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The History of the Ages – Lesson 70

Since, in the last lesson, we looked at the second resurrection and judgment of the wicked dead, I thought this would be a good time to do a lesson on hell. So, the following is simply a list of different facts the scriptures teach about hell. Sheol in the Old Testament and hades in the New Testament are the terms used for hell. It is where the soul and spirit of the wicked go upon death. The body of both righteous and wicked goes to the grave to await their resurrection. 

1. In John 8:51-53 Jesus has been engaged in a contentious, running conversation with the scribes and Pharisees in the temple court. In these verses He tells them those who follow His teaching will never experience death. Their response was that Abraham and the prophets all died, so He must be insane to make such a claim. The word translated “death” here is thanatos and in this context means, separation from God. As you go through this list, you will conclude that Jesus’ statement is entirely accurate and that hell is eternal life in torment, separated from God.
2. Jesus further tells us both the righteous and the wicked will be resurrected. The righteous will spend eternity with God in a new body. The wicked (resurrected 1,000 years later, as we saw in the last lesson) will spend eternity also in a new body, but separated from God in the torment of hell (John 5:28-29).  
3. Those who go there descend to it (Isaiah 5:14, Matthew 11:23). It is in the nether (lower) parts of the earth (Ezekiel 31:14).  
4. Those who go there do so quickly, “in a moment” (Job 21:13, Psalm 55:15).
5. A place now hidden from man, but in full view of God (Job 26:6, Psalm 139:8).
6. It is a place that receives men in great numbers like flocks of sheep (Psalm 49:14) and is never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20, Habakkuk 2:5).
7. It is a place where fire burns (Deuteronomy 32:22, Luke 16:24), a place of torment (Luke 16:23) and pain (Luke 16:24, Psalm 116:3).
8. Those who go there will recognize and speak to each other; therefore, it is a place of full consciousness, knowledge and memory (Isaiah 14:9-10, 15-16).
9. It is a place of sorrow (Psalm 116:3), and regret, where the word “worm” is used as an illustration of eternal hopelessness (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:47-48).
10. It is a place of bars and gates (Job 17:16, Isaiah 38:10). In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says the “gates of hell” will not prevail over His church. The gates of hell did prevail over those who died in the Old Testament, both the righteous and the wicked. They understood they would go to Sheol when they died (Jacob in Genesis 37:35, Hannah in I Samuel 2:6, Job in Job 14:13, David speaking of the wicked in Psalm 31:17). There were two compartments in Sheol, one for the wicked, the other (called Abraham’s bosom) for the righteous. Jesus talks about this in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The devil had authority to hold those who died until Jesus went to the cross and conquered death and hell (Hebrews 2:14-15). All the Old Testament saints were held captive in Sheol until Christ gained the victory and led them out (Ephesians 4:8-10). Now, believers go to the presence of God at the time of their death (II Corinthians 5:8).
11. There’s a passage in Isaiah 14:9-11 that is descriptive of the inhabitants of hell. First, they’re “moved” to greet those coming into hell, where “moved” is ragaz, to quiver in fear or tremble (verse 9). Then, the “dead” are stirred up to greet the newcomers (verse 9). “Dead” is translated from rephaim, translated, “giants” in other places (Deuteronomy 2:11, 20; 3:11, 13 for example). “Even” those who were important leaders and kings of nations are curious of who is entering hell (verse 9). And all of those described in verse 9 ask, “Have you become as helpless as we are? Have you become like us?” (Verse 10) They have taken their “pomp” (ga’own, self-importance, arrogance) to hell with them, along with their viols (musical instruments, illustrating debauchery). Then “worm” is used again to illustrate the never-ending remorse that continually tortures them, because they failed to do what was necessary to escape hell – the worm that never dies (verse 11).
12. Then, there is one more passage in Isaiah 66:22-24 that must be mentioned again. We’ve already come across this several times before, but it bears repeating. As you read these verses you will see two things all natural born people living on the eternal new earth will be required to do: gather to worship God on regular, designated Sabbaths; and look down into the lake of fire to see what happens to those who rebel against God. This is an eternal deterrent for both men and angels and the smoke from these viewing places will be continually visible (Revelation 14:9-11). Earlier in point 5, hell is hidden from man’s view, but not from God. On the eternal earth hell will be visible to all. There is one more point I should make that has not yet been mentioned. In Isaiah 66:24 it says, “and they (those in hell) shall be an abhorrence to all mankind.” “Abhorrence” is from dera’own and means, the object of aversion. In other words, those who are required to look down into hell will not want to and would like to avoid it, because the sight will be so horrible.