Through previous posts we have stated that Satan would be in the Abyss during the 1,000 years of Christ’s Kingdom (Rv 20:2). He will not be roaming the earth during this time and not be able to influence anyone born during this time. One would think this would make everything wonderful without problems. Unfortunately, that is not true and not what Scripture tells us. One reason for this is it will show the human race we cannot blame our disobedience on Satan alone. Those born during this time will also have the propensity to sin, just as we do today. The difference is that Satan uses this propensity against us today. Although that will not happen during the time of Christ’s kingdom, it does not mean people will always be obedient.

Scripture tells us Christ will rule with an iron scepter (Ps 2:9; Rv 2:27). This means those who disobey or become rebellious will be dealt with swiftly and justly. There is no need for a judiciary system with a trial and jury. Christ knows all, including our thoughts, so he can administer justice swiftly. Scripture doesn’t state how he will do this, but it may be those deemed rebellious will be immediately teleported into his presence for immediate questioning and/or sentencing. It is likely those who rebel, at least openly, will be the exception to the rule as, I’m sure, most will be appreciative of the wonderful world Christ will have created. Yet, then, just as today, many will resent being under the rule of someone else.

Once Satan is released, it seems he can get an innumerable force to turn against Christ (Rv 20:7-8). This likely means many who were not openly, but inwardly, rebellious, will more easily fall prey to Satan’s deceit. This will likely take time. It could take months or even years for Satan to gain all his forces to come against Christ in Jerusalem, the ruling capital city (Rv 20:9). The time between the end of the Millennium, or Christ’s Kingdom, and the Eternal state, when sin and human propensity to sin will forever be removed (Rv 21:27), will not be immediate.

Scripture does tell us the result of the rebellion of those who follow Satan and Satan himself. As they come against Jerusalem with an innumerable force, God, the Most Holy One, will destroy all with fire which will fall from heaven and destroy them all (Rv 20:9). Satan will then be sentenced forever to the Lake of Fire (Rv 20:10). God will also judge everyone who has rebelled against Him over the history of the earth and they, too, will be sentenced to the Lake of Fire (Rv 20:11-15). This is known as the second resurrection. All those of this resurrection are judged and sentenced to the Lake of Fire because they were not recorded in the Book of Life (Rv 20:15).

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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.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens