Hell according to the Bible

VIEW:604 DATA:2020-03-20

The Hebrew original for "grave" is sheol, which means, among other things, a dark, concave, underground place, used with reference to the habitation of the dead in general, without distinction between good and bad. (Young's Analytical Concordornce.)

The same word is sometimes translated as hell. Some modern versions, in order not to have to choose between the words grave and hell, leave the word as it is in the original, that is, sheol, in the Old Testament, and do the same with the corresponding word, hades, in the New Testament. It must be remembered that hell in the Old Testament always means sheol, that is, a place of darkness and silence, and not of torment in fire.

Ps 6: 4 Return, Lord, deliver my soul; save me by your mercy.
Ps 6: 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will praise you?
 

There is not even a memory of God. As we have already seen, biblical teachings present the dead as being in case they were in heaven or in hell, would it have been correct to make this comparison? Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, was in Heaven when the Savior said, "Lazarus, our friend, sleeps"? St. John 11:11. If so, to call him to life would have been to rob him of the bliss of Heaven, to which he was entitled. The parable of the rich and Lazarus, recorded in S. Luc. 16, was presented to teach, not the conscious state at death, but that wealth will be of no use in judgment, unless it has been used for righteous and beneficent purposes, and that poverty will not exclude anyone from Heaven, being a parable and not a doctrine. If it had been formulated not as a parable but as a statement in doctrinal molds,

Ecc 9: 4 Now for him who is in the company of the living, there is hope; because the living dog is better than the dead lion.
Ecc 9: 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, nor do they have a reward in the future; because his memory was left to oblivion.
Ecc 9: 6 Both his love, his hate and his envy have perished; nor do they ever have a part forever in anything that is done under the sun.
 

If a person remained conscious after death, he would be aware of his children's progress or dishonor. But Job says the dead man doesn't know that. Not only that, but in death the person loses the attributes of the spirit - love, hate, envy, etc. It therefore becomes evident that your thoughts perish, and that no more participation can be had with the things of this world. But if, as some think and maintain, the faculties of human thought continue after death, so does he; and if you live, you need to be Where is it? In heaven, or in hell? If he dies in any of these places, what need is there for a future judgment, or a resurrection, or the second coming of Christ? If the judgment does not occur at the time of death, but the man immediately enters the enjoyment of his reward, then his precedes it and there would be the possibility of some, when they die,

Satan began with his deception in Eden. He said to Eva, "You will certainly not die." Gen. 3: 4. This was Satan's first lesson on the immortality of the soul, and he has continued with this deception from that time to the present, and will keep it until the captivity of the children of God ends. Adam and Eve in Eden. They participated in the forbidden tree, and then the fiery sword was placed around the tree of life, and they were expelled from the garden, lest they participate in the tree of life and were immortal sinners. The fruit of this tree was to perpetuate immortality. "Who in the family of Adam went through the fiery sword, and participated in the tree of life?" , "None of the family of Adam went through that fiery sword, and participated in the tree; therefore, there is no immortal sinner." The soul that sins will die eternal death, death that there will be no hope of resurrection; and then the wrath of God will be placated.
It is surprising that Satan succeeded so well in making men believe that the words of God, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18: 4), meant that the soul that sinneth will not die, but will live forever in a miserable state. "Life is life, whether in pain or in happiness. Death is without pain, without joy, without hate."
Satan told his angels to make a special effort to spread the lie first spoken to Eve in Eden: "You will certainly not die." Gen. 3: 4. And, being the error received by the people, and being led to believe that man is immortal, Satan led them to believe that the sinner will live in an eternal state of misery. The way was prepared for Satan to act through his representatives and present God before the people as a vindictive tyrant, as someone who plunges into hell all those who do not please Him, and makes them feel His wrath forever; and, while suffering unspeakable affliction, and writhing in the eternal flames, He is represented to look upon them with satisfaction. Satan knew that if this error were received, God would be hated by many, rather than loved and adored;
Another extreme that Satan has led the people to adopt is that they take no account of the justice of God and the threats of His Word, and represent Him as being all mercy, so that no one will perish, but that everyone, both saints and sinners, will finally be saved in His kingdom.
As a result of the popular errors of the immortality of the soul, and the endless state of miseries, Satan takes advantage of another class, and leads them to regard the Bible as an uninspired book. They think that she teaches many good things; but they cannot place trust in it and love it, because they have been taught that it declares the doctrine of eternal torment.
Another class Satan takes even further, even to deny the existence of God. They cannot see consistency in the character of the God of the Bible, if He will inflict horrible tortures on a part of the human family for all eternity. Therefore, they deny the Bible and its Author, and regard death as an eternal sleep.
There is yet another class that is fearful and timid. These Satan tries to commit sin, and after they have sinned he shows them that the wages of sin is not death, but life in horrible torments, to be endured for the endless ages of eternity. Thus increasing the horrors of an eternal hell before his weak spirit, he takes possession of their minds and they lose their reason. Then Satan and his angels rejoice, and unbelievers and atheists unite to inflict injury on Christianity. They claim that these evils are the natural results of believing in the Bible and its Author, while they are the results of receiving popular heresy.
The celestial was filled with indignation because of this bold work of Satan. Why were all these deceptions allowed to take over the minds of men, when God's angels were powerful, and, being commissioned, they could easily break the enemy's power. God knew that Satan would experiment with every device to destroy man; therefore, He made His Word written, and so clarified His purposes for the human race that not even the weakest need be wrong. After giving His Word to man, he carefully preserved it from destruction by Satan and his angels, or by any of his agents or representatives. While other books could be destroyed, this one should be immortal. And, near the end of time, when Satan's deceptions increased,
God had specially kept the Bible, even when there were few copies of it; and learned men in some cases changed the words, thinking that they were making it more understandable when, in reality, they were mystifying what was clear, making it support their established opinions, which were determined by tradition. I saw, however, that the Word of God, as a whole, is a perfect chain, attaching itself to each other, and explaining each other. True seekers of truth must not go wrong; for not only is the Word of God clear and simple in explaining the way of life, but the Holy Spirit is given as a guide in understanding the way of life revealed there.
I saw that God's angels must never rule the will. God puts life and death before man. This can make your choice. Many desire life, but still continue to walk the wide path. They prefer to rebel against the government of God, despite His great mercy and compassion in giving His Son to die for them. Those who do not choose to accept the salvation purchased at such a high price, must be punished. I saw, however, that God would not lock them up in hell to endure eternal misfortune, nor would He take them to Heaven; for placing them in the company of those who are pure and holy would make them extraordinarily unhappy. He will, however, destroy them completely, and make them as if they had not existed; then His justice will be satisfied. He formed man from the dust of the earth, and the disobedient and profane will be consumed by fire and return to the dust again. I saw that God's benevolence and compassion in this regard should lead everyone to admire His character and to worship His holy name. After the wicked are destroyed from the earth, the entire heavenly army will say, "Amen!"
Satan looks with great satisfaction on those who profess the name of Christ, although they are intimately attached to the mistakes that he himself gave rise to. His work is still to invent new mistakes, and his power and art continually grow in that direction. He led his representatives, the popes and the priests, to exalt themselves, and to urge the people to harshly persecute and destroy those who were unwilling to accept their mistakes. Oh! the sufferings and agonies that the precious followers of Christ were led to endure! Angels kept a faithful record of everything! Satan and his evil angels exultantly told the angels who ministered to these suffering saints that they must all be killed, lest a single faithful Christian be left on earth. God's church was then pure. There was no danger of her entering with men of corrupt hearts; for true Christians who dared to declare their faith were in danger of torment at the easel, at the stake, and in every kind of torture that Satan and his evil angels would be able to invent or inspire in the minds of men.

The real ones are always in difficulty.