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(Into The Pit Part 1)

Perhaps the timing of this article is significant. I had intended to do an essay on the nature of Hell since I first put up this site, but there always seemed to be something more important to turn my energies to. As it is, a recent conversation with a friend of mine on the state of the dead (see the two articles discussing this) have turned out to be the perfect precursor to the discussion of hell, that state of “eternal separation” from God. There are few teachings by the worldly churches that distress me as much as the misunderstandings of hell. There are few doctrines of men that so fully misrepresent the Father’s nature as the teachings on the immortality of the human soul. There are few areas that need to be cleared up as immediately as this one: for if we do not KNOW the characteristics of our Heavenly Father’s nature, how can we possibly worship Him?

If, at this point, my reader has not already been through the (not too lengthy) chat transcripts dealing with what happens to man when he dies, I encourage him or her to do so now, because without those, what I write here may make less sense. They are found here in Part 1 and Part 2. In these two articles I build upon a couple of the concepts set forth and backed up by the Word in those two, and I would much prefer to go on unto the true matter here without having to lay again the foundations contained within it.

I will, however, briefly review the concepts. I do not go into detail concerning the Scriptural evidence here, those are in the essays I mentioned above, but only the conclusions. And the 7 main conclusions are these:

1) Man is created in the image of Elohim, a three-part God. (Gen 1:26)

2) Man is therefore 3 parts himself: spirit, soul and body. (1Th 5:23)

3) Man fell through disobedience, and earned death. (Gen 3:19)

4) Man may be redeemed through Christ, and then the old, sinful spirit is destroyed, and a new spirit is placed in him, as well as a new “heart,” for the soul also will now desire to live a Godly life. (Eze 36:26)

5) Man dies, and three things happen; one to each of the parts of his being. The body returns to dust, the spirit (“breath” in Hebrew) returns to God who gave it to him, and the soul (or consciousness) perishes. (Psa 146:4, Ecc 12:7, Ecc 9:5)

6) Man is resurrected when the spirit is returned to the reconstituted (but glorified – if a Christian) body, and the joining of these two parts also restores the mind/soul/consciousness and it’s related memories and personality. (Rom 8:11, 1 Cor 15:44, 1 Cor 13:12)

7) Man is resurrected, but if he is not saved, though he is restored likewise to his body, it is not a body that is glorified or made spiritual, for he knows not the Spirit by which this is done. Rather, he is restored to life to become a member of Satan’s last army, his last attack on God. At this point both he and his demonic master are consumed in the fires of hell. (Rev 20:5-15)

This is were we come in... hell. We all know the verses that talk about the punishment of those who don’t know God. Both the Old and New Testaments speak similarly: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dan 12:2) “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” (Isa 6:24) “And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:45,46) “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:10,15)

Well, those seem pretty specific, don’t they? Fairly open-and-shut. Of course, this leads to the question, “Why?” If hell’s torment is truly eternal, this is a fair question. Why would God send us to eternal torment for even a dedicated lifetime of evil? Shouldn’t the punishment fit the crime? If a man spent 70 years murdering innocent people, should he deserve eternal pain and torture? The Bible says that “every may will be judged according to his works,” (Rev 20:12,13) doesn’t it? If we are judged according to our works (and the word “judged” in Greek there does carry with it also the connotations of resolution and sentencing, not just a “yes” or “no” judgment), what can a man do to deserve endless suffering?

Ask any evangelical Christian who believes this doctrine that question, “Why would God create an eternal place of suffering?” You will get one of two answers – “We don’t know, we shouldn’t question His ways. They are higher than our ways, after all.” The second answer is, “Well, no one is forced to go. A man, by rejecting Christ, chooses to go to hell.”

Let’s take these one at a time:

“We don’t know, we shouldn’t question His ways. They are higher than our ways, after all.” This is the issue of questioning God. There is a common misunderstanding about this topic. Should we, or should we not question God? You see, there are different ways to go about this, and one of them is perfectly right and fitting. Let’s look at Job. He is our greatest Biblical example of suffering. Did he question Yah? Oh, yes. He came to the place where he was so sorrowful he asked, “Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?” (Job 3:11) Yet, “in all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:22)

Job was distressed, and said, “Why has all this happened? How is it I am in such pain?” But what he did NOT do was turn a resentful eye to Heaven and say, “Why did YOU do this to me?” To do this is truly to show an utter lack of respect to our heavenly Father, who desires nothing but joy and peace for even the most faltering of His children. What a lack of understanding! What a fatal lack of knowledge!

Of course we may question our Father’s workings in our life, ask Him what He wants us to do, ask Him how he wants things to be done, ask Him why He does the things He does. But do it with a right motive. Do not “charge” (accuse) God foolishly. If even a wonderful husband demands that his wife obey his every word unquestioningly, always being kept in the dark as to the result of her actions – will she be a happy bride? Will she feel loved and respected? How then, would Yahshua, the church’s perfect Husband, treat us that way? If we truly know Him, we will understand that even the trials in our lives are for our refinement – we will ask and He will explain, and if we do NOT know our Father in this intimate way, we have bigger problems than our house falling down and our cattle being killed. To know the nature of our Father... this IS life eternal. (John 17:3)

In fact, let me quote out that verse. John 17:3 – “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Notice that to have life eternal is to know Yah AND Christ Yahshua. There is a reason for this. We cannot know the Father if we do not know the Son. We cannot know the Son if we do not know the Father. The are one (John 17:22), and Christ’s whole mission on earth was to reveal the love of the Father to human beings.

“Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.’ Philip saith unto Him, ‘Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.’ Jesus saith unto him, ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?’” (John 14:6-9)

Christ lived that we may know the Father. Christ died that we might have NO questions about His love for us. The Gospel story, rightly used, will silence any opposition given by men of vain philosophy or hedonistic disposition. It will also strongly rebuke those who say we cannot know the ways of God. If we cannot know the ways of God, how can we walk in His ways? Yes, we must question our Father: and seek the answers in nature, in the Word and from His Spirit working in our lives. He invites us to know Him, and He died in the Person of His Son as the strongest evidence we have that this is true.

So let’s not say that we cannot understand Yah’s purpose in destroying sin, or in making an eternal place of suffering – if He has done so. If our loving Father had made a place of endless torment, the Bible would tell us why. Some have used this verse to say that hell is one of those “secret things” that we can’t understand and therefore Yah has not bothered to explain: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deu 29:29)

But would our Father “not bother” to reveal to us the nature of the place were some people will be if they aren’t in Heaven? Seems to me that’s a very important thing. And even of these things that Moses said were “secret things” that belong to Yah, we later find this: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (1 Cor 2:9,10) Have any returned to earth with a report of Heaven? No, those who went there were so dazzled they said only that they saw and heard things “which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2 Cor 12:4) But as the time was right, the Spirit revealed to us the nature of this and other spiritual things. Certain things were not made clear to Israel the nation, but now more light is revealed, and as with the doctrine of Christ, we now have that, “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Eph 3:5)

Yes, we are to know the nature of our Father, or how else can we worship him boldly, in spirit and in truth? Accept His invitation, and come and see.

Now let’s look at the second response given to the simple question of, “Why an eternal hell?” The second response is often, “Well, no one is forced to go. A man, by rejecting Christ, chooses to go to hell.” I think even a child can see that this is a non-answer. “We can explain the fact that our loving Father made an eternal place of torment because we can choose to not go there?” What sense does this make? It does not address the issue at all: Why would Yah MAKE such a thing in the FIRST place? THAT is the question, and that is what is not answered by this shifty reply.

But let us not avoid the question here. This is the answer that a few will give, that actually addresses the real question: they say that the soul is immortal, and therefore it MUST remain conscious, either in heaven or hell. This is the only way that a Scriptural answer to eternal torment can even be attempted, that the soul of man has immortality of itself. There’s no way to get around it – those who teach that hell is a place of eternal, conscious suffering MUST accept the doctrine that man’s soul is immortal – eternally conscious, whether we sin or not. Whether we are in Christ or lost in our sins.

Is this true? If it’s true that the soul of man is immortal regardless of whether we have accepted Christ or not, I will cease my opposition here and now. But if my reader will permit a few verses, I think we can clear this up: and this we had best do quickly.

“I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” (1 Tim 6:13,16) Only Yah has immortality, Paul writes. And moreover, if WE want to partake of HIS eternal life (for we have NONE of our own), we must learn of Christ, who was sent by this immortal One. The world does not know of Him, or His gift to us. It is hidden from the carnal mind, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” (2 Tim 1:10)

The Bible is all too clear on this: Those who accept Christ get to live forever, those who don’t... die. Probably the most popular verse of all the Sacred Scriptures records this most basic truth. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Those who believe in Christ will not perish BUT will have everlasting life. It’s mutually exclusive... you have one or the other. The Gospel gives immortality. Without it we will die. And if you want to know what “death” means to the body, soul and spirit, I offer again my articles on the state of the dead.

To them, who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, [is given] eternal life.” (Rom 2:7) “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” (1 Cor 15:54) “Shall have put on” is future perfect tense, not coincidentally.

There is no immortality of the soul apart from Yah. He is the source and embodiment of life itself; and what is hell but a separation from God? “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4) To say that there is eternal, conscious torment even for the sinner, some kind of “life,” ANY kind of life, is to repeat the SAME original lie that the serpent told Eve. “And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘Ye shall not surely die.’” (Gen 3:4) “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Cor 11:3) And it IS simple... the redeemed live, the lost die.

Some have gotten around this concept by saying that the torment in hell is some kind of an “eternal death,” a “getting there” towards death, but never quite being consumed. Some of the verses that support this are, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (Mat 25:41) And another is: “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Rev 14:11)

The verses that speak of the conditions in hell fall into two categories. One speaks about the flames and fire and brimstone, the agent of destruction itself, as in the Matthew verse. The other speaks of the torment, such as that quoted in Revelation 14, and in other places like, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Rev 20:10)

Now what shall be said of the FIRE of Hell? What is it’s purpose, and what is its function? If we can find what the Bible says about this, it may make our study easier. Well, for one thing, we know Hell is not something that God created for human beings. Some will GO there, but the purpose of hell is NOT for the express function of punishing the wicked. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (Mat 25:41)

The truth is, though... that Yah Almighty loves His angelic creations (fallen and holy) as much as He loves us, and though Hell is designed for their destiny, it was even then not made to punish. The Old Testament had the Israelites bringing animals to the priests as atonement for their sins. If they had somehow transgressed the law of Yah (though not in open, purposeful rebellion – Num 15:28 and lots of other places), they would bring sheep, or goats or a bullock to the intercessor, and this procedure I am about to describe would occur. I want my reader to pay VERY close attention to this part, because it is extremely significant to our picture of hell.

“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.’” (Lev 6:9-13)

Here is an important fact. The word for “sin offering” as used in the Old Testament is “chattah” and these were offered in the same way as the olah (burnt offering). (Lev 4:24) This word is used for sin offering, but really just means sin, the condition of being in sin. Yah saw the animal given for the sin offering AS the sin itself. Now look at this: the sin offering was an occasional thing, IF a man sinned. But the burnt offering was a periodic, ceremonial ordinance. For the purpose of the burnt offerings described above the fire never went out!

The sin was consumed in this everlasting, non-extinguishable fire, but yet the sins themselves were reduced to ashes and cast away from the camp. The fire burned forever, but the SIN did not! So applying the analogy to true, spiritual things, what IS this everlasting fire? What ARE the flames of hell?

Here are three verses that should settle this. “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” (Deu 4:24) “And they [the lost and the demons led by Satan] went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Rev 20:9) “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:29) In three verses in all of Scripture (two of which are written above), Yahweh Elohim is referred to as a “consuming fire.” In fact, that phrase is only found IN those three verses. God alone is a consuming fire. His glory alone will consume the wicked in the last days: not because He hates them! Not because He wants to punish them eternally, but because THEY, through their sin, are unable to endure the brightness of His face in that day. Consider that it was the glory of Yah that destroyed irreverent priests, if they should enter the tabernacle in an indiscriminate manner, or bearing unconfessed sin, in Leviticus 16:2.

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.” (Heb 6:4,6) Notice, those who are lost are in a condition that they cannot sincerely repent of. The sin changes them, it does NOT change Yah. He loves them no less, but they are slain, destroyed by their own evil hearts. In the day when Christ shall be revealed in His glory, the wicked will not be able to endure it – not because Yah chooses to destroy them, but because He cannot hold back His love any longer. His glory will flood the universe, and upon earth, where the wicked have just been revived, this brightness will verily be to them “a consuming fire.”

Those of us who love Christ, and are made new in His image, we will be as the burning bush, we will “burn with fire,” yet will be “not consumed.” (Exo 3:2) Yes, all will burn. The righteous will be refined by this (Zec 13:9), and the wicked will be burned with this same everlasting fire. All will face the fire, but only the wicked will be consumed. “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa 33:14) Paul has the answer to who. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them [the resurrected] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Th 4:17) WE, the redeemed, will dwell forever with Yah. We, the redeemed will dwell with the devouring fire. This is what Hell is... Yah’s love and His wrath are the same, for He is nothing at all but Love – Love is all there is; all else is illusion.

The fire in Leviticus, upon which was consumed the burnt and sin offerings, never went out. Our Father Yah will never go out, and our redeemed, glorified selves will be the eternal, burning sacrifices offering up praise and worship forever and ever without end. Now, will Heaven be boring at all?

There is nothing so abhorrent to the Father as His own professed children misrepresenting Him. There are some Christians who say the wicked dead are in Hell even NOW, having already started their eternal torment which will last forever and always, their screams of pain lashing against the ears of the Throne for all time. This is one of Satan’s most bold lies. First of all, the dead CANNOT be in Hell already, for they are dead. My articles on the state of the dead make all too plain the Scripture’s teaching that the dead know NOTHING. They cannot feel pain, and have no concept of time. The plain word of Yah as revealed through His oracles states that AFTER the dead are raised IN BODY and judged, those on the left side are cast into the fire of His wrath (which we have seen is merely a revelation of His true nature – this alone destroys them).

The parable of Lazarus in Hell is explained well enough in the sections prior to this, and simply cannot be used to set aside David and Solomon’s teachings on what Death is, nor can they contradict Yah’s teachings to Adam about what death was (Gen 3:19) and James and Paul’s teachings on a real, physical resurrection before any punishment or reward was given (James 1:12, 1Tim 4:8), not to mention Daniel and John’s visions of the judgment itself! Christ words, of course, are always the final authority on such things: “Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Mat 22:29-30) Let us not err, and let us know the scriptures. Only in the resurrection do the dead recieve any reward or punishment.

Do not deceive yourself or others about the nature of our loving Father! Have reverence, “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.” (Mat 10:28) No one is suffering before the Throne now. Hell is a place where sin is destroyed, and sin ONLY. Those who choose to link themselves inextricably WITH sin by rejecting the saving grace of Christ are consumed WITH the sin, but it is the sin itself which is the whole target of our merciful Father’s wrath. He loves us always, His nature hates the sin. Hell is a place where the BODY and soul are ultimately destroyed. Let no one say there is an eternal agony of the soul and spirit forever and ever... it’s just not true.

Thus far we have examined the state of the dead, the two main problems with the “traditional Christian view” of eternal torment, and the pattern of hell as typified in Leviticus. In the next section we will deal with further details of this teaching, and the example given both by and IN Christ Yahshua.

The study is not finished... there are weak arguments to be strengthened, and new points to be put forth.

David.

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