This is the popular belief of those who profess to be Christians, but is this what the scriptures say? Paul
wrote this: 2 Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Are you sure what you believe comes from the Bible, or is it something you have heard all your life?
Something that your parents believed because their parents believed it? Are you sure what you believe
are not fables? Shouldn't you be certain, since your very life may be at stake?
What does the scriptures say about hell? In the Old Testament the word in Hebrew shaowl or shol is
translated hell in English. In 2nd Samuel as an example we read this:
6 The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.
The word hell above is translated from the Hebrew word 'shaowl'. Here it is in the KJV with Strong's
interlinear: 6 The sorrows <chebel> of hell <sh@'owl> compassed me about <cabab>; the snares
<mowqesh> of death <maveth> prevented <qadam> me; Now here is the translation: ( 07585. lwav
sh@'owl, sheh-ole' or shol {sheh-ole'}; from 7592; Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean
retreat), including its accessories and inmates:--grave, hell, pit.
See Hebrew 07592 (sha'al).
Another interesting scripture is Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave <`azab> my soul <nephesh> in hell
<sh@'owl>; neither wilt thou suffer <nathan> thine Holy One <chaciyd> to see <ra'ah> corruption
<shachath>. Here is the word soul and hell in the same verse. This is taken by most who study the Bible
as a prophecy about our Savior Yahshua, or Jesus. Showing that His soul (nephesh = body) would not be
left in hell (shaowl = the grave, pit). The whole Christian world believes that He was resurrected from
the tomb and His body did not decay (see corruption).
If you will carefully study the Torah, (Old Testament), and substitute the word grave where you find the
word hell (Hebrew shaowl ) it makes sense and gives a lot more clarity to what you are reading.
Now lets turn to the New Testament: The first place we see the word hell is in Matthew 5:22 But I say
unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:
and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say,
Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Here is what the interlinear says about the word hell : geenna, gheh'-en-nah of Hebrew origin (1516 and
2011); valley of (the son of) Hinnom; ge-henna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem, used (figuratively)
as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment:--hell.
A friend and I sat on the rim of this valley one evening and looked down into it. It was green and
beautiful and it was rather cool there that evening, but in the time of our Savior it was used as a trash
disposal area, and was burning continuously. Even dead animals were cast into it and so were the dead
bodies of criminals who had been put to death or died and no one claimed their bodies. So the name of
ge-henna was used for the lake of fire spoken of in Revelation:
Re 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with
which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Re 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The hell spoken of by Jesus (Yahshua) in Matthew was the lake of fire that will be ignited at the end of
this age, and where the beast and false prophet are cast at the return of our Savior ,who will bring peace
to the world.
Now back to the O.T. --Ps 145:20 The LORD preserves all them that love him: but all the wicked will he
destroy. God promises to destroy all the wicked. How does He destroy them?
Mal 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the
day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
In the scripture above He says the righteous will tread down the wicked. In other words as they walk
around the wicked will be ashes under their feet. This doesn't say the wicked will be suffering in an ever
burning hell someplace in the nether regions.
The concept of an eternal burning hell where the evil go at death and suffer in the flames throughout
eternity gained acceptance after Dante Alighieri (1265 to 1321) wrote what is called "Dantes Inferno" or
"The Divine Comedy", published in 1314. He died a few years later in September of 1321. Inferno is the
word in Italian for hell.
This concept is one of the fables that Paul said that men would turn to in rejecting the truth. The
scriptures give us the truth.
Mal. 4:1 ¶ For see, the day is coming, it is burning like an oven; all the men of pride and all who do evil
will be dry stems of grass: and in the day which is coming they will be burned up, says the Lord of armies,
till they have not a root or a branch. 3 And the evil-doers will be crushed under you, they will be dust
under your feet, in the day when I do my work, says the Lord of armies.
The scripture quoted above says that the wicked will be burned up.
Christians everywhere praise God's (Yahweh's) mercy He Himself claims that His mercy is greater than
we are able to conceive.
Psa. 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. {plentious...: Heb.
great in mercy}
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. {as...: Heb.
according to the height of the heaven}
Even a merciful human being would not impose such a fate as suffering in the excruciating pain of
burning throughout eternity on anyone, and a Being whose mercy far exceeds that of a human being,
certainly would not do so. Satan is the author of this fable in order to give the concept that our Father in
heaven is a cruel, harsh, monster of a Being.
Lets turn again to the New Testament: In Romans we read this; 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The result of sin is death not eternal life in a location that we would not prefer to be. There are other
scriptures that back up this one.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth
death.
Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Ro 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Nowhere in the Bible is there a scripture that says that the wicked live and burn forever in fire. In fact
what it does say is that they will be put to death by fire. The everlasting punishment of those who refuse
to practice the law of love is eternal death (not life) in the lake of fire.
Ps.146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His breath goes
forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Mans thoughts perish when he stops breathing and expires. He is no longer alive. If he went to heaven,
wouldn't he still be able to think, to have thoughts?
Ps 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
Ec 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
These scriptures in the O.T. say that when one dies he is no longer conscious.
The scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments teach that there is a resurrection from the dead.
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..
This scripture says they sleep and are awakened. In other words they know nothing, they are what we
call dead and are resurrected (awakened).
Daniel 12:13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shall rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the
days.
Here it shows that Daniel will rest in the grave. Nothing is said in any of these passages about going to
heaven.. But it does say that he would stand in his lot at the end of the days, showing that he would be
resurrected at that time.
Jesus (Yahshua) spoke of the resurrection in John: 5:28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming
when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come forth, those who have done good, to the
resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
Jesus spoke of those in their tombs (graves). He did not say those who were in heaven.
If those righteous who have died, such as the prophets, apostles, and others, like King David are alive in
heaven, how could there be a resurrection? Resurrection means to be erected back to life. To say they
are alive in heaven and to say that they will be resurrected is a contradiction. Either they are dead, and
in order to live, they have to be resurrected, or they are already alive in heaven and cannot be
resurrected.
Ac 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Ac 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto MY Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand,
King David was a man after God's own heart: Ac 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto
them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of
Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
If anyone goes to heaven, surely King David would, because he was a man after God's own heart
according to the scriptures.
13 ¶ But 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.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. 15 For 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 (precede) them which are asleep.
16 For 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: 17 Then 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.
Jesus (Yahshua) also referred to those who were dead as being asleep. There is a clear differentiation
between those who die in this age and those who will die in the lake of fire. To God (Yahweh), those who
die in this age are only asleep awaiting the resurrection, while those who die in the lake of fire at the end
of this age and the judgment are dead, never to live again.
Luke 20:37 But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord
'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' 38 He is not the God of the dead, but
of the living, for to him all are alive."
This does not say that they are alive in heaven. It is clear from the scriptures that the dead are
unconscious. God (Yahweh) looks on them as being asleep, howbeit a long and sound sleep. In the
passage where Jesus (Yahshua) resurrected Lazarus, He told the apostles He must go and awake
Lazarus:
John 11: 11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am
going there to wake him up." 12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13 Jesus
had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told
them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.
The concept of a sleep should not be difficult to grasp, that in this age what we call death, Yahweh (God)
calls sleep because He has purposed to raise everyone back up to life. The death He speaks of as the
penalty for sin is for eternity, and comes at the end when everyone has come into a knowledge of God,
and those who have refused to follow His law (sin is the transgression of the law 1 John 3:4) suffer the
penalty of death in the lake of fire, from which there is no resurrection.
Nowhere in the Bible does God promise that man goes to heaven when he dies. This is a fable that
Satan has foisted on much of the "Christian" world. What is sad is the fact that those who have been
taught the fables that Paul wrote about, try desperately to make scripture uphold them, when if they
would only put them aside until they have studied what the scriptures really say, and discover that
Yahweh (God) has something far better than what the fables depict.
Sadly though the scriptures say that: Ro 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
It takes the holy spirit working with, or in the mind of man to be able to accept the word of God, and
discard fables. In man's natural hostility toward Yahweh, he prefers to believe lies rather than the truth.
