Choices are Hell || What the…? || Part 3

Welcome back to the “What the…?” Bible study, a series designed to investigate the different and often misunderstood concepts of Hell. Using the Old and New Testaments, we dive into three journeys to examine Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna (different descriptors of Hell) to see if what the Bible says and what we’re taught align.

In the last part, we landed in the books of Ecclesiastes and Colossians to learn how Sheol is a place of nothing. It’s a void with no love, hate, knowledge, wisdom, envy, contentment…nothing. We’ve learned that Sheol is a place of isolation and nothingness. We’re adding a new layer to our foundation with the words of Isaiah. He describes how to overcome death in Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19.

Isaiah 25:8, 26:19

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25:8 He will swallow up death [and abolish it} for all time. And the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces, And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.	25:8 He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all years. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken!	25:8 God will swallow up death forever. The Lord, the Eternal, will wipe away the tears from each and every face And deflect the scorn and shame His people endure from the whole word, for the Eternal determined that it should be so.
26:19 Your dead will live; Their dead bodies will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy! For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural], And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.	26:19 But those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!	26:19 But Your dead will live; their lifeless bodies will rise up again! You who sleep in the dust, get up and shout for joy! The dew of a new day will wash you glistening fresh, and the earth will push forth those who had passed before.

When God speaks, he follows through. It’s reassuring to remember this, found in his words of the Bible. He hears and answers us when we pray according to God’s will (taught through Scripture) and claim his promises. God removes death and sorrow and removes the disgrace we feel. Becoming a follower of God, living according to will, and trusting in the promises that he gives to us will remove death. It removes this place of isolation and emptiness and adds a place of eternal living, love, joy, and compassion. This reassurance in God’s promises brings comfort and security to our hearts.

Some people believe that life stops when our earthly bodies stop. Others believe there is more, but not a physical life. Isaiah states that our bodies shall rise once more. Our spirits will rise out from our place of death and ascend into the place of eternal life. This happens through our belief and relationship with God, as stated, “those who die in the Lord.” This may refer to those who serve others in God’s name and, unfortunately, perish doing said work. Still, this is a reference to all Christian believers. This type of language seems very common in the biblical narrative. So, this path to eternality continues through other pieces of Scripture.

Psalm 69:9

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9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the [mocking] insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.	9 Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.	9 And here’s why: I am consumed with You, completely devoted to protecting Your house; when they insult You, they insult me

Passion for God’s house consumed David, similar to how it consumed Jesus. When Jesus went to the Temple, and made a whip and chased the merchants and money changers out of the courtyard. Then, the disciples remembered this Psalm and realized it was being fulfilled prophetically before their eyes. This passion is essential for our walk with Jesus. While it might not mean we go in and chase people out or off when they insult God or non-believers insult the church, it does mean we can voice the concerns we have with what they say. Their concerns/insults might be valid criticisms of the church, but we can work with them or discuss how to move forward. It could be an agree-to-disagree moment, or it could be creating a plan of action to help rectify issues that are going on within the church itself. The church is often a place of broken people trying to get it right and often still getting it wrong. We can revolutionize the church as Jesus did, but in a way that allows us to effectively realize our gifts and talents.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55

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54 And when this perishable put on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swalled up in victory (vanquished forever).	54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, the Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.	54 And, when we are all redressed with bodies that do not, cannot decay, when we put immortality over our mortal frames, then it will be as Scripture says: Life everlasting has victoriously swallowed death.
55 O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?	55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?	55 Hey, Death! What happened to your big win? Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?

Satan thought he won the battle in the Garden of Eden, and again at the cross of Jesus. But God turned Satan’s so-called victory into defeat when Jesus rose from the dead. This released the connection between death and fear. Christ overcame it, and we will, too. This law of death no longer makes us sinners. Death was defeated, and we have hope beyond the grave. Sheol was about death as a place of isolation and nothingness. Still, Jesus’s resurrection removed this from a believer’s life. We can descend to the grave but be raised again for eternal life. Our souls don’t have to stay on the ground. Still, they can continue celebrating in heaven with joy, happiness, and compassion.

Daniel 12:2

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2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake (resurrect), these to everlasting life, but to some to disgrace and everlasting contempt (abhorrence).	2 Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace.	2 And many who sleep the sleep of death in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life with the Lord and others to utter shame and eternal disgrace far from Him.

This is an apparent reference to the resurrection of the righteous and wicked people. However, each person’s eternal destiny will be quite different. This was a massive turning point in God’s revelation. Up to this point in time, when Daniel was written, every Israelite believed that they would be included in the restoration of the Kingdom. The reference to a bodily resurrection of the saved and the lost was a new turn for the common belief. Everyone being rescued is essential because that includes you and me. We’re the outsiders and not the Jewish people, but we will all be taken to God for our final judgment. It’s important to remember this because when it comes to the different perspectives of hell, as we’ll explore in the remaining parts of this series, Jewish belief is the predominant one. Then, it seems to be adjusted when the Gentiles are included. Gehenna, what we’ll cover in the last three parts of the series, is often referenced in the New Testament, so it’s essential to understand what it is and how it represents this place of nothingness and isolation.

Ephesians 5:14

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14 For this reason He says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and gave you light.”	14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”	14 This is why they sing, Awake you sleeper! Rise from your grave, And the Anointed One will shine on you.

Paul was appealing to the Ephesians to wake up and realize some of them had been slipping into the dangerous condition. Because Ephesus was a crossroads of cultures and religions, non-believers could quickly bring the ideas into the church. Assuming these beliefs can be dangerous, we must be alert to that. We live in a culture that seems to claim the “end of the world” is happening every moment of every day. If it is, fine, but we dwell on it and assume different things that can signal Jesus’ return. No one knows when it’ll happen other than God. Instead of trying to predict, we need to utilize this energy to invest in the Kingdom down here on earth. We need to talk with people about their views of life beyond this one. The eternality of the soul is a conversation we tend to stay from because it leads to that hellfire and brimstone idea of hell. Still, we’ve seen it as a place of isolation and nothingness. We have this choice to stay there or have a chance to be reunited with other believers in a place that has no pain, hurt, or tears and has happiness, joy, and family.

In the next part, we move from Sheol to Hades, a place we might have heard about before, either from Hercules or through Greek Mythology. We’ll land in a short passage in Luke to discuss how Hades is a place of torment. This varies widely from what we know of Sheol, so let’s see what changed. Until then, stay blessed!