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.
Today, we’re wrapping up our series on Hell. It’s been fascinating to understand the terminology of what Hell is and how we can understand it in our culture today. I have not learned anything before, as I have here. Let’s recap everything we’ve learned so far:
My understanding of Gehenna could change today because we discuss how Jesus talks about it in Mark 9:43, 45, and 47.
| AMP | NLT | VOICE |
| 43 If your hand causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It is better for you to enter life crippled, than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, | 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. | 43 If you hand turns you away from the things of God, then you should cut it off. It’s better to come into eternal life maimed than to have two hands and be flung into hell – |
| 45 If your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, | 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. | 45 If your foot trips you on the path, you should cut it off. It’s better to come into eternal life crawling than to have two feet and be flung into hell – |
| 47 If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, throw it out [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, | 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. | 47 And if your eye keeps you from seeing clearly, then you should pull it out. It’s better to come into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be flung into hell, |
The idea isn’t literal physical mutilation. The idea is to cut off the source of what causes you to sin. God would rather see you battle-hardened and sin-free than appear perfect and sinful. Sometimes, the separation we need to make to remove the source of our sin will be painful. It could be a relationship, friendship, job, or hobby that distracts us from our emotional turmoil. These things may provide us relief for the moment but harm in the long term. Our source of strength and wisdom is that our response to life should be God, and nothing should stand in the way of trusting in that. We need to be determined how we remove sin to avoid suffering the effects of the Lakes of Fire. The idea behind following Christ is to plan our lives from an eternal perspective. Living in a way that honors him on earth and guarantees a place for us in heaven. The ultimate goal of following God is to live eternally with him forever, and it’s a point modern Christians nowadays don’t focus on, me included. We never think about living in a way that sets us up for success in the next life after our earthly one. We must live a life that represents what our eternal one gives, shown to us through Jesus and his ministry in the Gospels. Live how he does and remove the sources of sin that cause us not to.
Jesus reinforced this teaching in his Sermon on the Mount.
| AMP | NLT | VOICE |
| 29 If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. | 29 So if your eye – even your good eye – causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. | 29 If your right eye leads you into sin, gouge it out and throw it in the garbage – for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell. |
| 30 If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. | 30 And if your hand – even your stronger hand – causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. | 30 And if your right hand leads you into sin, cut it off and throw it away – for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell. |
Sometimes, we tolerate our sins that, left unchecked, could eventually destroy us. Experiencing the pain of removal is better than continuing the sinful action that brings judgment and condemnation. It’s time to look at your life, see what causes you to sin, and take the appropriate action to remove it.
Connecting it back to Gehenna, we need to remove the things that replace the strength and wisdom from God. What things in our lives are we focusing on that replace God and his promises for us? Those things that came to your mind are what you need to weed out of your life. It could be your job, relationships, hobbies, distractions, etc. The things that feel helpful and positively impact our lives, but they’re not. God can put them there, but we need to remember that God is the source that gets us through all parts of life. Follow him.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. This feels like it cleared up a lot of misunderstandings of Hell for me. To recap, here’s the breakdown we’ve reached over these last 9 parts:
Our next major series begins on Saturday with a Thanksgiving theme. It’ll be a five-part series and our third-to-last series of 2024. It’s crazy that we’ve had 13 major Bible studies this year. After our thankfulness series, we’ll be in Matthew 24 for another five-part series about our future (cue Spongebob reference). Then, we close the year by talking about Moses and his excuses. I hope you’re ready! Until then, stay blessed!
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