The idea of hell has brought terror to the hearts and minds of millions - what does the
Bible really teach about hell?
Is it an actual place where sinners will be punished forever?
The truth might be very different from what you've been taught.
Don't miss this one friends - stay tuned!
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Over the years, there has been many interesting teachings about hell.
The 14th-century Italian writer, Dante Alighieri wrote a poem called “Inferno”.
In this poem, Dante depicts himself going on a journey through several different layers
of hell, each one designed for different types of sinners.
In his writing, hell is not just a burning fire: but each layer has its own unique forms
of torture.
Then in 1741 the American theologian Jonathan Edwards preached the infamous hellfire sermon
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”.
And what a sermon it was!
If ever there was an “R” rated sermon, this was the one.
The speaker did his uttermost to portray hell in the most frightening and gruesome language
possible.
There are reports of people claiming to hear screaming in hell.
The story is told of some Russian scientists who drilled an 8.9-mile hole in Siberia.
They are said to have heard what sounded like millions of people screaming in agony.
However, this story was later proven to be a hoax.
People have also claimed to have seen hell in near death experiences.
But many ask - can a loving God inflict people with eternal torture?
What is the truth?
In this video, we will go right to the Bible to discover the truth about hell, and to test
some of the popular beliefs and questions on this topic.
Is hell burning right now?
Will it burn sinners forever?
And is the Devil and his demons in charge of hell?
Stay tuned friends, as we let the Bible address these questions, and other essential facts
about hell!
Fact 1: Hell fire Takes place at the end of the world
Revelation chapter 20 describes the final destruction of the devil and all those who
follow him.
Each one is judged according to their works.
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus tells a parable of wheat and tares that is referring to hellfire.
In the following explanation of the parable, He identifies exactly WHEN hellfire will take
place: “The enemy that sowed them is the devil;
the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of
this world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
This is hell fire.
It is not happening now; it is going to happen at the end of the world.
Fact 2: Sinners Will Not Live Forever in Hell When Satan tempted Eve in the garden, he told
a certain lie which he has been retelling ever since:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had
made.
And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of
the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You
shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’
” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan was telling Eve, that contrary to what God had said, those who are disobedient will
not die but be immortal like God.
This error has crept its way into Christianity.
Many believe that when a person dies, they really just continue to live - immediately
going to live in eternal bliss in Heaven or to an eternal state of misery and torture
in Hell.
But what does the Bible say about death?
“For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no
more reward, 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.”
So, according to the Bible, dead people are totally unconscious.
They are dead.
They can’t feel love or pain.
The Bible refers to death as a sleep.
Jesus Himself affirms this.
When speaking of Lazarus’ death, he said: “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that
I may wake him up.”
Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking
rest in sleep.
Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’”
Friends, Jesus is clear that death is a sleep.
When someone is asleep, they do not feel pain.
The Bible also tells us: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So the wages, or payment, for sin is death: an eternal sleep, not eternal torture.
Only God has immortality, and He will give this gift of eternal life to the righteous
at the second coming of Jesus.
The wicked receive eternal death.
The idea that sinners live forever is a lie of Satan which originated in the garden of
Eden.
But wait, you may be thinking, doesn’t the Bible talk about eternal punishment in fire?
This brings us to our next fact: Fact 3: Eternal fire means eternal destruction
Yes, the Bible does talk about eternal fire.
But it uses the word differently than we do today.
Speaking of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible says:
“…as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these,
having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth
as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
We know that Sodom and Gomorrah are NOT still burning today.
But the fire that consumes them is eternal in the sense that its RESULTS are eternal.
The fire burns until the fuel is gone and there is nothing left.
Jesus said something similar when He said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it
off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell,
into the fire that shall never be quenched— where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire
is not quenched.’”
Fire that never will be quenched is fire that is unquenchable or cannot be put out.
Compare with this verse: “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He
will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Notice that the chaff is burned up.
It does not keep on burning forever.
Unquenchable means that no one can put out the fire.
It will burn until nothing is left.
But what about the phase, “their worm does not die”?
This phrase is parallel with the phrase “fire shall not be quenched”: both mean the same
thing.
The agents of destruction will not be stopped.
They will continue their work of destruction until there is nothing left.
The word “hell” in this verse is the Greek word “Gehenna” which references the valley
of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where rubbish and dead animals were thrown.
The Bible notes that the worm does not die because these worms continued to feast on
the decomposing matter that was thrown in the pile.
Jesus uses Gehenna to metaphorically speak about the destruction of the wicked.
Just like the fire at Gehenna has gone out, so the fires of hell will go out when their
work is complete.
Nothing will survive the work of destruction.
It will be complete and total.
This leads us to our next fact.
Fact 4: Hell fire destroys the wicked completely.
There are some verses that SEEM to imply that the wicked will be punished forever.
For example, Revelation 14:10-11: “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night,
who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
This verse is good example of what happens if we take one verse on its own without comparing
it with the rest of the Bible.
On its own, this verse does seem to imply eternal torment.
But what else does the Bible say?
Ezekiel tell us, “the soul who sins shall die”.
This death is not the first death, because even the righteous die the first death.
This is referring to eternal death: not eternal life in the fire.
Malachi 4:1, 3 tell us: “For behold, the day is coming, Burning
like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will
leave them neither root nor branch.”
“You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,” Says the Lord of hosts.”
Here we see that at the final day of destruction the wicked will be “burned up”, nothing
is left, and they are “ashes” under the righteous’ feet.
Speaking to Satan, God, through the prophet Ezekiel, says,
“Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity
of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour
thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold
thee.”
Even the devil will be totally burned to ashes.
These verses clearly speak of a complete and total destruction of the wicked.
In fact, the hell the Bible describes is much hotter than what many Christians believe.
It is hot enough to completely destroy sinners, not torture them on medium heat for all of
eternity.
But how do we understand Revelation 14:10 & 11 when it speaks of smoke ascending forever
and ever?
Let’s compare this verse with similar verses that talk about the destruction of the wicked:
“For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully
for his place, But it shall be no more.”
“As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let
the wicked perish at the presence of God.”
After the fire has done it’s work, the wicked will be completely gone.
Like when something burns up and the smoke ascends up and dissipates into the air.
In the same way, the smoke of that inferno will disappear into God’s endless universe.
But you may say, “What about forever and ever?”
There’s more.
Fact 5: “Eternal” and “forever” don’t always mean never-ending.
When the prophet Jonah speaks about his experience in the whale’s belly he said,
“I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.”
But we know that Jonah was only in the belly of the whale for 3 day and 3 nights – not
for a never-ending time period.
Before Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord she said,
“…I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever.”
Then in verse 28 she said, “Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord;
as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.”
So forever can mean “as long as the person lives”.
It portrays a long time or a set amount of time.
When we compare Revelation 14:10 & 11 with the rest of the Bible, it’s meaning becomes
plain.
The wicked will be burned until completion.
Fact 6: Hell Was Not Made for People In the parable of the sheep and the goats,
speaking of the goats, Jesus said: “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.”
This unquenchable fire is prepared for the devil and his angels.
It’s not meant for you, my friend.
God offers you eternal life in paradise.
He will not burn sinners forever in fire.
This is not the God we serve.
God loves you with an immeasurable love.
He says, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have
no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
Turn, turn from your evil ways!
For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
Friends, the character of God is under attack by the enemy of souls.
He wants you to believe God is a cruel and unrelenting tyrant.
But Jesus came to reveal what God is really like.
Jesus spent His time on earth doing good and showing love to everyone, even His enemies.
That is the God we serve.
He’s calling to you today, friend.
Now is the time, don’t delay in choosing to follow Jesus.
Will you give your life fully to Him?
Will you forsake those sins that separate you from Him?
If this is your desire, just write in the comments below “I choose you, God of love.”
Praise the Lord for your decision, friend.
If you would like others to learn these powerful truths about God, please like this video,
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Stay close to Jesus, and remember – He’s coming soon!