Is there a literal Hell? Is there a Lake of Fire? Do the souls of those who die in the flesh live on into eternity (Hades/Sheol)? As far back as history is recorded, is there evidence that the Jews, and those, who have received revelation from God, believed in eternal punishment of the wicked? The answers to all these questions are a definitive “Yes!” Also, the Bible makes it clear there is a heaven for the immortal souls of the Christians who die the physical death.
Hades is a compound of two Greek words, one being the negative “not” and the other “seen.” The word “Hades” simply means “unseen” or “invisible.” The Greek scholars agree that since graves are seen and visible, it is erroneous to say that the word Hades in the Greek language means “the grave.” Not once in all of Scripture is the word “raised” or “resurrection” used of the soul or spirit. It always strictly refers to the resurrection of the body.
The Greek word Hades refers to the unseen or invisible underworld where the spirit or soul of unregenerate man goes after the death of the body. The description of the Greek word Hades has always been understood by the Greeks to mean an eternal place of torment.
The Apocrypha, apocalyptic, rabbinic and Greek extra-biblical literature understands the word “soul” to refer to that conscious part of man which survives the death of the body. This description of the soul has “always” been universal in its acceptance. Extra-biblical means “the accepted religious writings from history that did not become part of the Bible”, but are used as references to understanding history.
The word “Gehenna” (Hell) comes from a place in the valley of Hinnom where the Israelites sacrificed their children to Moloch. This was a place where bodies, putrid refuse, and trash was burned continually. The fires were never extinguished, but were burned perpetually because of the constant supply of bodies, putrid refuse, and trash.
It was a ghastly place where the odor was unbearable, fire continuously burned, and worms were ever present eating the remaining flesh of men and all putrid refuse. Those sacrificed or tormented by the evil rulers were taken to this place for their bodies to be burned. It was known by those aware of this place as the worst location one could imagine.
Since no one could think of any place more ghastly, the place of Gehenna was often used by the Jews and Greeks to describe Hell which was believed to exist in eternity by orthodox believers. Many of today’s false teachers try to pass Hell as the literal place in the valley of Hinnom, but history and teachings of the Jewish nation have “always” taught of a literal Hell which exists in eternity. It was common knowledge that the soul of the wicked left the dead body and was consigned to Hell for eternity.
Those who penned God’s Word knew that Hell was an eternal place in the afterworld of eternal fire and punishment. The reason Hell has been called by the word “Gehenna” was an attempt to describe the literal Hell in comparison to Gehenna in the valley of Hinnom.
Since those alive today are not aware of Gehenna in the valley of Hinnom, we do not use this term as it has no meaning to those removed from that era. The actual meaning of the original words of the scriptures is confirmed by all orthodox Greek scholars as a literal place of eternal fire and punishment for the souls of the wicked after death.
When Christ referred to Hell as the place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, he was merely referring to the horrible place of Hell in a rabbinic figure of speech that could be understood by those familiar with Gehenna. Christ, and the writers of the scriptures, has made it extremely clear that Hell is a literal, eternal place of torment and punishment for those who reject God’s Son as Savior.
“The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia” states that Gehenna refers to “the place of eternal punishment of the wicked.” McClintock and Strong’s “Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature” defines Gehenna as “the place of eternal punishment.” Both Coon and Mills define Gehenna as referring to “the place of eternal punishment. After an extensive research of intertestamental literature, the greatest Christian Talmudic scholar, Alfred Edersheim, a noted Hebrew Christian, concluded that Gehenna was understood in Christ’s time to refer to the place of eternal, conscious punishment for the wicked after the resurrection.
Gehenna, the description for eternal Hell, is found 12 times in the New Testament originals, and 11 of those quotes were by Jesus himself. The following are from the lips of Jesus: He calls it “the damnation of Hell”; it takes place at the end of the world after the judgment; both the body and soul is punished in Hell; it was a place of conscious torment; and it is eternal punishment.
Gehenna as a place of final punishment was a clear rabbinic teaching before Christ was ever born. The Midrash, the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud, and apocryphal literature refer to Gehenna hundreds of times. Those who teach annihilation, cessation of the soul at the death of the flesh, have erred terribly since hundreds and hundreds of passages of scripture teach that the souls of all men live for eternity in either a blissful heaven or a hell of torment and punishment. Christ referred to the reality of hell many more times than the reality of heaven.
The annihilationist teaches nothingness at the death of the flesh, but the teachings from the Bible and non-biblical writings are very descriptive in the events after the physical death of man. It is extremely foolish to take these descriptions as nothingness or annihilation after death. The descriptions of hell are vivid and terrifying, because they draw pictures of those who will be in perpetual torment for eternity with no rest from these torments. The Lake of Fire is in outer darkness (total darkness) where the darkness is smothering to the individual. It is truly a place of pure terror.
I will reference many verses from the Bible in this series, and a few of these verses will be repeated in the next “series” which will always follow this one. The series is named (appropriately) as “Hell”.
While the Old Testament consistently refers to the “body” as going to the grave, it “always” refers to the soul or spirit of man as going to Sheol (Hades). Brown, Driver and Briggs based their description of Sheol on the work of Gesenius, one of the greatest Hebrew scholars who ever lived. They define Sheol as “the underworld” where the souls of men went at death. There are many other scholars of Hebrew who also define Sheol as the place where departed souls are gathered after death of the body.
Modern scholarship understands the word Sheol to refer to the place where the soul or spirit of man goes at death. No lexicographical literature defines Sheol as referring to the grave or to passing into nonexistence. No research has found a place where Sheol means the grave or nonexistence.
The Ugaritic ars and Accadian su alu clearly refer to the netherworld. The Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Greek describe Sheol clearly as the place of departed spirits. The Ethiopian Si’ol cannot mean anything other than the netherworld, the place of conscious life after death. At no time did God ever put forth the concept of annihilation or nonexistence as the fate of man’s soul at death. The universality of belief in a conscious afterlife is irrefutable.
The lexicographical evidence is so clear that the great Princeton scholar, B. B. Warfield; stated that with modern Hebrew scholars, there is no “hesitation to allow with all heartiness that Israel from the beginning of its recorded history cherished the most settled conviction of the persistence of the soul in life after death.…The body is laid in the grave and the soul departs to Sheol (Hades).
1. While the word “bury” (kabar) is used in connection with grave (kever), it is never used in connection with Sheol. We can bury someone in a grave but we cannot bury anyone in Sheol. There are numerous scriptures to verify this.
2. While (grave) kever is found in its plural form, Sheol is never pluralized.
3. While a grave is located at a specific site, Sheol is never localized, because it is everywhere accessible at death no matter where the death takes place. No grave is necessary in order to go to Sheol.
4. While we can purchase or sell a grave, Scripture never speaks of Sheol being purchased or sold.
5. While we can own a grave as personal property, nowhere in Scripture is Sheol owned by man.
6. While we can discriminate between graves and pick the “choicest site”, nowhere in Scripture is a “choice” Sheol pitted against a “poor” Sheol.
7. While we can drop a dead body into a grave, no one can drop anyone into Sheol.
8. While we can erect a monument over a grave. Sheol is never spoken of as having monuments.
9. While we can, with ease, open or close a grave, Sheol is never opened or closed by man.
10. While we can touch a grave, no one is ever said in Scripture to touch Sheol.
11. While touching a grave brings ceremonial defilement, the Scriptures never speak of anyone being defiled by Sheol.
12. While we can enter and leave a tomb or grave, no one is ever said to enter and then leave Sheol.
13. While we can choose the site of our own grave, Sheol is never spoken of as something we can pick and choose.
14. While we can remove or uncover the bodies or bones in a grave, the Scriptures never speak of man removing or uncovering anything in Sheol.
15. While we can beautify a grave with ornate carvings or pictures, Sheol is never beautified by man.
16. While graves can be robbed or defiled, Sheol is never spoken of as being robbed or defiled by man.
17. While a grave can be destroyed by man, nowhere in Scripture is man said to be able to destroy Sheol.
18. While a grave can be full, Sheol is never full.
19. While we can see a grave, Sheol is always invisible.
20. While we can visit the graves of loved ones, nowhere in Scripture is man said to visit Sheol.
There are also descriptions of Sheol in the Bible which may not be literal, but give some idea of its existence and reason for existence. It is described as having gates and bars, which are probably not literal, but conveys the idea that there is no escape from the realm of Sheol. It is a place of total darkness. It is sometimes described as being in the lower part of the earth, but again this could only mean it has another dimension of its own.
It is mentioned as a place where the dead reunite, both the wicked in one section and the righteous in another section. Some scripture tends to indicate there was a holding place in the higher section of Sheol where the righteous souls were reunited until such time as Jesus had made the atonement on the cross for them.
There is scripture stating Jesus went into Hades immediately after his physical death and took captive, captive. It appears Jesus then took all of the souls to heaven with him that had been kept there until the debt was paid by him. We know Christ has the keys to Hades and the power over Hades. We also know that many of the previously dead righteous souls were seen alive walking on the face of the earth prior to the ascension of Christ.
Not once is Hades used as the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for grave (kever). Not once does it mean nonexistence or unconsciousness. The times it is used for words other than Sheol, it clearly means the world of spirits. There is, therefore, no way to escape the conclusion that the translators of the Septuagint clearly understood that Hades referred to the realm of disembodied souls or spirits.
The Hebrew and Greek scholars agree that the Hebrew word “Sheol” and the Greek word “Hades” are the same. Princeton theologian, A. A. Hodge, stated: Modern Hebrew and Greek scholars…unite with near unanimity in maintaining that these words (Sheol and Hades) never on a single occasion in the Bible mean “the grave”.
Since the Greek word thanatos means death, it is clear that Hades does not mean death. Revelation 1:18 I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death. (Hell and death in this verse are not synonyms, but two different meanings.)
The Greek word for grave is mneema, it is clear again that Hades is not the word for grave. Sheol and Hades are normally reserved for the primary place of banishment for lost souls, while Hell (Gehenna) is normally reserved for the final destination or Lake of Fire. Sheol (Hades) is shown vividly in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus with its two divisions (temporary), one for punishment and one for blissfulness.
The wicked at death descend into Hades (Sheol). It is a temporary place of torment until they await the bodily resurrection and judgment of final eternal punishment. At judgment, Hades will give up all souls; they shall receive their sentence, and then be cast into the Lake of Fire (Hell/Gehenna) for eternity.
Just as there was an apocrypha of Old Testament writings (not included in the Bible), but used as history, there is also a collection of New Testament writings (not included in the Bible), but used as history. Here is a sampling of writings proving a common belief in eternal punishment for the lost and wicked:
Epistula Apostolarum, II Epistula Petri, The Acts of John, The Acts of Peter, Christian Sibyllines, New Testament Apocalyptic Words, The Ascension of Isaiah, The Apocalypses of Peter, The Apocalypse of Paul, and many others.
Most of the well known historians also wrote of the validity of eternal punishment in the lake of fire and outer darkness. A sample of the historians is Polycarp, Clement, Justin, Irenaeus, Ignatius, and Athenagoras, among many.
The Bible makes it clear that death means separation, not annihilation. Adam did not die the physical death immediately after he ate of the forbidden fruit, but was immediately separated from God (death of the spiritual soul). The blood of his physical body was immediately tainted by sin and the penalty was eventual deterioration and death of the physical body.
Those who have received a new spiritual soul that joins with their own soul are no longer separated from God. Those without this spiritual soul will remain separated from God. All souls will be reunited with their respective newly resurrected bodies, but those who do not have the new spiritual soul from God will remain separated from God for eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Jesus calls the spiritually unborn “dead”, even though they may be physically living. He says, “Let the dead bury the dead”. He was not saying that nonexistent persons should bury the dead. Why is death “the last enemy that God will destroy”? After the judgment, all wicked will be cast into the Lake of Fire which is the second death (final separation) from God. They will be remembered no more. The separation of unrighteousness and righteousness will have been completed and the enemy (death/separation) will never occur again.
Regardless of each man’s final destination (heaven or hell), he will have both a resurrected body fit for eternity, and his soul will be reunited with this new body. Man was not created as the angels (spirit beings), man was created as beings made up of both a body and soul. Each man will spend eternity in one of two destinations with both a body and soul.
Many claim there is no eternal punishment, because God’s love could not punish someone for eternity. This is man talking and not God. God’s Word states differently. We cannot assume what God will do; we have to read of God’s messages to us. God makes it clear that his ways are not our ways. God states, “As the heavens are higher than earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. “Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct the Lord”?
Just as our emotional aversion to the pain and suffering we see in this life does not alter the fact that it exists, neither does our aversion to any future punishment in the eternal state alter the fact that it will exist.
Job 4:17-19 17Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker? 18Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: 19How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? (If God’s Word declares eternal punishment, man’s opinions mean nothing)
Is God Just in casting the wicked into an eternal abode of punishment? The Bible claims God is complete righteousness and metes out Justice equally and righteously. He is the creator and the Judge, his judgment is true. Some of the verses are included below.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Psalms 89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Hosea 4:6 my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Regardless that the wicked claims God will not cast the lost into everlasting punishment (Gehenna), it is proven otherwise by the Bible.
Hebrews 9:27 It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (The Bible makes it clear that judgment comes after time expires. If man ceases to exist, then this could not be true. “Let God be true, and every man a liar”.)
Romans 3:10-18, 23 10As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (The Bible says that all are guilty of eternal punishment, because man seeks after unrighteousness and his own lusts. His only hope is to accept Christ as his Savior by faith and place his life in Christ.)
Ephesians 2:1-3 1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Those who accept Christ are quickened, receive a new spiritual soul, and escape the punishments of hell.)
Perish, punishment, destroy, destruction, etal, does not mean annihilation. Various forms of the words “destroy” or “destruction” appears 495 times in the Bible, representing both Hebrew and Greek words. Not one of them means annihilation or nonexistence.
When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and died, he was immediately separated from God. His punishment began at his spiritual death. He became fearful, anxious, burdened with guilt, and engulfed with remorse. He had to start wearing clothing to protect himself from the heat and cold, work for his food until he sweats (feelings of exhaustion), experience pain in childbirth (Eve), suffer from all the diseases brought into the world by sin, and see his body slowly deteriorate until its physical death.
He also would have to see his children, friends, neighbors, etal, die from accidents, murders, and other causes. He would suffer through this life until his physical days would end. This punishment will continue after man dies for those who remain separated from God, except eternal torment will be added because of his wicked state and his treading underfoot the blood of God’s only begotten Son.
The most widely quoted annihilation author (Froom), admits that many sources teaches eternal punishment including the Bible, Second Maccabees, Book of Jubilees, Wisdom of Solomon, Fourth Maccabees, Philo, and Josephus.
The Apocrypha, the Apocalyptic, the Pseudepigrapha, the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud, the Midrash and Mishna, The Septuagint, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, Psalms of Solomon, The Assumption of Moses, The Ascension of Isaiah, and Philo & Josephus stated the Jews believed in eternal punishment. Many other historic writings show the beliefs always indicate everlasting punishment as opposed to annihilation.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (God created man from the dust of the earth then breathed the living soul of God into him. Man is both a body of clay and a living soul. When the body of clay dies, the soul of the lost goes to Sheol (Hades), and the soul of the born again one goes to be with God in heaven.)
The following verses are a sampling of many found in the Bible that shows that man’s soul leaves the physical body when it dies. All of those who are lost, their souls are confined to the lower part of Hades (Sheol). Those of faith prior to the death and resurrection of Christ were confined to paradise in the upper section of Hades. Since the ascension of Christ, all of those of faith prior to his ascension and the souls of those born again after the Holy Ghost came into the world go directly to heaven to be with Christ.
Genesis 35:18 and it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni. (Soul leaving the body)
1 Kings 17:21-22 21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 22And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. (Soul returning to the body)
1 Samuel 28:7-25 (In this lengthy story, Saul had a witch to bring up the spirit of Samuel to give him information and advice after Samuel had died. The story indicates that the soul of Samuel came forth and gave bad news to Saul. Some scholars are not sure it was Samuel or that a spirit of Satan posed as Samuel. At any rate, it proves there are spirits and souls beyond this world.)
Psalms 31:5 into thy hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. (David commits his soul, spirit, to God)
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Very clear that our souls leave the body at its death)
Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knows the spirit of man, that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth? (This also shows the soul of man to leave the body at death, but bad news for those who think animals go to heaven)
Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. (We know the soul of Jesus went into Hades at his death, but was returned to his resurrected immortal body three days later)
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. (The Ghost was the spirit of God in Jesus. He was both man and God, who is a spirit.)
Psalms 63:9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. (Since David belongs to God, he knows that the wicked who seeks his soul will only have their soul damned to the lower parts of Hades)
Ezekiel 26:20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living. (God has told the wicked that their souls will descend into the pits of Hades. There they will be reunited with many of their own wicked who have passed before them)
Proverbs 9:18 But he knows not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell. (The souls of the wicked who are presumed dead are really in the depths of Hades)
Psalms 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. (God will receive the soul of the faithful unto himself when the physical life is over and placed in the grave)
Luke 23:42-43 42And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou come into thy kingdom. 43And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shall thou be with me in paradise. (The thief would be with the spirit of Jesus that same day after they died. Both would be in Hades, the thief would be in the higher section of Hades, Paradise)
Matthew 12:32 And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, and neither in the world to come. (This world and the next world proves another life beyond this life)
Matthew 17:1-3 1And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother, and brings them up into a high mountain apart, 2and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. (Moses was considered dead, but made this appearance with Jesus. Elias was considered Translated from this life to another life and appears with Jesus)
Luke 16:22-23, 26 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. (Bodies of both the Rich Man and Lazarus died, but their souls lived on in separate sections of Hades)
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (The bodies of all will be raised to immortality, and their souls reunited with the bodies. The lost to eternal contempt and the born again to everlasting blissfulness)
John 5:28-29 28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (The dead bodies will be resurrected and the living souls from Hades will be reunited with the new immortal bodies)
2 Peter 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. (Souls of the wicked will be assigned to the Lake of Fire for eternity)
Jude 6-7 6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Satan, the fallen angels, and those who are not born again will inherit the eternal Lake of Fire)
1 Peter 3:18-19 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. (Jesus died and his spirit went to Hades and preached to the existing spirits in Hades)
Luke 24:37, 39 37But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 39behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (When Jesus spirit returned from Hades, it returned into his resurrected immortal body. He was both spirit and body and shortly ascended into heaven)
1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God no man knows, but the Spirit of God. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
Galatians 6:8 For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (Each man is comprised of both a spirit and a body)
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows 
such a one caught up to the third heaven. 3And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows 4How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (This appeared to be an out-of-the-body experience by the soul)
2 Corinthians 5:1-4, 8 1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (When the body dies, Christian’s souls will be present with Christ)
Philippians 1:21-24 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 22but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I do not want. 23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. (When the body dies, Christian’s souls will be present with Christ)
2 Peter 1:13-15 13Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shown me. 15 Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. (Paul was about to be martyred, but knew his soul would depart to Christ)
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 51Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (Stated positively that our old bodies will be changed in an instant into an immortal body to match our immortal souls)
1 Corinthians 15:42-43, 50, 53 42so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 50Now this I say, brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 53for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (The Christian body may die, but the soul lives on and eventually will be reunited with a new immortal body)
Romans 2:3-6 3And think thou this, O man that judges them which do such things and doest the same, that thou shall escape the judgment of God? 4Or despise thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance? 5But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thy-self wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6Who will render to every man according to his deeds. (God, at the judgment, end of time, will raise the dead souls from Hades, reunite them with new immortal bodies, render their sentences, and then cast them into the Lake of Fire for eternity)
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Those without Christ will spend eternity in hell, Gehenna, for eternity with both a body and soul)
Revelation 14:10-11 10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11And the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name. (It is clear that the wicked will tormented with fire and brimstone for eternity)
2 Thessalonians 1:9 The wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. (Wicked will be punished in the Lake of Fire)
Matthew 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? (The fallen angels, devils, knew they were sentenced to eternal torment)
2 Peter 2:4, 9 4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment, 9 The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. (God will reserve the unjust souls for judgment to be punished eternally in the Lake of Fire)
Jude 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to who is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. (Outer darkness for the wicked to be endured by the wicked forever)
Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Satan and the wicked are cast into the Lake of Fire to be tormented constantly forever)
Matthew 25:41, 46 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Satan and the wicked are cast into the Lake of Fire to be tormented constantly forever)
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Second death is the eternal separation from God into the Lake of Fire where the wicked will spend eternity)
1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. (Perdition is everlasting shame and torment)
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (The antichrist, Satan, will be cast into the bottomless pit along with all the unrighteous)
Revelation 20:11-15 11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead who were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Their will be rewards in heaven for the faithful and there will be degrees of punishment in hell.)
Hebrews 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (This verse and many similar ones prove that the punishment is eternal, because there is no degree of punishment in annihilation.)
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. (Eternal punishment is meted by degrees to the lost and wicked. Each time the gospel and/or warnings are posted on the board, the lost and wicked pile up more and more punishments for themselves in hell. All, who reject the spirit of grace (Holy Ghost of Christ), tread on the very blood of God’s only begotten Son. As this verse states, the more a person hears the Word of God and refuses it, he heaps coals of fire on his own head.)
Matthew 16:26-27 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Every man means both bodily dead and bodily alive. This would have to mean the rewards would be for the eternity of the souls of both the good and the bad. If a person dies and does not exist anymore, how can he be judged? He does continue to exist in eternity along with his punishment)
Matthew 26:24 The Son of man goes as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born. (If Judas is annihilated, then this verse makes no sense as he would cease to exist. But, Jesus says it is better for Judas that he had never been born.)
Revelation 1:18 I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (As Jesus has both an eternal, immortal body and spirit of God, so does the born again believer)
John 3:6, 8 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 8The wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (Born again man is both body and eternal spirit)
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (As God is a spirit and lives for eternity, so does the born again man. If the born again person lives for eternity, there is no annihilation at death of the physical body)
Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. (All of the born again have their names written in heaven in the Lamb’s Book of Life and there spirit will immediately go to heaven at the death of their physical body)
2 Timothy 4:6-8 6For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith: 8Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (Paul would soon lose his physical life, but his spiritual soul would live on with God)
Revelation 6:9-11 9And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Souls of the born again are presently in heaven with God even though there bodies are still in the ground)
2 Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (Jesus has abolished spiritual death, separation from God, for the born again believers)
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (The born again believer will live forever, will never be separated from God again)
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (Born again believer has eternal life in heaven, the wicked and lost has eternal life as a damned one)
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (Born again believer has eternal life in heaven)
1 John 5:13 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (Born again believer has eternal life in heaven)
Luke 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. (Born again believer is blessed with peace in this life and has a blissful life waiting in eternity)
Ephesians 1:21Christ is far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. (When this life is over, there will be two more places for eternal man, heaven and hell)
Luke 20:35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. (There will be a heaven, but there will not be genders there)
Ephesians 2:7 In the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Ages to come are the eons of eternal life in Christ)
Acts 7:55-60 55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Stephen saw into heaven as his physical body died, but his spiritual soul went directly to heaven)
Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (All darkness will be in the Lake of Fire where God will be absent. All light will be in heaven where God will abide in the Temple of Jesus)
Romans 8:38-39 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (There is “no” way a born again believer can ever be separated from God again, not even death of the physical body)
1 Thessalonians 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. (Even when our physical bodies sleep in the dust of the earth, our spiritual souls will be with Christ in heaven)
John 14:2-3 2in my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (Jesus will personally come again to every born again believer at the physical death to take him to heaven)
1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (Man is both body and soul. The born again believer is a new spiritual soul in the physical body. God will allow the rebellious child to lose his physical body, but not his child’s soul)
1 Corinthians 15:49-57 49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 51Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (The physically dead bodies will be raised incorruptible into a new immortal body to be reunited with the souls in the clouds with Jesus)
54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (The physical body of the saved will be instantly changed to a new immortal body to unite with our spiritual souls for eternity)
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 15for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (See descriptions above)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleeps in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (See descriptions above. Remember, the word sleep is always associated with the physical death and not the soul)
Revelation 7:9-17 9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, 10And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. (All of this takes place in heaven in eternity, and has nothing to do with bodies on the earth. These are the souls of men with Christ whose bodies are in the graves)
Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Enoch never saw physical death, but his body was translated into an immortal one into heaven with God)
Hebrews 11:5 5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (See above)
2 Kings 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (See above, Elijah same translation as Enoch)
Ezekiel 18:23, 32 23Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Says the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. (Those that inherit the Lake of Fire have no life, but eternal torment. Those who inherit heaven have a life of blissfulness for eternity)
Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, as I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (See above description)
Matthew 7:13-14 13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it. (Those that follow the straight path, Christ of righteousness, will have a full blissful life in heaven. Only the continual chaotic destruction awaits those who spend an eternity in hell)
Philippians 1:28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (Perdition is an eternal punishment and shame)
Hebrew 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Perdition is an eternal punishment and shame. The saved soul will live blissfully in heaven)
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (All men will have their bodies resurrected to an immortal one to be reunited with their present souls in hell or in heaven. Each person will be judged for heaven or hell depending on their acceptance or rejection of Christ. Those to be cast in to the Lake of Fire will receive punishment of various sections of hell according to their life on earth. Those who are in heaven will receive judgments to determine their rewards or loss of rewards according to their faithfulness on the earth)
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abided on him. (In the final analysis, those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior will have an abundant blissful life in heaven. Those who tread on the precious blood of Jesus, the Son of God, will live separated eternally from God in everlasting punishment)
Continued in the “Hell” Series which will follow this series.
Father Time
