How Does the Bible Describe Hell?--Hell Series

             Among all the teachings of Christianity, perhaps none is more universally disliked than the teaching that those people who do not accept Jesus as their Savior will receive the penalty of everlasting suffering in Hell. This doctrine is disliked by people who don’t embrace it AND people who do! No one should enjoy the thought that this fate awaits those who do not accept Christ, because I don’t think God enjoys it either.

            Nevertheless, my emotional reaction to a doctrine should not be the criterion by which I decide whether or not a doctrine is true. That decision should only be made by assessing the teaching of the Bible. So today, we’re going to take a look at how the Bible describes Hell. Then, over the next two weeks, we’ll discuss some questions and objections that have been raised about the traditional interpretation of these passages.

            Now I should point out that just as with our series on Heaven, it seems that there is a temporary place where unbelieving people go today after they die that is not yet their final, eternal state. You may remember that I made a distinction between the Heaven where Jesus lives today and the New Heaven and New Earth. It seems that the Bible makes the same distinction about Hell, but the descriptions of the temporary Hell and the eternal Hell are so similar that for this series I’m going to discuss them together.

HOW DOES THE BIBLE DESCRIBE HELL?

            If you were to look up the word “hell” in the Bible, you might be surprised to learn that the person who had more to say about Hell than anyone else was the Lord Jesus himself! I’m sure this is why the doctrine of Hell has had such staying power in Christianity even though it is universally disliked. We cannot escape the fact that Jesus spoke frequently about Hell and used it as a dire warning to encourage people to confess their sins and embrace God. Much of what we’ll look at this morning, then, comes directly from Jesus.

1. It is described as a place of fire

            Specifically, the Bible gives us three images to describe Hell. First, Jesus described it by pointing to the area outside of Jerusalem where the city’s trash was burned up. In Matthew 5:21-22 for example, Jesus says [READ Matt. 5:21-22; p. 525]. The words “hell of fire” translate the word gehenna, which was a reference to the Valley of Hinnom just outside the city of Jerusalem.

            Way back in the days of King Ahaz, the king made that valley a place for the worship of idols. The king even offered some of his own children as burnt offerings to the idols! But when the godly King Josiah came to power, he put an end to idol worship in that place and decided to turn the Valley of Hinnom into a place of uncleanness and dishonor, so he turned it into the city dump for the city of Jerusalem. Fires were continually burning there, and the people used the area to dispose of everything from household trash to the bodies of dead animals and criminals.

            So the first picture we receive of Hell is that of a place of dishonor where fire is perpetually burning. The second picture is that of an oven. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable about a man who had an enemy, and one night, his enemy came and planted weeds in his wheat field. When harvest time came, the harvesters gathered up the weeds and burned them, and in Matthew 13:38, Jesus offers this explanation for his parable [READ Matt. 13:38-42; p. 531].

            The “fiery furnace” is a reference to something that we more commonly call a kiln or an oven, something that would be used to heat glass or pottery, or that would be used at home to bake bread. So once again, Jesus pictures Hell as a place of fire.

            The third picture is that of a lake of fire. That is how Hell is described in the book of Revelation. For example, Revelation 20:10 says that the Devil will be thrown into a “lake of fire,” and v. 15 talks about the final judgment of mankind and says, “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

            Now, that’s an odd phrase because a lake obviously holds water, which does not burn. But the picture seems to be one of liquid fire—probably something like lava. To be in something like that means that you would be surrounded by it and engulfed in it.

These three pictures combine to give us a fearful image of Hell. With this image, its no surprise that…

2. It is described as a place of agony and torment

            We’ve probably all heard people say things like, “I’d just as soon go to Hell because all of my friends will be there and we’ll have a big party!” Well, the Bible gives us no reason to think that there will be any joy in Hell. Instead, it uses words like “agony,” “anguish,” and “torment” to describe what people there are experiencing.

            We can think first of all of the rich man in Jesus’ parable in Luke 16—why don’t you turn there with me? I’ll start reading from the beginning of the parable in 16:19 [READ Luke 16:19-24; p. 569]. If you know the rest of the parable, you’ll remember that the rich man did not want his brothers to join him in that place. He obviously had no thought that they could all throw a big party together. Instead, he knew that they would be in anguish, just as he was.

            Let’s also read a passage from Revelation 14. This passage talks about a person who is simply called “the beast.” If you remember the story from my sermon last week, this is the person whom I called Therion; he is a world leader who will come to power in the end times. Notice what this passage says about those who worship him [READ Rev. 14:9-11; p. 669].

            There is a very bleak and hopeless tone in this description. One factor that often helps us cope with suffering today is the assurance that it won’t last forever, but for these people it says, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.”

In this description we begin to see that Hell…

3. It is described as being everlasting (without end)

            This is probably the most controversial point today about the Bible’s description of Hell, but I think its one that is well-established by the Biblical evidence. I don’t say that with any degree of pleasure or satisfaction; I say it only because I think it is true.

            We’ve already seen that Rev. 14 describes some people who will endure punishment in Hell forever and ever. Let’s consider a few other verses. In Mark 9:43, Jesus says, “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” That will be an important verse to remember in the coming weeks as we discuss that claim that has been made by some people that those who go to Hell are actually burned up by fire and quickly cease to exist. But if that’s true, it would seem that the fire of Hell would one day be quenched when it had nothing left to burn, but this verse says it is an “unquenchable” fire.

            In the book of Revelation again, Rev. 20:10 states that the final fate of the Devil will be to be “thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

            Finally, let’s consider a very significant verse in Matthew 25. In this chapter, Jesus is describing a judgment that will occur when He returns to set up His kingdom in this world. In this judgment, He separates the wicked from the righteous, and in Matthew 25:46, He says, “and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Notice that the same word—the word “eternal”—is used to describe the duration of punishment for the wicked and the duration of life for the righteous. So if eternal life is everlasting or unending for the righteous, then punishment for the wicked must also be everlasting or unending, because the same word is used in the same sentence to describe both. This observation will be important to remember in the coming weeks as we consider various claims that the punishment of Hell is not unending, but this verse describes two settled, final states in which people will find themselves—either a final state of punishment or a final state of life.

4. It is said to be ruled by God, not Satan

            It is very common for people to think that Satan is the ruler of Hell, and that people who go there are given to him to be tortured by him and his demons. A few years ago, I heard the testimony of a man who claimed that God allowed him to visit Hell in order to see it and warn people about it. I immediately began to doubt his story when he claimed that he saw people in Hell being tortured by demons, because the Bible does not give us that idea at all.

            Rather than being in charge of Hell, Satan and his demons will receive punishment in Hell. Let me again read Revelation 20:10, which states that the Devil will be “thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” This is Satan’s fate! He will not spend eternity inflicting punishment on others; rather, he will endure punishment as his judgment from God.

            Earlier, we also read from Matthew 25, and v. 41 of that chapter states that Hell was created with the Devil in mind. In that verse, the Lord Jesus says to the wicked whom He has judged, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Those angels are the same beings who are elsewhere called “demons.”

            This verse points out the greatest tragedy of all for men and women who end up in Hell—it was not created for us! We as humans did not—and do not—have to end up there. But through our sin, we have joined Satan’s rebellion against God, and thus we are in danger of receiving the same fate. As Revelation 20:15 warns us, if anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

            So how do we come to have our name written in that book? Simply by accepting the pardon that God offers to us through the Lord Jesus Christ—the gift of eternal life. Through our sins, we have all broken God’s laws, and we deserved punishment from Him, but because God loves us, He sent His own Son to receive our punishment as our substitute, and He did just that in His death on the cross. Then, God raised Him from the grave to declare to all men that the punishment had been served—the price had been paid—and now we can receive a pardon from God if we will renounce our rebellion against Him and accept the Lord Jesus by faith as our Savior.

            Hell is not meant for you, my friends, and you can escape its danger today by accepting Christ as your Savior.