Hell is a four letter word. It’s easy to pronounce, easy to spell, but for many it is very hard to think about. People all over the world are taught that Hell is a place where bad people go to be tormented and burned for eternity. Preachers scream about it from the pulpit, and mourners whisper about it at funerals. People all over the world have been greatly misled. When I hear the word Hell, I don’t get scared, or shiver. This is because I know what Hell REALLY is.
The word Hell in the Bible is derived from, two words Sheol, and Hades. Sheol and Hades both mean the same thing, except one is Hebrew and the other is Greek. The Bible was primarily written in Hebrew and Greek. When Bible translators began to translate the scriptures into English, they took both words and gave them the same English word, Hell. Then, preachers all over the world began to teach that the word hell (and in effect, the words Sheol, and Hades) meant a dark and scary place where God sent people to be tortured. But is that what Sheol and Hades really mean? NO! Both Sheol, and Hades, literally translated mean “the grave”. Is the Grave a place where people go to be burned forever?
What Happens at Death?
If Sheol, and Hades both mean “the grave”. Then Hell would mean the same thing. What happens to people in the grave? Ecclesiastes 9:5 makes it really clear. That scripture says “For the living are conscious that they will die; but the dead are conscious of nothing at all.” What is it like to be unconscious? Do you feel anything? Do you know what is going on? Can you experience emotions, or remember things? The answer to all of these questions is no. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6) In fact, in the Bible death has been described as a sleep. When Lazarus died, The Christ told others that Lazarus was asleep. (John 11:11-14) He was comparing death to a deep sleep with no dreams. Also, when the disciple Stephen was stoned, the Bible said that he “fell asleep in death” (Acts 7:60) What is sleep like? Can you think, or speak, or remember things? The answer is no. This is the condition of those who have died. They are NOT burning in torment.
What Kind of God?
Religious leaders all over the world have slandered God by teaching that he burns his creations in Hell forever. But as we have seen, this is a lie. The Bible makes it clear that God would never want to see his creations hurt like this. What would you think of a parent who punished their child by putting their hand on a hot stove? Doesn’t that disgust you? So why should people believe that a loving creator would do the same thing, in a much bigger sense to humans who disobeyed him? Why do they except this lie? Jeremiah 7: 31 says “They (apostate Judeans) have built the high places of the Topheth, which is in the Valley of the son of Himnom, in order to burn their sons and daughters in a fire, a things that I had not commanded and had not come up into my heart.” God has never even considered burning people it has not even been a thought to him. If he is upset when humans do this kind of thing, then why would he do it? Deuteronomy 18:10 says “There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire…” This is something that God strictly commanded his people NOT to do! He would not be so hypocritical as to do it himself..would he? NO, we can have assurance that God would never do this.