HELL, What and Where It Is

The Meaning of Hell
Sermon # 456; by Joe McClure; Date: 9/16/2007
The reason that I have chosen to teach on this topic today is to clear up any possible confusion that you might have on the subject.
Hell is a word that is often misunderstood in the KJV Bible.
Our goal today is to prove by the Scriptures what God has chosen to reveal to us about ‘hell’.
As I understand the Word of God, as long as the world continues to exist, hell consists of two parts, the place of punishment, and the place of rest for those whose souls are safe, including Christians who have died in the Lord.
At the final end of all material things, at the Judgment, those who are in the Paradise section will go to Heaven, the abode of God on His throne, with Jesus, Holy Spirit, and all the heavenly host.

As I hope to prove by the end of our study today, the translators of the King James Bible translated [4] four different original text words into the same English word, which is the word ‘hell’.
In the original manuscripts, in the Old Testament, first we find the Hebrew word of ‘Sheol’.
Sheol has been translated into several words in the OT. It is translated as the word ‘hell’, as ‘grave’ [31] thirty-one times, and [3] three times as the word ‘pit’.
‘Hades’ is the corresponding Greek word which is found in the NT.

Keep in mind as we study that the meaning of the word ‘hell’ can be understood by simply looking at the context of the passage in which it is found.

The first usage of the word ‘sheol’ is found in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 37:35
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
Jacob was mourning for what seemed to him to be the death of his son Joseph, who had been sold into slavery down into Egypt.
Sheol in this instance was the place of one’s soul in death, in a general sense. We cannot tell whether ‘Sheol’ was considered by Jacob as Heaven or the place of torment.
In all the places that we find the word ‘sheol’ in the book of Genesis, the word is translated into English as the word ‘grave’. The meaning is obviously correct as we read and study the context of all those passages.
‘Sheol’ is not found in the book of Exodus, nor Leviticus; but we find it again in the book of Numbers.
At its time of appearance, the children of Israel are in the wilderness, and a group of people had risen up against the authority of Moses. They challenged the right of Moses to assign the Holy services only to the Levites.
In the 16th chapter of Numbers, we see the judgment of the Lord against Korah and his followers.
Numbers 16:29-33 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; [then] the LORD hath not sent me. 30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah, and all [their] goods. 33 They, and all that [appertained] to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
The earth became their grave and their physical judgment for their sin. However, the meaning seems to simply refer to the depths of the cavern into which they fell, the place they perished.
The next instance that I want to consider is found in the book of Deuteronomy, in the Song of Moses. Apparently, Moses prophesied this shortly before his death on Mount Nebo.
Deuteronomy 32:21-25 They have moved me to jealousy with [that which is] not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with [those which are] not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. 24 [They shall be] burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling [also] with the man of gray hairs.
The song speaks of how God had chosen and blessed the children of Israel, and then speaks of God’s reaction to them when they will turn against God in favor of worshipping idols.
Because of their rejection of God and His Word, God promises them that He will no longer bless or protect them.
The text here promises them that they will be chastised.
Deuteronomy 32:22
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Here it appears that God’s wrath against those who reject Him burns in the earth and in the underworld as well.
In many of the places where the word ‘hell’ is used in the OT, the place of the dead in general is referred to, but in some cases, it appears to be the word by which the place of torment is referred.
Psalms 9:15-17 The heathen are sunk down in the pit [that] they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16 The LORD is known [by] the judgment [which] he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God.
By the context here, it seems that the wicked have been caught in the trap of their own making. The wicked have judged their own selves by choosing to forget God.
Psalm 55:15
Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

There are several mentions made to the lowest hell, almost as if there were a part of hell that is higher.
Psalm 86:13
For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Proverbs 15:24
The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
Proverbs 9:18
But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
When hell is considered as the place of destruction, or in completely negative terms, we can determine that the lowest hell, or the place of torment is under consideration.
In several of the passages, you will find the use of the phrase ‘hell and destruction’.
Proverbs 27:20
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
In such phrases, the word destruction is from the Hebrew word ABADDON.
We also find a mention of this in the book of Revelation.
Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.
As I prepare to move from the OT scriptures to the NT passages dealing with hell, let me emphasize one more time that ‘Sheol’, when translated as the word ‘Hell’ can either mean the general place of the
There is a prophecy concerning the death of Jesus, and His three [3] days and three [3] nights in the grave. Where was the soul of Jesus during this time?
Psalm 16:10
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Peter identified this prophecy as referring to our Lord in the Day of Pentecost sermon.
Acts 2:25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 6 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Acts 2:28-31 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 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. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
The Hebrew word used in the OT prophecy is ‘Sheol’ and the Greek word in Acts 2.27 is ‘hades’.
Where was Jesus when He was in hell? Was he in the place of torment?
When Jesus hung between the two [2] thieves on the cross, one mocked Him, and one believed. We notice what Jesus said to the believing one:
Luke 23:39-43 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
I believe the best explanation regarding Hades, or Hell, in the account of the rich man and Lazarus.
Luke 16:19-26 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.
The rich man was in torment in hell, and could see across the gulf to where Abraham and Lazarus were, and spake to Abraham. This seems to teach that the place where all the current dead wait are in the same area; and would seem to agree with the picture we get from the OT concerning Hell.
As we earlier considered, the thief on the cross was in Paradise with Jesus.
It seems that Abraham and Lazarus were in Paradise as well.
GEHENNA:
The first place we find the word ‘Gehenna’ is in Matthew 5.22. This word is also translated into the word ‘Hell’; but it has a different meaning than ‘Hades’, in that it is more specific in that it refers to the punishment section of Hell.
Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 23:33
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Mark 9:43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

James 3:6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Tarturus: Finally we have our last word which is also translated as ‘hell, and is found in only one verse, and speaks of the hell for the angels who await the final Judgment Day.
2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
In closing, it appears that the death and hell will give up their dead at the final Judgment Day, and then Hades will be burned up in the lake of fire which will be for the final punishment.
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.