I believe it is important that people know what they have been saved from and saved to.  The Bible is very clear that after death there is a second life and this life is forever. In Daniel 12:2-3 it says, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”

It is my personal opinion that a large percent of the church lacks understanding on the subject of Heaven and Hell. Most people want to know about Heaven because it sounds like a nice place to go.  When I ask people on the streets if they had the choice where they would want to go after death, they almost always say “Heaven”.   The world has a great understanding of Heaven through television programs, movies and novels.  However there is a great deception on what Hell is, where it is, and who goes there.  We must realize that Jesus spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven.  While Jesus walked this earth He taught two main things about Hell.

1. Hell is a place of darkness.

Matthew 22:13  “Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

This story tells of a man who came to a wedding without wearing appropriate wedding garments. This wedding is the marriage supper of the Lamb; which he came to on his own merit.  But to get into Heaven he needed to be wearing the correct attire which is the ‘garments of salvation’ and a ‘robe of righteousness’’ (Isaiah 61:10), which represent being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ.  Because the man in this parable was not a believer or a follower of Christ, the judgment was passed to have him removed from Heaven into Hell.

In this dialogue, Jesus refers to Hell as a place of outer darkness. Hell is a place where the sun never shines; a place where there is never light, only darkness.  There is a total absence of light.  The Bible says that God is light (1 John 1:5).  The reason there is a total absence of light in Hell is because there is a total absence of God in hell.  Hell is a place of utter and complete darkness.

2. Hell is a place of continual conscious torment.

Mark 9:48 “…where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”

I want you to notice the word ‘their’.  This is important. It’s not the worm or a worm, but the individual’s worm.  Some Bible scholars think this worm is not a physical worm but a description for a great suffering.  This figure is taken from Isaiah 66:24, where it says, "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me (God). For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."

Some other scholars believe that the worm is reference to indwelling demons for the lost. The Bible tells us that if you do not become born again you are subject to demonic power and those spirits will follow you into eternity. They are the spirits you feed with your sin. Those spirits you empowered, those spirits of lust, spirits of uncleanness, will follow you into hell and torment you in Hell.  The same sin you allowed to rule over your life will be assigned to rule over you in Hell.  Either way, Hell will not be pleasant and is it hard to describe the horrors that await those in Hell.

Luke 16:19-24 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.'

The flames of Hell constantly burn. The people in Hell feel the flames, feel the burning and yet their flesh is never completely consumed. There is no water, first aid, or burn ointment in Hell.  The rich man begged for a drop of water to cool his tongue.

But who goes to Hell? Who bares the wrath of God?

We are not going to Hell just because of the wrongs that we have done, but because we have inherited an impure soul.  The Bible teaches that God created us so that we can spend eternity with Him.  But when our forefather Adam disobeyed God, sin and the power of it, entered into his soul causing it to become impure and separated from God. All mankind has inherited this impure condition of the soul. The soul is that eternal part of us that lives on when we die physically.

The Bible says:

Revelation 1:8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”

1Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

The Bible is very clear on this matter. But this seems very much like bad news- and it is!

Most people (and even many Christians) don’t believe God would ever send anyone to Hell because the Bible says that God is loving and full of mercy. Besides doesn’t the Bible say that it is not God’s will that any perish?

It is important to understand that Hell is not a love issue, but an issue of justice.  Let me give you this simple illustration to help you understand.

I want you to think of someone that you love very much.  Let’s say that person is brutally murdered.  The police catch the murderer and the murderer pleads guilty in court.  But to your horror, the judge says, “This is a really bad thing that you have done.  But, because I am a loving judge I’m just going to let you off”.  You would be very angry.  Why?  Because you know that when someone has broken the law, they must be punished, otherwise there is no “justice”.[1]

Not only is God a God of love, mercy, goodness and peace, He is also a God of justice. It says in Deuteronomy 32:3-4, “For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!”The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

Hell is forever.  Once in there, there is no coming back.  Some sects like the Jehovah's Witnesses have promoted a view that you have a second chance once in Hell. This is wishful thinking. The Bible is very clear about this matter.  It says in Hebrews 9:27, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”  And some believe that once a person is in Hell they stop existing.  This is called Annihilationism.  Again, the Bible is clear on this matter.  Revelation 14:11 “And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." Revelations 20:15 “If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

There are four different names commonly used in the Bible to describe Hell.

1. Sheol. A Hebrew term simply describing “the grave”, “hell” or “death” and it occurs more than 60 times in the Old Testament.  The following verses give us a better understanding of what the Old Testament writers knew about Hell.

Job 7:9-10 "As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore."

Proverbs 30:16 “Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, "Enough."

Isaiah 5:14 “Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure,”

2. Hades.  A Greek term that usually refers to Hell – a place of torment, a place of future punishment for the wicked and a place of literally a darkness.  Jesus used this term four times in the Gospels.

Matthew 11:23, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”

Matthew 16:18(NIV) “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Luke 10:15 “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.”

Luke 16:23 “and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.”

3. Gehenna.  In the New Testament (King James Version) Gehenna occurs in Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. In all of these it designates the place of eternal punishment of the wicked, generally in connection with the final judgment. It is associated with fire as the source of torment.[2]

The Hebrew name Hinnom when translated into Greek is gehenna, from which the word and concept of hell originated. By the time of Jesus Christ, the deep, constantly-burning Valley of Hinnom was also known as the Valley of Gehenna, or Hell, and had taken on a popular image as the place "down there" where the wicked would eventually be cast into the flames for destruction. The Valley of Hinnom had a very horrendous history in ancient times. It was used as a place where the pagan worshipers did all sorts of vile and wicked things - including burning children alive as sacrifices to the idols Moloch and Baal. One section of the valley was called Tophet, or the "fire-stove," where the children were slaughtered (2 Kings 23:10). It was a place of tremendous evil for many years. After their return from the Babylonian exile, the Jews turned the Hinnom Valley into the city dump where garbage and anything deemed unclean (including the bodies of executed criminals) was incinerated. For that purpose, a fire was kept constantly burning there. Even though it was no longer used for evil worship, with all the filth and thick smoke it remained a very dark and dreary place.[3]

4. Lake of fire. A term used by the apostle John writer of “The Book of Revelation”.  This is known as the final or the second Judgment. There are five verses that mention the "lake of fire".

Revelation 19:20 “But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.”

Revelation 20:10 “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Revelation 20:14-15 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

So as you can see, Hell is not a place we wish for anyone to end up in.  Charles Spurgeon wrote this, “If sinners be damned at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. Let them go with our arms around their knees. Let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for."

[1] The Gospel Message – www.avantiministries.com

[2] http://www.biblicaltheology.org/gehenna.pdf

[3] http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/hinnom.htm

(c) Dennis McCaskill