On Hell

It's been a long time since I last posted anything, but I really wanted to share some thoughts on Hell. Without doing a lengthy study on purgatory and what happens to the dead immediately after they die, I think it's interesting to consider notions of Hell. For this study, I've divided the sections up with headings, so hopefully it helps you with understanding what I'm trying to say.

We don't like to talk about Hell.
Hell usually is an uncomfortable idea for most people, because it usually leads them to start thinking about how unfair and unjust God is for sending all these people to damnation. After all, the Bible's description of this place for non-believers is highly controversial, and charged with a vindictive air of violence and barbarism. Lake of fire? Eternal torment? Weeping and gnashing of teeth?

Popular imagination and pictures of Hell
Alot of our contemporary understandings of Hell come from popular cultural sources. This is a fact. Whether it's Dante's Inferno, or the 18 levels of Hell from Chinese cultural sources, hell is often associated with a place of torment and intense physical pain and agony. Is this true? I'm suggesting that this is little more than our own imposition of non-Biblical ideas of hell on the text, and making God out to be this incredible tormentor of the human soul, an unkind tyrant who delights in the suffering of others. This of course, is untrue. God clearly states, "The Lord is...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)" INdicating that He doesn't want ANYONE to suffer. Nonetheless, hell is a reality for those who reject the free gift of God's grace through Jesus. But maybe our picture of Hell isn't an accurate one.

Hell as a place of spiritual suffering
The Bible teaches us that Hell is a place where souls end up. In the book, Case for Faith, under claim #6 (my source for this argument), the suggestion is made that hell is a place of spiritual suffering, marked by eternal separation from God, and this is the ultimate torment.

If you think about James 1:17a "Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights," our God is a God of delight and pleasure, from whom all of life's delights stream from. This doesn't mean that our GOd is a God who's concerned with all pleasures, moral and immoral, but John Piper, in his book "Desiring God" suggests that Christians should be Christian Hedonists because our God is the GOd of ultimate pleasure- Himself.

Logically speaking, if God is the embodiment of all truth, blessing, power, pleasure, glory, beauty and delight, then He is the greatest treasure of all. A life knowing then, that you missed out on that greatest pleasure/treasure for all eternity because you missed Jesus, is one marked by immense regret. For a person who plays the stock market, knowing that you sold your stock too early and missed out on the windfall, you feel an immense sense of loss and regret knowing what you missed out on. This is the same with God.

Remember also, that the Bible makes it clear that one day, the truth will come to light, and all heaven and hell, angels and demons and all of mankind will have to confess Jesus as Lord, because His authority and divinity will be made plain for allthe world to see. Until that day comes, we're kind of living in a state where we're dependent on faith. We know that Jesus is Lord, but by faith we make that claim. ON that day, when we've been sorted into hell-bound and those not, all willl know, and that day will be the day of the greatest spiritual suffering because you know you missed out. Your brokenness will be made plain, and the sense of regret will overwhelm and frustrate for all eternity. Is there any kind of worse suffering?

Conversely, I believe that heaven is only beautiful because of Jesus. Are the streets paved with gold? Is there gold in heaven? Where spirits and souls live, how can there by a physical item like gold? And why would it be precious? The gold, then, is a symbol for something else, something precious and valuable. Something like that precious relationship formed with Him, makes Heaven a place of endless delight and pleasure. In other words, heaven would only be heaven for those who love Him- the more you love Him, the greater your 'reward'. If you didn't love Him, heaven wouldn't be heaven for you. But because you know what you missed out on, hell becomes a place of eternal regret and spiritual torment.


Bible quotes on Hell (underlines and caps from website)
I was trying to do a little search on what the Bible says about hell, and where- and I came across this website so I'm using their quotations from Scripture. Here they are, with my interpretation to them in italics:

Matthew 25:41 (Jesus speaking to people at final judgment), ...Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Just as how gold doesn't exist in heaven, fire won't hurt a spiritual form. It just doesn't make sense. In the Case for Faith, the expert suggests that the impossibility of a "eternal fire" (since all combustion is depndent on oxygen and physical matter) is a metaphor for something else. Fire is associated with judgment, and GOd's righteous wrath against sin for the individual who isn't clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

Revelation 14:11, And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night...

(sorry I don't know how to get rid of the underline) "No rest day or night" is another way of saying eternal suffering, with no relief or vindication for suffering. THis plays into the idea of a eternal truth being revealed (i.e. Jesus is Lord!) and the sense of eternal regret goes on forever.

Revelation 20:12, 15, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life...And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

As Strobel's expert (I forget who,) suggests, the "lake" of "fire" is primarily, an oxymoron. A lake is a body of water, and fire is a source of physical combustion. It's clearly a metaphor for a large expanse, or plain of judgement- i.e. associated with fire and heat. To the unbeliever whose sin is not cleansed by Christ, the wrath of God is imminent.

Matthew 10:28, And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

This verse suggests that God has the power to destroy the physical and the spiritual. If GOd is omnipotent, He is surely able to do both. Physical destruction is easy- death and decomposition. Spiritual destruction is also synonymous with spiritual death and separation from God. THe Bible uses this phrase quite often to suggest someone who is cut off from the LIFE, hope and sustenance found in Jesus. Does this verse mean that in hell, a person is annihilated (wiped out of existence)? This is impossible, since elsewhere, the Bible suggests that the souls of man will last through eternity- both in spiritual life and death. They'll be around for a long time. Just in spiritual separation.

Luke 12:5, But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which AFTER he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

This verse demonstrates that hell is a place to be feared, even more than causing physical death. Yes, the spiritual consequences of a Christless eternity should be feared more than death itself.

Matthew 18:8, 9 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell's fire.

This verse tells us that self-mutilation and extreme measures are better than the consequence of going to hell. Nothing could be worse than hell, Jesus says! See other verses on fire as a metaphor for judgment (above). Literal fire probably doesn't exist on a spiritual level.

Matthew 25:46, And these shall go away into EVERLASTING punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

This verse teaches us about the eternal implications of our decisions. There is no end to pain of regret and missed opportunity. Not even time will heal these wounds.

II Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with EVERLASTING destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

This explains the notion of the naked sinner unable to withstand the holiness of God's presence. Those not clothed in the righteousness of the Lamb will suffer eternal destruction aka eternal separation from Jesus, the source of Life eternal.

Isaiah 66:24, And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be abhorring unto all flesh.

Mark 9:44 (speaking of hell), Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

The "worm" here could suggest the inner sense of regret and suffering that stems from that inner boring into the soul. The "fire" unquenchable could equally suggest a picture of God's wrath which will never be appeased.

Jude 7, Sodom and Gomorrha...are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Clearly, Sodom and Gomorrah are classic examples of God's wrath and judgment. Their time on earth was marked by physical punishment. But how much worse the spiritual judgment. Likewise, eternal fire or righteous judgment awaits those who don't know Christ.

Matthew 22:13, ...Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As suggested in the Case for Faith- weeping symbolizes sorrow and sadness, mourning for self. Gnashing of teeth is synonymous with intense regret and embitterment.

Matthew 13:41-42, The Son of man (Jesus) 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.

Fire-judgment. Weeping and gnashing of teeth (see above)

Revelation 21:8, But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

A very intensively descriptive verse. Nonetheless, appearing in Revelations, a book of prophecy and metaphorical language typical of prophecy books (like Daniel and Ezekiel). This verse suggests that hell is a place of punishment for the unbelieving, and the heat of the judgment- not physical heat, but the scathing pain and spiritual anguish implied. Furthermore, the text makes it clear- this is a second death. A separation that mirrors the first- this time, not just cut off from the land of the living, but cut off eternally from Life itself.

Psalm 9:17, The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

Yes, hell is a place for those who disregard God and His righteous standards. These then, are wicked in their stubbornness not to acknowledge Christ, and His atonement.

Isaiah 14:99-11, 15 (referring to Lucifer), Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee...all they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee...thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Again, the language of the "worm" a synonym for regret, remorse, and an internal eating away of the soul, a gnawing at the core of our hearts. Surely there are no worms in hell?

Daniel 12:2, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and EVERLASTING contempt.

This makes it very clear.

The following is a true story as told by the Lord Jesus in Luke 16:19-31:

19. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24. And 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 thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

26. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

28. For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

31. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

This verse talks about "a place of torment" and associates it with "fire" which can be cooled by a "drop of water". THis possibly suggests the repeated image of judgment and spiritual pain from God's righteous wrath and anger against the kind of relief that water represents. Life-giving sustenance, cooling and refreshing, and of course, associated with the idea of Jesus being the Water from which if you drink, you will never thirst again.

Conclusion

I don't know if you find the argument convincing, but I am persuaded that God is not an unfair God, neither is He a GOd who delights in our suffering. But let's not confuse OUR ideas of hell with what we think Hell really IS. Let's put our faith in Him, and not put Him on trial, even though He is our judge. But what a joy to have a righteous judge who rewards and punishes according to His perfect justice!