Hell & Heaven

On a day-to-day basis, most of us tend not to think about what might exist outside (dimensionally speaking) of our own domain.  Just as the people in 2-dimensional “Flatland” (see “extra dimensions”: C-6, P-I) could not comprehend fully things in any dimension higher than their own, we indeed are unable to move into dimensions above our own.  Yet the Bible clearly tells us that domains—specifically hell and heaven—outside of the ones we experience with our natural senses do, in fact, exist.  Within these two extra-dimensional domains exist the spirits and souls of those who have passed on, good and bad angels, other supernatural hosts, and God Himself.

This book, including this chapter, was written in the early-to-mid 1990s.  Since then, I have altered my views on some of the topics.  These modifications are reflected in my Bible commentaries (see the links below), all of which have been written since 2004.  As such I no longer am 100% convinced of the concept of eternal torment and punishment, and this is reflected in the old and new Creations section of my Creation commentary.

existence and purpose of hell

It seems that the only times most of us hear or think about “hell” is when it is used jokingly:  “I’d go to hell and back to get that”; “Sure as hell, the underdogs won”; “He’ll change his ways when hell freezes over”; or “That marriage has about a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving.”  But is there really a place called hell?  I am convinced there is; in fact, the Bible speaks more about hell than it does about heaven.  Hell is not simply a “bad state of consciousness in this life,” as “New Age” thinking suggests (see “infiltration of ‘New Age’ theology”: C-9, P-I).  Jesus implied that there is a place of “...eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).  Although most evil angels still have access to heaven (Job 1:6, 2:1), some angels, who sinned on earth before the Great Flood (see “sons of God; angels in chains”: C-8, P-I, S-2), now are in the “Tartarus” section of hell, awaiting their final judgment (1 Pet. 3:19,20a; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).

Thus, hell was created by God as a place to exclude, from His presence forever, those angels (including, eventually, Satan—Rev. 20:10) who have rebelled against Him.  However, it additionally will serve as the eternal abode of people who have refused the Father’s supreme Authority and Jesus’ personal blood sacrifice to avert the wrath of God from humanity.  Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those [people] who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the one [God] who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).  “Kill” and “destroy” here, I believe, do not imply a cessation of consciousness; rather, they mean a permanent removal of the Spirit of Life—that is, God’s Holy Spirit—and of the awareness of anything good.  Mere “existence,” without Life (see “Life”: C-6, P-IV), will be the result.

references to hell

“Sheol” usually is equivalent to “hades.”  “Sheol” in some cases refers to hell and in other cases to the grave.  “Hades” always refers to hell.  It seems to be a “compartment” of hell where the unsaved spirits and souls of those who have rejected the redemptive Plan of God in life are translated after death.  There they await the reunification with their resurrected bodies, the final Judgment, and the assignment to the “lake of fire” (see “lake of fire; fiery furnace” coming up in this section).  The grave merely is where the physical body lies, awaiting resurrection.

“Sheol” is translated “hell” in Deut. 32:22a, 2 Sam. 22:6a; Job 11:8b, 26:6b; Psalm 9:17a, 16:10a, 18:5a, 55:15b, 86:13b, 116:3a, 139:8b; Prov. 5:5b, 7:27, 9:18b, 15:11a,24, 23:14b, 27:20a; Isa. 5:14a, 14:9a,15a, 28:15a,18b, 57:9c; Ezek. 31:15a,16a,17, 32:21,27a; Hosea 13:14ad; Amos 9:2a; Jonah 2:2b; Hab. 2:5c.

“Hades” is translated “hell” in Matt. 11:23b, 16:18c; Luke 10:15b, 16:23; Acts 2:27a,31b; Rev. 1:18c, 6:8b, 20:13b,14a.

gehenna:  The Valley of Hinnom in Jerusalem (see “God’s Name on the City of Peace”: C-2, P-I) is referred to by the word, “gehenna.”  In this valley, fires were kept burning perpetually to destroy refuse, waste materials, and dead animals.  Smoke from the burning debris rose upward continually, day and night.  It came to be known as an appropriate earthly illustration or counterpart of eternal hell and punishment.

Accordingly, John described the fate of those worshiping the Antichrist and receiving his mark during the future 70th Week:  “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” (Rev. 14:11).  I believe this torment refers to the chaotic spiritual “burning” of the guilty spirit and soul which never will find peace outside of the presence of God (Isa. 57:20,21).  Jesus used “gehenna” to refer to hell eleven times, and James (a half-brother of Jesus) used it once.  “Gehenna” is translated “hell” in Matt. 5:22c,29b,30b, 10:28b, 18:9b, 23:15b,33c; Mark 9:43b,45b; Luke 12:5a; James 3:6b.

lake of fire; fiery furnace:  The “...fiery lake of burning sulphur...” (Rev. 19:20c), the ultimate and eternal “gehenna,” is described as the “second death” (20:14b).  It is hell to the extreme, for even “death” and “hades” are thrown into it (20:14a).

For a fire has been kindled by [God’s] wrath, one that burns to the realm of death [sheol or hell] below (Deut. 32:22a).

The “first death” is death of the body when its spirit and soul depart from it; the “second death” is death of the spirit and soul when the Life of God’s Holy Spirit leaves them.  The latter will occur to those who never have been reborn by the Holy Spirit into an eternal union with God, because they will have refused to accept the mercy and grace available only through His Plan of salvation (see “God’s Plan”: C-15, P-I).  They are those unwilling to love Him with the everlasting Love He desires and would have given in return (see “people’s purpose”: C-15, P-I).

John the Baptist, who prepared the people for the First Advent of Jesus, actually made a statement which will apply to a “harvest” to occur soon after Jesus physically returns:  “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12—see “wheat and weeds” later in this part).  Jesus Himself could not have been more succinct and to the point when He later said, “This is how it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (13:49,50).  But, just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were protected miraculously from the heat of an earthly fiery furnace because they refused to worship an idol of gold (Dan. 3:1-27), those who want to give all of their worship and allegiance only to God, forever, will be protected from the supernatural furnace of fire in hell.

Referring to Sodom and Gomorrah and their fiery devastation long ago (Gen. 19:24,27,28), Jude said, “They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7).  After the supernatural destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the “...dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace” (Gen. 19:28b), as seen by Abraham, was a foreshadowing of “gehenna” (described earlier in this section).  Peter also indicated that by condemning Sodom and Gomorrah and burning them to ashes, God “...made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (2 Pet. 2:6).  The fiery judgments during the Day of the Lord period (Rev. 8:5,7,8a,10a, 9:17b,18, 11:5a, 13:13, 16:8,9a, 17:16c, 18:8b) also will be examples or forewarnings of such.

Apparently, both sulfur and salt rained down with the fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah, causing the land to be completely sterile (Deut. 29:23).  Now, salt also preserves indefinitely something with which it is mixed.  Therefore, the “salty” fire of hell, while trapping the inhabitants within it and preventing them from ever being productive, will, at the same time, be “preserving” their spirits, souls, and bodies from being consumed by the fire.  This process will continue forever because Jesus said that, in hell, “...the fire is not quenched.  Everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:48b,49).

Referrences to the fire or burning of hell are in Deut. 32:22a; Isa. 66:24b; Dan. 7:11b; Matt. 3:12b, 5:22c, 7:19, 13:40,42a,50a, 18:8b,9b, 25:41; Mark 9:43b,45b,47b,48b,49; Luke 3:17b; John 15:6b; James 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7b,23a; Rev. 14:10b, 19:20c, 20:10a,14,15, 21:8a.

outer darkness:  Jesus told a parable of a king (God, the Father) who prepared a wedding banquet for his son (Jesus, the Son) and who sent his servants (the Jewish prophets) to tell those whom he had invited (the chosen Jewish people) to come; but they refused to come (Matt. 22:1-3).  So he sent more servants (prophets) saying that the banquet was ready and to please come (22:4).  They paid no attention and, instead, killed the servants (prophets, including Jesus); so the king (the Father) had them and their city (Jerusalem in 70 A.D.) destroyed (22:6,7).  Then the king (the Father, through Jesus) told his servants (the apostles) to invite anyone they could find to the banquet, whether good or bad (Jew or Gentile), which they did; and a multitude of wedding guests (saved people who will attend the wedding supper of the Lamb) filled the wedding hall (22:8-10).  At the banquet, though, the king (God) noticed someone there (an unsaved unbeliever) without wedding clothes (not having a glorified body); he was questioned (judged), found speechless (having no justification for his sins), and thrown into outer darkness (hell), “...where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (22:11-13).

Now, if hell is described as “fiery,” how can it also be dark?  Consider a black hole in outer space, at the center of which is a tiny celestial object which may be millions of times more massive than our sun.  Outwardly, it appears totally dark because the extreme gravity prevents any light from escaping.  Yet, inside, the fire must be so intense as to defy imagination.  I see the outer darkness of hell as being separate from the heavenly realm of brightness (see “the New Jerusalem”: P-II) outside of it.  It implies “spiritual darkness,” a state in which the lost spirit/soul entity will forever remain immersed in “fire,” permanently blind to God’s infinite truths and unaware of His great knowledge, because that person refused His saving Light.  The Holy Spirit’s Love and Peace will be withdrawn from the person, leaving him/her spiritually dead and mentally dark.  References to hell’s darkness (like a gloomy dungeon) are found in Matt. 8:12, 22:13, 25:30; 2 Pet. 2:4,17b; Jude 6,13b.

Abyss:  The shaft of the “Abyss” (or the “bottomless pit” or the “deep”) may be the entrance to certain chambers of hell.  The legion of demons, whom Jesus ordered out of a madman (Luke 8:27,29a), begged Jesus not to send them to the Abyss (8:31); they obviously knew it was an unpleasant place of torment (8:28).  Jesus may have descended into the “deep” (literally, “abyss”—Rom. 10:7), immediately after His crucifixion, to relate the Gospel message to the angels (1 Pet. 3:19; Jude 6) in Tartarus (2 Pet. 2:4—see “sons of God; angels in chains”: C-8, P-I), a prison where inhabitants await eventual judgment (Isa. 24:22).  At the beginning of the Millennium, an angel from heaven, with the key to the Abyss, will bind up Satan with a great chain and throw him into the Abyss, in which Satan will be sealed and locked for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1-3a).

When a fallen angel opens the shaft of the Abyss during the 70th Week and demon locusts (headed by Apollyon, the “Destroyer” angel) come out (see “Trumpet Judgments”: C-12, P-IV, S-1; and “interpretations”: C-12, P-IV, S-2), smoke will rise “...from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace” (Rev. 9:1-3).  Evidently, the Abyss is connected in some way to the “fiery furnace” of hell (Matt. 13:42a,50a), whose smoke of “...torment rises for ever and ever” (Rev. 14:11a).  This scene is reminiscent of “gehenna,” described earlier in this section.  An allusion and references to the “Abyss” are in Isa. 24:21,22; Luke 8:31; Rom. 10:7; Rev. 9:1b,2,11a, 11:7, 17:8a, 20:1,3a.

rejection of God’s Plan

Hell is where the spirits, souls, and resurrected bodies (Rev. 20:12a,13ab) of those who have rejected God’s ultimate Plan of salvation (see “God’s Plan”: C-15, P-I) will spend an eternity separate and apart from their Creator (Rev. 14:10b,11a, 20:15).  Apparently, these people are not capable of ever submitting to God’s Authority, because they find it impossible to love and to serve God forever—the major purposes for which He created people (see “people’s purpose”: C-15, P-I).

There are those who believe that, at some point after being banned from God’s presence, these people will “regret” not accepting God’s Plan of salvation after they die.  I tend to disagree.  Even though, after they die, they will be fully aware of God’s Plan of salvation, they still will choose not to accept it—throughout eternity.  The only thing they may regret is that there is no way to obtain peace of spirit, soul, and body other than through Jesus Christ, whom they never will accept as Savior and Lord.  It is similar to the situation of someone who is in the “rut” of an unhappy relationship, bad job, or any negative circumstance in which one would just as soon remain, as unpleasant as it is, rather than take steps to get out of it.  Those ultimately existing in hell, I believe, will not enjoy being there but will be “resigned” to their bleak existences, never choosing to humble themselves nor to accept the good and perfect Will of God.  Had they ever wanted to do so, they would have had ample opportunity to do so during their lives on earth (see “purpose of time”: C-15, P-I).

As for those individuals who, seemingly, never have had a chance to make a choice for or against God (for instance, aborted fetuses, stillborn babies, and those severely brain-damaged at birth or at a young age), I am confident that God, the perfect Judge, will decide fairly the destiny of such people.  It may be that God, who knows the infinite number of outcomes that would result for each of us when we are confronted with any decision, also knows the choice (for or against God) that each person would have made had he/she been given the life or the mental capacity to do so.  God’s ways and thoughts are immeasurably higher than ours (Isa. 55:9), and we cannot understand how He possibly could make decisions that we would see as impossible to make.

disbelief in eternal separation from God

rebuttal:  It is true that death (physical and spiritual) is the natural consequence of sin (Gen. 2:17, 3:19).  It also is true that those who experience physical death will have a bodily resurrection from the dead, though not all at the same time (Dan. 12:2; 1 Cor. 15:52b; Rev. 11:11ab,18c, 20:4bcd,12a,13ab).  And it is Jesus Christ who will raise every person’s body from death.  (Exceptions to the rule of bodily resurrection, I believe, are many people at the end of the 70th Week who will experience both the first and the second deaths at once—see the following section, “sheep and goat nations”).  However, the verse says no more than this.  In fact, though virtually everyone will die and be raised, all whose names are “...not found written in the book of life [will be] thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).  “The lake of fire is the second death” (20:14b).  Thus, not all, ultimately, will live with Christ.

But now [God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel (Col. 1:22,23a).

I feel that every person throughout history has been (and will be) given the opportunity to accept or to reject God’s wonderful Plan of salvation.  Each person has been given by God the ability to decide whether he/she would prefer to live in or out of God’s presence for eternity; and God has given us adequate time during our lives to make such a determination (see “purpose of time”: C-15, P-I).  (As stated before, for those presumably incapable of making a conscious decision, I do not question God’s ability to make perfect judgments of their eternal fate in these and in all cases.)  The bottom line is that I think it is most unwise to risk one’s eternal destiny on the chance that a few Bible verses might mean what one hopes they mean rather than what many other passages clearly indicate that they must mean.

sheep and goat nations

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ...

Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” ...

Then they will go away to eternal punishment... (Matt. 25:31-33,41,46a).

After His bodily return to earth at the end of the 70th Week (see “physical return of Jesus”: C-12, P-IV, S-1), and after He has neutralized the armies of all the nations coming against Jerusalem and against Himself (see “blood-stained garments”: C-12, P-IV, S-1; and “destruction of Antichrist and his armies”: C-12, P-IV, S-3), Jesus will judge all the mortal people still alive at that time, nation by nation.  This judgment, given solely to Jesus (John 5:22,27,30), is by Authority of the Father (see “Authority”: C-6, P-II).  The Father is the “Ancient of Days” who, at the same time in heaven, will be reviewing the books opened before Him (Dan. 7:9,10).  Presumably, these books contain the recorded acts of all those alive who have rejected God’s Plan of salvation and redemption.  One of the books will be the Book of Life; anyone not found in it will be separated from God.

Although these are the same books again opened at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:12bcd—see “conclusion of the Millennium”: C-13, P-III), this is not the same judgment; the two judgments are separated by 1,000 years.  I believe that during this first judgment at the end of the Day of the Lord segment of the 70th Week, all the unsaved living will be separated from the saved living and translated alive into the eternal fiery lake, just as the resurrected unsaved dead will be at the end of the Millennium (20:15).  The former group will experience the first death and the second death at the same time.  Just as a believer alive at the Rapture will receive a brand new spirit, soul, and body at once, it seems plausible to consider that someone alive who has not accepted Jesus by the end of the Day of the Lord will be thrown spirit, soul, and body into the lake of fire.  The Antichrist and the False Prophet are two of the people for which this fate is determined (19:20ac); but I do not feel they will be the only two.

wheat and weeds

In a parallel parable (Matt. 13:24-30,36-43), Jesus explained how the kingdom of God is like a field (the world), the good seeds (wheat) are those who follow God (and have accepted His Plan of redemption), and the bad seeds (weeds) are those who, knowingly or unknowingly, follow Satan (and have rejected God’s Plan).  Following Jesus’ physical return to earth, the angels who have come with Him will “harvest” the crop; they “...will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil” (13:41b).  Presumably, this is how the people of the nations will be separated (see the previous section, “sheep and goat nations”).

After Jesus’ judgment upon the unsaved has been pronounced, the angels “...will throw them into the fiery furnace [hell], where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:42).  To me, the idea of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12, 13:42,50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28) implies an overwhelming sense of anger mixed with frustration and hopelessness.  Sometimes we shed tears and/or grind our teeth together when the emotions of our soul are stressed to the breaking point or even shattered.  The soul and body in hell will experience this, only it will be constant and relentless.

the rich man and the beggar

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.  The rich man also died and was buried.  In hell [hades], where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”

But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:22-26).

...I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:23,24).

The fact is that “money”—and just about anything else—can be a “god” which is acknowledged or “served” rather than the True God (thus breaking the first and second commandments—Exo. 20:3-5a).  If one is not devoted to the True God, one will not accept his Plan of salvation and will remain apart from Him in hell after death.  The temporary pleasures of the luxuries in this world have drawn countless people away from God and from His eternal, infinitely greater pleasures.  We have the choice to unwisely focus now on the former or to wisely look forward to the latter.

destruction vs. punishment

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power... (2 Ths. 1:8,9).

It is reasonable to argue that it is wrong to destroy the type of intrinsic value humans have.  If God is the source and preserver of values, and if persons have the high degree of intrinsic value Christianity claims they have, then God is the preserver of persons.  He would be wrong to destroy something of such value just because it has chosen a life it was not intended to live.  Thus, one way God can respect persons is to sustain them in existence and not annihilate them.  Annihilation destroys creatures of intrinsic value. ⁽¹⁾

reasons for going to hell

The people who will find themselves in hell are those who have chosen, in their lives, not to concede to the existence of God, or else who have acknowledged God but have refused to accept Him as Lord as well as to receive His grace, the only means of salvation from hell (Rom. 10:9; Eph. 2:8).  In the latter case, either their pride has not allowed them to ask for this gift of grace from God (through Jesus), even though they may recognize their own unrighteousness and shortcomings; or their pride has prevented them from admitting that they need God’s grace to be saved from hell in the first place, believing that they have not done anything so “bad” as to deserve hell.

Caught up in their own self-righteousness, people in the latter group view their sins merely as “weaknesses” or “mistakes” not meriting any penalty or punishment.  God has said, “[Y]ou say, ‘I am innocent; [God] is not angry with me.’  But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned’” (Jer. 2:35).  The truth is, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” (Eccl. 7:20).  The self-righteousness of these people will be “stripped away” at the final Judgment (Rev. 20:11,12), their true selves will be laid bare, and they will be “speechless” because there will be no argument to justify their guilt.

Anyone who ends up in hell will have chosen to be judged by God’s eternal Word (John 12:48) and Law (Rom. 2:12b) rather than to allow the penalty for disobedience to be waved by accepting the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for one’s sins (3:24-26).  Laws were provided to show us, when we realize that we have broken them, that we are imperfect and, therefore, that we all are sinners.  Paul said that “...no one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (3:20).  Anyone trying to gain God’s favor by obeying the law does not understand the primary purpose God created laws: to make us realize that we cannot keep them all and, therefore, that we all fall short of the perfect expectations of God.  In God’s sight, we are “...not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16a).

Paul also wrote,

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law” [Deut. 27:26a].  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith” [Hab. 2:4c] (Gal. 3:10,11).

We don’t like to think that good people deserve to go to hell.  But our good impression of decent law-abiding neighbors is not a real reflection of the truth.  We think naturally in very man-centered ways rather than in the God-centered measurement described in Romans 3[:10-18].  Man wasn’t made to be a decent public servant.  He was made to glorify his Maker and to enjoy Him forever.  We weren’t made to live decent, self-serving lives.  We were made to depend gratefully on the love and goodness of God.  We weren’t made just to abide by the external requirements of civil and religious law.  We were made to worship God from our hearts and to love one another as He has loved us.

When we measure ourselves by that evaluation, the threat of hell becomes more of an issue.  The irresistible fire of judgment will expose the enormous deception that now hides behind social and religious courtesies and proprieties.

We have good reason to shudder at the thought of standing in God’s presence on our own merits.  If we’re honest, we must admit that apart from Christ we deserve to hear Him sentence us to hell.  In God’s sight, no one is really a good person. ⁽²⁾

degrees of punishment in hell

If there is a hell (and I fully am convinced that there is) in which unsaved persons consciously spend an eternity after death, then either all the people there will experience the same amount of torment and punishment, or else there will be varying degrees of these.  As for myself, I cannot see hell as being anything other than a place of fair, impartial treatment prepared by a just and unbiased God (Col. 3:25).

In a parable, Jesus described how servants (people), who are given various responsibilities by their master (God), will be rewarded if they do what he has assigned them to do (Luke 12:42-44).  However, for the servant (person) who abuses his privileges and ignores the assigned responsibilities, the master (God) will catch him when he least expects it, destroy him, and send him to the place of unbelievers (hell) to be punished (12:45,46).  Furthermore,

That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows (Luke 12:47,48a).

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law (Rom. 2:12).

Only Jesus knows each person thoroughly, only He completely is aware how accountable each one is, and only He can judge everyone with true objectivity and fairness.  As those who go to heaven will be rewarded according to the good things they have done (see “eternal rewards, heavenly treasures”: P-II), it seems equitable that those in hell will receive punishment in direct relation to the offenses committed in their lives.  I believe the conscience of someone in hell will be “unveiled” or “opened up” (at the resurrection) if it previously was “seared” (1 Tim. 4:2), and it forever will convict the spirit and soul, continuously and unendingly, of that person’s transgressions, misdeeds, and failures during his/her life.  The more self-centered and materialistically self-serving of a life the person lived on earth and the more of God’s laws and commands he/she broke, the more accusations, over and over again, the conscience (forever aware of God’s laws) will lay upon the spirit/soul consciousness, and the deeper the pain and emptiness (and thus punishment) he/she will experience.

God gives each of us a certain amount of responsibility and accountability, and he understands all the circumstances surrounding every single decision we make.  Does it make sense that godless people like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, who were responsible for the deaths of innocent millions, would receive the same punishment in the “lake of fire” (assuming that is where they will go after the Judgment) as a young, misguided gang member in South Los Angeles?  Or should a wealthy, corrupt slumlord be judged to be given the equivalent penalty that a disadvantaged but honest tenant will receive?  I think not.  Solomon said, “Will [God] not repay each person according to what he has done?” (Prov. 24:12c).  How could a fair God do otherwise?

Jesus told his disciples to spread the message of the Gospel throughout Israel (Matt. 10:5,6).  He commanded,

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.  I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town (Matt. 10:14,15).

Woe to you, Korazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you (Matt. 11:21,22).

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.  You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

...  You devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.  Therefore you will be punished more severely [in hell].

...  You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are (Matt. 23:13-15).

Again, Jesus was indicating that some sins are worthy of more punishment in hell than others, particularly those of certain self-righteous religious leaders who pretended to bring people to God but, in reality, only were interested in what they themselves could get out of these individuals, who had been deceived with lies.  Such hypocrites were easily spotted because, as Jesus added, “They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets” (Mark 12:38b,39).  Obviously, humility was not a strong-point for these teachers of the law and Pharisees.

a necessary place

The Lord Jesus Christ will take into account every circumstance, overlooking nothing.  He will be the Supreme Court of the universe.  No one will be able to appeal His decisions.  In fact, no one will feel the need to do so.  Every person will acknowledge Him as Lord and admit that His verdict has been absolutely fair and right.  It is at this time that everyone will recognize Him to be all He claimed to be, fulfilling the words of Philippians 2:9-11. ⁽³⁾

Many people choose not to believe in hell, because they do not wish to think it is possible that a good, merciful God could send anyone to such a horrible place.  But they deceive themselves.  Jesus Himself said, “Do not be afraid of those [people] who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the one [God] who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).  If such a realm did not exist in which to place those who have rejected God and His Plan of the ages (see “God’s Plan”: C-15, P-I), as well as to place “death” so as to separate it from eternal Life (Rev. 20:14a), it would not be fair for those who have accepted God and His means of eternal salvation.  God certainly is capable of allowing those who do not respond to His ultimate gift of Love—salvation through Jesus Christ—eventually to be transported to hell, a place of eternal “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

On TBN’s “Praise the Lord Show” (tape #1112-92), Dr. Donald Whitaker testified to a truly horrifying experience which makes his hair stand on end whenever he thinks about it.  Before accepting Jesus as his Savior and Lord and being healed of the fatal effects of acute hemorrhagic necrotic pancreatitis (see “Healer (physical)”: C-6, P-III), he drifted in and out of comas in the hospital.  One night, he slipped out of his body three times.  Each time, fully aware that he was in a completely dark place, he felt himself sliding gradually down an incline.  And, each time, he perceived an eerie flickering below him, somewhat like the movement of shadows cast by the flames of a fire.  Experiencing unimaginable terror, he knew that he was being drawn into hell; struggling against it was to no avail.  But then, all three times before he reached the “point of no return,” he felt himself being drawn back up into his body, where he would regain consciousness.  Dr. Whitaker agrees that it is easy not to believe in hell as we live our daily lives securely in this realm; but he adamantly states that there is a hell, because he actually has seen it.

Some might wonder how anyone could be headed immediately to hell (or, actually, to hades, a “waiting compartment” within the realm of hell) prior to the Last Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).  The explanation is this:  Where one will spend eternity is determined during one’s earthly life.  Everyone makes a conscious decision as to whether one wants to dwell in or out of God’s presence forever.  If one has chosen not to humble oneself before God, or if one has the knowledge that the gift of salvation comes only by and through Jesus Christ and yet rejects this unique gift, one automatically (after death) will have the Life of the Holy Spirit withdrawn and will not be allowed into God’s presence.

This person will have to wait in hades for the body’s resurrection and the Last Judgment, at which time all of one’s deeds will be examined to determine the degree of eternal punishment for one’s sins.  (Good deeds do not “cover up” or “balance out” bad deeds and other sins; only the blood of the slain Messiah, Jesus, can do so.)  God’s purpose at His Last Judgment will not be to determine to accept anyone into or eject anyone from His presence; each person will have made this determination on his/her own, via freedom of choice.

If you are not certain of where you will go after you die, you can be assured of your eternal place of residence in heaven (a description of which is in the next part), the polar opposite of hell, by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  If you have not yet made this eternal decision, I invite you to do so now (see “real eternal choice”: C-15, P-III).  Then, with a new peace and joy in your heart, continue reading the next part about heaven, your eternal home!

Proceed to Chapter 14, Part II

Return to the Beginning of Chapter 14, Part I

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Return to the The 70th Week and Extensions: “Pre-Wrath” Rapture Table

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