Wednesday, December 2, 2020

PROBLEMS WITH UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF HELL

 

 

Here is one problem with understanding the verses about eternal punishment – they use metaphors, and some of the metaphors are even opposites:
 
·       And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Re 20:13–15; 14:9–11; 21:8)
 
Is it literally death? Many verses associate hell with “destruction,” which sounds like annihilation:
 
·       Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. (Php 3:19; 28)
 
·       They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
 
Other verses equate hell with “darkness”:
 
·       These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. (2 Peter 2:17; Jude 6, 13; Matthew 8:12; 22;13; 25:30)
 
What understanding can we derive from these varied descriptions of hell? Besides the use of metaphors, these descriptions might also be pointing to various degrees of eternal punishment ranging from annihilation to the torments of darkness or fire. Perhaps both? Indeed, there are several verses that support the idea that there will be degrees of hell:
 
·       “But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you…But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:22, 24; Luke 12:47-48; 2 Peter 2:21)
 
All of this leads us to acknowledge that we only are given partial glimpses of “hell,” and that we are far away from having anything near a comprehensive understanding of eternal judgment. Even if hell is just annihilation for some, it is still a dreadful consequence. Another verse equates eternal judgment with eternal regret:
 
·       In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. (Luke 13:28)
 
Is hell a matter of conscious suffering or is it the eternal consuming of their dead bodies. Isaiah seems to raise the latter possibility:
 
·       “From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD. And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they [their bodies?] shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:23–24; Mk 9:44–48; Revelation 14:9-11)
 
However, according to Jesus, there is a fate worse than death:

·       And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
 
Perhaps Jesus was only pointing to the eternality of death? We can conclude from all of these verses that hell is a never-ending punishment, whether conscious or unconscious. In any event, hell should represent a terrifying threat:

·       For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26–29)
 
Whatever our confusion about the nature of hell, we are still mandated by a loving concern to warn as the Scriptures do.

 

 

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