What is hell?
Collins Concise Dictionary defines hell as:
1. (a)
[Christianity] The place of or state of eternal punishment of the wicked after
death.
(b) Forces of evil residing there.
2. [In various religions and cultures] the
abode of the spirits of the dead.
The Old Testament uses two words to describe hell, Sheol and
Gehenna. Collins Concise Dictionary defines the words as:
Sheol
1. The abode
of the dead.
2. Hell
.
Gehenna
1. {Old
Testament] The valley below Jerusalem, where children were sacrificed, and
later unclean things were burnt
2. [New Testament]
Judaism.
A place where the wicked are punished after death.
3. A place or
state of pain and torment.
(From the Hebrew Ge Hinnom: The valley of Hinnom – a symbol of
hell.)
The Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel of Matthew gives us a
very clear indication of hell.
§ Matthew
10:28 “...fear Him who is
able to destroy both body and soul in hell.”
§ Matthew
13:42 “...the furnace of
fire...wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
§ Matthew
18:8 “...cast into the
everlasting fire.”
§ Matthew 18:9 “...to be cast into hell fire.” [the
hell of fire].
§ Matthew
23:3 “...the condemnation of hell...”
There are references to hell in the gospels of Mark and Luke.
For instance in Mark 9:43, “...to
go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched.” [unquenchable
fire].
Obviously, hell is the place of eternal punishment. This fact
gives us the basis of our quest for the origin of hell. Punishment is usually
the result of transgression and disobedience. This leads us to the question.
Who was hell first designated for?
In my last blog the Origin of Sin we established that
sin was in the universe before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.
The Lord Jesus Christ gives us the answer in Matthew 25:41,
“Then He will say to those on His left
hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil
and his angels’.” Hell was originally prepared for Satan and Satan’s
angels! God is in control of hell, not Satan or Satan's angels! When Satan is in hell he will be completely stripped of all power!
But be warned! Isaiah 5:14 tells us that, “...Sheol has enlarged itself and opened its
mouth beyond measure...” I always picture a snake dislocating its jaws in
order to swallow something much larger.
Are hell and the lake of fire really where you want to end
up? If your name is not found in the Book of Life; this is where you will spend
eternity. Why has God warned us about hell and the lake of fire? Because He
doesn’t want us to end up there!
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord...is not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.”
Acts 17:30, “Truly,
these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to
repent.”
John 3:16-18 tell us, (16) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, (17)
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. (18) He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
You know the origin and purpose of hell. Don’t end up there!
Jon Peasey
[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]
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