Sunday, May 18, 2008

Heaven and Hell (5)

In order to fully understand the concept of 'hell', we need to study the meaning of the root word used in scriptures. From the Authorized Version of the English Bible, there are three Greek terms and one Hebrew term translated 'hell' : 1) sheol from the Hebrew and hades from the Greek - both of these terms mean 'the grave'; 2) tartaros from the Greek - it means 'a place of restraint', used in 2 Peter 2:4 referring to fallen angels being held in such dungeon prison awaiting judgment; 3) gehenna which refers to the 'Valley of Hinnom' in Greek - just outside of Jerusalem - could mean 'hell' or 'hell fire'. In the Old testament, the Hebrew term sheol is used and in the New Testament, the term hades is used. Both refer to the same meaning as ' the grave, the pit or the world of the dead'. In a sense, all people who died goes to 'hell', since it is nothing more than the grave!

The Lord Jesus made it plain and simple in John 5:28-29 'Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which ALL who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation'. He did not say 'some' but 'ALL' will resurrect to life - it is only a question of which resurrection (there are three resurrections) one is awaiting. All people will either be resurrected to eternal life or to judgment. David understood that the resurrection was an awakening (Psalm 17:15) - just like coming back to life from the dead!

1 Corinthians 15:54 clearly states : 'So when this corruptible (body of death) has put on incorruption (spirit body) and this mortal (natural life) has put on immortality (eternal life), then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.' If man has an immortal soul that transcends death - residing in either 'heaven' or 'hell', then all the scripture verses make no sense. It is high time we either believe in the eternal word of God or choose to be blinded by deceptions from the 'teachings and traditions of man'.

Some passages in scriptures seem to point to 'eternal hell fire', like what Jesus spoke of in Mark 9:43-48: ' If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched - where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched - where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire - where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched'.

Such terms as 'hell' and 'hell fire' are translated from the Greek word gehenna which represents 'the Valley of Hinnom' (Nehemiah 11:30; 2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 19:6). That is a place of refuse burning of all things unclean including dead corpses, in a deep narrow gorge in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Just to keep out the foul stench, the fire has to be kept burning to consume all the trash thrown into it. The fires there burn continuously, hence the phrase - 'the fire is not quenched'.

Those corpses that were thrown into the valley that got hung up in the branches and trees that grew on the ledges did not get burn up because they got stuck on the ledges. Instead, such bodies got decomposed through the work of maggots which later became flies - hence the term, 'their worm does not die'.

In Matthew 5:22, Christ warned of those who could be in danger of hell fire; and in 10:28 His warnings to 'fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell'. Both of these instances are translated from the Greek word gehenna to mean hell or hell fire. Such term is used to represent a place of final punishment. The hell fire is in reference to 'the lake of fire' (Revelation 20:14-15). All those who ended up there face the second death - as they suffer complete destruction which will end up as stubble, leaving behind neither root nor branch (Malachi 4:1), and to be ashes under the sole of your feet (Malachi 4:3). Just like the warning in Jeremiah 17:27 about keeping the Sabbath day, failing which the palaces of Jerusalem shall be burnt with fire that will not be quenched, we know that the fire is never everlasting as it had long burnt out.

Another passage in Matthew 25:41 is also not proof of an ever-burning hell. It reads, "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'.'' The Greek word aionios means 'age-lasting'. Such an event will occur during the Millennium Age when Christ will have returned to set up His Kingdom on earth to rule and reign with His saints. During Christ's 1,000 years rule, Satan and his demons will be bound in the bottomless pit (Rev 20:2-3). The beast and the false prophet were cast into the lake of fire at the beginning of the millennium (Rev 19:20) while Satan and his demons were cast into it at the end of the millennium (Rev 20:10). Even for the lake of fire, it is only age-lasting. For when the new heaven and new earth have been purified by fire and the New Jerusalem descend down from heaven (Rev 21:1-2), everything will have faded away into history!