the Bible hell—instead of being a condition of
sleep in death, is a place of eternal torture.
“Your covenant with death shall be
disannulled, and your agreement with hell [sheol] shall not stand.”
(Isa. 28:18) Thank God, the time is coming when the truth about
hell will become known to the people and they will realize that the
true God of heaven is a God of love and mercy, not a cruel demon who
planned to torture untold millions of his creatures in a hell of fire
and brimstone!
“I said in the cutting off of my days, I
shall go to the gates of the grave [sheol]: I am deprived of the
residue of my years.” (Isa. 38:10) These are the words of the
good king of Judah, Hezekiah. By a miracle his life had been
unexpectedly prolonged, and in this text he is describing his thoughts
during the time of his sickness, when he expected that he would shortly
die. The translators were careful not to use the word hell here
as a translation of sheol, for to do so would have aroused questions in
the minds of many readers as to why one so good as Hezekiah should be
expecting to go to a place of torment when he died.
“The grave [sheol] cannot praise thee,
death cannot celebrate thee.” (Isa. 38:18) These are also the
words of Hezekiah. He continues to speak of his severe illness,
and expresses appreciation that he is still alive. He speaks of
death as being synonymous with sheol, and says that while the living
can praise the Lord, death and sheol cannot; meaning, obviously, that
those who die and are in sheol cannot praise the Lord. Had the
translators rendered sheol by the word hell in this text, many would
have been led to wonder what kind of a place hell might be.
“Thou wentest to the king with ointment,
and didst debase thyself even unto hell [sheol].” (Isa. 57:9)
Because the one referred to in this text is said to be debased, the
translators used the word hell, but this does not change the meaning of
the word sheol which the prophet uses. Actually the text does not
refer to death in a literal sense at all. It is a reference to
the nation of Israel which is here represented as a woman negligent of
her husband, the Lord, and seeking alliance with the kings of the
earth. Such actions ultimately led to the death of the nation,
and to oblivion so far as recognition by the Lord was concerned.
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The Prophet Ezekiel, another of the major
prophets of the Old Testament, used the word sheol five times; in no
instance to describe a place of torment, but always, either literally
or symbolically, a condition of oblivion. We note these five uses
as follows:
“In the day when he went down to the grave
[sheol] I caused a mourning. … I made the nations to shake at the sound
of his fall, when I cast him down to hell [sheol]. … They also went
down into hell [sheol] with him unto them that be slain with the
sword.” Ezek. 31:15-17) The context here indicates that this text
refers to the overthrow of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who, in all
probability, is used in this instance as a prototype of Great Babylon
of Revelation, which also is to go into oblivion. (Verse 2) The word
sheol is used in the passage three times. Once it is translated
grave, and twice by the English word hell. The fact that the
translators used the word grave once in the passage to translate sheol
would indicate that they must have known it does not refer to a place
of torment.
“The strong among the mighty shall speak to
him out of the midst of hell [sheol] with them that help him.” (Ezek.
32:21) The reference here is to the death condition of Egypt as a
nation; and various nations which perished prior to Egypt’s fall are
represented as speaking from oblivion concerning Egypt. The
thought is much the same as when we say that the lessons of history
speak to us. Paul speaks of the righteous blood of Abel crying
out. (Heb. 11:4) The passage gives no support at all to the torment
theory.
“They shall not lie with the mighty that
are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell [sheol]
with their weapons of war.” (Ezek. 32:27) Here the destruction of
other nations is referred to, and these likewise are said to go down to
sheol, the Old Testament hell. The interesting thing about this
text is that weapons of war are also said to go down to sheol, here
translated hell. We know that weapons of war do not go to a place
of torment, but we thank God that they can go into oblivion, and that
they will go there as a result of the thousand-year reign of
Christ. God promised that this shall be so, that he shall make
“wars to cease unto the end of the earth.”—Psalm 46:9
The Prophet Hosea uses the word sheol
twice, and both times in the same passage, which reads, “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.”—Hosea 13:14
There is no mistaking the meaning of this
text of Scripture. It uses the only word of the Old Testament
which is translated hell, and tells us definitely that it shall be
destroyed. First, the Lord tells that he proposed to ransom the
people from the power of sheol, and that he would destroy sheol
altogether. This is a prophecy of the redemptive work of Christ,
showing that through the merit of his shed blood all mankind were to be
redeemed from death.
With this redemption accomplished through
the death and resurrection of Jesus, he returns at this second advent
to awaken those who sleep in death and to give them an opportunity to
live forever. Thus the people are ransomed from the power of
sheol. While there will undoubtedly be some at that time who will
refuse to accept the gift of life on the terms of belief in Jesus and
obedience to the laws of the kingdom, and as a result go into the
second death, yet death and oblivion which resulted from the sin of our
first parents will be destroyed. This glorious hope is described
by the Revelator in the statement, “There shall be no more death.”—Rev.
21:4
“Though they dig into hell [sheol], thence
shall mine hand [power] take them.” (Amos. 9:2) Here the Lord
declares his infinite power, his ability to reach down even into the
death condition in order to carry out his purposes toward mankind, and
particularly the nation of Israel. God had pronounced certain
judgments upon Israel, and the nation could not escape. These,
however, were not judgments of eternal torture, for later in the same
chapter he declares his purpose to restore the nation to his
favor.—Amos. 9:11-15
“Out of the belly of hell [sheol] cried I,
and thou heardest my voice.” (Jonah 2:2) Jonah here refers to his
experience in the stomach of the great fish, and describes his
condition there as that of sheol. Had he not been delivered, it
certainly would have been oblivion for him. Had the ancients
understood sheol to be a place of torture in fire and brimstone,
certainly Jonah would not have used the word with respect to his
experience in the belly of the great fish. There would have been
no comparison.
“Yea also, because he transgresseth by
wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his
desire as hell [sheol], and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but
gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people.” (Hab.
2:5) An ambitious and aggressive nation is here referred to, a
nation so determined to extend its rule over other nations that it is
never satisfied. This unholy grasping for power is compared to
the unlimited capacity of death and sheol. The thought of torment
is in no way suggested in the passage.
This is the last text in the Old Testament
in which the word sheol appears; and as sheol is the only word therein
translated hell, it should be clear to every reader that the people of
God during ancient times were not taught the doctrine of torture as a
penalty for sin.
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Chapter III
“Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [hades],
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Acts
2:27) We start our examination of what the New Testament says
concerning hell with this text because it is a quotation from the Old
Testament in which the Greek word hades is used by the Apostle Peter to
translate the Hebrew word sheol. We believe that this inspired
translation of sheol is definite proof that hades of the New Testament
has the same meaning as sheol of the Old Testament; and that meaning,
as we have found, is oblivion, the state of death.
This quotation is from Psalm 16:10, and is a
reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Peter quotes it
in his Pentecostal sermon and explains that Jesus’ soul, his being, was
restored to life—brought back from sheol, the Bible hell, at the time
of his resurrection. As we have already learned, Jesus went into
the Bible hell, the death condition, to redeem those who were in death,
and it is this that constitutes our basis of hope in a resurrection of
the dead a returning from hell, or the death condition, of all mankind.
Jesus implies this very strongly in
Revelation 1:18, where we find him saying, “I am he that liveth, and
was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys
of hell [hades] and of death.” These, of course, are not literal
keys, but merely symbols of Jesus’ authority and power to unlock hades
and set death’s captives free. This right, or authority, is his
because of having died the Just for the unjust, pouring out his soul
unto death as the Redeemer of Adam, and through Adam, of the entire
human race.
And in keeping with this symbolism of the
keys of hell, Jesus speaks of the gates of hell. To Peter he
said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and
the gates of hell [hades] shall not prevail against it.” (Matt.
16:18) This statement is a reply to Peter’s confession that Jesus
was the “Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) It is
this great truth concerning Christ that the Master referred to as the
rock upon which his church would be built, not on Peter himself.
The church of Christ is the body of Christ,
and the Apostle Paul tells us that Christ, and all those who are
baptized into his body as members of his true church, constitute the
promised seed of Abraham through which all the families of the earth
are to be blessed. (Gal. 3:27-29) The importance of Jesus’
statement, therefore, that the gates of hades would not prevail against
the church, is seen in its assurance that nothing will prevent the
outworking of God’s purpose through the seed of Abraham to bless all
the families of the earth.
The families of the earth, all of them from
creation to the present time, to whom God’s promises of blessing apply,
are in sheol, hades, the Bible hell. Even the body members of the
Christ all down through the Gospel age succumbed to death and went into
hades. But this does not, and cannot, defeat the divine purposes
to bless all the families of the earth through Christ and his church,
for Jesus will use the keys of death to unlock the great prison-house
and set its captives free. Thus it will be true that the gates of
hell will not prevail against God’s purpose through the church.
Death’s prisoners will be set free!
It is quite in keeping with this thought that
the word hades is again used in Revelation 20:13, which reads, “Death
and hell [hades] delivered up the dead which were in them.”
Strange, isn’t it, that anyone should get the thought that those who go
to the Bible hell will never return, for here it is definitely stated
that hell will deliver up its dead. It will have to, because
divine power is to be used to restore the dead to life. In
passing it is well to note also that those in hell (hades) are said to
be dead—hell delivered up the “dead.” Those in hell are not alive
and suffering, but are dead; and, as Solomon declares, while “the
living know that they shall die,” “the dead know not anything.”—Eccles.
9:5; Job 14:21
In Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15, the wicked
Jewish city of Capernaum has a prophecy of destruction uttered against
it, and this is described as being brought down to hell (hades).
While the people of Capernaum were affected by the destruction of the
city, the prophecy is against the city itself, and no one has ever
claimed that cities go to a place of torment. But Capernaum did
go into oblivion, hence into hades, the Bible hell.
Another very interesting use of hades is
found in Revelation 6:8. Here hell (hades) is represented as
riding on horseback together with death. It would be difficult to
imagine the great abyss of torture such as hell was supposed to be,
thus riding on a horse’s back. But in the symbology of this
passage, no difficulty is encountered when we realize that hades and
death are practically synonymous, and thus shown together in this
graphic picture of destruction stalking through the earth.
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In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus,
it is stated of the rich man that “in hell [hades]” he lifted up his
eyes, “being in torments.” (Luke 16:23) This is the only passage
in the Bible in which is suggested the possibility that there is
thought, or feeling, in hades, or sheol. We cannot suppose,
however, that this text is contradictory to the definition of sheol
given us by the prophet when he declared that there is no knowledge,
wisdom, nor device, but only oblivion, in sheol. Nor can we
suppose that Job made a mistake when he prayed to go to sheol in order
to escape suffering.
Besides, when we examine the details of the
parable of which this statement is a part, we find that it could not
possibly be a literal statement of fact. Seizing upon this
parable as their best means of proving the torture theory, many have
erroneously presented it as proof that the righteous go to heaven when
they die, and that the wicked go to a place of eternal torment.
Actually, however, the parable says nothing about either the wicked or
the righteous, nor does it say anything about heaven.
There is a poor man and a rich man, but
there is nothing said about their virtues nor about their sins.
They both die. The poor man is carried by the angels to
“Abraham’s bosom,” not heaven. Even if this were a literal
statement of fact, it would not put the poor man in heaven, because
Abraham is not in heaven. We know this because Jesus said, “No
man hath ascended up to heaven.”—John 3:13
In death the rich man is said to see the
poor man in Abraham’s bosom, and he begs him to send a drop of water to
cool his tongue. Abraham’s literal bosom had turned to dust long
centuries before this parable was given, hence the expression must be
symbolic; and if that is symbolic, the remainder of the account must
also be a word-picture of something more than the experience of two men
after they died.
We think the most reasonable view as to the
meaning of the parable is that these two men represented two groups, or
we might say, nations. The rich man, with the various details
related concerning him, seems clearly to be a symbol of the Jewish
nation, while the poor man is a true representation of the Gentiles and
the position they were in at the time the parable was given.
The nation fared sumptuously every day, as
the parable states. That is, the promises of God belonged to
them, and upon these they were privileged to feast. Their table
was laden with these good things from the Word of God. The purple
robe of the rich man represented the royal hopes of the nation, and his
fine white linen represented the standing of righteousness the nation
enjoyed as a result of the typical sacrifices which were made year by
year for them. While this righteousness was merely typical of the
righteousness enjoyed by spiritual Israel through the blood of Christ,
nevertheless, it gave them a standing before God which other nations
did not enjoy.
Israel died as a nation, and lost all these
special favors of the Lord, but the individuals comprising the nation
continued to live, and each successive generation of these throughout
the centuries has suffered. They have suffered because of being
members of a nation that was dead. See the prophecy of this as
recorded in Deuteronomy 32:22.
The poor man—representing the Gentiles—also
died to that condition of alienation from God which was theirs prior to
the first advent of Christ. Believing Gentiles were carried into
Abraham’s bosom; that is, they became the children of Abraham through
faith, and inherited the promises of God which were made to and through
him. The whole Gentile world—particularly where the Gospel has
been at least nominally accepted—has benefited from this great
change. Representatives of the dead nation of Israel, from time
to time in the past, appealed to the favored Gentile nations for mercy
and assistance, but little help was given.
The key that identifies the rich man of the
parable is in the statement concerning his five brothers—“They have
Moses and the prophets.” This was true only of the Jewish
nation. The nation was divided into twelve tribes.
Following the Babylonian captivity, it was mostly the members of the
two tribes of Judah and Benjamin that returned to Judea, although some
of all the tribes returned. It was largely, therefore, the two
tribes to whom Jesus ministered, and who would be represented by this
rich man of the parable. If this one man represented two tribes,
the other ten tribes could be well represented by his five brethren,
and the parable shows that they shared the same fate because they had
failed to hear Moses and the prophets.
But the parable does not teach that the
Jewish nation was to suffer forever. Indeed, there are many
prophecies to show that the death of Israel as a nation was to be only
temporary, and now these prophecies are being fulfilled. Today,
as the restored nation of Israel continues to work out its new destiny
in the Promised Land, the flames of persecution are abating.
Eventually their eyes of understanding will be opened to recognize
Jesus as their Messiah; and by bringing themselves into accord with his
righteous kingdom soon to be manifested for the blessing of all
nations, they will be completely reinstated into the favor of God and
will have the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of peace and
everlasting life which will then be made available to all the peoples
of the earth.
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In the masterful treatise by the Apostle
Paul on the resurrection of the dead, recorded in the fifteenth chapter
of First Corinthians, we find the assertion, “O death where is thy
sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?” (Verse 55) The
“sting of death is sin,” writes Paul. (Verse 56) Sin fastened
itself upon father Adam, and through him the human race was stung to
death. But as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so
Jesus, the great Sin-bearer for the world will be lifted up so that all
can see and know of his saving power. Those who look to him for
help will live forever. (John 3:14,15) Then the temporary victory
of hades, the death condition, will be taken away; for all who are in
hell are to be awakened from the sleep of death, and given an
opportunity to look unto Jesus and live.
Then hades, or hell, is to be
destroyed. We are assured of this in the passage where the world
hell appears in the Bible for the last time; namely, Revelation
20:14. When we examined the use of the sheol in the Old
Testament. which has the same meaning as hades of the New Testament, we
found that according to Hosea 13:14, it was God’s purpose to destroy
the death condition which it describes. And now, in this very
last use of the word hades in the Bible, we discover that the Lord is
again assuring us of this same blessed fact.
Here, however, the destruction of the Bible
hell is made even more definite, for the Lord illustrates the fact by
using the symbol of fire. We read, “And death and hell [hades]
were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
Adam and his race have died the first death; but from this death they
have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. The Scriptures speak
of the “second death,” and it is here symbolized by a lake of
fire. All incorrigible sinners will be destroyed in the second
death, as will also the devil himself. And in this text we are
assured that even hell, or the death condition, will be
destroyed. It is because of this fact, in Revelation 21:4, we
read, “there shall be no more death.”
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Chapter IV
There is another Greek word in the New
Testament that is translated “hell,” and with which the word fire is
sometimes associated—that word is Gehenna. It
is this word that Jesus uses in Matthew 10:28, which reads, “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 [Gehenna].”
In examining the meaning of this word Gehenna
the point to which we wish to call attention in the passage just quoted
is that it is presented by Jesus as a place, or condition of
destruction, not of torment. That which the Lord consigns to
Gehenna is destroyed, not preserved or tortured. And this is
fully in keeping with the significance of the word at is was understood
by the Jews of Jesus’ day.
Gehenna, literally, was a deep valley, or
ravine, just outside the ancient city of Jerusalem which was used as a
place for the disposal of the offal of the city. In the Hebrew
language it was know as the “Valley of Hinnom.” Fires were kept
constantly burning in this valley in order to assure the destruction of
everything that was cast into it. Not only, therefore, was
Gehenna a place of destruction, but that which was destroyed therein
was worthless.
In Jesus’ day the people were well acquainted
with the purpose for which Gehenna was used, and when he employed it as
a symbol of the utter destruction of those unworthy of life
everlasting, they would be quick to get the force of the
illustration. Nor would the idea of torture ever enter into their
minds when they heard Jesus use this illustration.
Thus seen, while both hades and Gehenna
represent the death condition, Jesus seems to have used the Gehenna
symbolism more particularly with respect to those who will prove to be
incorrigible, hence unworthy of everlasting life; while the Bible
indicates that those who are in hades are to be awakened from death,
either as members of the church who will come forth in the “first
resurrection,” or else as those who come forth to participate in the
trial, or judgment, of the millennial age.
Jesus used the word Gehenna in his Sermon on
the Mount, saying, “Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger
of hell [Gehenna] fire.” (Matt. 5:22) The literal Valley of
Hinnom, or Gehenna, was not far distant from where Jesus uttered these
words, and those who heard them would not think for a moment that he
was teaching that all who do not accept him before they die were to be
tortured forever. And no one reading his words today would ever
think of such an absurd interpretation were it not for the background
of distorted and god-dishonoring teachings which have come to us from
the Dark Ages.
While the literal Gehenna of Jesus’ day was
used for the destruction of the city’s garbage, it is said that the
carcasses of dead animals were also often destroyed therein. It
is also said that the dead bodies of human beings—criminals—whom the
Jews judged as unworthy of a resurrection, were also destroyed in
Gehenna. In view of this, those to whom Jesus ministered would be
quick to catch the thought of eternal destruction when he used Gehenna
as a symbol of the punishment of the wicked.
Twice more Jesus used the Word Gehenna in his
Sermon on the Mount. We quote: “And if thy right eye offend thee,
pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that
one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be
cast into hell [Gehenna]. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut
it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one
of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be
cast into hell [Gehenna].”—Matt. 5:29,30
So far as we are aware, no one has ever
claimed that the human body of a sinner is cast into a place of
torment. Certainly we all know that the body returns to the dust,
yet some try to use this passage to support their torment theory.
These words of the Master should readily be recognized as highly
symbolic. No one supposes that he had any intention of teaching
that in order to escape eternal torture it would be necessary for one
literally to pluck out an eye, or cut off a hand. Rather, he is
using these as symbols of those things which might seem very precious
to us as Christians; but, if they should stand in the way of our
gaining eternal life in the kingdom, it would be better to give them up
as mere temporal advantages in order to make sure of the eternal
glories.
In the illustration, Jesus uses Gehenna as a
symbol of the utter loss that would be experienced by those who, after
tasting of “the good word of God,” and being “partakers of the Holy
Spirit,” and of “the powers of the world to come,” should through
unfaithfulness, do despite to the grace of God. (Heb. 6:4,5) But
no suggestion of torment is in any way implied by the lesson.
In Matthew 18:8,9, Jesus presents a lesson
identical in meaning with the one he gave in his Sermon on the
Mount. Once in this passage he speaks of “Gehenna fire,” and
refers to the same thing as “everlasting fire.” Since fire is a
symbol of destruction, and quite properly so because of its destructive
qualities, the expression “everlasting fire” would simply denote
everlasting destruction. Again, no torment is suggested.
In Matthew 23:15 we find the word Gehenna
used again by the Master. Here he is upbraiding the scribes and
Pharisees for their wrong, hypocritical attitude, and tells them that
despite their zeal to make converts to the Jewish religion, anyone who
was influenced by their teaching was made “twofold more the child of
hell [Gehenna]” than they were themselves. This is simply the
Master’s way of saying to the Pharisees that they were far out of line
with the true God of Israel and with his plans, and that those whom
they taught would likewise be far afield from the divine
arrangements—so far that they would be in danger of not gaining
everlasting life at all, unless they changed their position. But
even so, there is no threat here of eternal torture, but rather a
warning as to the danger of losing the privilege of living
everlastingly, that glorious opportunity that was to be provided
through the blood of Christ.
In Matthew 23:33, Jesus addresses the scribes
and Pharisees again, calling them a “generation of vipers,” and adding,
“How can ye escape the damnation [judgment] of hell [Gehenna]?”
The translators took the opportunity to use the word “damnation” in
this text, thinking no doubt, to make the threat of the statement sound
more sinister. And if we think of hell erroneously as meaning
torture, and couple with it the word damnation, we do have a blistering
text.
But the plain facts of the case are quite
simple. The Greek word here translated damnation simply means
judgment, and hence the condemnation of Gehenna would simply be that of
eternal oblivion—that which is described in the Book of Revelation as
the “second death”—a death from which the Scriptures nowhere promise a
resurrection. The Revised Version uses the proper word “judgment”
instead of “damnation.”
In Mark 9:43-47 we have a repetition of the
lesson which speaks of the advisability of parting with one’s eyes, and
feet, and hands, rather than be cast into Gehenna fire. In Jesus
gave in his Sermon on the Mount, and in which he this passage, however,
Jesus intensifies the illustration by speaking of the worms which do
not die, and the fires which are not quenched—unquenchable fire.
As we have seen, fires were kept continually
burning in Gehenna, which at all times assured the destruction of
whatever was thrown into the valley. Anything reaching those
fires was sure to be destroyed, hence from this standpoint, they were
unquenchable. But there was always the possibility that carcasses
thrown into the fires of Gehenna might lodge on the jagged sides of the
ravine and not reach the fires below. These would be destroyed by
the ever-present worms which infest dead bodies thus exposed to the
elements. It was to this that Jesus referred as the undying, or
ever-present worms.
How absurd, as some have tried to teach, that
Jesus is here describing the alleged immortal souls of human beings as
worms! In this passage, as in many others of the Bible, it is
only because people have erroneous notions in their minds that they see
a meaning which was never intended by the Lord. Let us try to
comprehend the hideousness of the torment theory, and realize that a
God of love would not make such a plan for the punishment even of his
enemies. Through Jesus our Heavenly Father teaches us to love our
enemies, and certainly he does not want us to believe that he tortures
his.
The last use we find of the word Gehenna in
the Gospels is that of Luke 12:5. Here Jesus tells us that we are
to fear him who is able to cast one into hell (Gehenna). The
construction of the text is very revealing. A man may kill
another, but the eternal existence of his victim would not be
jeopardized. But those whom the Heavenly Father considers
incorrigible, and not worthy of life, are cast into Gehenna.
This, of course, is not a literal casting into that valley which was
located outside of the city of Jerusalem. The thought is, rather,
that Gehenna is a fitting symbol of the destruction of that which is
not worthy of life.
The last, and one of the most interesting
uses of the word Gehenna in the New Testament is that recorded in James
3:6. Here James tells us that the tongue is set on fire of
Gehenna. It would be difficult to explain the meaning of this
text should we have in mind the traditional misconception of
hell. But when we think of Gehenna as being a symbol of
destruction, it is readily seen that what James means is that the
tongue, moved by selfishness and hate, is set on fire or caused to
speak, by influences which, if not checked, are sure to lead to death,
either of the one whose tongue is thus incited to speak evil, or of
those concerning whom he speaks.
And now we have examined every text in the Bible in which the words sheol, hades, and Gehenna
appear, and we have found that not even once is there justification for
supposing that these Hebrew and Greek words which are sometimes
translated hell are descriptive of a torture chamber into which God
purposes to consign all unbelievers at death.*
Let us then dismiss from our minds this blasphemy against the good name
of our loving God, and endeavor to learn more concerning his loving
plan to bless all nations during the thousand years of Christ’s kingdom.
We have found the Scriptures clearly to teach
that man was created to live on the earth forever as a human being,
that he forfeited this privilege by transgressing God’s Law. The
Scriptures, nevertheless, teach that Jesus came to seek and to save
that which was lost, and that in order to make restoration of the race
possible, he died as man’s Redeemer.
During this present age, the work of the Lord
has been, not to convert all mankind to be followers of the Master, but
to call out from the world a people to be associated with him in his
kingdom. At the end of the age these are brought forth from hades
in the “first resurrection,” exalted to glory, honor, and immortality
to live and reign with Christ a thousand years.—Rev. 20:6; Rom. 2:7
In Matthew 25:31-46 is an account of a
parable which Jesus gave to his disciples to illustrate the work of the
next age—the judgment work, when the Lord will be dealing with all
mankind and proving their worthiness or unworthiness of everlasting
life. It begins with the time when the “Son of man shall come in
his glory, and all his holy angels with him.” In the Greek text
the term angels means messengers, and the reference here is to the
church—all who have suffered and died following in the Master’s
footsteps. Together with him, these will be the judges of the
world of mankind—“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the
world?” asks Paul.—I Cor. 6:2
There are two other important points in this
parable to which we wish to call attention. The first is the
reward that is given to those who are represented by the sheep, that
is, those who qualify for life under the terms of that judgment-day
period. To these the invitation is given, “Come, ye blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world.” (Verse 34) This is the kingdom, or dominion, that was
given to our first parents, but which they lost on account of
sin. Here we are told that it will be restored at the close of
the thousand-year judgment day.
But let us notice also the final disposition
of those represented by the goats of the parable; that is, those who
prove themselves to be incorrigible sinners. These, it is stated,
go away into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels. Some have seized upon this statement in an effort to
prove the torment theory, but no such thought is attached to the
text. Fire here, as always in the Bible, is a symbol of
destruction, not torment. Everlasting fire would simply be
everlasting destruction.
In the last verse (46) of the chapter the
same thought is referred to as “everlasting punishment.” Death is
the punishment for sin, and eternal death would be everlasting
punishment. The thought is made more definite when we examine the
Greek word here used, translated “punishment.” It is a word which
denotes a “cutting off.” The willfully wicked will be cut off
from life, but as the text declares, the righteous of that time will
enter into “life eternal.” And to these the kingdom prepared from
the foundation of the world will be restored. The parable reminds
us that the devil and his angels will also then be destroyed.
In Revelation 20:10 Satan is represented as
being destroyed in the “lake of fire.” As we have already noted,
the lake of fire is a powerful symbol of destruction. Death and
the Bible hell are represented as being destroyed therein. The
“beast” and the “false prophet” of Revelation are said to be destroyed
in the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20) It is conceded that the “beast”
and the “false prophet” are symbolic of corrupt politico-religious
systems dominated by Satan. These are to be destroyed preparatory
to the full manifestation of the kingdom of Christ.
Revelation 20:10 speaks of the torment of
Satan in the “lake of fire,” but as other scriptures declare definitely
that he is to be destroyed, this expression must be understood
symbolically, even as the lake of fire is itself symbolic.
Satan’s torment following his destruction is evidently the everlasting
derision that will be heaped upon him in the minds of the people.
Even now we speak of not letting people rest after they die; but the
thought is not that their rest is actually disturbed, but rather that
the living remember and deride them. So it will be with
Satan. His course of willful opposition to God and its terrible
results, will serve as an everlasting object lesson to all the restored
of mankind.
Thus we have found that the entire Bible is
in agreement with Paul’s declaration that the “wages of sin is death,”
not torment. And how glad we are that an opportunity to escape
eternal death has been provided by our loving God through the gift of
his Son to be our Redeemer and Savior! Believers during the
present age receive life through faith; and while temporarily they fall
asleep in death, they will be raised to glory, honor, and immortality
in the “first resurrection,” to live and reign with Christ a thousand
years.—Rev. 20:6
During the thousand years of Christ’s reign
all mankind will be given the opportunity to accept God’s loving
provision of life through Christ, and those who do accept and obey the
laws of the divine kingdom then in force will be restored to perfection
of human life. Instead of sickness and death, there will be
health and life, for the promise is that God will “swallow up death in
victory” and wipe away tears from all faces.—Isa. 25:8,9
Truly we should rejoice that our God, the God
of the Bible, the Creator of heaven and earth, is a God of love.
May the length and breadth and height and depth of his love inspire us
with a greater desire than ever to serve him, and to make known to all
the glories of his character.
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