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one place' (Eccl. 3:20) and 'there is
one event to the righteous and [to
the] wicked' (Eccl. 9:2)."
The men who compi led this
encyclopedia found that the early
religions-which they term the
"primitive" religions-had no idea
of "heaven" or "hell" as modern
theologians conceive them.
Note, too, their comment that
even so recent a writer as the
author of Ecclesiastes believed that'
all living things went to one
place- the grave! It might interest
these learned gentlemen to know
that Goo ALMIGHTY inspired the
author of Ecclesiastes! But perhaps,
they reason, God didn't know what
he was talking about. He wasn't
"educated" yet.
But let 's continue with another
excerpt from this encyclopedia arti–
cle on hell : " The popular idea of
hell as a place of punishment–
either redemptive or rigidly retrib–
utive in character-did not come
suddenly and full-formed into exis–
tence.
It
is the product of centuries
of thinking on the great problem of
reward and punishment which,
instinctively almost, man associates
with human deeds."
So today's concept of hell is
admitted ly a product of man's
insti nctive thinking.
It
did not
come fully revealed from God, but
rather "is the product of centuries
of thinking"- using human reason
to decide what only Goo can
reveal!
God's Purpose
The primary reason so many men
and organizations of men have a
fal se conception of hell is that they
view it just as an isolated doc–
trine.
God created man in his own
image and likeness (Gen.
1:26).
In
the garden of Eden, he told man
the way that would lead to eterna!
life. Then he told roan that going
the wrong way-the way of selfish–
ness and g reed-would lead to
DEATH (Gen. 2:17).
But Satan, the father of lies
(John 8:44), told the woman, "Ye
shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4).
"You have an immortal soul."
Man has been believing that lie
about the immortal soul ever
since!
God's purpose is to develop holy,
8
righteous character in man. God
gave ancient Israel his Ten Com–
mandments, "that it might be well
with them, and with their children
for ever" (Deut. 5:29).
God's decrees are always for
man 's good. They are not designed
as arbitrary decrees that God uses
as an excuse for plunging men into
flames of fi re! Notice that God
offered Adam and Eve life on the
one hand, and death on the other.
Adam and Eve would not have been
offered
LIFE
if they already were
immortal souls. Man was created
mortal and in need of eterna] life
from God through his Spirit.
If man rebelled against God and
made himself miserable through
sin, then the kindest thing that God
could do would be to let man die.
Then, stubborn, sinning man would
be unable to bring any further mis-
As
in
nearly everything
else of a spiritual nature,
humans are confused
and divided as to the kind
of future punishment the
wicked will rec.eive.
ery on himself or others by bis
wrong ways. He would just cease to
exist, and would thus not interfere
with the happiness of others who
sought eterna! life. That is why we
read that the SOUL that sins shall
die (Ezek. 18:4) .
But men have disagreed with
God and his Word , and have come
to believe in an entirely different
reward for the wicked. So, where
do men get their ideas of "hell"?
What ls " Hell"?
You will be surprised to learn that
Jesus Christ himself went to " hell"
when he died! In Peter 's inspired
sermon on the day of Pentecost, he
said , "He [David] see ing this
before spake of the resurrection of
Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither his flesh did see cor–
ruption" (Acts 2:31 ).
S(}-according to your Bible–
Jesus went to hell!
The "hell" "where J esus was for
three days and three nights (Matt.
12:40) after bis crucifixion is trans–
lated from the Greek word
hades.
Hades
si mply means "pit" or
"grave." When t he Authorized
Version of the Bible was made,
Englishmen commonly understood
that "hell" could mean a grave, pit
or hole in the ground. They often
spoke of burying their potatoes in
hell for the winter.
So the "hell" where Jesus went
was simply the grave-tbe rock
hewn sepulcher where he was bur–
ied. Unless you live until Christ
comes and are changed from mortal
to immortal (1 Cor. 15:53) , you will
go to this same "hell."
The second Greek word trans–
lated "hell " is
tartaroo.
lt
is used
only once in the Bible (11 Pet. 2:4)
and refers to the condition of
restraint of the fallen angels. It
never refers to men.
Gehenna
is the third Greek word
translated "hell. "
Gehenna.
or the
Valley of Hinnom, was located out–
sirle of Jerusalem.
It
was a place
wbere trash, filth and the dead bod–
ies of animals and despised crimi–
nals were thrown. It was like sorne
of our city dumps today. Ordinari–
ly, everything thrown in this valley
was destroyed by fire-completely
burned up.
In Jewish thought, this burning,
smoking Valley of Hinnom was
associated with the future punish–
ment of the wicked. So it was natu–
ral for Jesus and the apostles to use
the word
gehenna-derived
from
the Valley of Hinnom- when
referring to the lake of fire , which
will be the fate of the wicked. This
lake of fire is described in Revela–
tion 20:14-15.
These, then, are the three Greek
words that are translated into the
word "hell" in our Bibles. In the
Hebrew there is only one word that
is translated "hell." That word is
sheo/.
It corresponds to the Greek
word
hades,
meaning the grave, or
pi
t.
Before we consider the scrip–
tures where these words are used
and fi nd the astonishing truth
about wbat " hell" really is, let 's
briefly inspect sorne of the theories
of men on this subject.
Example of " Hell-fire"
Scrlptures
A familiar passage to most "hell–
The
PLAIN TRUTH