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What is Hell?

August 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM 4 comments

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This seems like a fairly basic question, don’t you think? However, if you ask people, you’ll get a number of different responses. Some people say this life can be “hell.” Others say that hell is simply a state of mind. Others will tell us that hell is where “bad” people go, however, they usually never include themselves in their definition of “bad” people.

The other day I heard someone say that he used to think hell was a place of fire overseen by a guy in a red suit with a pitchfork. Then he said he really cannot know what hell actually is, though he landed on the idea that hell is the absence of God.

Okay, let me take the time to set the record straight from the Bible itself, because it is not at all silent on the subject of hell. Let’s start with the term Abraham’s Bosom. In Luke 16:19–31, Jesus relates what many people believe to be a parable. A parable is simply a fictitious story that offers a moral or religious principle. We know that Jesus taught in parables often as a way to instruct people and make them think.

In this particular case though, I don’t believe Jesus was speaking about Abraham’s Bosom as a parable. I believe He was relating a completely true story. He saw it and understood what it meant.

We learn about a rich man who wasn’t even named by Jesus. The story also includes a very poor man Jesus does name; Lazarus. Jesus talked about the fact that in this life, the rich man had everything he needed and much more, comparing that with Lazarus who had nothing. Lazarus couldn’t walk because we are told he was carried and laid at the city gate as a beggar. He was hoping for any crumb the rich man might give him. Lazarus was filled with sores and the dogs came and licked them.

Lazarus’ plight in life was not something any of us would want. Too often, we tend to think how great it would be to be super rich. Life would be grand, wouldn’t it? Truth is that riches tend to keep us from going to God, whereas Lazarus was likely praying to God all the time. The fact that the rich man went to the horrible side of hell and Lazarus the wonderful side (paradise), is based on each man’s faith or lack of it, not that one was rich and one was extremely poor.

Eventually, both men died and then, they experienced the afterlife. In that afterlife, both men went to a place called “hell” or “Sheol.” However, it is important to understand from the account that this hell/Sheol was divided into two sections. On one side, the rich man took up residence and on the other side, Lazarus.

During the account, the rich man looked up and saw Abraham and called out to him. How he knew he was Abraham we are not told but I’m thinking that in the afterlife, things like this will become clearly obvious. At any rate, he saw Lazarus leaning into Abraham’s chest, seemingly enjoying the afterlife, while the rich man was in “torments.” The rich man was literally “…in anguish in this flame.” (v24) The rich man, upon entering hell, was immediately in anguish because of the “flames.” Flames? Apparently, that side of hell is hot, very hot. This also explains why he was thirsty.

Interestingly, the rich man calls out to Abraham and asks that he send Lazarus to dip his finger in the water and bring it to the rich man in an attempt to quench his thirst. The rich man is quite desperate and his riches he had here can do nothing for him there. Abraham’s answer is astute.

25 ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.

So, even if Abraham wanted to “send” Lazarus and Lazarus was willing to go, there was no way he could get to the rich man. It was impossible.

Jesus describes hell in numerous ways. In Matthew 13:41–42, He tells us that it is a “fiery furnace,” among other things. Jesus constantly attempted to draw a horrible picture of what hell was like so that people would stop and think and maybe not want to go there. How was it avoided then? The same way it is avoided now, by reaching out to Jesus and, by faith, receiving the only salvation that is available. Once we embrace/receive salvation made possible only through Him, we will avoid going to hell altogether.

Jesus also refers to hell as “the hell of fire” (Matt. 5:22), “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), “eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:46). He is ultimately pointing to another place called the Lake of Fire, which we will get to in a moment. It’s difficult to understand why some believers cannot wrap their brains around this idea that hell is a real place and a place of real torment.

Jesus also referred to hell as “Gehenna.” As noted by the folks at GotQuestions.org, “The word gehenna is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew ge-hinnom, meaning ‘Valley of [the sons of] Hinnom.’ This valley south of Jerusalem was where some of the ancient Israelites ‘passed children through the fire’ (sacrificed their children) to the Canaanite god Molech (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:2–6). The place is called ‘Tophet / Topheth’ in Isaiah 30:33. In later years, Gehenna continued to be an unclean place used for burning trash from the city of Jerusalem. Jesus used Gehenna as an illustration of hell.”[1] Jesus used Gehenna as an object lesson to illustrate the reality and horror of hell itself because everyone living them in that area of the world was very familiar with Gehenna.

However, hell is a temporary abode. When Jesus rose from the dead, He took prisoners in His train (Ephesians 4:8-10). Those “prisoners” were those in the Abraham’s Bosom side of hell or Sheol. Since His resurrection, that side of hell has been completely empty. Imagine what a shock it was to everyone, but especially to those on the “bad” side of hell to see Jesus show up on the Abraham’s Bosom side and preach to everyone letting them know what would shortly occur. Then, they saw as He rose and took everyone on the Abraham’s Bosom side with Him out of that place. Remember, Jesus told the one thief that he would be with Him in paradise that very day (Luke 23:43).

The “prisoners,” though they were considered righteous by God, were sequestered there until Jesus made the way for them to leave to go to heaven itself. They couldn’t leave until He led them out.

So here’s the rich man and tons of other people watching as God the Son comes and explains things. Then on the appointed third day, He rises from the dead and takes with Him every righteous soul sequestered there in the Abraham’s Bosom side. It is now empty and the horror of what is left and the permanence of it is all that remains for everyone on the same side as the rich man.

It seems clear to me from the Bible that hell is not simply a state of mind. It is also not merely the absence of God. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere at once. He is most certainly in hell in the sense that He actively controls what occurs there. His will and wrath controls it and affects the souls imprisoned there for all eternity.

However, it sounds simply “sad” when we say that hell is the absence of God. Here’s the deal…a life without God is what many to most people living now experience. They push Him away. They don’t want to think of Him. They prefer He simply leave them alone, so He eventually gives them over to their own desires (Romans 1). In essence, they live without God in this life because they have chosen to not have a living, growing relationship with Him. Because they have no relationship with God, they are effectively on their own, though God still oversees their lives according to the purposes of His will for His glory, but they are not in relationship with God at all.

While yes, when they die and go to hell, they will continue not having any relationship with God, but that’s only part of it. So effectively, the non-relationship they had where God was concerned in this life, will continue into eternity based on their choices made here. So yes, relationally, they are without God. But that is where that ends. They will spend eternity experiencing God and His wrath as He continually pours out His anger on those who rejected Him in this life. It’s not in the least pretty. It’s not merely “sad.” It’s horrific! They will be reminded of God’s Presence and reality all the time without let up. They will not escape it. God will always be in their thoughts.

Now, what about the “lake of fire”? This phrase is only used in Revelation (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8). Is John being metaphorical or allegorical? Not if we consider how Jesus uses the term “Gehenna.” Ultimately, those who are in hell now will face the Great White Throne Judgment. There they will learn that their names were not found in the book of life and because of that, they will be tossed into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20). This is the “eternal fire” that Jesus said was originally created for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), and later for those who follow in the same path as Satan and his angels. This eternal fire is juxtaposed against eternal life in Scripture.

Why is there fire and why does it burn forever? Is it just to torment? Fire is used to destroy, but it also can have a purifying effect. It is used to cook food and while cooking, will destroy any bacteria or parasites (as in pork, etc.). Overcooking can ruin food and make it taste terrible.

Fire can also purify metals and is often used for that purpose. Fire has many purposes and interestingly enough, when God sent a foreign army into Jerusalem and had them burn the city, He did so for purposes of purification as well as judgment because the Israelites had defiled Jerusalem with their idolatry. God wanted that cleaned up and fire did the job.

But in hell and eventually the Lake of Fire, which burns into perpetuity, the constantly burning fire will torment, but not purify. The reason it cannot purify the souls housed there is due to the fact that those individuals will continue sinning in eternity. The unrighteous person does not stop sinning once this physical life is over. They will continue sinning even after they arrive to eternity. The fires of the Lake of Fire/hell, will never be able to refine or purify those sinners there because of their continued sinning throughout all eternity.

Those in hell/lake of fire continue to have sin natures and will continue to sin…forever. God’s wrath against sin will continually be poured out on them. While we might be tempted to think that is unfair, it isn’t, simply because the decision to repeatedly reject God’s efforts to call those people to Him lays fully on those people.

So yes, while these people are certainly separated from God in the sense of having absolutely no relationship with Him (like what they had in this life), that is only part of the story. Their constant and continued rejection of God brought them to the point of being in hell once they pass from this life to the next. Life itself never ends although the Bible tells us that this second phase of life (after this physical life), for the unrighteous is really the “second death” (Revelation 20:14). Imagine dying forever and ever, while living in abject torment. It’s difficult to imagine, yet the Bible makes it very clear that this is what everyone who rejects Jesus will experience; no ifs, ands or buts.

So how any believer can whittle it all down to hell is simply a complete and eternal separation from God is beyond me. Hell, leading to the Lake of Fire, is a very real place, filled with fire as well as outer darkness as well as continued sin, as well as being relationally separated from God. Hell is far worse than not being in relationship with God, although that is horrible in and of itself. It is being in a place where God’s wrath is poured out on you all the time, without fail or letup. There is no reprieve. There is no chance of appeal. It is facing God’s wrath forever.

I think of the terrorists that Israel’s IDF has taken out, who were so convinced in this life that Israel needs to be destroyed and all Jews eradicated. They believe that Allah (the Moon God; aka Satan), will ultimately give them victory and if they are killed during the process of fighting Israelites, they will be rewarded with eternal life and 72 virgins in heaven.

However, the Bible tells us that those people, once they leave this life, are taken immediately to hell, to wait for the Great White Throne Judgment. There, they will be told why they are going to the Lake of Fire and then forcibly placed there by angels, God’s celestial servants. Imagine their shock and dismay as soon as they wake in the next life after being killed here. I cannot fully comprehend it.

It is difficult to appreciate the absolute shock those going from this life to the next will experience when they realize the wrong decisions they made in this life. Like the rich man who thought he was “blessed” by God because of his wealth, found out that while he had a pleasurable life here because of his wealth, he did not have the most important thing available – eternal life. Instead, he continues to sit in hell, in torment, wishing for a do-over among other things. One day, he will stand before God and will understand why he is going to literally be thrown into the Lake of Fire, his final “resting” place for all eternity.

If you do not know Jesus and by that I mean, if you are not in relationship with Him, then you are not destined for heaven, but for hell. You need to come to grips with that reality. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest.” (Matt 11.28) In Acts, we learn that to gain salvation, a person must “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) Exactly what are we supposed to believe in?

We should believe that Jesus died for us bearing the full weight of our sin on Calvary’s cross. In essence, we should recognize that we sin because we are sinners. This has made us estranged from God. To be able to get into relationship with Him, He took it upon Himself to make a way for us and He did that by sending His only begotten Son into this world and ultimately dying a severely painful death in our place. We deserve to die, but Jesus died so that we do not have to die (the second death). God did this because of His great love for us. This is what John 3:16 is all about. We don’t deserve eternal life, but if we believe He came into this world for the purpose of opening a way for us to enter into relationship with God, then we can have salvation/eternal life.

It means coming to Him with an attitude of repentance and need. We cannot earn our salvation. We can never be “good” enough for that. Our sin keeps us away from God. Only faith in His redemptive work saves us.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

If you do not know Jesus, if you are not sure you have salvation, I would encourage you to get that question settled today. Believe that Jesus did what you and I cannot. If you believe that, then salvation is gifted to you and it is yours forever. Do not put this most important decision of your life off another day!

 

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/sheol-hades-hell.html

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, Demonic, devil worship, eternity, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation.