We’ve gone through several blog posts on this topic. We now come to the end of this particular series. Here is a summary of what we have discussed.

•Sheol / Hades was originally for both righteous (those who accepted their coming Messiah by faith as the payment for their sins) and unrighteous; temporary; both face future resurrection at different times

•Sheol / Hades was divided into at least three sections

Upper Part: Righteous were in a place of comfort; after crucifixion, Christ went here for 3 days and was then resurrected to overcome death; he then took the occupants to heaven

•Lower Part – Pit: Wicked were in a place of punishment/torment; they remain there today

•Abyss: Certain angels were in a type of ‘prison’ known as Tartarus; currently still there

•Gehenna is equivalent to the Lake of Fire mentioned in Scripture; occurs after Great White Throne Judgment at the end of Christ’s Millennial Reign on earth and equates to our concept of “eternal hell”

•Paradise is anywhere Jesus Christ is in His glorified state

•Enoch, Moses & Elijah were the only ones taken to Heaven prior to Christ’s first coming and they served as hope and assured those looking forward to their Messiah’s coming they would one day be with Him

•Today the righteous go directly to heaven and are with Christ who has chosen to always be in glorified human form to identify with us for eternity

•Christians today will be resurrected at the Rapture or be changed to their glorified state and return with Christ at the end of the Tribulation Period

•Christ will reign on earth for 1000 years in a theocracy; the curse will be lifted; he will reign with righteousness and justice (i.e., an iron scepter); all creatures live in harmony, both those glorified and non-glorified will live together, those glorified will help Christ rule and administer His kingdom; those born will have free will; Israel will lead earth in worship of Christ; temple will be built to show what Christ did, to show what death is, and to atone for sin until those accept Christ through faith, and cleanse inanimate objects used in worship of a holy God

•Satan is released at the end of the Millennium; he uses human nature against mankind and gets many followers; they attack Jerusalem and are destroyed.

•The current heaven and atmosphere are destroyed by fire

•The unrighteous are resurrected and face the Great White Throne Judgment and are cast into the Lake of Fire (eternal hell)

•New Heaven and atmosphere are created; the New Jerusalem descends out of heaven to earth

•Those already glorified enter into eternity as glorified beings

•It is likely those humans in the Millennium will enter eternity as human and become the nations mentioned in Rv 21; they may be able to have children

•The propensity to sin is removed (perhaps like what Christ did for angels)

•Nations will bring God’s glory to him; likely meaning that science and life will continue similarly as we know it but credit for all discoveries will be given to Christ

•All our talents and gifts Christ has given us today will be used for his honor and glory

If this is the first of these posts you have read, I hope you will go back through each one to better understand each of the above bullets. I hope you can see that God cares for us and loves us. Although his love will continue forever, his longsuffering and mercy will not last forever. That is why he gives us so much warning and never gives up on us. He is coming. I trust you will be ready. He definitely wants you to be.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Let’s finish up our topic on contrasting heaven and hell with two final posts. We have spent several posts on understanding both hell and heaven. While there is a lot more that could be presented, I think we have covered some significant topics. I thought we would do some review via a question and answer session. See if you can answer the questions before reading the answers. Review the previous posts for the supportive scriptures.

1. The Bible is not consistent in stating what happens to someone when they die. Therefore, can we really know what happens after death?

A. There is a progression over history as to what happens to those who die

a. Prior to Christ’s death: All dead resided in Sheol

b. After Christ’s resurrection: Righteous in Heaven; Unrighteous remain in Sheol

2. What do we mean by “righteous”?

A. Those who accept Christ by faith

a. Prior to Christ’s first coming, those who accepted by faith that their coming Messiah would be the sin sacrifice for their sins and that would be their only merit to enter Heaven

b. After Christ’s first coming, those who accept by faith that Christ paid the penalty for their sin on the cross and only through Him do we have merit to enter Heaven

3. Doesn’t the Old Testament supports soul sleep? No one is conscious until they are resurrected, right?

A. Many scriptures contrast death to the living which can sometimes feel there is no consciousness there; yet, there are many scriptures that allude to being with loved ones, activity, and speaking that occurs in Sheol.

4. Isn’t it true that there is no torment or flames in Sheol? Doesn’t only the parable by Christ in New Testament state torment or flame?

A. There are passages in the Old Testament that do refer to flames and/or torment in Sheol for those who were labeled ‘wicked’

a. There is no torment mentioned for those labeled ‘righteous’

b. Yet, neither are there passages that consider Sheol to be a paradise for the righteous

5. If God is going to send people to an eternal hell, why wouldn’t there be more verses in the Bible that are clearer on this topic?

A. God expects people to understand the subtleties in scripture

a. It was a concept understood by Jewish society and therefore did not need emphasis

b. Only when one tries to justify their own will can the scriptures be ignored

6. Isn’t sending people to hell outside of God’s character of love?

A. We should not confuse ‘love’ with ‘longsuffering’

a. God loves everyone but mankind also has responsibility

b. Is love true love if only one-sided?

c. Can one hate God and not reverence Him and yet claim it is unjust to receive consequence?

d. You can rest on God’s love or His justice. God has never been ‘fair’ because it is not a Biblical concept.

7. What is the purpose of the Rapture?

A. God removes the Church so He can “remember” his covenant with Israel.

a. This is the prophetic significance of Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets)

b. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb cannot occur until the entire Church is with Him

c. Another concept of the Rapture would the The Receiving: that is, the receiving of the bride (the church) by Christ (the groom)

8. What is the purpose of the Tribulation? Why does this have to occur?

A. The main purpose is so God can work with Israel once again.

a. It is a final fulfillment of Dt 28 & 29

b. It is global because Jews and those of Israeli descent are worldwide today

c. This time fulfills scripture of how God will again bring Judah and Israel back together into one nation

d. This time forces Israel to do what his loving prodding could not: accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah before He returns to the earth.

e. God’s will still prevails even when Satan is supposedly in control

9. How do we know Christ’s Millennial Kingdom will be an actual physical kingdom?

A. Not only Revelation, but many passages in the Old Testament refer to this time and describe it as a physical kingdom.

a. This re-establishes the theocracy that was lost by Adam and proves why Christ is superior to Satan

b. This allows Israel to become the kingdom of priests to the world originally offered to them

c. This further tests humanity and proves that their rebellion has nothing to do with Satan

10. Why would Christ’s Millennial Kingdom need to come to an end if it is supposed to be so wonderful?

A. Christ’s earthly reign is not perfect. It is a theocracy containing sinful people.

a. Sin has to be removed in its entirety before a perfect kingdom can be established

b. Therefore, the earth and all those not responding to Christ must be removed

c. A sinless earth and heaven is created, populated by sinless people

d. However, it is likely there will still be humans without the propensity to sin present who will continue to “inherit the earth”; and maybe even the universe

I hope this helps you understand the Bible presents a cohesive message and not a hodgepodge of ideas to be interpreted any way one wishes. God has a plan and you are a part of it.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

There probably isn’t a more controversial topic in the Bible than the topic of hell. It seems everyone is okay with heaven being in the Bible but get really upset around the concept of hell. Some say hell is not even mentioned in the Bible, others say it’s there but is not a place of torment, while others say the term is just about one sleeping until that person is resurrected.

Although controversial, I thought we should look at this topic and try to keep an open mind. After all, if it is a true concept then we really need to know about it. If it isn’t true, then we certainly want to be sure of that also. So, why is it such a controversial topic? It seems one of the biggest controversies is nomenclature. Remember the Old Testament is predominantly written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. So, if one only looks at these original languages, the word hell is not there, as the word came from the translation of these original texts into English. In Hebrew, the term is Sheol; in Greek it is Hades.

To me, one of the first questions is, if we are concerned about the English translation not keeping the original word, why are we not upset that the Greek translation did not? Translators try to find words which people will understand or words that convey the original author’s intent. Hades seemed to be a good analogy for Sheol for a Greek society to understand. They’re not exactly the same in meaning but do convey the concept of an underworld where the dead would reside. Both are spiritual places and are therefore “hidden” from those alive. Some claim that is what the definition of Hades means, i.e., hidden. In that case, the word hell may have come from the word hel also meaning “to hide.” It is a term sometimes used to describe how potatoes are stored in an underground shed for the winter (to hell potatoes) or to cover a roof (to hell a roof). Hel was also the Norse god of the underworld just as Hades was the Roman god of the underworld. From this perspective, Hades and Hel have more in common than does Sheol and Hades. Yet, we know from New Testament scripture (Ac 2:27 compared to Ps 16:10) Hades was used interchangeably for Sheol.

The second question is, if Sheol and Hades were to be translated as Hell, why were these terms not always translated as Hell? Is there a terminology issue? There are other terms like Gehenna and Tartarus which were also translated as Hell. Why is that? Is that significant? There are also other terms used that seem similar but were not translated as hell, such as Lake of Fire and Abyss. Are they related? Then, there are terms used in place of Sheol and Hades that were not translated as hell, such as depth, grave, pit, and death. Why?

Is there a reason for these seemingly mistranslations? Was this a bias of the translators or were they trying to be helpful? Let’s see if we can tease this out and make some rational sense of it all. These are the questions I would like for us to explore over the next several posts. I hope you join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens