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ward the righteous, and they will
then assist him in ruling over the
entire earth for 1,000 years (see
Revelation 20:4; Daniel 2:44 and
7:27).
Clearly, then, the idea of the righ–
teous going to heaven when they die
is not biblical. But what about the
belief that evildoers are cast into an
ever-buming heU?
Jesus alluded to them and their
ultimate fate when he told his dis–
ciples: "And 1 say unto you my
friends, Be not afraid of them that
kilJ the body, and after that have no
more that they can do. But I will
forewarn you whom ye shall fear:
Fear him, which after he hath killed
hath power to cast into
he/1;
yea,
1
say unto you, Fear him" (Luke
12:4-5).
So What ls " Hell"?
In this verse, Jesus mentioned
"hell." The original Greek word
used is
gehenna,
derived from the
Hebrew word for the "valley of Hin–
nom" to the south of Jerusalem
where, during ancient times, gar–
bage was dumped and fires burned
continually to consume the debris
and trash. This was a place of early
apostasy, where the god Molech was
worshipped. It was converted by
K.ing Josiah into a place of abomi–
nation where corpses were thrown
and burnt up (11 Kings 23: lO, 13-
14).
It
became symbolical of the fi–
nal fate of the wicked.
The word "hell" has been con–
fused and misunderstood by mil–
lions. The Bible uses three other
words that are sometimes translated
"heU. " Two of them, the Hebrew
sheol
and the G reek
hades,
are syn–
onymous and sirnply mean "the
place of the dead" or "grave."
Sheol
is translated "grave" 31 times in the
Old Testament.
Hades,
in
the New
Testament, a lso refers to the
"grave" (I Corinthians 15:55), al–
though it is often rendered "hell" in
the King James Version.
The third word translated "hell"
is the Greek
tartaroo
and only oc-
PlAIN TRUTH
July·August
1973
curs once in the Bible (II Peter 2:4).
It simply means to incarcerate or
imprison, and refers to the re–
strained condition of fallen angels,
now known as demons.
The only biblical word rendered
"hell" which clearly and provably
refers to the final fa te of the wicked
- the ultimate destruction of the
iocorrigible - is the word
gehenna.
This is the only word translated
"heU" which has the connotation of
"fire" or "fiery destruction."
The apostle John in the book of
Revelation described this final " hell
tire" or Gehenna tire as a seething.
fiaming lake. John wrote: "But the
fearful , and unbelieving. and the
abominable, aod murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part
in
the lake which burneth
with tire and brimstone: which is
the second death" (Revelation
2 1:8).
The tire will utterly destroy the
wicked. This destruction is called
the "second death" because it is not
the same as the death which occurs
at the end of one's naturallife. Only
those who deliberately rebel against
God and refuse to obey hirn, despite
understanding his will, must die a
second time. This second death will
be forever - there will never be a
resurrection from it.
Tormented Forever?
The Bible states that the wages of
sin is
death
(Romans 6:23) - not
eternallife in a ditferent geographi–
cal location. The book of Malachi
makes this clear. The prophet re–
corded: " For, behold, the day
cometh, that shall burn as an oven;
aod all the proud, yea, and all that
do wickedly, shall be stubble: and
the day that cometh shall
burn them
up,
saith the Lord of hosts, that it
shall leave them neither root nor
branch .... And ye shall tread
down the wicked; for
they sha/1 be
ashes
uoder the soles of you r
feet ... saith the Lord of hosts"
(Malachi 4:1, 3).
The bíblica! hell tire will be much
hotter than the mythological hell of
pagan legend. It will totally con–
sume the bodies of the wicked until
nothing is left but ashes.
David described the ultimate fate
of the wicked this way: "But the
wicked shall perish. and the enemies
of the Lord shall be as the fat of
lambs: they shall consume: into
smoke shall they consume away"
(Psalm 37:20). If you have seen fat
sizzling and burning up in a hot
ski llet, then you have an idea of
what the final fate of the in–
corrigibly wicked will be like.
Is this a "cruel" fate? No. The
wicked will experience eternal death
because death is the most merciful
fate a loving God could impose on
those who insist on breaking his law
and reaping the resulting unhappi–
ness. They will be put out of their
misery and not make others miser–
able. either.
God's way is much better than
the horrible concept of sinners being
doomed to sizzle and fry forever. lt's
much more merciful and final!
Whatever your background. the
straightforward statements in the
Bible probably come as a shock to
you - for very few understand what
the Bible really says about heaven,
hell , and the hereafter.
There are many aspects of this
vast subject which we cannot cover
in a single article. However, we have
free booklets which go into greater
depth in analyzing this issue. If you
are interested in further reading on
this subject, then write for the fol–
lowing free booklets:
What Is the
Reward of the Saved?, Where Are
Enoch and Elijah?, Lazarus and the
Rich Man,
aod
Is There a Real Hell
Fire?
Also, write for the
Ambassador
College Correspondence Course
which also covers these tapies. and
which explores many other aston–
ishing biblical teachings that theo–
logians have misunderstood or
neglected.
lt
will help make the full
plan and purpose ofGod come alive
with meaning and interest.
o
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