Abaddon – A Hebrew word for destruction. It is used in parallels for both Sheol (the intermediate state) and Qever (the grave). Both are places of destruction, not life. Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Psa. 88:11; Prov. 15:11; 27:20. The name of the angel of the bottomless pit (Rev. 9:11).
abyss – A Greek work for bottomless. It describes a place from which there is no rescue. Luke 8:31; Rom. 10:7.
alive – The state of not being dead. All who are in Christ shall be made alive at the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:22).
Apollyon – The Greek name for the angel Abaddon. It also means destruction.
ascend – How a person gets to heaven (ostensibly), but nobody besides Christ has done so. Deut. 30:12; Psa. 24:3; 139:8; Isa. 14:13f; Acts 2:34; Rom. 10:6.
ashes – What the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were reduced to “making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6).
awake – A term used in the Bible for a person raised from the dead (Job 14:12; Psa. 17:5; Eph. 5:14; 1 Th. 5:10).
believers – the only humans promised eternal life (John 3:15,16,36; 5:24; 6:40,47; Acts 13:48; 1 Tim. 1:16; 1 John 5:13).
body – not an insignificant material aspect as opposed to the immaterial. The bodies of the lost will be thrown into hell and destroyed with fire by God (Matt. 5:29, 30; 10:28).
breathed his/her last – a description of the reality of death – losing the breath of life (Gen. 25:8,17; 35:29; 49:33; Mar. 15:37,39; Luk. 23:46; Acts 5:5,10; 12:23).
buried – what happens to people when they die (Gen. 15:15; 23:19; 25:9f; 35:8, 19, 29; 48:7; 49:31; 50:13f; Num. 11:34; 20:1; Deut. 10:6; 34:6; Josh. 24:30, 32f; Judg. 2:9; 8:32; 10:2, 5; 12:7, 10, 12, 15; 16:31; Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 25:1; 28:3; 31:13; 2 Sam. 2:4f, 32; 3:32; 4:12; 17:23; 21:14; 1 Kgs 2:10, 34; 11:43; 13:31; 14:18, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:37, 50; 2 Kgs 8:24; 9:28; 10:35; 12:21; 13:9, 13, 20f; 14:16, 20; 15:7, 38; 16:20; 21:18, 26; 23:30; 1 Chr. 10:12; 2 Chr. 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:14; 21:1, 20; 22:9; 24:16, 25; 25:28; 26:23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; 35:24; Eccl. 8:10; Jer. 8:2; 16:4, 6; 20:6; 22:19; 25:33; Ezek. 39:11, 15; Matt. 14:12; Luke 16:22; Acts 2:29; 5:6, 9f; 8:2; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 15:4; Col. 2:12).
burned up – what happens to people and things that are thrown into the fire (Lev. 4:12, 21; 6:30; 7:17, 19; 8:17; 9:11; 10:16; 16:27; 19:6; Judg. 15:6; 1 Kgs 9:16; Neh. 4:2; Job 1:16; Psa. 106:18; Isa. 42:25; Ezek. 24:10; 1 Cor. 3:15; 13:3; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 8:7; 18:8.).
cannot die anymore – a promise that Jesus gave to believers that will be fulfilled not at death, but at our resurrection (Luke 20:36).
death – the wages and consequences of sin (Rom 6:16, 23; 7:13; 8:2; James 1:15).
to depart– to leave one place (bodily) and go another place. Paul wanted to be called up to Christ’s side at his coming, but remaining until his work was done was more necessary (Phil 1:21-24).
destruction – the final fate of the lost and of evil spirits (Matt 7:13; 10:28; 22:7; Mar 1:24; 12:9; Luk 4:34; 20:16; Rom 9:22; 1 Cor 3:17; 6:13; 15:26; 1 Thes 5:3; 2 Thes 1:9; Phil 1:28; 3:19; Heb 2:14; Jam 4:12; 2 Pet 2:12; 3:7; 1 John 3:8).
eternal – either a reference to the infinite nature of God, or the permanence of one’s state after final judgment. Eternal life is being alive forever. Eternal punishment is being dead forever (Matt 25:46).
eternal punishment – the opposite of eternal life, not another form of eternal life (Matt. 25:46). Explained by Paul as “the punishment of eternal destruction” (2 Thess 1:9), and by Jude as a fate like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, which was obliterated (Jude 7).
firstfruits – the first crop harvested, or the first person resurrected unto immortality. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20). The rest of the harvest will take place at His second coming. Note: Scripture indicates that Moses, Elijah, and Enoch have received eternal life. Revelation 4 speaks of 24 elders in white raiment and on their head a crown of gold, which is a promise to the redeemed at His second coming. Out side of these that are specifically mentioned, the remaining will receive their reward at His second coming. There will be a specific study on this subject.
gathered to one’s people – a reference to the fact that the dead join their ancestors in Sheol/Hades until the resurrection (Gen 25:17; 49:33).
gates of deep darkness – a description of death (Job 38:17).
heaven – the home of God, and the direction to which believers pray to God, but not the objective of believers. Our objective is the kingdom of God/heaven on earth (Matt 6:33; 10:7).
heirs – the current status of believers in Christ. We are promised eternal life, and have it as an inheritance (Rom. 4:14; 8:17; Gal. 3:29; Eph. 3:6; Titus 3:7; Heb. 6:17; 11:9; Jam. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:7).
hell – This English word has been used to translate three separate Greek words found in the NT. These words are not synonyms. They must be kept distinct .
- Hades = the intermediate state between death and the resurrection (all go there, so the English word hell is not a good translation)(Acts 2:27,31).
- Tartarus = the prison where some evil spirits are presently confined waiting for judgment (no humans go there)(2 Pet. 2:4).
- Gehenna = the place of final punishment and eventual destruction of the lost (given the present connotations of the English word hell, this is the only Greek word that should be translated as hell(Matt. 5:29).
Holy Spirit – the presence of God dwelling within believers who serves as our guarantee that our mortality will some day be changed into immortality (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:4-5).
immortal – this adjective is only used of God in Scripture (Rom 1:23; 1 Tim. 1:17).
immortality – presently an attribute of God alone (1 Tim. 6:16), but this hope of eternal life is offered to all through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10) and is sought after by all believers (Rom. 2:7). It is ours at the resurrection when Christ comes again (1 Cor. 15:53-54).
imperishable – the nature of the inheritance of believers (1 Cor. 9:25; 15:42, 50, 52ff; 1 Pet. 1:4).
Judgment Day – an event of eternal consequences in which God will forever settle the problem of evil, and unrepentant sinners by destroying them. This is an event, not a perpetual process (Matt. 10:15; 11:22, 24; 12:36; Rom. 2:5; 2 Pet. 2:9; 3:7; 1 John 4:17; Jude 1:6).
keys – used symbolically in the NT for the authority to open something that is otherwise closed. Believers have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. We can open the kingdom for others to enter it by preaching the gospel (Matt. 16:19). Jesus retains the keys of Death and Hades. Only he can open the tombs and raise the dead (Rev. 1:18).
naked – a synonym for the disembodied intermediate state. Paul expressed a clear desire not to be a naked spirit without a body (2 Cor. 5:3-4).
perish – to die from the sword (Job 36:12; Jer. 16:4; Matt. 26:52), hunger (Luke 15:17), or to otherwise be killed (Luke 13:3,5), also the final state of the lost – the alternative to obtaining eternal life by
believing in Jesus (John 3:16; 10:28).
pit – another word for Sheol- where souls go when they die (Job 33:18, 22, 28, 30; Psa. 30:3).
resurrection – an event that will happen “on the last day” when Jesus returns. That day will be the first day of believers’ immortal existence (John 11:24; 1 Cor. 15:42, 52).
reward – another term for the inheritance believers will receive from the Lord when he returns (Col. 3:24, Rev. 22:12).
silence – a description of the intermediate state (Psa. 94:17; 115:17; Isa 47:5).
sleep – a description of death signifying no activity or consciousness (Job 14:10-14; Psalm 13:1-6; Dan. 12:2-3; Jer. 51:37-39, 56-57; Matt. 27:51-53; Luke 8:51-55; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:59-60; 1 Cor. 15:51-52).
smoke going up – the sign that something has been consumed by fire (Gen. 19:28; Josh 8:20-21; Judg 20:38,40; Isa 34:10; Rev. 14:11; 19:1-3).
soul – a person’s life. It can be lost for Christ’s sake (Matt. 10:39; 16:25; 19:29; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24). Therefore, to lose one’s soul is not to be damned, but simply to die. To ultimately lose one’s soul is for God to destroy it in hell (Matt. 10:28). [The word for hell here is Gehenna, the final punishment].
spirit – a word that (in humans) indicates the wind or breath that moves the body around. This animating principle returns to God at death (Eccl. 12:7), but the person it animated remains unconscious (asleep) in the ground until the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20). Human spirits are not a separate person, and are not immortal.
unquenchable – a fire that cannot be put out. This is the kind of fire with which the lost will be destroyed on Judgment Day (Mat. 3:12; Mar. 9:43; Luke 3:17). It is not the souls of the lost which are described here, but the nature of the fire that consumes them.
worm – another instrument of destruction (besides fire) used to describe the ultimate demise of the lost in hell (Mark 9:48). It is the destroying worms who cannot die, not the bodies and souls they are feeding upon. Hell = Lake of Fire
wrath of God – the actual source of God’s judgment upon the lost which will burn like fire and destroy all his enemies (Exod. 22:24; 32:10f; Psa. 89:46; Isa. 27:4; Jer. 4:4; 7:20; 21:12; Exod. 32:11; Deut. 9:7; 2 Chr. 24:18; 36:16; Ezra 7:23; 8:22; 10:14; Neh. 13:18; Psa. 56:7; 59:13; 78:59; Isa. 51:20, 22; Jer. 7:20; 10:10; 25:15; 42:18; 50:25; John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 3:5; 5:9; 9:22; 12:19; 13:4; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; 1 Thess. 5:9; Rev. 14:19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15).