HELL
Hell has been a source of terror for all who hear of it, a place of perpetual agony, torment and fire, the horrifying destination of sinners after death. Yet people ask, "How a merciful, loving God could sentence people to go to such an awful place?"
First, we need to find out why Hell was created, and go from there.
Jesus gave us the reason for the creation of Hell, when he spoke to the people concerning His return;
MATTHEW 25:31-46
31 “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.
32 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.
33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
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:
42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Note carefully Jesus' words in verse 41, in which He says that Hell was originally created for Satan and his angels, not for Man.
So this establishes why Hell was created. We often forget that God is indeed a loving God,
one who rewards good behavior, but He is also a God of judgment, a God who punishes sin,
wickedness and disobedience.
But if Hell was created for Satan and his angels, why isn't he there already?
God is a just God, and if He had sentenced Satan to Hell immediately, all of Adam's descendants would not have to make the same free will choice as Adam did, namely whom to serve as God. But God, being just and having given Man a free will, has allowed Satan to tempt us as he did with Adam, and we all must of our own free will choose whom to serve, God or Satan.
And you must serve one or the other. God and Satan are locked in a war to the finish, a war that Satan started when he rebelled against God before Man was created. And like any people caught in the midst of a war, you must choose which side you support. There is no neutral or middle ground. And the choice to serve God must be done as an active, intelligent decision. So if you choose not to serve God, you have already chosen to serve Satan.
As Jesus said;
MATTHEW 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
(Note: ‘mammon’ was an ancient word for money)
What if I choose to serve neither?
That is not an option. We all became sinners when Adam bowed to Satan in the Garden of Eden (Genesis, chapter 3), and we inherited his sinful nature which is why the world is as it is today. Adam sold all of us to Satan, making Satan our master. Therefore we can either remain slaves to a cruel, merciless master or we can choose to fight Satan through acceptance of God's free offer of salvation, and by making God our Master and Lord.
God's justice requires that sin be punished, and just as Satan's punishment for his sin of rebellion was to spend eternity in fire, the same sentence was passed on to Mankind for Adam's sin. Sin is sin in God's eyes, and there is one punishment for sin for all beings, be they Satan and his angels, or Man.
With his enticement of Adam and Adam's subsequent sin, Satan thought he had pulled off a masterstroke of ingenuity. He reasoned that if God simply forgave Man for Adam's sin he could demand that God forgive him too. And if God didn't forgive Man, all of mankind would be sentenced to eternal fire along with him.
But God in His infinite wisdom and mercy made a provision so that His justice for sin could still be served, yet Man could be saved from Satan's fate.
Because of Adam's sin, God decreed that all creation be sentenced to destruction through corruption and death. As Scripture records;
GENESIS 3:17-19
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
And with that curse, God's natural law began to break down. Animals became carnivorous; weeds and briers began to grow; pain, disease and death entered the world. Everything began to age and the world began to waste away.
It is interesting to note that a law of physics called the Law of Entropy states that the universe is running down, that everything is going from an original perfect state to a lesser, corrupt state. Given enough time, the universe would eventually become cold, dark, and lifeless.
In verse 19 above, God sentenced Man to death, decreeing that he would return to the dust from
which he had been created. And with that curse came the sentence of Hell for Man's spirit, the
same destination as Satan and his demons. (For more on the Garden of Eden and Adam's sin,
please see the in-depth study on the Fall of Man in this Web site devoted to this issue).
Is Hell a real place, or just an allegory?
Hell is a very real place, as the following examples show.
NUMBERS 16:1-35
1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;
2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.
3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
4 So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face;
5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom
He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.
6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;
7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;
10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?
11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!
13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us?
14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron.
17 Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.”
18 So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
22 Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”
23 So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”
25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.”
27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children.
28 And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.
29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the Earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”
31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,
32 and the Earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.
33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.
34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth
swallow us up also!”
35 And a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who
were offering incense.
Note in the reference above, Korah, Dathan, Abiram and all of their families went down alive into Hell (described as "the Pit"), showing that Hell was a very real place. Why did God also destroy their wives and children? The children would have inherited the sin of their fathers, and would have created further rebellion in Israel, accusing Moses and Aaron of the murders of their fathers even though the Lord had destroyed them.
Did the children go to Hell? God is a merciful God, and even though the children died before the Lord, I seriously doubt that they went to Hell for the sins of their fathers. I believe they went to the place of rest described further below for they in reality had no part in the sins of their fathers.
Children are innocent before the Lord, until the "age of accountability", where they can choose for themselves what is right and wrong. There is no set age for this as each child is different, but the Lord knows when this happens as He knows the hearts of all men.
The Jews have a "coming of age" ceremony, called the "Bar Mitzvah" (Son of the Commandment) for male children and "Bat Mitzvah" (Daughter of the Commandment). This occurs when the child reaches the age of 13, and signifies that the child has reached a level of maturity enabling them to understand the laws contained in the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses).
Hell in the Old Testament is often called "the Pit", as the following references show;
PSALMS 28:1
1 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I
become like those who go down to the pit.
PSALMS 30:1-9
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.
3 O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
6 Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
8 I cried out to You, O Lord; and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You?
Will it declare Your truth?
Note that David in verse 9 spoke of when he goes to the pit after death stating it as a certain thing. By these Scriptures, it seems as though Man goes to Hell even if he is righteous, which doesn't seem fair.
However Jesus told a fascinating story concerning Hell, saying;
LUKE 16:19-31
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And being in torments in Hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,
28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’
Several things to note here.
The rich man was in Hell. He could see, hear, feel, speak and apparently understood who
Abraham was even though he had never seen him before. He also recognized Lazarus, the beggar
who laid outside of his gates, begging for crumbs from the rich man's feasts.
There was also a huge abyss (gap) between where Abraham rested and where the rich man was being tormented in fire. This shows that "the Pit" and Hell were in the same location, but were separated from each other and once assigned to one place or the other, no one could cross between them.
Note also, angels apparently carried the spirit of a dead person to their final destination,
carrying the spirit of the dead person to one place or the other. Only angels can cross the
abyss fixed between Hell and "the pit".
So why didn't the righteous dead like Abraham go to Heaven after death? Because even though they were considered righteous in the eyes of God, their sins had not yet been paid for. They were not yet made perfect.
Everyone knows that it is impossible to keep all 613 laws of the Old Testament Law all of the days of your life as the Law required. For as Moses said;
DEUTERONOMY 27:26
26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ”
The Law curses anyone who does not follow all of its works as written. Therefore anyone who did not sacrifice to the Lord was cursed, everyone who did not stone any man or woman who took the name of the Lord in vain is cursed, etc.
Therefore there can be no salvation in the Law for God made it impossible for Man to keep all 613 commandments all the days of his life. This ensured that Man could never attain salvation and righteousness through his own works. The Law was created to show Man what was sin in the eyes of God, and to establish a righteous social order for Man to live by.
The animal sacrifices required by the Law were a reminder to the fathers that they could never attain righteousness through the Law. The sacrifices were a reminder that God, through His grace and mercy alone made a substitute upon which the sins could be placed which through death would satisfy His justice for sin. He allowed the use of animals for the covering of sin as animals have no sins of their own, thereby showing that a perfect sacrifice which could remove sin needed to be sinless in His sight.
But animal sacrifices were not sufficient to take away sin for even though the death of the animal satisfied His justice concerning sin, they could never remove the sins, they could only cover them, much as paint covers stains on a wall, but doesn't remove the stains. As king David stated in Psalms 32;
Psalms 32:1
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
The animals, while having no sins of their own were still under the curse of destruction set down by God after Adam's sin. Therefore the only perfect sacrifice acceptable in His sight would have to be truly sinless, not under the original curse put on all Creation.
Therefore, even though the fathers followed the Law they still weren't righteous enough to enter Heaven for even though they were considered righteous for their obedience to the Law, they were not yet perfect.
And the inability of the sacrifices to remove sin was shown by the fact that they had to be offered over and over again to cover offenses. A perfect sacrifice would only need to be offered once.
Therefore until the perfect sacrifice came, they would be assigned to "the pit", a place of
rest to await God's promised redemption.
Note carefully Abraham's words to the rich man when the rich man asked that Lazarus be sent to his five brethren to warn them of Hell. Abraham told him that if they refused to hear Moses and the prophets, neither would they listen to one who rose from the dead. This still holds true today. For even though Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies concerning the promised redemption of God and rose from the dead, far too few believe in Him or in the fact that He fulfilled the prophecies concerning Him.
And note especially that Jesus told the story as a fact, not as a parable.
Apparently the dead must have wondered about their promised redemption, as Scripture records;
1 PETER 4:6
6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
Jesus after His death preached the Gospel to the dead that both those in Hell and those at rest in "the Pit" would fully understand God's finished plan for salvation, and would understand why they were where they were.
And after His resurrection, those at rest in "the Pit" were made perfect, for their sins had been finally paid for and God's justice concerning sin had been fully satisfied. Therefore they were now worthy to enter Heaven, as recorded in;
EPHESIANS 4:7-10
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
Therefore when Jesus ascended back into Heaven to take His place at the right hand of the throne of His Father, He also took with Him those at rest in "the pit", for they were now made perfect. Therefore all who die in their sins go to Hell, and those who die in righteousness now go to Heaven.
But what about those who have never heard of God or His commandments?
Actually God has made a provision for this also, for as it states in the book of Romans;
ROMANS 2:11-16
11 For there is no partiality with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without Law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the Law will be judged by the law
13 (for not the hearers of the Law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the Law will be justified;
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, by nature do the things in the Law, these, although not having the Law, are a Law to themselves,
15 who show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
First, note carefully that Paul says in verse 11 that there is no favoritism with God. If you, Moses, Daniel, Noah and the apostle John stood before God, He would view each of you equally.
Therefore there will be no favoritism in the Judgment, but all will be judged by the same standards.
Paul also brings up an interesting point in verses 14-15, in which he refers to the fact that those who have never heard of God or His commandments, who try to follow what they instinctively know to be right in their hearts, fall into a special category. They will be judged by how well they tried to follow what they understood to be right in their hearts, and will be granted access or denied access to Heaven based on that provision.
Man received the instinctive knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil when Adam ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The reason God had not wanted him to eat of it, was because they were innocent, and therefore guiltless in His sight.
Adam and Eve had no desire or interest in eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil until Satan enticed and deceived them. They lost their innocence when that happened.
Remember, God created the Law to define what was sin in His sight, and once defined, Man was responsible for that knowledge. As Paul states;
ROMANS 5:12-13
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Paul is stating that sin was in the world before the Law was created, but Man cannot be held accountable for that which was not defined as sin in God's sight. However, until the Law, Man still had that instinctive knowledge of right and wrong imparted to him from Adam's act of disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately knew they had sinned when they ate of the forbidden fruit, even though no one had told them they had sinned, as their consciences condemned them.
Therefore we have no excuse before God, and all the world is sinful before Him. And we still have the same choice as Adam and Eve did, and all of mankind since then, namely the choice of who to follow as Master and Lord.
We can either continue in sin until death and spend time in Hell until we are judged and sentenced to the Lake of Fire for eternity or we can choose to follow God's commandments, accept the sacrifice of His Son, and spend eternity in Heaven in glory and peace. (Note that Hell and the Lake of Fire are two different places. At the judgement, Hell will give up the dead who are in it, and will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with those who have died in their sins for eternity). As Scripture records;
REVELATION 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the Earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.
So what purpose does Hell serve? Hell is a prison where the unrighteous dead are held until the Great Judgment, when they will be given their "day in court", and will have the chance to defend themselves before the Throne of God.
The fact that Hell is a prison is verified in;
ISAIAH 22:21-23
21 It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the Earth the kings of the Earth.
22 They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be visited.
Their being visited "after many days", refers to the great Judgment when the unrighteous dead will be judged and will be sentenced to the Lake of Fire to be tormented for eternity along with the Antichrist (called the Beast) and his assistant, the ‘False Prophet’ along with Satan and his angels.
REVELATION 20:10
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
BOTTOM LINE
Where you will spend eternity is up to you. After death, there is no further choice and your
eternal destination is determined. You can change your mind after death but that’s all you
can change.
God defined what was sin in His eyes by the creation of the Law, and ensured that no man could fulfill all 613 commandments of the Law and attain salvation by his own works. This is why those who died in obedience to the Law were assigned to "the Pit" instead of being allowed into Heaven as even though they were considered righteous, they were still sinners whose sins had not yet been paid for.
Animal sacrifices could satisfy God's justice for sins but their blood could only cover the sins, it could not remove them. Removal of the sins would require the blood of a perfect sacrifice, one which was not subject to the curse that God placed on Creation because of Adam's sin, a sacrifice perfected in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
By this fact, those who try to follow the Old Testament Law today are trying to follow a Law of works that cannot provide salvation, nor was it ever meant to provide salvation. It was designed to put men in obedience to God's commands until the perfect plan for salvation was accomplished. Their faith and obedience was counted as righteousness, but did not make them perfect. But when the perfect sacrifice came, the Law of sacrifices was finished, and there was no further need for animal sacrifices.
Therefore those who still try to attain salvation through the Law fall under Moses' curse, for no one can follow the Law without fail all of the days of their life. God designed it this way so that salvation could be attained from Him alone, and that by His grace in making His Son the perfect one-time sacrifice required for the redemption of mankind.
As the apostle Paul wrote;
ROMANS 11:32
32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
And as in the garden of Eden, just as Adam and Eve were held responsible for the knowledge they received by eating the forbidden fruit, even so will those of you who read this be held responsible before God for what is written here. What you do with this knowledge, only you can decide. And where you spend eternity, you alone can decide.
And as I tell others, don't take my word for fact. Please research the issue for yourself, and be satisfied in your own heart as to what is right.
Will you spend eternity in torment in the Lake of Fire with Satan and his angels, or in eternal peace and glory with God?
Choose carefully!
Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com