Nothingness is Hell || What the…? || Part 2

Welcome back to the ‘What the…?’ Bible study, a series designed to delve into the often misunderstood concepts of Hell in the Old and New Testaments. This engaging series consists of three three-part explorations, each focusing on Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna. I’m excited to continue this journey with you.

In the last part, we were in Psalm 88 to talk about how Sheol is the place of the dead. The psalmist reflected his feelings of isolation to be like the dead in the grave. We continue describing Sheol, with Ecclesiastes 9 talking about it as lacking love, hate, envy, work, thought, knowledge, and wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 9:6, 10

AMP	NLT	VOICE
6 Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share [in the age] in anything that is done under the sun.	6 Whatever they did in their lifetime – loving, hating, envying – is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.	6 All of their love and hate and envy die with them; then it is too late to share in the human struggle under the sun.
10 Whatever your hands finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead.)	10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.	10 Whatever you find to do, do it will because where you are going – the grave – there will be no working or thinking or knowing or wisdom.

The author of Ecclesiastes mentions that death will come for us all. They encourage his audience to enjoy life by saying, “…eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne. Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningful days of life that God has given you…” (vs. 7-9). They mention this to compare death and the grave to this place of nothingness. Those who are dead know nothing, and going to the grave is a place of nothing. Hell is just this void, reminiscent of how the world was before God began to create in Genesis 1. There’s no love or hate, jealousy or contentment, work, planning, knowledge or wisdom; none of this is needed in the void. It’s pure nothingness. It’s an official cease of earth and the living.

Colossians 3:23

AMP	NLT	VOICE
23 Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,	23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.	23 So no matter what your task is, work hard. Always do your best as the Lord’s servant, not as man’s.

Since the time of Creation, God has given people work to do. If we regard our work as an act of worship or service to God, this attitude might remove some of the resentment and boredom we often find and dwell on. We could work without complaining if we treated the challenges relating to our jobs as part of the cost and privilege of following God and being disciples of Jesus. We must live our lives by doing everything in honor of God. Even the things that we hate get bored with and resent. If we reverse our mindset about the things that we feel cause us “hell,” then we can embrace what it means to have a heavenly and godly mindset. These emotions we feel on earth are complex but calculated. God created us to have these for a reason. To allow us to feel the complexity of heaven and hell and learn to trust God with all of it with a heavenly mindset so that we don’t become victims to the pits and nothingness of hell.

As we conclude our exploration, reframing our understanding of ‘hell’ in the Old Testament is essential. It’s not the fiery, terrifying place often depicted. Instead, it’s a void, a place where existence ceases. This shift in perspective can be enlightening and reassuring. In our next part, we’ll delve into Isaiah’s teachings on overcoming death. Until then, may you be blessed with this newfound understanding!