THE REALITY OF HELL

"Hell" comes from the Greek word gehenna, occurring twelve times in the New Testament.  Each time it refers to a future place of punishment (Matt. 5:22,29,30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6).  "Gehenna" is derived from ghenna (the valley of Hinnom), located south of Jerusalem.  Here the abominable practice of offering children to the fire god Molech occurred (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; Jere. 7:31; 19:2-6).  We can see that "gehenna" suggested extreme horror and suffering, therefore being the word chosen by the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the eternal lake of fire.

A distinction should be made in our Bible study between "gehenna" and "hades".  Some versions of the Bible (cf. King James Version), fail to make this distinction, giving room for ideas that are not Bible based.  For example, the belief that Jesus' spirit went to "hell" (the lake of fire) after death (Acts 2:27,31), when in fact the word is "hades", the unseen world of departed spirits.  A textual study shows these words are not the same.

                                                    Some Facts

Hell will be eternal in duration.  "And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46).  The same word used to describe the eternal nature of heaven is used to reveal the eternal nature of hell!  Also, in Romans 16:26, the identical word describes the eternal nature of our God.

Hell will be a separation from God.  To the pure in heart who love God this idea in itself is horrifying enough and is sufficient motive to avoid it.  In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), we are taught that life is filled with opportunities to obey and serve God, but when life ends, so do the opportunities.  The "great gulf" described separates the righteous from the wicked and cannot be crossed.

Hell will be a place for punishment.  "...but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek" (Rom. 2:8-9).

Hell will be a place of darkness.  "And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 25:30).  Darkness represents all that is fearful and horrible.  In contrast, read the description of heaven in Revelation 21:23.

Finally, hell will be a place of unquenchable fire, "...where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:43-48).  It is the "lake of fire and brimstone" where all there will be "tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10).
Who Will Be There?

Those who find themselves in hell one day will not be in good company.  Those there are described as, "the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars" (Rev. 21:8).

Let's break it down further.  1) Some good, moral people will be there too (Acts 10:2,35; 11:14; 15:7-9).  Cornelius was a good, upstanding individual but he wasn't forgiven of his sins through the blood of Christ.  He would have fell in the "unbeliever" category above, if he had not obeyed the gospel.  2) Some religious people will be there (Matt. 7:21-23; 15:14).  One must be sure his religion is the one we read about in the Bible.

                                                                                 -  Dan Richardson