The Bible says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). “This word” is the Word of God – the Bible, the most reliable document ever handed down through the centuries. If you want ‘light”, if you want the truth, then the Bible is your best. Don’t take the preacher’s word just because he should know better. Don’t believe the movies just because they are popular. The Word of God is there for you to understand, for you to “[search] …to find out whether these things [are] so’ (Acts 17:11). Let’s find out!
The Same or Different?
People typically put the words hell and fire together, but it is critical to know that hell and fire are two different things, and only at a very specific time do they come together and make hellfire.
Many of you are scratching your head right now because this may be different than what you have believed or been told about hell, fire, and hellfire.
As we journey through the Bible it will become joyfully clear that not only are they different but you will see the love of God in dealing with the destruction of sin; which is a stark contrast to what is being preached from the pulpits.
HELL
Before we get started, it is important to clear up some wide spread confusion about the use of the word “hell” in English translations of the Bible. Of course, the Scriptures were not originally written in English. They were written in the languages of their authors; Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, and Koine Greek.
The word “hell” is most often used as a translation for the Hebrew word sheol and for the Greek word hades. Interestingly enough, however, these two terms, sheol and hades, can also be translated as “the grave”. The third is a Greek word tartaroo, it is translated as ‘hell’ and when reading Strong’s one comes to understand it is referring to the judgment of wicked angels which takes place on Earth at a very specific time (we will get to this further down in the post).
Old Testament: Sheol (H7585)
In the King James Version of the Bible, ‘sheol’ is translated: as hell 31 times, as grave 31 times, and as pit 3 times. Here is an example of each:
Genesis 37:35, “I will go down into the grave (sheol) unto my son mourning” (KJV). This is speaking of Jacob as he mourns over the loss of Joseph.
Proverbs 5:5, “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell (sheol)” (KJV)
Job 17:16, “They shall go down to the bars of the pit (sheol), when our rest together is in the dust.” (Also: Numbers 16:30, 33). (KJV)
Please do a search, and read each passage where ‘sheol’ is rendered as ‘hell’ and as ‘grave’. There were too many to list them all. The references have been provided where is has been rendered at ‘pit’.
New Testament: Hades (G86)
In the King James Version of the Bible, ‘hades’ is translated: as hell 10 times, and as grave once. Here are examples of each:
Acts 2:27, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (hades), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave (hades), where is thy victory?”
Remaining passages where ‘hades’ is rendered as ‘hell’: Matt. 11:23, Matt. 16:18, Luke 10:15, Luke 16:23,, Acts 2:31, Rev. 1:18, Rev. 6:8, Rev. 20:13, Rev. 20:14.
New Testament: Tartaroo (G5020)
In the King James Version of the Bible, ‘tartaroo’ is translated as hell once. Here is the text:
2 Peter 2:4, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartaroo), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment,”
NOTE: See 2 Peter 2:4 Commentary. Basically, fallen angels are incarcerated in a condition of spiritual darkness. They far exceeded the ‘point of return’. They have been judged and are waiting the execution of their sentence which is the Lake of Fire. Where does the execution take place? On Earth. And, how does it take place? By fire.
General Observation
So far, what we gathered from scripture is that:
OT, sheol is hell/grave/pit, they are all the same.
NT, hades is hell/grave, they are the same.
NT, tartaroo is a condition of spiritual darkness that fallen angels find themselves in, waiting on Earth for the execution of their sentence by fire. Earth is the location of their annihilation by hellfire.
This sets the foundation for our study regarding the subject of hell and hellfire. So, we can logically conclude that hell is the grave and pit, just as we can say the grave and pit are hell. And, we can say that Earth is hell, because humans go into the grave/pit which is the Earth, Also, everything (human, animal, plants) upon death returns to the Earth. These biblical concepts will become abundantly clear as we study more of God’s word.
False Concepts of Hell
This concept of hell is the one of the greatest reasons why many people reject the Christian faith altogether. After all, how can God be love (1 John 4:8) when he would burn his own creation for all eternity? Since the two concepts are at polar opposites, then maybe it is easier to just delete the idea that God exists.
Are these tenets of faith of the masses biblical? Do the phrases preached from the pulpit such as:
‘the lost must suffer the wrath of God for all eternity in the fires of hell’, or
‘the damned are eternally deprived of see God, they will not receive any consolation, nor will they escape from the pain of hellfire, and will only be in the company of the demons that tempted them’
And then we have purgatory:
‘in purgatory, the just will suffer pain of loss for in this state they cannot see God and will suffer the pain of sense as their soul is tormented and as they endure purifying fire…once their venial sins have vanquished they will have achieved the holiness necessary to enter into the joy of Heaven’
These statement are but a very small sampling of what people believe and present to the world as their interpretation of hell and/or hellfire. IF you want more on what famous Christians have to say about ‘hellfire’ see the appendix.
Do these statements cause your blood pressure to rise? Well, there is Good News for you…this whole picture – all that you have hear about hell…is NOT TRUE. Can somebody say, AMEN?
Atheism
Atheism and evolutionism are intertwined systems of belief that have gained popularity around the globe. But many do not know that both of these ideologies were at least part inspired by commonly believed distortions on the doctrine of hell?
Richard Dawkins, an ardent atheist, controversially compared a belief in an eternal hell to child abuse, saying:
If your whole upbringing, and everything you have ever been told by parents, teachers and priests, has led you to believe, really believe, utterly and completely, that sinners burn in hell, it is entirely plausible that words could have a more long-lasting and damaging effect than deeds.
Charles Darwin, the father of evolution and author of “On the Origin of Species“, said:
I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother, and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.
This is why it is vital that we understand the truth about hell and hellfire!