HELL: Grave, or Eternal Punishment, and how to avoid the latter

HELL:

THE GRAVE, PLACE OF ALL THE DEAD

OR

THE WRATH AND JUDGEMENT OF GOD

This is an attempt to unravel the confusion often created by preachers who use the term "Hell", without due consideration to context and qualifying associations.  Synonyms are also looked at.

Some of my friends (and enemies) think that eternal Hell will be a wonderful place, with all their friends in an eternal pub.  Jesus taught that in Hell you are with the worst of creatures - serious enemies, it is burning down around you, can never be put out – and will never die-out.  You can never die, and you are deep in fireproof maggots, which are forever eating you.  It is a place of SILENCE, and possibly DARKNESS - no talking, no music, no communications with others. [The word Jesus used was based on the city refuse tip – Gehenna.] (Job 10:21-22; Psalm 115:17; Luke 16:19-31)  Sometimes, Hades and Sheol simply refer to "the Grave" - not always  place of torment, but covering both torment and Paradise.To say that Our Lord descended into Hell, simply means the Grave/Paradise, and not the eternal punishment of Gehenna. Our Saviour's suffering finished on the Cross, when He cried, “It is finished!”

 

THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE (Zondervan) - redacted, and elsewhere

HELL. The real existence of hell is irrefutably taught in Scripture, as both a place of the wicked dead and a condition of retribution for unredeemed man. It is plain that “to die in sin” is a dreadful thing (e.g., Ezekiel 3:18; NIV footnote, which is typically useful).

Sheol, which is in one sense the undifferentiated place of all the dead (cf. Job 3:13-22), is in another sense the special doom of the wicked (Psalm 49:14). It is necessary to follow the NIV footnotes in such references, for if King James Version (AV) was inaccurate in translating Sheol as “hell” (e.g., Psalm 9:17), NIV is equally inaccurate in formalizing it as “the grave.” Daniel (12:2) projects the matter as far as the OT will go, with its reference to “shame and everlasting contempt.”

[In] NT times, two words were used: Hades and Gehenna (see below).

            The nature of hell is indicated by the repeated reference to eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46), eternal fire (Matthew 18:8, Jude 7), everlasting chains (Jude 6), the pit of the Abyss – Bottomless Pit (RSV) (Revelation 9:2, 11), outer darkness, where one might think of the hugeness of outer space (Matthew 8:12), the wrath of God (Romans 2:5), second death (Revelation 21:8), eternal destruction from the face of God (2 Thessalonians 1:9), and eternal sin (Mark 3:29). While many of these terms are symbolic and descriptive, they connote real entities, about whose existence there can be no doubt.

            The duration is explicitly indicated in the NT. The word “eternal” AIONIOS is derived from the verb AION, signifying an “age” or “duration.” Scripture speaks of two aeons, or ages: the present age and the age to come (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Ephesians 1:21). The present age—this world—is always contrasted with the age to come as temporal, while the future age will be endless. As the everlasting life of the believer is to be endless, just so the retributive aspect of hell refers to the future infinite age. In every reference in which AIONIOS (applies to the future punishment of the wicked, it indisputably denotes endless duration (Matthew 18:8; 25:41, 46; Mark 3:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Hebrews 6:2; Jude 7).

            Hell is, therefore, both a condition of retribution and a place in which the retribution occurs. In both of these aspects the four basic ideas associated with the concept of hell are reflected: absence of righteousness, separation from God, punishment, and judgment.

            The absence of personal righteousness, with its correlative of the presence of personal unrighteousness, renders the individual unable to enter a right relationship with the holy God (Mark 3:29). The eternal state of the wicked, therefore, will involve a separation from the presence of God (John 3:36). The concepts of judgment, and punishment, are heightened by the note of finality in the warnings against sin (Matthew 8:12). It is a judgment, however, against man’s sinful nature—still unredeemed though Christ died—(Matthew 25:31-46) and is decisive and irreversible.

            When all else has been said about hell, however, there is still the inescapable fact taught by Scripture that it will be a retributive judgment on the spirit of man, the inner essence of his being. The severity of the judgment will be on the fixed character of a person’s essential nature—his soul, which will involve eternal loss in exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and fellowship with God.

Dr C. C. Ryrie, in his Study Bible, has this note for Genesis 37:35: SHEOL. Used 65 times in the OT. Sheol often means the grave where the body is placed at death (cf. Numbers 16:30, 33; Psalm 16:10).   It can also refer to the place of departed spirits, of both the righteous (as here – Genesis 37:35) and the wicked (cf. Proverbs 9:18).

 

SHEOL

 l;a-ov]  (Strong 7585) With only one word to use, the OT writers were dependent on context to show the precise meaning.

·          Neutral – the Place of the Dead, the Grave

·          Warning of possible Judgment

·          A dire warning

·          Total condemnation

^{Genesis 37:34} Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.” So his father wept for him. (Sheol)

^{Genesis 42:38} But Jacob said, “… you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow. (Sheol)

^{Numbers 16:30} But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” ³³ They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.  (Sheol)

^{Deuteronomy 32:21} They made me jealous by what is no god, and angered me with their worthless idols.

I will make them envious by those who are not a people;

I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

²² For a fire has been kindled by my wrath,

one that burns to the realm of death below.

It will devour the earth and its harvests

and set afire the foundations of the mountains. (Sheol)

^{1 Samuel 2:6} “The LORD brings death and makes alive;

he brings down to the grave and raises up.  (Sheol)

^{2 Samuel 22:5 King David wrote:} “The waves of death swirled about me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁶ The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

⁷ In my distress I called to the LORD?

I called out to my God.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came to his ears. (Sheol)

^{1  Kings 2:6 King David speaking to Solomon about Joab, and Shimei:} Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

^2:9 But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.”

^{Job 7:9} Job: As a cloud vanishes and is gone,

so he who goes down to the grave does not return.

^{Job 11:8} Zoab: They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?

They are deeper than the depths of the grave—what can you know?

^{Job 14:13} Job: “If only you would hide me in the grave

and conceal me till your anger has passed!

^17:13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,

if I spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴ if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’

^15b where then is my hope?

¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of death ?

Will we descend together into the dust?”

^21:13 They spend their years in prosperity

and go down to the grave in peace.

^24:19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,

so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.

^26:6 Death is naked before God;

Destruction lies uncovered.

PSALMS

^6:5 No one remembers you when he is dead.

Who praises you from the grave ?

^9:17 The wicked return to the grave,

all the nations that forget God.

^{16:9 Cf Acts 2:27} Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

^18:5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

^30:3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave;

you spared me from going down into the pit.

^31:17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and lie silent in the grave.

^49:14 Like sheep they are destined for the grave,

and death will feed on them.

The upright will rule over them in the morning;

their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

¹⁵ But God will redeem my life from the grave;

he will surely take me to himself.

^55:15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;

let them go down alive to the grave,

for evil finds lodging among them.

^86:13 For great is your love toward me;

you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

^88:3 For my soul is full of trouble

and my life draws near the grave.

^89:48 What man can live and not see death,

or save himself from the power of the grave ?

^115:17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD,

those who go down to silence;

^115:18 it is we who extol the LORD,

both now and forevermore.

^116:3 The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

^139:8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.           

^141:7   “As one plows and breaks up the earth,

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.’”

^139:8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

PROVERBS

^1:11 If they say, “Come along with us;

let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood,

let’s waylay some harmless soul;

¹² let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit …

¹⁵ my son, do not go along with them,

^5:3 … an adulteress …

⁵ Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

^7:27 Her house is a highway to the grave,

leading down to the chambers of death.

^9:18 But little do they know that the dead are there,

that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

^15:11 Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD—

^15:24 The path of life leads upward for the wise

to keep him from going down to the grave.

^23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;

if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴ Punish him with the rod

and save his soul from death.

^27:20 Death and Destruction are never satisfied, …

There are three things that are never satisfied,

four that never say, ‘Enough!’:

^30:16 the grave,…

^{Ecclesiastes 9:10} Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

^{Song of Songs 8:6} Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

^{Isaiah 5:14} Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite

and opens its mouth without limit;

into it will descend their nobles and masses

with all their brawlers and revelers.

^5:15 So man will be brought low

and mankind humbled,

the eyes of the arrogant humbled.

Isaiah 14, the Picture of Satan, his origin and future

⁹ The grave below is all astir

to meet you at your coming;

it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—

all those who were leaders in the world;

it makes them rise from their thrones—

all those who were kings over the nations.

¹⁰ They will all respond,

they will say to you,

“You also have become weak, as we are;

you have become like us.”

¹¹ All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,

along with the noise of your harps;

maggots are spread out beneath you

and worms cover you.

¹² How you have fallen from heaven,

O morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth,

you who once laid low the nations!

¹³ You said in your heart,

“I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne

above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

¹⁵ But you are brought down to the grave,

to the depths of the pit.

[Five times “I will”]

¹⁶ Those who see you stare at you,

they ponder your fate:

“Is this the man who shook the earth

and made kingdoms tremble,

¹⁷ the man who made the world a desert,

who overthrew its cities

and would not let his captives go home?”

¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in state,

each in his own tomb.

¹⁹ But you are cast out of your tomb

like a rejected branch;

you are covered with the slain,

with those pierced by the sword,

those who descend to the stones of the pit.

Like a corpse trampled underfoot,

²⁰ you will not join them in burial,

for you have destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

²¹ Prepare a place to slaughter his sons

for the sins of their forefathers;

they are not to rise to inherit the land

and cover the earth with their cities.

^{Isaiah 28:14} Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers

who rule this people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,

with the grave we have made an agreement.

When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,

it cannot touch us,

for we have made a lie our refuge

and falsehood our hiding place.”

¹⁸ Your covenant with death will be annulled;

your agreement with the grave will not stand.

When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,

you will be beaten down by it.

^{Isaiah 38:9} A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

¹⁰ I said, “In the prime of my life

must I go through the gates of death

and be robbed of the rest of my years?”

¹⁷ Surely it was for my benefit

that I suffered such anguish.

In your love you kept me

from the pit of destruction;

you have put all my sins

behind your back.

¹⁸ For the grave cannot praise you,

death cannot sing your praise;

those who go down to the pit

cannot hope for your faithfulness.

Spiritism - contacting the dead - is condemned!

^{Isaiah 57:9} You went to Molech with olive oil

and increased your perfumes.

You sent your ambassadors far away;

you descended to the grave itself!

^{Ezekiel 31:15} “ ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day it (Assyria) was brought down to the grave I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.¹⁶ I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the grave with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the trees that were well-watered, were consoled in the earth below. ¹⁷ Those who lived in its shade, its allies among the nations, had also gone down to the grave with it, joining those killed by the sword.

^{Ezekiel 32:21} From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.’

²² “Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword.

²³ Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.

²⁴ “Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

²⁵ A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

²⁶ “Meshech and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living.

²⁷ Do they not lie with the other uncircumcised warriors who have fallen, who went down to the grave with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads? The punishment for their sins rested on their bones, though the terror of these warriors had stalked through the land of the living.

²⁸ “You too, O Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

²⁹ “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

^{Hosea 13:14} “I will ransom them from the power of the grave;

I will redeem them from death.

Where, O death, are your plagues?

Where, O grave, is your destruction?

^{Amos 9:2} Though they dig down to the depths of the grave,

from there my hand will take them.

Though they climb up to the heavens,

from there I will bring them down.  Though they dig down to the depths of the grave,

from there my hand will take them.

^{Jonah 2:2} He said:

“In my distress I called to the LORD,

and he answered me.

From the depths of the grave I called for help,

and you listened to my cry.

^{Habakkuk 2:5} (a warning to the sinful) indeed, wine betrays him;

he is arrogant and never at rest.

Because he is as greedy as the grave

and like death is never satisfied,

he gathers to himself all the nations

and takes captive all the peoples. 

HADES (Gr.a{/dh")  [Strong 86] , not to be seen): the place or state of the dead, as contrasted with the final punishment of the wicked. In NEW TESTAMENT Greek, the word occurs ten times and is uniformly translated “hell” in KJV. In the TR, from which KJV was translated, the word occurs also in 1 Corinthians 15:55 and is rendered “grave”; but other manuscripts have the Greek - thanatos, and both ASV and NIV render it “death.” The NT word is taken over from Greek mythology, in which Hades was the god of the lower regions. Although the word was taken from pagan myths, the concept is from the OT word Sheol. Sheol occurs sixty-five times in the Hebrew OT and is rendered in KJV as “hell” thirty-one times, “the grave” thirty-one times, and “the pit” three times; but in ASV it is uniformly transliterated Sheol, even as Hades in the ASV is a transliteration rather than an attempt to translate the Greek. The word “hell” in English always has an unpleasant connotation and is properly thought of as the final destiny of the wicked when it translates geenna, which occurs twelve times and is always rendered “hell.”

                                                                      ***

The NT generally does not give definite light on Hades. In Matthew 11:23 (cf. Luke 10:15) our Lord says that Capernaum will go down into Hades. The preposition “down” points to the OT teaching about Sheol (Psalm 139:8; Amos 9:2), and the following verse (Matthew 11:24) puts the Day of Judgment for both Sodom and Capernaum later than the stay in Hades. 

In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) the rich man is pictured as being tormented in Hades, but concerned for his family, able to see in the distance - Lazarus who has been carried by angels to Abraham's care and comfort (Paradise). The Rich Man found no help in death, in agony he asks for a drop of water to cool his tongue, and for a message to be sent to his five brothers who are still alive on earth, and in each case his request is denied. There is no possibility of  transfer. This account, from our Lord, resolves the problem found by many in 1 Peter 3:18 ff and 4:6 ff – how could our Lord be in Paradise and communicate with the Lost in Torment? Abraham, and obviously the Christ could speak to the Lost from the glorious half or the Grave.

In the first Christian sermon, Peter quotes (Acts 2:25-31) from Psalm 16:8-11, proving from it that our Lord arose from the dead and was not left in Hades. In the Book of Revelation, death and Hades are four times associated (1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14), being treated as almost synonymous terms. In the last verse mentioned, death and Hades are to be cast into the lake of fire, i.e., doomed to utter torment. [THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE (Zondervan) - redacted]

                                                                     ***

^{Matthew 11:23, and Luke 10:15} And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths (Hades). If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.  ²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

^{Matthew 16:18} And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

^{Luke 10:15} And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths (Hades). ¹⁶ “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

^{Luke 16:23} In hell (Hades), where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. [Part of the "torment" was probably that he could see the blessed in "Paradise".  Jesus told the dying thief, on the cross, that he they would be together that day in "Paradise": a  joyful place following a death in righteousness.]

^{Acts 2:27} because you will not abandon me to the grave (Hades),

nor will you let your Holy One see decay. (Cf Psalm 16:9)

*  This could mean that our Lord was in the Grave - the place of the Dead, and not in a place necessarily of punishment. It was here that He was still preaching, to those of Noah's time.

REVELATION: DEATH AND HADES , TOGETHER

^1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

^6:8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

^20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.

^20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

GEHENNA (Gr. geenna, gevenna - Strong 1067) a transliteration of the Aramaic form of Heb. ge-ben-hinnom, valley of the son of Hinnom). In the OT it was referred to as the Valley of Ben Hinnom (NIV) or the valley of the son of Hinnom (KJV, RSV, and ASV). A valley SW of Jerusalem that formed part of the border between Judah and Benjamin

(Joshua 15:8; Then it [the border] ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem ). From there it climbed to the top of the hill west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.  cf. 18:16  The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim. It continued down the Hinnom Valley along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.),it was still recognized as the border after the Exile (Nehemiah 11:30  Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its settlements. So they were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom) and is modern Wadi er-Rababi. Here Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles ^28:1) was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. ² He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made cast idols for worshiping the Baals. ³ He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.) and Manasseh (2 Chronicles ^33:5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts.  ⁶ He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. ⁷ He took the carved image he had made and put it in God’s temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.

The people of Israel sacrificed their sons to Molech (Jeremiah 32:35  They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin).

For this reason Josiah defiled the place (2 Kings 23:10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech).

After referring to these idolatrous practices (Jeremiah 7:31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind),

Jeremiah prophesied a great slaughter of the people there and in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:1-13).

After the OT period, Jewish apocalyptic writers began to call the Valley of Hinnom the entrance to hell, later hell itself. In Jewish usage of the first century A.D., Gehenna referred to the intermediate state of the godless dead, but there is no trace of this sense in the NT. The NT distinguishes sharply between Hades, the intermediate, bodiless state, and Gehenna, the state of final punishment after the resurrection of the body. Gehenna existed before the judgment (Matthew 25:41). The word occurs twelve times in the NT, always translated “hell” (ASV, RSV margin “Gehenna”). Eleven times it is on the lips of Jesus: as the final punishment for calling one’s brother a fool (5:22); for adultery, when the severest measures have not been taken to prevent commission of this offense (5:29-30); in a warning about whom to fear (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5); and others (Matthew 18:9; Mark 9:43, 45, 47). A hypocrite is called a “son of hell” (Matthew 23:15) who cannot escape “being condemned to hell” (23:33). James 3:6 speaks of the “tongue” as “a fire...set on fire by hell.” A fire was kept burning in the Valley of Hinnom to consume the garbage deposited there by the residents of Jerusalem; maggots obviously would take their fill there as well. 

Terms parallel to Gehenna include “fiery furnace” (Matthew 13:42, 50), “fiery lake” (Revelation 19:20; 20:14-15), “lake of burning sulfur” (20:10), “eternal fire” (Jude 7); “hell” (2 Peter 2:4), where the Greek phrase “sent...to hell” means “cast down to Tartarus,” a Greek name for the place of punishment of the wicked dead. Its use by our Saviour Jesus Christ warns us of the destiny that even the love of God does not avert from those who finally refuse his forgiveness.

^{Matthew 5:22} But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell (Gehenna).

^5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell (Gehenna).

^5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell (Gehenna).

^10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).

^18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell (Gehenna).

^23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell (Gehenna) as you are.

^23:33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell (Gehenna)?

^{Mark 9:43} If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell (Gehenna), where the fire never goes out.

^9:45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell (Gehenna).

^9:47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell (Gehenna).

^{Luke 12:5} But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell (Gehenna). Yes, I tell you, fear him.

^{James 3:6} The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell (Gehenna).

TERMS OTHER THAN THE MAIN THREE

^{Genesis 2:17} but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

^{Exodus 32:33} The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.

^{Job 33:18} to preserve his soul from the pit,

his life from perishing by the sword. ²² His soul draws near to the pit,

and his life to the messengers of death. ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say,

‘Spare him from going down to the pit;

I have found a ransom for him’— ²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.’ ³⁰ to turn back his soul from the pit,

that the light of life may shine on him.

^{Job 38:17} Have the gates of death been shown to you?

Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ?

^{Psalm 28:1} To you I call, O LORD my Rock;

do not turn a deaf ear to me.

For if you remain silent,

I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.

^{Psalm 30:9} “What gain is there in my destruction,

in my going down into the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

^{Psalm 69:15} Do not let the floodwaters engulf me

or the depths swallow me up

or the pit close its mouth over me.

^{Psalm 88:4 ff} I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like a man without strength.  Also includes other synonyms: v 6 - the dead, vv 5 and 10, the grave - v 5, dark places - v 6, depths - v 6, Abaddon - v 11 (Job 31:12 some EVs) , the darkness - v 12, and land of forgetfulness - v 12.

^{Psalm 94:17} Unless the LORD had given me help,

I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.


[There is the suggestion that the destination of the lost is a place of total silence.]

^{Psalm 103:4} who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

Psalm 115:17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD, 

those who go down to silence;

^{Psalm 143:7} Answer me quickly, O LORD?

my spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me

or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

^{Ecclesiastes 12:5 d} 

Then man goes to his eternal home

^{Isaiah 30:33} Topheth has long been prepared;

it has been made ready for the king.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,

with an abundance of fire and wood;

the breath of the LORD,

like a stream of burning sulfur,

sets it ablaze.

^{Isaiah 33:14} The sinners in Zion are terrified;

trembling grips the godless:

“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?

Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”

^{Isaiah 38:17} Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.

In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction;

you have put all my sins behind your back.

^{Ezekiel 26:20} then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living.

^{Ezekiel 28:8} They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.

^{Ezekiel 31:14 ...}they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortal men, with those who go down to the pit. ¹⁶ I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the grave with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the trees that were well-watered, were consoled in the earth below.

^{Ezekiel 32:18} “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, with those who go down to the pit. ²³ Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword. ²⁴ “Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. ²⁵ A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain. ²⁹ “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit. ³⁰ “All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

^{Daniel 12:1 b} But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. ² Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

^{Jonah 2:6} To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you brought my life up from the pit,

O LORD my God.

^{Matthew 3:7} But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

^{Matthew 3:12} His (Jesus’s) winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  ^{Luke 3:17} His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

^{Matthew 7:13} “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

^{Matthew 8:11} I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom (faithless Israel) will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

^{Matthew 12:31} And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

³² Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

^{Matthew 13:30} Various Parables:  Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ” ⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴² They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁵⁰ and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

^{Matthew 18:8} If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

^{Matthew 22:12} ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. ¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

^{Matthew 25:30} And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

^{Matthew 25:41} “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

^{Matthew 25:46} “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

^{Mark 3:29} But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”  ³⁰ He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit

^{Luke 8:31} And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. ³² A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. (Cf. Note on Hades)

^{Luke 13:3} I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

^{Luke 13:28} “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

^{Luke 16:9} I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

^{John 3:16} “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

^{John 3:36} Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

^{John 5:24} “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

^{John 10:28a} I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish

^{Romans 2:5} But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶ God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” ⁷ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰ but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favoritism.

¹² All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. ¹⁴ (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, ¹⁵ since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

¹⁶ This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.



Romans 6:21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! [eternal doom, New Living Translation]

^{Romans 6:23} For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

^{1 Thessalonians 5:3} While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

^{2 Thessalonians 1:6} God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you

⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power

¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified ….

^{2 Thessalonians 2:10 and}  in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

^{Hebrews 6:2} therefore let us leave … instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

^{2 Peter 2:4} For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell (Tartarus), putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.

There needs to be a discussion here, linked with the curing of the Gergesene/Gardarene demonized man/two men.   Was the option of dying in a body, more acceptable – more merciful, briefly, to demons: better than wondering about without a body, or going straight to the Abyss (perhaps a term just as complex as “Hades”).   In The Revelation we see a picture of smoke coming from it – is it a punishing place of waiting prior to the Final Judgement?

^{Jude 6} And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.  ⁷ In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

REVELATION

^2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.

^9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.

^9:2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. ^9:11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

The RSV has “Bottomless Pit” for Abyss, and “Abaddon” in Psalm 88:11

“Is Thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or Thy faithfulness in Abaddon?” A place of darkness and forgetfulness (ESV).

^11:7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.

The Abyss/Abaddon/Bottomless Pit, appears to be a place that the evil ones can come out of, and return, at will – in other words, not the Eternal Punishment which is their ultimate state.

“If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,

^14:10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.”

17:8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.

^19:20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

^20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

^20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

^21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

STATISTICS

HEAVEN IN THE BIBLE

HEAVEN IN THE GOSPELS

(Created: 23)

Spiritual: 18

Synonyms: 22                Total: 40

HEAVEN AND SYNONYMS IN THE GOSPELS

(Created: 2)

Spiritual:  240

HEAVEN AND SYNONYMS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

(Created:  45)

Spiritual:  90

Total of spiritual Heavens in the whole Bible: 40+240+90= Total: 370

HELL IN THE BIBLE

HELL IN THE GOSPELS

Hades: 4 (2 as Punishment, 2 as the Grave)

Gehenna: 11

Synonyms: 29  (as Punishment) 

2+11+29                  Total (as Punishment): 42

Notice that Heaven and Hell in the Gospels, in the Teaching of the Lord, are near equal in number - linking with: ^{Luke 11:42} “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

HELL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Grave: 33

Punishment: 22

Synonyms

 Grave: 63

Punishment: 25                    Total (as Punishment): 47

HELL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: Extra to the Gospels

Hades: 8 – meaning the Grave

Gehenna: 1

Synonyms: 58                                    Total (as Punishment): 59

TOTALS

The Grave: 2+33+63+8= 106

Punishment: 42+47+59= 148     In the whole Bible (as Punishment): 148

At the moment I see Hades/Sheol (the Grave) as being a place of two areas: 1. the torment of the Lost: and 2. Paradise (Abraham’s bosom) of the Blessed.  This is the place our Lord went to at His death (with the repentant Thief on the cross. Our Lord did not suffer Hell - as some preachers say - His suffering was "finished" - as He said on the Cross), He also preached (1 Peter 3:18-20).  Jesus did not go to Gehenna.  Some of the Ancient Blessed would need to know the reason for their Blessedness – which Jesus would no doubt explain to them.  The most serious fearful fact is that we are made in the Image of God, and therefore ETERNAL BEINGS.

One of the most impressive pictures of the fear of Damnation is found in Christopher Marlowe's play, "Doctor Faustus": towards the end of the drama, at the instruction - Enter the Old Man (after Re-enter HELEN).

Hell and how to avoid it: 
"Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord (Jesus) shall be saved." 
Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13

This applies to this lifetime only.

Turn or burn.
Eternity in Hell is too big a price to pay!



*Some of the Blogs are rather long.   It is possible to go through EDIT, to SELECT ALL, EDIT again: COPY; and then create your own WORD/MY DOCUMENTS file, PASTE, and SAVE: so you can read the longer items at leisure.