When We Die

I want to follow up on my previous post, where I questioned the eternity of the soul of man.  (I am actually writing this seven years later, but dating the post so that it shows up right after the one in question).

A friend recently asked me where Jesus was during the three days of His death.  It was hard for me to give a plain and simple explanation without the background information, and without freaking her out, so I thought a blog post was in order.

For years, I dug into what the Bible had to say about heaven, hell, and the afterlife, and then wrote a series of blog posts on what I discovered.  If you like, you can click here to start at the beginning of this series.  Each post has a link to the next one in the series.

When I speak to people privately about this subject, I sometimes get asked, "so do you believe in soul sleep?"

Yes and no.

Do I believe there is a literal giant cosmic bedroom of snoozing, snoring, disembodied "souls"?  No.

Do I believe that the concept of sleep is used over and over again as a metaphor for death?  Yes.

First of all, I love that God gave us the gift of sleep.  I love that I can lay my head down after a long, exhausting day, and get rest.  I love that the night flies by and before I know it, it is morning.  I awake refreshed and ready to go for the day.  I love that there is coffee to enjoy in the morning!  Ok, you get the picture.

Let's look at what scripture says.

The first person to compare death to sleep is Job, in chapter 14.  The context is that he is speaking of life's woes:
So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens are no more,
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.

Next up is King David, in Psalm 13:
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

David describes death in Psalm 6:
For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?

Asaph is next in Psalm 76, as he rejoices that Israel's enemies are destroyed:
The stouthearted were plundered;
They have sunk into their sleep;
And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands.
At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.

Now, Jeremiah, as he speaks of the utter defeat of the Babylonians in chapter 51:
“And I will make drunk
Her princes and wise men,
Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.
And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says the King,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts.

Next is one of my favorites, from Daniel 12.  The context is the future resurrections.  Daniel didn't know that there would be two, so they are lumped together in this verse:

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting abhorrence.

You can say, well, those are all Old Testament references.  Yep.  Let's move to the New Testament.

In the first three gospels, we read the account of Yeshua raising the synagogue leader's daughter to life.  Luke says it this way in chapter 8:
Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.”  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.

Apparently even people back then had a hard time with the idea of sleep as a death analogy.

The gospel of John has its own sleep/death analogy in chapter 11.  And to me, this is one of the clearest examples in the gospels:
He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

Perhaps you might make the point that these are all examples taken before Messiah's resurrection, and you would be right about that.  So let's keep going.

In 1 Corinthians, 11, Paul said this:
For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
If you look at the context, Paul meant dead.  Even my NKJV has a note that says dead, even though the Greek says sleep.

Moving to 1 Corinthians 15, we see what I believe is the clearest example of the future resurrection of believers. (Note:  I like to use the Hebraic word Messiah in place of the Greek term Christ):
For if the dead do not rise, then Messiah is not risen. And if Messiah is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Messiah have perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

But now Messiah is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiah's at His coming.  (When are we made alive? At. His. Coming)

Later in the same chapter, we read:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  (When?  At. His. Coming)

Semi-side note.  I recently heard a preacher on a podcast say that the people who took part in the second resurrection, unbelievers, had to be raised with immortal bodies so that they could burn forever.  I was horrified.  Scripture shows us that only believers obtain immortality - through the blood of Messiah.

Ephesians 5:14 refers back to Isaiah 26:19 when it says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Messiah will give you light.”

1 Thessalonians 4, speaking of the future resurrection, assures us:
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

All this talk of sleep has made me tired, even though it's morning!  It's like watching Food Network after dinner and getting hungry. 

In chapter 1 of his gospel, John says, No one has seen God at any time.  And lest you respond with the claim that he says this before the Messiah's resurrection, he repeats these very same words in 1 John 4:12 - No one has seen God at any time.   And John wrote his epistles decades after Yeshua returned to the Father.

I realize that people are comforted by the idea of their loved ones dwelling joyfully in heaven, and there is no need to let go of that comforting thought.  Because the thing is, when we die, we are no longer bound up in time.  We will be instantly transported to the resurrection, at least from our point of view. All believers will meet Yeshua at the same time, although to each of us it will seem like it happens at the instant of death.  The Apostle Paul understood this when he voiced his desire to depart and be with the Lord.

So to answer my friend's question, I believe that Yeshua didn't go anywhere upon His death; He remained in the grave - just like Matthew 12:40 said He would:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Yeshua remained in the grave for three days and three nights, just as the scripture says.  How can this be, you ask, if He died on a Friday?  Good question.  And a different topic entirely.  (And if you want the explanation, you can click here.

Eternal Soul?

I was recently turned down from serving in a particular ministry because I was unable to completely affirm their statement of faith, which included the doctrine that unredeemed souls will be tortured for all eternity.  I have been studying the doctrine of hell for over a year now, and I will continue studying it, as I have no desire to be wrong about this!

(For my recent series about what I have learned in light of what scripture says, click here for the first post). 

It is very disconcerting to me (okay, terrifying) to question a doctrine that has been taught in Christianity for over 1500 years.

The Rob Bells are saying, no, no... all souls will eventually repent from that torturous place and be saved... which is universalism.  Most others are saying, no, God's word is clear that unbelievers are condemned forever, so therefore they will be forever tormented.

What if we are asking the wrong question?

Many of us have been taught all our lives that humans have a soul which is separate from the body. But as I have been digging into what the scriptures actually say, I have changed my mind.  I no longer believe that humans have a soul  that floats away to heaven (or hell, or purgatory) upon bodily death.  Read on if you are still with me and are not thnking "Heretic, heretic!!"

Let's go to Genesis 1.  In verse two, we see the spirit of God hovering over the waters.  The word for spirit is ruach.  Even with my limited knowledge of Hebrew, I know that Ruach ha Kodesh means the Holy Spirit.  Ruach means breath, or wind.  The very breath of God was hovering over the waters.

Skip to day five in verse 20.... God filled the waters with chai nephesh - living creatures.  The words chai and nephesh are repeated in verse 21 in regards to the great sea monsters.

Day 6 - verse 24; we see them again:  chai nephesh... living creatures, this time formed on land; each after their own kind.  (So much for evolution).

In verse 26, an interesting account becomes even more so.  Let Us make man in our image (tselem), according to our likeness (demoot).  The Hebrew word for man is 'adam.  (Thus his name).   The different Hebrew words for image and likeness are simply synonymous.  The plurality of God here is fascinating and worthy of a separate post... watch for that soon.

In verse 28, Adam and Eve were told to rule over every living thing - chai.  In verse 30, dietary instructions are given to all living souls - the word is nephesh - both human and animal.

Chapter 2 of Genesis goes back in time and gives us more details on the creation of man.  Verse 7 tells us  Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed (naphach) into his nostrils the breath (n'shamah) of life (chai), and man ('adam) became a living (chai) being (nephesh).

Wait!  Chai and nephesh were the same words used for animals and fish.  Where is the separate, disembodied eternal soul that man is supposed to have?  Does being made in the image and likeness of God require a separatable (is that a word) being?  Or does it mean that humans simply have a capacity within themselves (their nephesh - soul) that animals don't have?  The capacity for love, the capacity to reason, the capacity to think, to make choices; the capacity to worship their creator?

Further along in verse 17, we discover the penalty for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - death.   We'll come back to that in a bit.

In verse 19, we see the man (adam) naming the living (chai) creatures (nephesh). 

In chapter 3 verse 20, Adam named his wife Eve (chava), because she will be the mother of all living (chai).

The Lord God then needed to kick Adam and Eve out of the garden.  Verse 22 says that if He left them there, with their new knowledge of good and evil, they could figure out that they could eat of the tree of life and live (chayah) forever.

This is mind boggling to me.  I grew up with the idea that "people had souls, animals did not."  I even checked the Greek Septuagint, and the same words for living (zao) souls (psuche) were used for humans and animals in Genesis.

During the flood, Genesis 7:22-23 tells us, All in whose nostrils was the breath (n'shamah) of the spirit (ruach) of life (chai), all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things (new word - y'kum, meaning all that exists) which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Every word here that describes life, breath, soul, spirit, and so forth applies to both man and beast.

When Lot was fleeing from Sodom in Genesis 19, the angel told him to flee for his life (nephesh). There are many more examples throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament).

When we move to the B'rit Hadashah (New Testament), we find the word that is translated spirit is pneuma. Again, this is a word that means breath, life, or wind, just like the Hebrew ruach. It is used over 300 times in the New Testament.  The Greek word psuche is translated soul.  Think of the word psych... our mind, our thoughts, our inner being.  Our nephesh, as it would read in Hebrew.  We don't HAVE a soul, we ARE a soul!  And so are all the other living creatures on earth.

Nephesh and psuche are used in scripture 976 times, and translated into over 40 different words!  But always, they are referring to living (or dying) creatures here on earth.  But never once do they refer to a soul that is consciously existing post mortem. 

Many will look to Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.  One might say, See?  God has put eternity in their hearts - therefore they must have eternal souls!  But if you really look at this verse (in the middle of Solomon's musings on the meaning of life), that is not what it is saying.  The word for eternity is olam, which can mean the world, the universe, long duration, everlasting, perpetual time.  More importantly, we need to look at the word for heart - leb.  It means emotion, mind, desire.  God has definitely given man the desire for eternity, for significance, for meaning.  This is why there are so many religions!  They are all about man trying to reach (or become) God.  But the true faith is about God reaching man, which He has done through His Son Yeshua.

Over and over again, scripture tells us that the penalty for sin is death and destruction - starting in Genesis 2:17.  Do we believe what scripture says, or do we redefine words like perish and death and destruction to match what we believe about the automatic eternity of every human soul? The Rob Bells of the world ignore the many verses that call for the destruction of the wicked, but frankly, so do the eternal torment folks.

As it turns out, the idea of a disembodied soul comes from the pagan religions that stemmed from Babylon, and was made popular by the Greek philosopher Plato.  The idea was later picked up by the church as paganism crept in, beginning especially in the fourth century when ancient Rome took over Christianity and got rid of all of the Jewish roots of the faith.  When you really think about it, only GOD is eternal; which means no beginning and no end.

It is interesting to note satan's words to Eve in Genesis 3:4:  Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die."  How do we know when satan, the Father of Lies, is lying?  The answer is, whenever he is speaking.  This early lie of satan is still believed today by people all over the world:  you WILL live forever, be it in smoking or non-smoking.

Just a side note about the word hell before I move on... there are four words in scripture translated into that one word hell, which has its origins in paganism.  The four Biblical words are sheol (Hebrew), Hades, Gehenna, and Tarturoo (Greek).  Ironically, the final judgment place, the Lake of Fire, is not translated hell at all; in fact, hell (Hades) is cast into it in Revelation 20:14.


Scripture tells us about the future resurrection.  Jesus spoke of the resurrection in Luke 14, Luke 20, John 5, and John 11.  The best Biblical illustration of what this resurrection will look like can be found in 1 Corinthians 15.  Believers who are asleep (dead) will be raised imperishable.  There is no mention of one's conscious soul floating down from heaven and rejoining his or her new body.  (Genesis doesn't mention a disembodied soul either, for that matter.   You'd think that if it were the truth, it might have been mentioned in the Book of Beginnings).

When we die, our bodies will "sleep" in the ground until the resurrection, according to the passage in 1 Corinthians 15.  The beautiful thing about sleep is that when you awaken, it seems like the night flew by and morning was instantaneous.  Thus to be dead is to be immediately in the presence of the Lord.  Our time stops until the Lord returns and awakens us with a shout... and a new body that will never get sick and never die - woohoo!  (I have a friend who is a Catholic and faithfully prays to Mary and the saints... This idea - that they are dead asleep and awaiting the resurrection - sure would burst her bubble).

But we will only be awakened at the Lord's return if we are covenanted to God through the plan that was in effect while we were on earth... this called the first resurrection.  Today the plan in effect is via the Messiah - Yeshua, who two thousand years ago, shed His blood and died so that we can be reconciled to God through repentance and faith in Him.  At the first resurrection, believers from both Old and New covenants will rule with Him on earth during the one-thousand-year reign.  Our position in this messianic kingdom will depend on the works that we have done while on earth.  Our entrance fee was paid for by the sacrifice of Yeshua.  Revelation 20:6 says, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.


The second resurrection does not occur until after the Millenial Kingdom.  Revelation 20:5 and also verses 11-15 describe what happens to the rest of unredeemed humanity - they are not found in the Book of Life and are cast into the Lake of Fire.  Since scripture shows them to be complete physical beings (and not a disembodied soul), they will perish in the Lake of Fire.  Matthew 3:12 says, He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.  Note that the fire continues to burn, but the chaff is burned up - ie: destroyed.

For a long time, I had been wondering why the unbelieving dead had to be raised up, only to be cast into the fire.  Why wouldn't God just leave them dead?  Then one day, I read the following verse and it became clear to me.  Philippians 2:10-11 says, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  This comes from Isaiah 45 (except that Yeshua isn't mentioned yet) and is also repeated in Romans 14:10. 

It occurred to me that this hasn't happened yet!  Every knee has NOT YET submitted to the Creator and Ruler of the universe.  This is why the sea had to give up its dead (the wicked who died in the flood).  All those who died without acknowledging God still need to do that, for His Glory. And sadly, it will be too late for them.

As it says in Hebrews 9:26-27, And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Have you received forgiveness through Yeshua?  If you have not, I pray that you will turn your back on sin and receive Him today as your Redeemer!  He truly is the only way to eternal life! 

For more on this subject, click here.

On Hell, Part 5

This is the last post from my recent study on hell.  Maybe.  Who knows?  I might disover something else as I continue to dig into what scripture says about these things.

One scripture that is often used for the eternal torture doctrine is found in Revelation 14:10-11.  Let’s take a look at it:  He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”  If you look at the context here, it is not hell at all.  This is in context of God’s wrath being poured out on earth at His return.  Notice that they are being tormented in the presence of the angels and the Lamb!  There is no rest for them (those who took the mark of the beast) day or night as this is happening.  The final judgment has not taken place yet.  You might question the use of the smoke of torment rising forever and ever.  It is important to study the Greek word aionin, translated here forever and ever. The word literally means ages, as in the life that hastes away in the breathing of our breath of life, life as transitory, the course of life and time of life – this definition can be found in the Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament by E. W. Bullinger, printed in 1999 and originally published in 1908.

In Revelation 15:1 we then see that God’s wrath is completed on earth – the wrath that was just taking place in chapter 14.  But if the idea of eternal torment is true, then God’s wrath is never satisfied.  Is the idea of eternal torment in hell truly a picture of God’s justice?Deuteronomy 32:4 says, He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.  What would be His point, to torment someone forever and ever?  Is this perfect justice for 70 years of sin on earth? 

Another aspect to consider is the question of how much God loves us.  Consider the following story.  A handsome prince in a faraway kingdom fell in love with a fair maiden and set out to woo her.  Eventually, he lovingly asked her hand in marriage.   She considered his offer and asked him what would happen if she decided against the marriage.  The prince told her that if she said no, she would have her eyes gouged out and be chained in the cold, dark dungeon for the rest of her life.  Number one, did he really love her, and number two, what kind of choice did she really have?

Think about it: A sentence of eternal torture would be far worse than anything Adolf Hitler or Yasser Arafat or Idi Amin or Joseph Stalin ever dished out against the human race.

And think about this:  God is all-knowing.  He knows who will be saved and who will not.  Do you believe that He really creates people, knowing full well that they are destined for an eternity of torture?  This is where Calvanism breaks down for me.

Romans 9:21-24 says, “Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?   What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 

Our God is truly a merciful, loving, perfectly just God, who mercifully gives to all who ask.  For those who reject Him, He gives them their wish and allows them to be destroyed.  Granted, the process will not be pleasant – there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth when they realized what they gave up! I don’t know just how literal the lake of fire will be, but its description is so vivid that I don’t wish to experience it in any way.

In closing, it has become obvious to me that the idea of eternal torment in hell crept into the church via pagan concepts, and was then used by the church to control the people using fear as a motivator. The ancient and medieval church kept the scriptures from the common people.  Today, we have no excuse!  We have God’s Holy Scriptures available to us, and we must systematically study them if we want to have better understanding of His word!  The publishing market is currently flooded with books about hell.  Some are even on the New York Times bestsellers list.  I’d like to gently remind you that these books are not God’s Holy Scriptures.  Test all things in light of scripture.   I plead with you not to take my word for any of these things, but to do the research yourself so you can know exactly what you believe.  Be a Berean!

If you'd still like more, click HERE for my in-depth musings on the "eternal soul."

On Hell, Part 4

Many will argue that the account of Lazarus and the rich man is a clear teaching on heaven and hell. However, looking at that parable with an ancient Jewish mindset, you will see a completely different picture. It isn’t a treatise on heaven and hell at all – it’s a rebuke to the Pharisees, and it’s a parable on Jews and Gentiles. 

The rich man represents the Jews – purple cloth and fine linen represent royalty (the kings of Judah) and the priesthood (the priests of the tribe of Levi), and is foretelling the offering of the kingdom to the Gentiles. Luke 16:21 says that Lazarus was desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. (Gentiles were always dogs in Jewish thought). And remember the Syro-Phonecian woman from Mark 7:28? And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”

There are other clues that this parable was about Jews and Gentiles (and not about heaven and hell): the bosom of Abraham, for one. This is a Jewish idiom, where being in someone's bosom shows a very close emotional relationship and position of honor. The idea of the kingdom of God being taken from them - the Pharisees - and offered to the Gentiles would have caused them to be in torments, as is pictured in this parable.  Parables are figurative.  They are not to be taken literally; they must be interpreted, and this parable is no exception.  I don't think the rich man would have been as calm as he was if his flesh truly was being barbequed.

The mention of the five brothers is a clue that the rich man represents Judah, as well as all of Israel – (Leah had six boys - both Levi and Judah had five full-blooded brothers). Also, there is a pointed reference by the rich man, saying that the brothers had Moses and the prophets – again, a very Jewish reference.  The rich man was well acquainted with Moses and the prophets.  And the reference to "rising from the dead" was foreshadowing the unbelief in the resurrection of the Messiah.  

The Pharisees to whom this parable was directed knew exactly who Jesus was talking about - themselves!  And in a brilliant move, He spoke to them using a very Greek mythological mindset regarding the afterlife. They would have recognized this, even if we don’t today.

Another question that comes to mind is this: does being a poor beggar give you assurance of salvation? Are you damned because you are a wealthy man? And finally, the Greek word that is translated hell in this parable is Hades. But in my first post on hell, we saw in Revelation 20:14 that Hades will be cast into the lake of fire and destroyed at the second death. Is "hell" cast into itself? 

There are many more insights to be gleaned from the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man.  I hope you will take the time to dig!

If you wish to continue reading, click HERE for part 5.

On Hell, Part 3

Today in part 3, I will address what I feel is the most convincing concept regarding eternal life and judgement.

Over and over, scripture tells us that eternal life is available only through Jesus Christ.  Jesus was asked on numerous occasions, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Thus, it is something to obtain, not something we already have.  I mentioned John 3:16 and Romans 6:23 in my last post, which you may wish to read again with that idea in mind.  Also, look at the following two verses:

• Galatians 6:8 - The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

• 2 Timothy 2:10 - Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

If we already have an eternal soul, and it’s just a matter of where we spend eternity (heaven or hell), then Romans 6:23 would probably read more like this:  For the wages of sin is eternal torment, and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Instead, the two concepts are juxtaposed against each other with that little word “but."

Granted, there are several places in scripture where an argument could be made for the eternal torment idea.  Remember, the doctrine of eternal torment has been ingrained in the church for more than a thousand years.  All of our modern translations are translated with that mindset as a basis.  This is why you need to dig into the original languages, to see what they are really saying.  Remember the unquenchable fire from my last post?  Mark 9:45 says, “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell (the word Jesus used was Gehenna), into the fire that shall never be quenched.” 

Often it is our doctrinal filter; that is, what we already believe about something, that tells us what a particular verse is saying.  Take this verse, for example:  Matthew 25:46 – “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  Your doctrinal filter can tell you that the flames will torment you forever, or your doctrinal filter can tell you that the punishment, destruction, is final – forever, the eternal effect of an act.

Yeshua didn't come to save us from hell, He came to save us for the kingdom, where we will live in immortality and enjoy His gift of eternal life.  Turning away from sin and trusting in His shed blood is the ONLY way to obtain it.

Still with me?  Part 4 can be found HERE.

On Hell, Part 2

In part 2 of this series, I am addressing the question of what scripture means when it says death and destruction.

First of all, let me say that I am not a universalist (the belief that all people will eventually be saved – Rob Bell’s recent book, Love Wins (which I have read), seems to lean that way, although the book arguably raises more questions than answers). I believe the Bible clearly describes the punishment of the wicked. There are many verses that speak of their destruction, but let’s look at these two:

• John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son; that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

• Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here is my question. Why are words such as perish and death redefined as to mean never die and never perish? Think about it: if an unbeliever is tormented in fire forever, he never really dies or perishes.

The idea that a human soul is eternal simply is not found in scripture. It comes from paganism and was made popular by the Greek philosopher Plato: he believed in the pre-existence and immortality of the soul, holding that life is nothing more than the imprisonment of the soul in a body. You will find similar beliefs in Hinduism, Buddhism, and frankly, most world religions. But this isn’t what the Bible says.

Adam was created from the dust of the earth, and God breathed life into him, making him a whole, living person. He was created imperishable, but because of his sin, he became a mortal being: subject to the punishment for sin – death.

Jude 5-7 gives us another picture of the judgment. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Sodom and Gomorrah are not “in the process of being destroyed” today by a fire that lasts forever. They were completely destroyed and have never come back. 2 Peter 2:4-6,10 confirms this: For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (the word here is Tartarus – used only once in all of scripture) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly… then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.

It is important to let scripture interpret scripture, and to be careful not to use a “proof text,” which means using a single verse, taken out of context, to try and prove a doctrinal viewpoint.

Want to learn more?  Click HERE for part 3.

On Hell, Part 1

In the last few years, God has given me a passion to study the Jewish roots to our faith.  It began with a simple thought, “Where does the word Easter come from?”  That simple thought changed my life.

I’ll give you the quick answer to the meaning behind the word Easter:  Babylonian Fertility Goddess.  You can easily research this yourself – it didn’t take me long to find the answer.

I discovered that when Constantine made Christianity the legal religion of the Roman Empire, he swept through and “Christianized” many pagan concepts.  Furthermore, he despised and persecuted the Jews, and made sweeping laws that rendered their Biblical celebrations illegal.  Because of this, Christianity was severed from its roots.  The reformation came and went, and these roots remained disconnected.  Today there are still many pagan aspects in the church.  Christmas.  Easter.  Sunday Sabbath.  And many more, thanks to the emperor Constantine and ancient Rome.

Remember, the entire early church was Jewish.  Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah, born to Jewish parents in order to fulfill prophecy made by Jewish prophets.  Anyway, I digress.

Recently, I began examining my beliefs on the doctrine of hell in light of scripture.  It began when I heard a preacher say that there were four different words in scripture that were translated into the word hell.  So I looked up the word hell in the dictionary.

Let’s look at this etymology (word origin).  This is taken from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Middle English helle, from Old English; see kel- in Indo-European roots.

Word History: Hell comes to us directly from Old English hel. Because the Roman Church prevailed in England from an early date, the Roman - that is, Mediterranean - belief that hell was hot prevailed there too; in Old English hel is a black and fiery place of eternal torment for the damned. But because the Vikings were converted to Christianity centuries after the Anglo-Saxons, the Old Norse hel, from the same source as Old English hel, retained its earlier pagan senses as both a place and a person. As a place, hel is the abode of oathbreakers, other evil persons, and those unlucky enough not to have died in battle. It contrasts sharply with Valhalla, the hall of slain heroes. Unlike the Mediterranean hell, the Old Norse hel is very cold. Hel is also the name of the goddess or giantess who presides in hel, the half blue-black, half white daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrbotha. The Indo-European root behind these Germanic words is *hel-, "to cover, conceal" (so hell is the "concealed place"); it also gives us hall, hole, hollow, and helmet.

Interesting.  The word hell comes to us from pagan mythology.  I began to wonder if the whole concept of the afterlife was also borrowed from the paganism that was introduced into the church.  So I decided to carefully study the four words in scripture that are translated into the word hell. 

• Hebrew Sheol:  This word is found 65 times in the Old Testament, with the first occurrence found in Genesis 37:35.  In the King James version it is translated “the grave” 54 percent of the time, “hell” 41.5 percent, and “the pit” 4.5 percent.  Sheol has no such meaning of future punishment, but denotes the present state of death.  It is never associated with life except as a contrast.  Sheol can therefore be understood as the state of death, or the state of the dead, of which the grave is a tangible evidence.  It will continue until, and end only with, resurrection, which is the only exit from it.  Remember the argument between the Pharisees and the Saduccees?  (They are sad, you see, because they don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead). 

• Greek Hades:  This word occurs eleven times in the New Testament.  Like Sheol, it is always connected with the dead, not the living.  It is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Sheol.  Hades is a heathen word and comes down to us surrounded with heathen traditions, which had their origin in Babel and not the Bible.  These traditions have reached us through the pagan corruptions in the ancient church.

• Greek Gehenna:  This is a transliteration of the Hebrew Ghi-Hinnom, which is the Valley of Hinnom located outside of Jerusalem.  Whoa!  A physical place on earth?   Solomon, king of Israel, built "a high place", or place of worship, for the gods Chemosh and Molech. The valley came to be regarded as a place of abomination because some of the Israelites sacrificed their children to Molech there. In a later period it was made a refuse dump and perpetual fires were maintained there to prevent pestilence.  Bodies of the wicked were cast here and burned.  The Valley of Hinnom is also the traditional location of the Potter's Field bought by priests after Judas' suicide with the "blood money" with which Judas was paid for betraying Jesus.   The fires of Gehenna were perpetual, but whatever was discarded there was eventually destroyed.  The Greek word for unquenchable actually means that the fire will not go out until that which is burning has been destroyed (an example is in Matthew 3:17 - His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”).  Jesus uses the physical place Gehenna to foreshadow the final judgment in the Lake of Fire.

• Greek Tartarus:  Used only once in scripture, 2 Peter 2:4.  It is not the abode of men in any condition.  It is used only here, and only of the angels that sinned.

These words have different meanings, yet they all have been translated into the same word – hell.  Preachers today talk as if the word hell is the original word, and they proceed to translate those four original words according to the church’s notion of what hell is, or what they were taught in seminary.  I have recently heard two preachers say (both of whom I have great respect for, by the way) that these four words mean different chambers in hell; again, this position assumes that hell is the original word.

Look how the King James version states Revelation 20:14-15  - And death and hell (the Greek word is Hades here) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Huh?  Doesn’t the church believe that the lake of fire is hell?  Then how is hell (Hades) cast into it and then called the second death?  Something seems rotten in Denmark.
 
My next post will tackle the idea of death and destruction.  Stay tuned if you haven't written me off as a heretic yet!

Click HERE for part 2.