Last time we talked about how Jesus forced the Jewish leaders into a final decision. Today, we’ll see how he did the same to Satan as well.

Satan had to decide if he was for Jesus’ death or not. He, just like the Jewish leaders, had to figure out Old Testament Scripture and how it related to Jesus. One of the reasons the Jewish leaders did not accept Jesus was because he did not fulfill everything the Scriptures stated about the coming Messiah. Also, they felt the Messiah, when he came, would be praising them for their faithful following of the Torah and all the Jewish laws they kept. This is something Jesus did not do, and they could not forgive him for that and even believed him to be insulting them. They considered Jesus’ correction insulting because they believed themselves to be the learned ones. Not some self-proclaimed rabbi from Nazareth. Satan had to contemplate the same.

Would Jesus’ death prevent him from setting up his kingdom? This is likely the question Satan had to ask himself. Therefore, Satan had a dilemma. Did he or did he not want to encourage Jesus’ demise? He first had to figure out how human Jesus really was. Hence, the temptation in the wilderness.

Satan knew Jesus wanted a kingdom but found Jesus was unwilling to compromise as to how he would achieve it. After all, he offered something most humans would jump at: a way to obtain the kingdom they desired without having to suffer for it. Yet, Satan, as did the Jewish leaders, did not understand the order of kingdoms Christ had to overcome. In order to establish an everlasting peace, Jesus first had to take back the spiritual kingdom Adam had lost; then he would set up the physical kingdom on the earth.

Jesus said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only,’” quoting from Dt 6:14: “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” Jesus was saying serval things here. He called Lucifer his adversary (which is what the word ‘Satan’ means), and he was saying that Lucifer should be worshipping him because he was higher than Lucifer in rank, so what Lucifer wanted was never going to happen. The Creator can never worship the created. Jesus was unlike other humans who Satan was able to tempt more successfully.

So, what kind of kingdom was Jesus wanting to set up? Because of Adam’s rebellion, he lost the theocratic kingdom he was to set up on the Earth. Lucifer, the Adversary (Satan), usurped Adam’s kingdom from him. So, the kingdom was set up under Satan and not under God. Can you deny that the kingdoms of this world are more Satanic than they are godly? So, first, Christ had to take back the control Satan had on mankind before he could set up an Earthly kingdom. Therefore, his death was necessary so people could transfer from Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom (Jn 3:18). Christ could not set up a physical kingdom until his followers were part of his kingdom. Neither the Jewish leaders nor Satan himself likely understood this at this time.

What actually constitutes a kingdom? Three things: a ruler, land, and subjects. Jesus as the Messiah would be the king of such a kingdom. Yet, Satan currently had rights to the land (the Earth). Satan owned the earth like we own our home. The mortgage company really owns our home, but we have legal rights to claim it as ours even though the ultimate ownership is not ours until all debt is paid. Also, at this time, Christ had no subjects except for angels and perhaps Enoch, Moses, and Elijah (each of these were likely in heaven and not Sheol [see Strange Verses of Hope]). So, before anything else, Jesus had to obtain his citizenry.

So, the question now becomes, how would Jesus obtain citizens for his kingdom? Those in Sheol were not yet his even though they had put their faith into his coming. Some say Satan did not own Sheol or even go there. Yet, Scripture states that Sheol is tied to the Earth. So, why were all those who died in Sheol? It was because of sin. Adam had sinned and it passed to all who came after him (Ro 5:12). In order for Jesus to get those who had trusted in his coming out of Sheol, he had to ransom them. He had to place their sins on himself (1Jn 2:2), take them to Sheol to show their ransom as paid then take those who trusted in his coming to heaven (Ps 68:18). Then, going forward, all those who trust in him will be with him when they die (2Co 5:8).

In other words, he conquered the power that death and Sheol had over those who believed in him, and he now holds the keys to both (Rv 1:18). His first coming was about obtaining the citizens for his kingdom. His second coming will be about obtaining the land, the Earth, for his kingdom by destroying the power Satan has over the Earth. Then, he will reign over the entire Earth and all will then be part of his kingdom, just as he had intended it to be from the beginning.

Satan wanted Jesus to fail at being the Messiah and worked through whomever he could. The demon possessed tried to announce Jesus as the Messiah (Mk 3:11; Lk 4:41) as that would get the people riled up about a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome. Jesus denied them from speaking such. Satan also convinced the Jewish leaders Jesus was not their Messiah and used their pride against them. He even tried to turn some of Jesus’ disciples against him. While he was unsuccessful with Peter, he was successful with Judas (Lk 22:3; Jn 13:27).

Satan didn’t know Jesus’ plan but had to figure it out just like the Jewish leaders had to do. He guessed wrong, just as they did. He likely felt Jesus’ death would be the ultimate way to make him unsuccessful as the Messiah. Satan was wrong, and like the Jewish leaders, focused on the physical rather than the spiritual. Christ’s death made the ultimate way for people to be transferred from Satan’s kingdom into Christ’s kingdom.

So many of us are quick to judge based upon limited data. Let’s be those who look more deeply and see the heart of Jesus and what Scripture really says about him. Then, you can see clearly that he is for you and has done everything possible for you to have a wonderful future. You just have to accept it. Why not today?

Next time, we’ll look at what occurred once Jesus got to the temple. I hope you join me.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Last time, we ended by asking if we really understood the sacrifice Christ made for us because of our sin problem. Today, let’s look at this more closely.

The apostle Paul tells us: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2Co 5:21, NIV). What does that really mean? It means our past, present, and future sin was placed on Christ. All sin ever committed by anyone. Now, that’s quite the burden, isn’t it?

This also raises several questions we need to ask ourselves and to address:

•            What happened to that sin which Christ bore for us?

I know Christ bore the sin for us on the cross and paid the consequence of sin, i.e., death. Yet what happened to the sin itself? Is sin tangible that it must be placed somewhere? Did it just dissipate, or did something have to be done with it? I sort of look at this like someone paying an innumerable number of traffic tickets for someone. They are free to now go and drive again, but the tickets still exist, even though paid, right? They must be thrown away, filed, burned, or something to that effect.

•            Where did Christ’s spirit go when his physical body was dead?

We know he did not go to heaven because he later told Mary Magdalene he had not yet ascended to his Father (Jn 20:17). It’s very likely his spirit did not stay in the tomb. That would be akin to soul sleep which the Bible does not seem to support as it alludes to both the righteous (Gn 37:35) as well as the wicked (Ps 9:17) going to Sheol.

•            How did those in Sheol get to Heaven so Paul could say that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord? (2Co 5:8)?

Somehow, the righteous in Sheol had to be removed from there and taken to heaven. The psalmist David seems to state this event would happen (Ps 68:18).

It would seem Jesus went to Sheol on our behalf. He had to pay the price that we were to receive. What was Sheol like?

There are three parts to Sheol:

1.           Tartarus: where angels who birthed the Nephilim were bound (2Pt 2:4)

2.           Unrighteous Sheol: Mankind without faith in coming Messiah (Lk 16:23)

3.         Righteous Sheol: Mankind with faith in coming Messiah (Abraham’s Bosom; Lk 16:22)

The Old Testament doesn’t give a clear distinction of these, but we know Christ told of an unrighteous and righteous side to Sheol (Lk 16:19-31). Since he made Sheol, then it makes sense he would know how it was arranged. Some say this was only a parable. It may have been. But just because the story may have been fictitious, it is likely the details of Sheol (called Hades in the New Testament) would not be fictitious as he knew how Sheol was arranged.

If sin separates us from God, then sin must have been placed in the unrighteous side of Sheol. Peter tells us about Tartarus in 2Pt 2:4, and in 1Pt 3:19-20 seems to indicate that Christ visited there to let them know that their plan to reshape humans into Satan’s image had failed and he has been victorious: Christ made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built (1Pt 3:19-20, NIV).

Paul seems to imply that Christ also entered the Unrighteous side of Sheol: Christ disarmed the powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Cl 2:15, NIV). Christ disarmed (took back) the dominion Satan had stolen from Adam by triumphing over them by his death on the cross and bringing all the sin to where it was to belong.

As stated earlier, the psalmist also implies that Christ visited the Righteous side of Sheol to take from Sheol those who were held captive there: When you ascended on high, you took many captives (Ps 68:18, NIV). Due to Satan’s dominion over them even though they had faith in their Messiah, they were also in Sheol. While a different part of Sheol, the Old Testament still alludes to this place as foreboding. Christ brought them to heaven after his resurrection when he ascended to his Father to enter into the heavenly Holy of Holies.

So, it seems Christ went to Sheol for three days. He proclaimed to those on the unrighteous side why their fate is sealed. He preached to those on the righteous side what he just did for them and gave them the gift of redemption. He then brought the righteous home to the third heaven. Because of the disarming by Christ to Satan and his kingdom, he can now bestow on those in his Church other gifts for building up his Bride and make her strong and effective.

Christ received back from Satan the power he had stollen from Adam. As we just read, Paul tells us this in Colossians chapter 2: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he had taken it aways, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Cl 2:13-15).

Christ was the only one who could have done this because only he had the power to give up his life and the power to raise himself from the dead: The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my live—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father (Jn 10:17, 18, NIV).

And in Revelation we see what was obtained from this disarming: I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Rv 1:18, NIV).

Christ told Peter that death would no longer have power over his bride, his Church (Mt 16:18). Death would no longer be a separator between him and those who believe in him. This is the reason the apostle Paul could say with certainty that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord for those who believe in him. Those who do not believe in him still go to Sheol until the second resurrection (Rv 20).

Isn’t it amazing what Christ saved us from having to experience? Our future will be a bright one! If you haven’t taken that step, it’s available. Just take it—talk to him. He’s waiting to hear your voice and develop a relationship with you. You will never be sorry you did.

Next time, let’s look at what else we gained from what Christ did for us on the cross. Hallelujah! His gifts to us are exceedingly great. Until next time. God bless.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

I thought we would summarize what we have gone over so far regarding hell before we move on to the more positive side of things.

We first saw several Biblical translations used the world “hell” for four main terms: Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus. Yet, these were not always translated consistently in this manner. The main drawback to this is that it hides some of the subtlety the original writers were trying to convey with these terms. We then explored these terms in more detail.

Sheol was the place described in the Old Testament as the place where all the dead resided. Yet, it seems there were three areas to Sheol: the place where the righteous went, the place where the wicked went, and the place which contained certain rebellious angels. The word “pit” was sometimes used for where the wicked resided. The term “Abyss” or “Tartarus” was used for where these rebellious angels were kept. From these terms, it seemed as if there were three layers with the highest layer being for the righteous (Sheol), the second layer being for the wicked (pit), and the third and deepest layer being for the rebellious angels (Tartarus).

Hades was synonymous to Sheol and was simply the Greek word used for the same place as the Hebrew word Sheol. We also learned that Sheol/Hades is a temporary place. At some point, everyone in Sheol/Hades will be brought out, judged, and then spend eternity somewhere else. Both the wicked and the rebellious angels will be taken from their intermediate abode, judged, and then be cast into Gehenna – also known as the Lake of Fire – a place of eternal punishment.

But what about the righteous in Sheol? When do they come out? Well, that will be in our next post. They were the first to be taken out of Sheol. For us today, that event occurred in our past. The event in the previous paragraph is still in our future. Understanding when the righteous left Sheol helps us understand the seeming discrepancy between the Old Testament and New Testament. The New Testament teaches to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That can’t happen if souls of the righteous today still go to Sheol. Where do they go? And when did that change? Well, come join us next week and find out. I’ll give you a teaser. Maybe paradise is more than you thought it to be.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Tartarus is a term only used once in scripture: “. . . God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to Tartarus, putting them into gloomy dungeons (chains of darkness) to be held for judgment” (2Pt 2:4).

As we stated in previous posts, many translators used the term “hell” here. While that does covey a since of punishment, it doesn’t distinguish this from the other terms that were also translated as “hell.” Since Peter here uses a term not used elsewhere, it would seem he is conveying a message different from any of the other terms that have been translated as hell (i.e., sheol, hades, gehenna). So, what is he trying to convey?

Before we answer that, perhaps we should try to understand this term better. While this is the only place it is mentioned in scripture, this is not the only place it is used in literature. Actually, for those fond of Greek mythology, it is not an unfamiliar term. I’ll try and be brief. In all honesty, Greek mythology gives me a headache trying to keep everything straight. Apparently, in the beginning, Gaea (goddess of the earth) and Uranus (god of the sky) produced twelve Titans. Two of those, Cronus and Rhea, then produced the Olympian gods. There was war between the Titans and the Olympians. The Olympians originally won and Zeus, the chief Olympian god, banished the Titans to Tartarus. Tartarus was an abyss that was described as being  far below Hades as Heaven was above the earth. It seems all was envisioned as a sphere with Heaven being the highest part of the sphere and Tartarus the lowest part with earth in the middle.

So, what does this have to do with what Peter is talking about? Did he believe in Greek mythology? I don’t think so. However, with every myth comes a grain of truth. The Titans, were, well, titans: giants by comparison to everyone else. Does that start to ring a bell? Where do we have giants in the Bible? If we turn back to Genesis, chapter six, we read of the “Nephilim.” These were believed to be giants and were produced by angels who came to the earth and mated with mortal women. While some believe that to be a tall tale, apparently Peter didn’t think so. These angels stepped outside of their designated place appointed by God, and God punished them and sent them to the Abyss. This is what Peter referred to as Tartarus. See the connection? Zeus sent the Titans to Tartarus, the Abyss, just as God did with these angels who caused the chaos on the early earth. Peter was saying that if God did not spare angels for their transgressions, should not the ungodly be worried?

You may have rolled your eyes there. Yet, it was not only Peter who believed this. Other demons believed as well. Recall when Jesus healed the man near the Galilee Sea region who was possessed by legions of demons? What did these demons plead to Jesus about? “And they [the demons] begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss” (Lk 8:31). They had rather go anywhere than to the Abyss. Pigs for them was even better. It seems it was a place no demon wanted to go.

What was Peter’s final conclusion about this? “If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment” (2Pt 2:9). So, unless we feel we are better than angels and have more authority, then Peter is saying we will also be held into account. Hmm, that should give us reason to pause. Thank goodness for a Savior. Wouldn’t you agree?

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Although several Biblical translations used the word “hell” for the term “Gehenna,” let’s see if we can understand why this particular term was used. The term is used 12 times in the New Testament. Each occurrence, but one, was used by Jesus himself. The other instance is found in the book of James.

We saw last time that Jesus used the term ‘Hades’ when he described the fate of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31). Because he also used the term ‘Hades’ in one place and ‘Gehenna’ in another, it is likely this was intentional. This gives us a clue that there is a difference between the two even if some translate both as ‘hell.’ So what message was he trying to get across?

First, we need to understand how this term came about. We need to go back to the book of Joshua to find its first occurrence. We find that the border between Judah and Benjamin was the Valley of Ben Hinnom (Js 15:8), just south of Jerusalem. We don’t really know anything about who Hinnom was or his son, but the term became renowned. This valley also became the place where child sacrifice was practiced by Kings Ahaz (2Ch 28:3) and Manasseh (2Ch 33:6). King Josiah desecrated the place to prevent sacrifices from reoccurring there (1Ki 23:10). Over time, this area became used as a refuse dump and a fire was continuously burning. The Hebrew word for ‘valley’ is ‘gei’ and the Hebrew term Ge-Hinnom when stated in Greek is Gehenna.

When Christ used the term Gehenna, he was admonishing people to avoid being cast into it at all costs and do whatever it would take to avoid it (Mt 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mk 9:43, 45, 47; Lk 12:5). It would seem he used people’s knowledge of the Gehenna of the day as a reference to what God would do at some point in the future.

This is not just a New Testament idea. The prophet Isaiah did present this concept (Is 66:22-14). The context of these verses is when the new heavens and new earth will be created. In Revelation 20, this same context talks about the Great White Throne judgment and those not found written in the Book of Life being cast into the Lake of Fire (Rv 20:11-15). From this, it would seem Gehenna and Lake of Fire are synonymous. Therefore, Christ’s warning about Gehenna is his warning about the final, and eternal, Lake of Fire. These verses also reveal that Hades and Gehenna are not the same as even Hades is cast into Gehenna (Rv 20:14). As stated in a previous post, Hades is an intermediate state. We see here that Gehenna is a final state (Mk 9:48; Is 66:24).

All these scriptures show the Bible has a cohesive message and, therefore, we should pay special attention as it has everlasting relevance for each individual.

In our next post, we will look at another term that many times gets translated as hell, but the term has a very distinct meaning.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

In the last two posts we learned that Sheol (Hebrew) and Hades (Greek) were names for the same place where the souls of the dead resided, were an intermediate state, and were where both the righteous and the wicked would go, but likely to different areas.

Now, we want to see if we can understand why this term was not always translated into English in the same way at each and every occurrence. In our first post, we found that hell and grave were the most common translations with a few also translated as pit, death, and depth. Why was this?

When one looks more closely, it would appear in most cases, the word “grave” was used when referring to the righteous and “hell” was used when referring to the wicked. The purpose here may have been to highlight that the righteous and wicked did not have the same fate. However, this now puts two different Hebrew words translated as “grave” in English. Hebrew has a different word for grave and never interchanged the meaning with Sheol. The grave was always a place in the physical world for the body and never implied a place for the soul. Therefore, clarity in one area created confusion in another.

The term “pit” almost always referred to the place of the wicked and typically implied the wicked were below those of the righteous. This denoted a place of inferiority and a separate and distinct place. This is different from the term “Abyss” which we will get to in a future post.

One of the other controversial spots in scripture has been the story Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31). Some claim this was a parable, and we shouldn’t take it as a true story, so the idea of torment in hell should not be taken too literally. Others claim this is the only place in the Bible which supports such a tenet, and we should therefore not link doctrine to this one area. There are others who claim it was true and, therefore, we must believe all aspects of the story. Who’s right?

We need to understand that even the parables Jesus gave were based upon fact with only the story itself being fiction. Places and events were literal and/or possible/believable. The same would be true here. Not all true stories Jesus told had named characters (e.g., Mk 10:17; Lk 14:1), so we shouldn’t quibble over whether it was or was not a parable. Both contained truth. We also saw in the last two posts that the Old Testament was not devoid of punishment of the wicked in Sheol, and did support different places within Sheol for the righteous compared to the wicked. Therefore, this story told by Jesus was supportive, and not against, other scripture.

In this story, Jesus used the Greek term ‘Hades’ which was the same as ‘Sheol’ in the Old Testament. Jesus was describing the same Sheol as the Jews of that day believed in at the time. In addition, Jesus was criticized for many things, but nowhere in scripture did the Jewish leaders of the day mention he had stated anything about the afterlife they did also not believe.

There were other terms mentioned in the New Testament translated as ‘hell.’ One, Gehenna, was one that Jesus himself mentioned many times. This term is totally different from the term ‘Hades’ he used in the passage above. Next time, we’ll investigate this term and see what it implies and why Jesus said so much about it.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

In the Old Testament, Sheol is noted as the place where all dead go: both the righteous and the wicked. Before we get deeper into the controversy of why translators did not always translate the world Sheol into the same English word, let’s first get an understanding of what the Old Testament stated about Sheol.

We first need to understand that while all the dead went to Sheol, not everyone went to the same place in Sheol. It seems there was a different place for the righteous versus that for the wicked. There are passages within scripture that mention at least three different sections within Sheol (Dt 32:22; Ps 30:3; Is 14:15; 2Pt 2:4) with the righteous occupying the upper part, the wicked the lower part (sometimes called the “pit”), and some angels occupying another, separate, section of Sheol. We will discuss this latter section in a separate post. In addition, the Talmud supports this belief as well (see ref).

What are some of the characteristics of Sheol? Many Old Testament passages tell what Sheol is not rather than what it actually is. Many passages contrast Sheol to life and hence the term “land of the living” in contrast to the land of the dead – the opposite of each other (Ps27:13; 52:5; 116:9; 142:5; Is 38:11; 53:8; and Ezekiel 26:20; 32:23-27; 32:32). Sheol is a place where activities of physical life are no longer possible: they do not marry, procreate, or carry on business transactions; they cannot attend public worship in the temple and give sacrifices or praise; they cannot eat or drink; they do not have any wisdom or knowledge about what is happening in the land of the living; they are cut off from the living; they have entered a new dimension of reality with its own kind of existence (Ps 6:5, 30:9, 88:10-12, 115:17; Ec 9:5, 10; Is 38:18). It is a place hidden to us and of a different dimension. Some scripture calls it a “shadowy place” or “place of darkness” (Jb 10:21-22; Ps 143:3) and a place of disembodied spirits (Jb 26:5; Ps 88:10; Pv 2:18, 9:18, 21:16; Is 14:9, 26:14, 19). Other scripture tells us Sheol is found “down”, “beneath the earth,” or in “the lower parts of the earth” (Jb 11:8; Is 44:23, 57:9; Ek 26:20; Am 9:2). Since the rebellion of Adam, Satan is the ruler of the earth (Mt 4:8-9) and of death (1Co 15:26). During Old Testament times even the righteous were not in God’s presence after death.

Yet, Sheol was also not a place of inactivity. Ps 115:17 states, “It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to silence.” Yet, this is not a verse that supports the idea of “soul sleep.” To a Jew, praise involved the temple in Jerusalem, especially in David’s case. There is no temple in Sheol and, therefore, no place to adequately praise God. David was making a statement of contrast between the live, physical world and the dead, spiritual world. We have contrast here – silence of praise, not silence in totality.

Princeton scholar Charles Hodge stated: “That the Jews believed in a conscious life after death is beyond dispute.” There are Biblical examples as well. Jacob expected to see his son Joseph in Sheol and interact with him (Gn 37:35). There are numerous other scriptures that support expectations of interacting with loved ones who had passed on before (Gn 15:15, 25:8, 35;29, 37:35, 49:33; Nu 29:24, 28, 31:2; Dt 32:50, 34:5; 2Sa 12:23). Those in Sheol can converse with each other and can make moral judgments on new arrivals (Is 14:9-20, 44:23; Ek 32:21).

Although there are not many Old Testament passages that directly state torment occurs in Sheol, Old Testament scripture is not exactly silent on this issue either. Some scriptures do allude to the fact that Sheol is a place of God’s continuing judgment. The wicked in the lowest part of Sheol experience the fire of God’s anger (Dt 32:22), experience distress (2Sa 22:6; Ps 18:6, 116:3, 118:5), and may writhe in pain (Jb 26:5). Although no other passages in the Old Testament directly speak of torment in the intermediate state, there are other passages that speak of “everlasting humiliation and contempt” which awaits the wicked after the resurrection (Is 66:24; Dn 12:2). Peter was clear in stating the unrighteous are in torment until their resurrection: . . . the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment (2Pt 2:9).

What about the righteous? While they were certainly not in torment, scripture does not paint it as a place of paradise either. They feared death (Ps 6, 18:4, 55:4, 116:3); yet, still had hope (Ps 73:23-25). They knew they were not abandoned (Jb 26:6) and were not out of God’s reach (Ps 139:8). They knew Sheol was not permanent for them (Ps 16:10, 49:14-15, 86:13). The ascension of Enoch (Gn 5:24) and Elijah (2Ki 2:11) to heaven indicated that the righteous would someday be taken into God’s presence.

So, we now know that Sheol was established as an intermediate state for everyone where activity was still occurring. The wicked and righteous were in separate areas and experienced Sheol differently. Likely the wicked were in a state of some type of torment while the righteous were in a state of peace, but not necessarily paradise. In our next post, let’s see how the translators used various English words to translate Sheol into our present Bible and what that implies.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens