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Hell God does not want anyone to go to hell, 2nd Peter 3:9. If I end up
there, it’s my own fault. He designed hell for the devil and his angels, not
humanity. Matthew 25:41. Three Greek words are used to describe the reality of Hell. a. Hades; part of this
congregation of the dead, is like paradise or ‘Abraham’s bosom’, and part of it is torturous flames. Both parts are
separate, Luke 16:19-31. The idea of Hades having a section similar to hell
itself helps to explain Revelation 20:14, where we are told ‘hades’ (hell)
will be cast into a lake of fire and destroyed. b. Tartarus, Peter uses this word to describe a place of darkness
where angels of Satan are chained and awaiting Judgment day for their
destruction, 2nd Peter 2:4 & Jude
6, refers to the chains of darkness. c. Gehenna; this literally
is the continual burning trash heap of Jerusalem’s dump, where the dead bodies of outcasts are left to be incinerated, Matthew
18:9. There is a spiritual gehenna that God has prepared for the devil &
his angels, it is the place all evil people will end up after the judgment
day of the Lord, until then, they wait in the flames of Hades, while the
righteous rest in Abraham’s bosom, an idyllic part of Hades. Jesus speaks of religious leaders leading people into false-hood and
hypocritical acts of righteousness as deserving the ‘damnation of hell’,
Matthew 23:29-33. In our lifetime, we
may see them as servants of the devil himself, shining as angels of light, 2nd Corinthians 11:14-15. Satan
really loves religious error. Some theologians think that people like Osama
bin Laden, Charles Darwin & The Pope are examples of an angel of light
touted by Satan himself. If this is true, then who are his minions? Maybe
their servants are ‘all things that offend’ in the Kingdom, as Jesus
explained in Matthew 13:40-43, to be taken by angels and thrown into Hell’s
furnace of fire. The way to avoid this perilous end, is to make sure we adopt
the attitude of sheep, not goats, Matthew 25:24-33, cooperating with the
Shepherd in developing our talents in service to the King. The Bible only speaks of God as having ultimate authority, and that
Satan can not send anyone to Hell, but evil-doers and hypocrites will be sent
there by the power of God, it is really only Him that we should fear. Luke
12:5 Indeed in the Revelation, Jesus is seen as having the ‘keys of hell…’,
Rev. 1:18. God informs us that Hell’s fire can have an affect on us personally.
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among
our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of
nature; and it is set on fire by hell. (James 3:6) This may mean that our
emotions of anger could be linked to the world’s anger (sets on fire the
course of nature). When we give our
feelings of anger over to worldly concerns, it seems disastrous at times, and
we all know too well, how wrathful words can kill. But when we give our
feelings of anger over to godly concerns, righteous indignation can spur us
and others on to repentance. Is this
the danger we fall into? Can we be involved in the destruction of hell with
words of wrath? Prayer pointer for the week:
Are we aware of how heaven and hell may affect us? Do we ever ask God to help us be more aware
of the spiritual realities around us?
Do we fully appreciate the war of good & evil each Christian is
involved in? Eph. 6:1-10. |