Hell

Posted on Mar 16, 2011 by United Church of God Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

A silhouette of a man with smoke and flames around him. — What are some of the common ideas concerning hell today?

Introduction

We're told in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to "Prove all things…" This study guide is intended for those who wish to learn and prove the truth about the topic of hell.

What are some of the common ideas concerning hell today?

Where did these different ideas come from? The Bible?

The State of the Dead

Ecclesiastes 9:5-10 For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward,x for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. (10) there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Psalm 115:17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence.

Psalm 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave - who will give You thanks?

1. Describe the state of the dead. Are the dead conscious? Do they think? Of what are they aware?

2. What do the above scriptures reveal about the popular idea that the wicked who have died are conscious in the midst of a fire?

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

John 11:43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"

3. What do these verses teach us about where the dead are?

4. How do these verses answer the question about whether the dead live on somewhere after death?

5. Some believe the righteous are with Jesus immediately after they die, and that they see Him and converse with Him. Explain how these verses contradict such a belief.

Comment: Note that when Jesus resurrected Lazarus who had been dead for 3 days that He did not say "Come down" or "Come up," but speaking at where Lazarus was entombed, Jesus said "Come forth!"

Genesis 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him.

6. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary says this scripture is proof that this is describing a place of conscious existence after death. Do you agree? Why or why not?

When and How the Ungodly Are Punished

2 Peter 2:9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment

Matthew 25:31-46 " When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. (41) Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…' " (46) "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

1. When is the "day of judgment" (and the time of punishment) for the unjust?

2. What is the opposite of eternal life? Compare Matthew 25:46 and Romans 6:23.

3. What is the difference between "everlasting punishMENT" and "everlasting punishING"?

4. What is the punishment of the unjust? Read also Revelation 20:15 and comment.

Hell Fire

Jude 1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these … are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

1. If Sodom and Gomorrah suffered "the vengeance of eternal fire," why are they still not burning? If they are not still burning, what is meant by "eternal fire"?

2. Some believe that the wicked sent to hell will burn forever. How does this verse and Malachi 4:1 contradict this belief?

3. Popular belief is that a "soul" cannot perish in hell fire, but that it will undergo punishing forever. What do Matthew 10:28 and Ezekiel 18:20 say about the validity of that belief?

Four Words Translated "hell" in the Bible.

A. Sheol (Hebrew) It's used 65 times in the Old Testament and means "grave."

B. Hades (Greek) It's used 11 times in the New Testament, and like sheol means "grave."

Comment: The word "hell" itself is an old English word, and when the Authorized King James version of the Bible was being translated, it was common for people of the time to speak of "putting their potatoes in hell for the winter" to preserve them. At that time the word meant merely a hole in the ground which was covered up.

4. Explain what Jesus meant when He said in Matthew 16:18, "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

C. Tartaros (Greek) It occurs just once (in 2 Peter 2:4). It is defined thusly: darkness of the material universe, dark abyss, prison.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment

5. Who is in this "hell"? Does this verse say people are there with them?

D. Gehenna (Greek) It is used 12 times. The word is derived from the name of the narrow, rocky Valley of Hinnom located just outside of Jerusalem. It was where garbage and refuse was totally burned up.

Comment: Christ used this word in Matthew 10:28 to describe the fate of unrepentant sinners.