I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE TO BELIEVE IN HELL. While seeing the need for eternal justice, the thought of cruel and unusual punishment that lasts forever sounds morally wrong to me. Yet, the Bible describes God as a great King who creates a lake of everlasting fire for rebels who want no part of His kingdom. As a child, I thought of hell as being like the agony of falling into a real fire. More than fifty years later, I'm trying to believe no more and no less than what the Bible requires us to believe. I've thought a lot about the story Jesus told of a callous rich man who died and found himself in Hades. Even before the final judgment, the man was suffering in flame and torment (LUKE 16:19-31). Whether Jesus was speaking in a parable or not, I've found some solace in the fact that the man in the fire was able to carry on a conversation. He was not suffering in the way I imagined as a child. Admittedly, Jesus didn't tell the story to comfort us. He went on to describe how the man in the flame asked for a messenger to be sent back to the land of the living. He wanted his five brothers to be warned about this place of torment. But he was told, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (LUKE 16:31). The end of Jesus' story raises a question. What did Moses and the prophets say that amounted to fair warning? Hell in the Old Testament (The Books Written Prior to Christ s Birth) Moses describes the Lord of heaven as the judge of all the earth. Like the New Testament that follows, he even describes God as a consuming fire of judgment (DEUTERONOMY 4:24; 9:3; HEBREWS 12:29). Together with the rest of the prophets, he warns about the dangers of death and "the grave." Beyond such warnings, however, the Hebrew Scriptures say little if anything about suffering after death. Daniel gives the most information when he predicts, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt" (DANIEL 12:2). In a specific example of judgment, Isaiah uses the language of unquenchable fire to describe the fate of those who die on the battlefield at the end of the age. Speaking in apocalyptic language, the prophet says, "For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh" (ISAIAH 66:24). The revulsion Isaiah speaks of has a physical setting. It occurs as living people look on the dead bodies of those who have fallen under the judgment of God. A Jewish reader in Isaiah's day would probably not have seen anything in these words about conscious suffering after death. Page 1
Hell in the teachings of Jesus In some versions of the New Testament, "hell" is a translation of the Greek word Gehenna, a place known in Old Testament times as the Valley of Hinnom. Jesus uses a word picture of the garbage dump to the south of Jerusalem where the refuse of the city was burned. Jesus uses this real place of burning rubble to illustrate the fate of those who gain the world but lose their soul (MATTHEW 16:26). On several occasions Jesus speaks of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that will accompany final judgment (MATTHEW 13:42). Three times in Mark 9, He draws on the words of Isaiah when He describes the danger of "the fire that shall never be quenched where 'their worm does not die.'" If Jesus uses these words in the same way as Isaiah, He is warning about the horror of divine judgment without telling us for how long or to what degree such persons suffer. Hell in Revelation (The Last Book of the Bible Tells us what is coming) The language of "eternal conscious torment" comes most clearly from the last book of the New Testament. In a book that uses strong symbolic language to sound clear warnings of judgment, we read that all those who worship the beast (l4:ll), the beast himself, the false prophet, and the devil will all be cast into the lake of fire where "they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (20:10). Chapter 20 goes on to say that Death, Hades, and everyone not found written in the Book of Life also will be cast into the lake of fire (verses14-15). So how do we take these warnings to heart without losing our minds over lost loved ones? Our challenge is to believe as Abraham did, that "the Judge of all the earth [will] do right" (GENESIS 18:25). Such a God understands infinitely better than we do how to exercise justice that is consistent with His own character. Degrees of punishment Jesus repeatedly indicated that judgment will be more tolerable for some than for others (MATTHEW 10:15; 11:22, 24; LUKE 12:46-48). In addition, Revelation 20:15 does not explicitly say that everyone who is cast into the lake of fire will suffer in the same way as the devil and those who worship him (14:11; 20:10). Trying to read between the lines ignores the principle that "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children" (DEUTERONOMY 29:29). For what we cannot understand, those of us who bear heartache for lost loved ones need to trust the One who loves them far more than we do. He has told us as much as He wants us to know. The rest we need to leave in His hands. Page 2
Father in heaven, forgive us for saying more or less than You have revealed. Thank you for assuring us that You take no delight in the death of those who reject you (EZEKIEL 33:11). Help us to lovingly warn those who still have an opportunity to accept Your mercy. And when we are overwhelmed with concern, please help us to remember that everything You do in judgment is right, and necessary, and good. Bible verses referred to in the above article (New Century Version Bible) Luke 16:19-31 19 Jesus said, There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes and lived in luxury every day.20 And a very poor man named Lazarus, whose body was covered with sores, was laid at the rich man s gate.21 He wanted to eat only the small pieces of food that fell from the rich man s table. And the dogs would come and lick his sores.22 Later, Lazarus died, and the angels carried him to the arms of Abraham. The rich man died, too, and was buried.23 In the place of the dead, he was in much pain. The rich man saw Abraham far away with Lazarus at his side.24 He called, Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire! 25 But Abraham said, Child, remember when you were alive you had the good things in life, but bad things happened to Lazarus. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering.26 Besides, there is a big pit between you and us, so no one can cross over to you, and no one can leave there and come here. 27 The rich man said, Father, then please send Lazarus to my father s house.28 I have five brothers, and Lazarus could warn them so that they will not come to this place of pain. 29 But Abraham said, They have the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets; let them learn from them. 30 The rich man said, No, father Abraham! If someone goes to them from the dead, they would believe and change their hearts and lives. 31 But Abraham said to him, If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not listen to someone who comes back from the dead. (NCV) Deuteronomy 4:24; 9:3 4:24 The LORD your God is a jealous God, like a fire that burns things up. (NCV) 9:3 But today remember that the LORD your God goes in before you to destroy them like a fire that burns things up. He will defeat them ahead of you, and you will force them out and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD has said. (NCV) Hebrews 12:29 29 because our God is like a fire that burns things up. (NCV) Page 3
Daniel 12:2 2 Many people who have already died will live again. Some of them will wake up to have life forever, but some will wake up to find shame and disgrace forever. (NCV) Isaiah 66:24 24 They will go out and see the dead bodies of the people who sinned against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fires that burn them will never stop, and everyone will hate to see those bodies. (NCV) Matthew 13:42 42 The angels will throw them into the blazing furnace, where the people will cry and grind their teeth with pain. (NCV) Revelation 14:11 11 And the smoke from their burning pain will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest, day or night, for those who worship the beast and his idol or who get the mark of his name. (NCV) Revelation 20:10 10 And Satan, who tricked them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet. There they will be punished day and night forever and ever. (NCV) Revelation 20:14-15 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (NCV) Genesis 18:25 25 Surely you will not destroy the good people along with the evil ones; then they would be treated the same. You are the judge of all the earth. Won t you do what is right? (NCV) Page 4
Matthew 10:15; 11:22-24 10:15 I tell you the truth, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah than for the people of that town. (NCV) 11:22-24 22 But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the depths. If the miracles I did in you had happened in Sodom, its people would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today.24 But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for you. (NCV) Luke 12:46-48 46 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don t obey. 47 The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected. (NCV) Deuteronomy 29:29 29 There are some things the LORD our God has kept secret, but there are some things he has let us know. These things belong to us and our children forever so that we will do everything in these teachings. (NCV) Ezekiel 33:11 11 Say to them: The Lord GOD says: As surely as I live, I do not want any who are wicked to die. I want them to stop doing evil and live. Stop! Stop your wicked ways! You don t want to die, do you, people of Israel? (NCV) Words to Remember: Heaven or Hell is YOUR freely chosen path that will go on FOREVER. I pray that you choose wisely. You may die today. Page 5