Degrees Of Pain In Hell?

 Biblegems #206

Question: Are there degrees of pain and suffering in Hell?

The sad reality is that hell is a condition of eternal suffering in a lake of fire designed for the devil and his demonic horde of fallen angels (Matt. 25:41).

While hell was not prepared for mankind, all humanity is born into Satan’s rebellion against God since Adam and Eve:

         Ps. 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Consequently, unless we are rescued from this predicament, we all face the same fate in hell as the devil and his angels. This will take place on the great Day of Judgment when all rebellious mankind will be judged “according to what they had done” in life (Rev. 20:13).

There, at the Great White Throne of God on the Day of Judgment, people will experience varying levels of judgment:

         Matt. 12:36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

        

Imagine you had been jailed for reckless driving resulting in a fatal car accident. Jail itself is terrifying enough as you encounter lifetime criminals also awaiting their day in court and the judgment they will receive.

Your day before the judge finally arrives and you are confronted with the charges against you. Your actions leading to the tragic car accident are replayed in front of a whole courtroom of strangers and the loved ones of the person who died. You are filled with remorse and anguish over the death caused by your reckless behavior, but you can do nothing to make things right again.

This is like the Day of Judgment where your sins and the judgment of “guilty” are announced throughout the universe. The public sentencing before the judge is greater for some than others because of the degrees of crime committed:

         Matt. 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

Nevertheless, all who are guilty face the same punisnment:

         Rom. 2:12  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.

 But at that moment of public judgment it is only your shame, your guilt and your fate that matters to you, even though others that same day will face far worse judgment for far worse sins.

God’s Day of Judgment confronts human beings with their sinfulness according to the level and understanding and responsibility they possessed while alive on the earth. Then, all that is sinful will be sent to hell, ridding the universe of sin’s contamination.

Hell is the eternal destination of all who die in their sins, having never accepted God’s offer of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ.

         John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Hell—Literal Or Figurative?

Biblegems #177

Question: Is hell literal or figurative? If it is literal, is it really eternal?

Our word “hell” comes from the New Testament Greek ge÷enna (pronounced “gehenna”). Jesus taught about hell as a very real place:

         Matt. 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.

To be “destroyed” in hell does not mean the person ceases to exist. “Destroyed” in the New Testament Greek means “ruined” or “lost.” God created human beings for eternal existence both physically and spiritually. “Death” is the temporary separation of the body from the soul caused by sin:

         Rom. 5:12  …sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men…

But eventually every human being will be physically and spiritually raised from death:

         John 5:28-29  Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.        

Hell is the final destination of those who die without having been rescued (saved) by Jesus Christ (Lk. 19:10). Jesus described this fearful place of physical as well as spiritual torment:

Matt. 5:30 …It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

         Mark 9:43 …It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.

Unfortunately, translators have sometimes supplied the word “hell” in our English Bibles inappropriately. When Peter writes about certain angels already in “hell” (2Pet. 2:4), he’s actually referring to a place called “Tartarus” (tartarw¿saß) where these angels are imprisoned until the Final Judgment.

The same is true of Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the rich man, where “hell” should be translated “hades” (Gk. aˆ‚dhØ), referring to the realm of the dead who are awaiting the Final Judgment (Lk. 16:23).

Hell was designed for Satan and the angels who rebelled with Him against God (Matt. 25:41). Nevertheless, through Adam and Eve humanity fell into that same rebellion. Sin has contaminated the human race ever since, locking all of us into both the contamination of sin and sinful behavior:

         Ps. 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

God—because He is just, holy and all-powerful—cannot abide sinfulness and rebellion in His creation forever. Evil will be purged one day at the Final Judgment, and all sin and unrepentant sinners rendered powerless in hell. As sinful human beings then, our condition is hopeless, except for the way out provided by God alone:

         John 11:25-26  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Did God create Hell?

Biblegems #36

Today’s question is, ‘Did God create hell?’

I suspect that behind the question is another question—“If God did create hell, why?”

Most English translations of the Bible loosely use the term “hell” to frequently translate the Hebrew word “Sheol” and the Greek words “Hades” and “Tartarus.” For example, in 2 Pet. 2:4 “Tartarus” (trans. “hell”) is not hell at all, but a holding area for rebellious angels awaiting the Day of Judgment and their final condemnation to hell. And in Luke 16:23, “Hades,” mis-translated “hell,” actually refers to the realm of the dead who are also awaiting the Day of Judgment. “Hades” is roughly equivalent to “Sheol,” the Old Testament Hebrew term for the realm of the dead.

Hell, according to Jesus, was prepared specifically as a final punishment for the devil and the angels with him who rebelled against God early in creation history. Unfortunately, as Jesus indicates in the following passage, there are many human beings who will also be cast into this eternal fire that was never designed for them: “Then he (Jesus) 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 (Matt. 25:41).

The Bible describes hell as a lake of burning sulfur, where the fire never goes out. The “beast” and the “false prophet” of the book of Revelation are thrown alive into this lake (Rev. 19:20), where they are joined a thousand years later by the devil. There they will all be “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (lit., “into the ages upon ages”)—a hyperbole for eternity.

Some claim that while the fires of hell may be eternal, those who enter there are annihilated, not imprisoned. In other words, the fire is eternal, but the torment is not. This, however, contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture: 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 (Rev. 20:10). Not only is the fire eternal, but the suffering is as well. The “second death” is not a synonym for ceasing to exist. The sad truth is that this is a place of unending torment (Rev. 19:20).

Hell is not only described as an eternally burning lake of fire, but is expressly referred to as “the second death” (Rev. 20:14). It earns this moniker because here death itself will be destroyed: Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15).

It is from this horrible end that Jesus came to rescue mankind. “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).