Many who came from Sunday School are also familiar with the story of prophet Elijah 'ascending up by a whirlwind unto heaven'. But the story in 2 Kings 2:11 was merely stating that Elijah was miraculously being transported into another place, away from the crowd. That was why the students from the school of prophets started looking for him after his departure. In 2 Chronicle 21:12, the same prophet Elijah wrote a letter warning King Jehoram to repent from his wickedness lest 'serious affliction wil come upon him and his family'. Since, spirit beings in heaven do not write letters to earthlings, Eliajh was not 'lifted up to heaven'!
Traditional Christianity misrepresents God as the 'Ultimate Sadist' who is game to send unrepentant sinners to eternal life in hellfire 'roasting in all eternity without ever being burned up'. Could the saved in heaven ever be joyful knowing that their loved ones are being tormented in hellfire all of eternity? Would even the most wicked person on earth mete out such punishment? What more if most of those 'lost souls' have never ever heard of the true Gospel and God's laws and commandments? But most do not realise that the belief in the lost eternally burning in hellfire (having eternal life in hell) is in direct contradiction to John 3:16 which states unequivocally that only the saved in Christ have eternal life! Such belief is from pagan religion and not from Scriptures.
The Psalmist states that in 115:17, 'The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down in silence'. If the 'lost' who were dead - who forms the majority of all who had ever lived - are crying and wailing in hell, then there is no silence from the grave! Christ told His audience that ALL (the dead) that are in the graves shall hear his voice (John 5:28), not just some and true disciples of Christ should take all the words of the Lord at face value, not selectively!
The Hebrew word for 'hell' is shoel and in the Greek it is hades - literally means 'the grave'. In fact, all the dead - whatever their religious affiliation, go to 'hell ' (the grave). In the second usage of the word 'hell' is found in 2 Peter 2:4 - tartaros - refers to a place of restraint for the fallen angelic beings. The third usage of the word is translated from the word gehenna in Greek which could mean hell or hellfire, and refers to destruction and not ongoing punishment as stated by Christ in 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.'
The Gehenna hellfire mentions in Mark 9:43-48 refers to the Valley of Hinnon - a deep gorge outside of Jerusalem where fire used to burn 24/7. Not only trash but dead bodies of those killed in battle or prisoners were thrown in to be burned. Some of the corpses thrown over never made it into the fire below but got stuck on the ledges near the edge of the gorge and were swarmed with maggots which later turned to flies!
Gehenna actually refers to the Lake of Fire which is a place of punishment with permanent destruction which Revelation 20:14 refers as the second death. All those who refused to repent after being given all the truth and the opportunity to do so will be resurrected in the Third Resurrection to end up in the Lake of Fire of annihilation (Malachi 4:1). A righteous and merciful God will never allow anyone to be tormented in pain and misery for eternity!
Some will defend the belief of eternal life in hell inferno by quoting the parable of The Rich Man and the Beggar spoken of by Christ in Luke 16:19-31. However, a closer examination of the parable shows that it is teaching about resurrection and not the living state of the dead either in 'heaven or in hell'. If the parable is referring to an inferno, can the tongue of the rich man be cooled simply by a dip of water (Luke 16:24)? One would rightly ask for a huge pool of water to quench the fire! Besides, the word 'remember' used in verse 25 when Abraham answered the rich man shows that a long lapse of time had passed - not an instance of getting to a burning hell after death for the unrepentant. The parable is rightly teaching about the prospect the wicked will face the Lake of Fire when they are so fearful that they can hardly move their tongue to speak coherently!
All those who are called and chosen to be true disciples of Christ will have their spirits renewed by God when their spirits return to Him upon death - 'the spirits of just men made perfect' (Hebrews 12:23). These saints will be asleep 'in the graves' awaiting the First Resurrection when Christ returns to set up the kingdom of God on earth and that will be the time when true saints are resurrected to be born again as spirit beings to enter and inherit the kingdom as members of the Family of God. Make no mistake, only members of the Divine Family will untimately rule over the whole earth in the Millennium Age (Rev 3:21, 5:10) and the universe in eternity (Col 1:15-20) - even ruling over the angels (1 Cor 6:3)!
Traditional Christianity misrepresents God as the 'Ultimate Sadist' who is game to send unrepentant sinners to eternal life in hellfire 'roasting in all eternity without ever being burned up'. Could the saved in heaven ever be joyful knowing that their loved ones are being tormented in hellfire all of eternity? Would even the most wicked person on earth mete out such punishment? What more if most of those 'lost souls' have never ever heard of the true Gospel and God's laws and commandments? But most do not realise that the belief in the lost eternally burning in hellfire (having eternal life in hell) is in direct contradiction to John 3:16 which states unequivocally that only the saved in Christ have eternal life! Such belief is from pagan religion and not from Scriptures.
The Psalmist states that in 115:17, 'The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down in silence'. If the 'lost' who were dead - who forms the majority of all who had ever lived - are crying and wailing in hell, then there is no silence from the grave! Christ told His audience that ALL (the dead) that are in the graves shall hear his voice (John 5:28), not just some and true disciples of Christ should take all the words of the Lord at face value, not selectively!
The Hebrew word for 'hell' is shoel and in the Greek it is hades - literally means 'the grave'. In fact, all the dead - whatever their religious affiliation, go to 'hell ' (the grave). In the second usage of the word 'hell' is found in 2 Peter 2:4 - tartaros - refers to a place of restraint for the fallen angelic beings. The third usage of the word is translated from the word gehenna in Greek which could mean hell or hellfire, and refers to destruction and not ongoing punishment as stated by Christ in 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.'
The Gehenna hellfire mentions in Mark 9:43-48 refers to the Valley of Hinnon - a deep gorge outside of Jerusalem where fire used to burn 24/7. Not only trash but dead bodies of those killed in battle or prisoners were thrown in to be burned. Some of the corpses thrown over never made it into the fire below but got stuck on the ledges near the edge of the gorge and were swarmed with maggots which later turned to flies!
Gehenna actually refers to the Lake of Fire which is a place of punishment with permanent destruction which Revelation 20:14 refers as the second death. All those who refused to repent after being given all the truth and the opportunity to do so will be resurrected in the Third Resurrection to end up in the Lake of Fire of annihilation (Malachi 4:1). A righteous and merciful God will never allow anyone to be tormented in pain and misery for eternity!
Some will defend the belief of eternal life in hell inferno by quoting the parable of The Rich Man and the Beggar spoken of by Christ in Luke 16:19-31. However, a closer examination of the parable shows that it is teaching about resurrection and not the living state of the dead either in 'heaven or in hell'. If the parable is referring to an inferno, can the tongue of the rich man be cooled simply by a dip of water (Luke 16:24)? One would rightly ask for a huge pool of water to quench the fire! Besides, the word 'remember' used in verse 25 when Abraham answered the rich man shows that a long lapse of time had passed - not an instance of getting to a burning hell after death for the unrepentant. The parable is rightly teaching about the prospect the wicked will face the Lake of Fire when they are so fearful that they can hardly move their tongue to speak coherently!
All those who are called and chosen to be true disciples of Christ will have their spirits renewed by God when their spirits return to Him upon death - 'the spirits of just men made perfect' (Hebrews 12:23). These saints will be asleep 'in the graves' awaiting the First Resurrection when Christ returns to set up the kingdom of God on earth and that will be the time when true saints are resurrected to be born again as spirit beings to enter and inherit the kingdom as members of the Family of God. Make no mistake, only members of the Divine Family will untimately rule over the whole earth in the Millennium Age (Rev 3:21, 5:10) and the universe in eternity (Col 1:15-20) - even ruling over the angels (1 Cor 6:3)!
