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

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?

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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.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens