Hell Is a Serious Matter

In today’s society of upside down values hell is a word that is tossed around like so much confetti, and it has just as little meaning to us. But the word in any of its various meanings is deadly serious. In this space we want to set the record straight that hell in any form is nothing to disdain as though there were no such thing or that you were not going there.

The definition of “hell,” as we generally use it today, is directly the opposite of heaven. As we usually view heaven as the final abode of the righteous, so we see hell as the final dwelling of the wicked. But the word has a history of varied origins, vague percep­tions and ambig­uous implications.

The Israelites, before the coming of Christ, had no certain idea of what happened to the souls/spirits of the dead. The dispari­ty of views was emphasized by two of the major religious parties of Jesus’ day: 1) the Pharisees, who believed in an afterlife for both the righ­teous and wicked dead; and 2) the Sadducees, who con­tended that there was no life after death.

There are many references to hell in the Old and New Testa­ments, but the original word does not always mean hell as we define it today. There was then no sure perception of a place of re­ward for the good or a place of punishment for the wicked. Heze­kiah, who had been a good king, lamented like one who had been wicked when God told him that he would soon die. There is no hint in his attitude that God had some­thing good in mind for His followers. Hezekiah said:

“...I shall go to the gates of the grave [Sheol]; I am de­prived of the residue of my years...Like a crane or a swal­low, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.”!

This is scarcely the approach that the righteous take today when their death is imminent. Theirs is a sense of relief and a longing to return “home,” realizing that this world has never been a haven for those who live righteously. Christ has made all the dif­ference.

In some Old Testament scriptures the original Hebrew word used to refer to life beyond death is sheol, which corre­sponds to hades in the New Testament. The KJV translates the two words variously as “hades,” “ hell” or the “grave.”

The two words, sheol and hades, never refer to the final destiny of the wicked. Geenna (gehenna) is the ultimate home of the wicked dead and is synonymous with “the lake of fire” of Rev. 20:10, 14; 21:8 or hell as we perceive it today.

During the awful time Jesus was dead and in hell because the Father had abandoned Him, His human spirit, as is the case with all humans, was an immortal entity untouched by the death of the body. The human spirit imparts a certain definite touch of immortality to all men and women; it is the essence of them, that part of them that will never cease to be. It came from God at birth (or before) and it cannot ever cease to be. But that is not necessarily all good for the sinner. He will exist (not live) forever – only to suffer forever.

Be sure of this: Jesus was not caught by surprise; He well knew He would be plunged into hell by taking on the sins of the world and thus losing His tight bond with the Father. There was no coercion by the Father or any outside agent; it was as Jesus declared,

“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”  (Joh 10:17-18)

I'll not attempt to set a time frame for Jesus' stay in hell – time is an unheard of commodity in hell. To the uninvolved observer there may be a start and an ending to hell, but not to the one who is thus enwrapped by the torturous tentacles of hell. With Jesus, and with Him only, at a certain point there was indeed a cessation of His agony: the sin debt had been paid in full. But this will not be so with anyone else caught in that chamber of horrors. Once in, there is no way of escape - ever. The quotation is true,

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!” - Dante Alighieri

There are numerous pathways into Hell, but never an exit. Hell for you will be forevermore.

For the unregenerate sinner hell will start when grace (for him or her) finally dies, and, like the abundant life of the righteous, it will never cease to be. The unrelenting gnawing pain that is hell will have established squatter's rights within the sinner's own private space to all perpetuity. The everlasting life conferred on the righteous will have its terrible counterpart in this, the sinners’ exquisite anguish of everlasting DEATH.

“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”  (Rev 14:11)

God doesn't literally thunder from heaven, It's my way or the highway, sinner! but it is plainly interwoven in the tapestry of Scripture that God's will shall surely survive and all other wills shall be shattered into irretrievable pieces.

Quickly climb aboard the Divine Will; it’s the sinner’s (that means all of us who don’t belong to Christ) only means of survival.