Heaven and Hell

Introduction

What comes to mind when you hear the world heaven?

What about hell?

When do you go there, and what do you have to do to get there?

What informs this vision in your head?

Big Idea: The story of the Bible is not about where you go when you die. It’s about the union of heaven and earth, Divine and Human, in perfect community (Eph. 1:10). This ultimate purpose ought to be the defining factor in understanding the realms of heaven and hell.

Eternal Life

Daniel 12:2 - Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt

Isaiah 66:24 - rebellious are “dead” in a fire that will never go out, as a horror to all humanity

John 5:24-29 - a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; those who have done wicked, to the resurrection of condemnation. That time, Jesus says, “is now here” (question: is this spiritual or physical eternal life?)

Ancient Jewish Cosmology

From the perspective of an Ancient Israelite, this as accurate as it gets; doesn’t make it wrong or full of errors.

God created the heavens and the earth: two distinct realms, one divine and one human, both ruled by YHWH.

The earth is wild and wasteland, void and without form; God separates the waters above from the waters below, and forms land.

The canopy of the sky, with doors and windows that open to the heavens and allow water to fall and nourish the earth, is supported by mountainous pillars. Similarly, the earth itself is supported by pillars that hold everything above the sea.

God fills the sky with sun, moon, and stars

Through the clouds, is the gate of heaven that leads to the realm the divine

Below the land, below the sea, in the very heart of the earth, is Sheol, the place of the dead. Every disembodied soul heads here.

Within Sheol, there are three divisions: the place of the righteous, also called paradise or Abraham’s Bosom, where those who trusted God and faithfully followed him, dwell; the place of the unrighteous; and the place where fallen angels who disobeyed God and where cast out from heaven are imprisoned.

In Jewish tradition, there is a good part of Hades for the saints and a punitive part of Hades for the wicked. When Jesus promised the thief who died with him on the cross that he would join him in paradise, he meant the blessed sanctuary within Hades (Luke 23:43). Hades is not a purgatorial rehab clinic where old sins can be worked off, nor is it a literal subterranean cavern somewhere in the earth’s mantle. Hades simply means the abode of the dead wherever that location happens to be. OT saints who passed away went to the blessed part of Hades where they waited for rescue, while the wicked inhabit the punitive part of Hades where they wait and still wait for the final judgment.

Sheol: The Place of Death

Ge 37:35 - All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.

Nu 16:33 - They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

Dt 32:22 - For fire has been kindled because of my anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

1 Sa 2:6 - The Lord brings death and gives life; he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

2 Sa 22:6 - The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

1 Ki 2:6 - Act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head descend to Sheol in peace.

Job 21:13 - They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

Ps 6:5 - For there is no remembrance of you in death; who can thank you in Sheol?

Ps 49:15 - But God will redeem me from the power of Sheol, for he will take me.

Ps 86:13 - For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol.

Ps 88:3 - For I have had enough troubles, and my life is near Sheol.

Ps 89:48 - What courageous person can live and never see death? Who can save himself from the power of Sheol?

Ps 116:3 - The ropes of death were wrapped around me, and the torments of Sheol overcame me; I encountered trouble and sorrow.

Ps 139:8 - If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

What is Heaven?

Is it pearly gates? Streets of Gold? Mansions and parties and endless buffets? Is Heaven just one big retirement community? And if it is, what should have to do to get there?

Genesis 1:1 - šamayim; the “skies”; the world above and beyond earth.

Matthew 21:25; John 3:27 - The storehouse of God’s blessings

Deut. 4:39; Matt. 6:9 - The dwelling place of YHWH

Matt 3:2 - The Kingdom of heaven has come near; it’s the realm of YHWH’s rule; it goes where he does. (Not a place, but a sphere of rule)

Mt 24:35 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Heaven, a created space (Genesis 1:1) is not eternal, but temporary, to be renewed in a transformed way.

John 20:17; Acts 1:11 - It’s apparently someplace “up

Heb 9:24 - The throne room of God

Col 1:5 - Where our hope is stored

Revelation 6:9-11 - Inhabitants of heaven worship God on a throne at the center of the universe; below the throne, the martyrs of faith (the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and testimony they had given; their cry: how long until you judge the earth and avenge our blood?; the dead are in heaven, waiting for resurrection, and grieving injustice until God makes things right on Earth.

Do Christians go to heaven when they die? It’s not totally clear. Maybe. Or maybe they go to the place of the righteous, to Hades, but the good part, the safe space. Honestly, the bible gives very little evidence to heaven. It refers to the presence of God with the righteous, but even David in his Psalm says that God is present whether he goes up to heaven or “makes his bed in Sheol” (Psalm 139:8). I tell you this because sometimes we make heaven the goal, when really it’s not about the place. It’s about the presence of God that we long for, to be fully transformed and affected by his grace and mercy, completely washing over us unendingly. Sometimes we make it about the gold streets and the mansions and the stuff of heaven, that’s really just the stuff of earth magnified as big as we can get.

So if we don’t go to heaven right away, do we eventually go there? Not necessarily. The Bible ends with a picture of a new heaven and a new earth, fully restored, Eden all around, and man dwelling in this huge city ON EARTH with God forever. Again, heaven is not the goal. Life with God’s and his abundant love and forgiveness, his perfect rest and care, is what matters.

What about Paradise?

Paradise: paradeisos; Persian, an enclosed park

Gen 2:8-9 - the garden of Eden: first paradise

Isaiah 51:3 - God will one day transform Jerusalem into a garden, like Eden

Garden (Hebrew: gan) will be later translated paradeisos

Luke 23:42 - Jesus comforts the thief; upon their death, they will be together “in paradise”

IMPORTANT: Has Jesus ascended to the Father? In fact, Ephesians 4:9-10 says Jesus “descends” to the “lower parts of the earth” (Hades, Sheol)

BUT, 2 Cor. 12:4 - a man “in Christ” was caught up to the third heaven, also, “into paradise”

Rev 2:7 - To those who persevere in faith until the end, Jesus gives the right to eat from the tree of life, in the paradise of God, in Jerusalem! (Rev 22:1-3)

What about Abraham’s Bosom?

(Ἀβραάμ κόλπον, Abraam kolpon). A term Christ uses to refer to a place for the spirits of the righteous dead (Luke 16:22-23). He uses it in the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man—the rich man goes to Hades, and Lazarus goes to Abraham’s bosom.

The image is taken from the ancient practice of reclining at table (John 21:20). The Old Testament used the expression “to be gathered to one’s people (or fathers)” (Gen. 25:8; 49:33; Judges 2:10; 2 Kings 22:20). All individuals—just or unjust—could be “gathered to their people.”

What is Hell

The Indo-European root behind Old English hel and Old Norse hel, as well as their Germanic relatives like German Hölle, "hell," is *kel-, "to cover, conceal." In origin, hell is thus the "concealed place." 

Gehenna: the Valley (ge) of Hinnom

OT Ref.

Joshua 15:8 “From there the border ascended Ben Hinnom Valley to the southern Jebusite slope (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces Hinnom Valley on the west, at the northern end of Rephaim Valley.”

2 Chronicles 28:1–3 “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the Lord’s sight like his ancestor David, for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made cast images of the Baals. He burned incense in Ben Hinnom Valley and burned his children in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.”

2 Chronicles 33:6 “He passed his sons through the fire in Ben Hinnom Valley. He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a huge amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him.”

Jeremiah 7:30–33 ““For the Judeans have done what is evil in my sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their abhorrent things in the house that bears my name in order to defile it. They have built the high places of Topheth in Ben Hinnom Valley in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought. “Therefore, look, the days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley. Topheth will become a cemetery, because there will be no other burial place. The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.”

NT Ref.

Matthew 5:22 “But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Whoever insults his brother or sister, will be subject to the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to hellfire.” (the fire of Gehenna)

Matthew 5:29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Matthew 10:28 “Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Summary

In biblical witness “hell” is called gê’hinnom or geenna and takes its name from the Wadi er-Rababi or “Valley of Hinnom” on the southwest side of Jerusalem. It was a terrible place because it was remembered as the location where child sacrifices had been made to Moloch (2 Kgs 16:3; Jer 7:31). It had judgment pronounced on it, and the wicked would be buried there (Jer 7:32). In intertestamental literature, hell was the place of the fiery abyss and the final judgment (e.g., 1 En. 90.26).

The Future: United Heaven, Contained Hell

2 Peter 3:3–9 “Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”

Revelation 21:1–4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.”

Here’s the thing. The Bible is not totally clear about where you go when you die, because that’s not the most important thing. Jesus is far more concerned about the uniting of heaven and earth, of two realms becoming reconciled, than he is about transcending one realm in favor of another.

Do Christians go to heaven when they die? It’s not totally clear. Maybe. Or maybe they go to the place of the righteous, to Hades, but the good part, the safe space. Honestly, the bible gives very little evidence to heaven. It refers to the presence of God with the righteous, but even David in his Psalm says that God is present whether he goes up to heaven or “makes his bed in Sheol” (Psalm 139:8). I tell you this because sometimes we make heaven the goal, when really it’s not about the place. It’s about the presence of God that we long for, to be fully transformed and affected by his grace and mercy, completely washing over us unendingly. Sometimes we make it about the gold streets and the mansions and the stuff of heaven, that’s really just the stuff of earth magnified as big as we can get.

So if we don’t go to heaven right away, do we eventually go there? Not necessarily. The Bible ends with a picture of a new heaven and a new earth, fully restored, Eden all around, and man dwelling in this huge city ON EARTH with God forever. Again, heaven is not the goal. Life with God’s and his abundant love and forgiveness, his perfect rest and care, is what matters.

Alright, so what about hell? Do bad people get sent to hell, this place of fire and torment, where the devil rules over us with his horns and tail and pitchfork and tortures us to no end?

Okay, so this may come as a surprise to you, but NO ONE is in hell right now. Before you peg me as some sort of universalist, I want to make something clear: There is a Hell, yes, a “lake of fire” that is also eternally dark where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” a place sometimes referred to as Gehenna in the Hebrew Bible.

But, hell is a FUTURE reality, the place of final judgment, not a present one. In the book of Revelation we learn that at the end of all things, “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire,” that is, thrown into hell (Rev. 20:14). The devil, the Adversary of God, is here and he is tormented day and night forever. The sea gives up its dead, death and Hades give up their dead, and each is judged according to their works (more on that in a couple weeks). And anyone who has not put their hope and trust in Jesus, whose names are not written in the book of life, they are thrown into the lake of fire. At the end. When the first heaven and earth have passed away.

Now, is hell actually fire (which, by the way, is almost always a purifying force, not a destructive one, in the Bible)? Or is it eternal darkness? Or it is annihilation? Much of this is symbolic. Here’s what I can tell you about the place of the unrighteous, and ultimately, hell itself.

True death: separation from God forever

Grace is the only thing holding us together here. We are affected by God’s grace with every breath we take, in every moment we hold life in our bodies, whether we realize it or not. To experience final spiritual death, to be separated from God once and for all, is to know fully what the absence of God’s grace truly means, to experience existence without God’s sustaining power holding all things together for us. The end result is eternal frustration, eternal hopelessness, eternal helplessness without any sign of help. That is a recipe for weeping and gnashing of teeth if there ever was one.

I will say this: I could be wrong. All of this is from the Bible, and reading it with the eyes of a first-century reader leads me to this conclusion, but I encourage you to read it for yourself. Study carefully, not to prove me wrong, but to see for yourself. In all honesty, I’d love for heaven to be the next stop on my journey. And I’d hate for anyone to experience the absence of God’s grace in its entirety.

Again, for me, it’s not about the place. It’s about who you trust, who you depend on, in whom you find your rest and your peace and your favor. If it is Christ, he welcomes you into his arms forever and ever. If it be anyone, anywhere, anything else, God will graciously step aside leave you to you your future reward, however temporary and unfulfilling it may be.