THE NETHERWORLD & THE DEMONS OF THE ABYSS -- Lismore -- 9-13-20PM

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THE NETHERWORLD & THE DEMONS OF THE ABYSS

The following is my interpretation of the Scriptures concerning the Netherworld and the Demons of the Abyss. A Christian should be dogmatic when it comes to what the Bible clearly reveals but they cannot be dogmatic in areas where the Bible is not specific and abundantly clear about something. There are respected scholars that I greatly respect who differ in their interpretation of Hades, Abraham's Side, Paradise, demons, and ect; but on this we agree: There is a destination for the soul at death. For the believer it is peace. For the unbeliever it is unfathomable torment. At the time of death, there is no other opportunity to change one's destination. - Pastor Ken Gilmore

THE UNSEEN NETHERWORLD

There are several terms connected with the discussion of the Netherworld: Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Abyss, Tartarus, Hell, The Lake of Fire, Paradise, and Abraham's Side.
Basic Definitions

o Abyss: Bottomless pit where some demons are bound until Rev 9. Also likened to Tartarus.

o Sheol and Hades: General unseen world into which the souls of believer and unbeliever go when the body dies. A great gulf separated the two parts

Believers: Paradise or Abraham's side until the resurrection of Jesus
Unbelievers: Torment side that is still where unbelievers go today. Referred to often as Hell.

o Lake of Fire: Sometimes likened to Gehenna. This is the literal and final Hell. The Lake of fire is currently empty but is the coming eternal destination of Satan, the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and anyone whose name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

THE ABYSS

Somewhere in God's universe, there is a prison in which God has placed the foul, unclean, filthy, and rebellious demons (Jude 1:6), not all of them, but some of them. Some demons are still loose today on the earth and fear being sent to the Abyss (Matthew 17:18).
Abussos (abyss) appears nine times in the New Testament.1 It refers to a bottomless pit of darkness. Another word used in the bible to speak of the abyss is Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4). Peter chose a term from Greek mythology with which his readers would be familiar. Tartarus was the name used in Greek literature for the place where the worst sinners, those who had offended the gods personally, went after death and were punished. The place where God keeps demons imprisoned is actually different from the imaginary place of Greek mythology. Yet the use of the term Tartarus does seem to convey the idea that because of the heinousness of their sin, God has imprisoned certain fallen angels in such a place of severest torment and isolation.2
During the Tribulation, some of the demons currently locked in the Abyss will be released for a short time during at the fifth trumpet judgment to torment sinners on the earth (Rev 9:1-12).
At the end of the Tribulation, after the Battle of Armageddon, Satan will be bound and sealed up in the abyss for 1000 years with the demons that are already there.
The Abyss is not the final place of punishment for demons nor Satan; the day is coming when they will be cast into The Lake of Fire, the literal Hell (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10 , 20:15).
Scripture does not refer to any humans being cast into the Abyss.

SHEOL AND HADES

Both Sheol and Hades, in Scripture, refer to the general unseen world into which the souls of believer and unbeliever goes when the body dies. Sheol is the Hebrew Old Testament word (used 66 times)3 and Hades is the Greek New Testament equivalent (used 10 times).4 Some translations like the KJV, translate these words as hell, grave, pit.

o When Jacob was told that Joseph had been killed: Genesis 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.

o When Korah and his followers rebelled against God in the desert: Numbers 16:30 "But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD."

o Jonah 2:2 I called to the LORD in my distress, and He answered me. I cried out for help in the belly of Sheol; You heard my voice.

o David declared: Psalm 16:10 For You will not abandon me to Sheol...

o Psalm 55:15 Let death take them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.

o Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today.

o Luke 16:23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.

o Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.

Both Sheol and Hades in Scripture refer to the general unseen world into which the soul, both believer and unbeliever, goes when the body dies.
Jesus gives us insight into this Netherworld in Luke 16:19-26: One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24 'Father Abraham!' he called out, 'Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!' 25 "'Son,' Abraham said, 'remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.'
From this description, many scholars, and I agree, believe that hades had two sections: a paradise portion also called "Abraham's side," and a punishment portion called "Torment" with a great gulf between them. It is believed that our Lord emptied the paradise part of Hades when He arose from the dead and returned to the Father (John 20:17; Eph. 4:8-10). Jesus Christ had to be the First Fruits (Col 1:18). All those who died before the Cross were sinners and even though they had looked with faith to the Promised Messiah, HIS BLOOD had not yet been shed for their sins. They may have kept all the feasts, the sacrifices, but the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4-14). With Jesus' resurrection, Paradise was emptied as believers were escorted into heaven and the presence of God.
The bodies of believers today, since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, go into the grave but their souls go to be with Christ. "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2Cor. 5:8).
The lost today still go to the place of torment in Hades. The only part of Hades still occupied is the place of torment where unbelievers go when they die. The day is coming when Hades will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14).

LAKE OF FIRE - THE LITERAL REAL HELL

Up to this moment, the Lake of Fire, Hell in its literal sense, is empty.

o The first to be forever banished there are the Antichrist and the False Prophet at the Battle of Armageddon (Rev 19:20).

o The second will be Satan, shortly after his 1000 year incarceration in the Abyss (Rev 20:10).

o The third are all whose name are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Rev 20:15). This is when those in the remaining Torment part of Hades (all unbelievers) will be cast into Hell, the Lake of Fire.

What do we know about this place?

o Jesus likened it to Gehenna, a place outside of Jerusalem for the dumping of refuse, dead bodies of animals, and executed criminals. It was a place of perpetual fire and unending putrid rot. Mark 9:43-44 43 And if your hand causes your downfall, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell [Gehenna]-the unquenchable fire, 44 where Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

o Matthew 22:13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

o Matthew 13:42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

o Matthew 25:46 "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

o 2 Thessalonians 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength

o 2 Peter 2:17...The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.

o Revelation 20:14-15 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

o Revelation 21:8 8 But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars-their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

o Matthew 25:41 Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!

o Revelation 14:11 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night...

In conclusion, it is my understanding that

Abyss (the pit) is a prison in which some demons are detained prior to their final judgment and Satan will be bound there for 1000 years after the Battle of Armageddon.
Sheol and Hades is the unseen world beyond this life with two places Paradise and Torment, between which is a great gulf.

o The souls of Unbelievers still go to that place of Hades called Torment, awaiting judgment day when they will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

o Today, Believers go to be with Jesus in Heaven because He emptied Paradise at His resurrection.

The Lake of Fire, the literal Hell, is empty today, but will be the eternal abode of Satan, the Antichrist, the False Prophet, the demons, and all whose name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

THE DEMONS OF THE ABYSS

Revelation 9:1 (HCSB) 1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him.
Jude 1:5-7 (HCSB) 5 Now I want to remind you, though you know all these things: The Lord first saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe; 6 and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions, just as angels did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Some of the angels in the abyss are the demons who cohabited with humans in Satan's failed attempt to corrupt the human race and make it unredeemable. The term Nephilim refers to the offspring of demons and humans.
Genesis 6:1-4 (HCSB) 1 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. 3 And the LORD said, "My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

o The Old Testament phrase "sons of God" always refers to angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). A potential problem with this is in Mat 22:30, which indicates that angels do not marry. However, the text does not say "angels are not able to marry." Angels are spiritual beings (Heb 1:14), they can appear in human, physical form (Mk 16:5). The men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to have sex with the two angels who were with Lot (Gen 19:1-5). Why do the fallen angels not repeat this act of Noah's day? Perhaps their fear of also being cast into the Abyss.

o What happened to the Nephilim? The Nephilim were one of the primary reasons for the great flood in Noah's time. Immediately after the mention of Nephilim, God's Word says, "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them'" (Gen 6:5-7). God proceeded to flood the entire earth, killing everyone and everything other than Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. All else perished, including the Nephilim (Gen 6:11-22).

o Were there Nephilim after the flood? Possibly, but unlikely. When the Israelites spied out the land of Canaan, they reported back to Moses: "We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Numbers 13:33). It is likely that the spies witnessed very large people in Canaan and in their fear believed them to be the Nephilim from the stories passed down through generations.

Peter also writes about these fallen demons in the Abyss: 1 Peter 3:18-20 (HCSB) 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm. 19 In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few-that is, eight people-were saved through water.

o Jesus's message to the demons in the Abyss was certainly this: Their attempt to corrupt mankind to the point they could not be redeemed and their attempt to corrupt the bloodline of the Messiah had failed. Jesus Christ had come, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and paid the ransom for all man's sin with his own blood.

While we cannot be absolute certain, but it is likely that some of the demons that will be released during the events of Rev 9 include the demons bound since the days of Noah.
As God's people, we can be thankful that Jesus Christ holds the keys of hell and death and exercises divine authority even over Satan. God has His timetable for all these events, and nothing will happen too soon or too late.

1 Revelation 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; Luke 8:31; Romans 10:7.

2 MacArthur New Testament Commentary, The - Revelation 1-11.

3 Genesis 37:35, 42:38, 44:29, 44:31; Numbers 16:30, 16:33; Deuteronomy 32:22; 1 Samuel 2:6; 2 Samuel 22:6; 1 Kings 2:6, 2:9; Job 7:9, 11:8, 14:13, 17:13, 17:16; Psalms 6:5, 9:17, 16:10, 18:5, 30:3, 31:17, 49:14, 49:15, 55:15, 86:13, 88:3, 89:48, 116:3, 139:8, 141:7; Proverbs 1:12, 5:5, 7:27, 9:18, 15:11, 15:24, 12:14, 27:20, 30:16; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Song of Solomon 8:6; Isaiah 5:14, 7:11, 14:9, 14:11, 14:15, 28:15, 28:18, 38:10, 38:18, 57:9; Ezekiel 31:15, 31:16, 31:17, 32:21, 32:27; Hosea 13:14; Amos 9:2, Jonah 2:2, Habakkuk 2:5.

4 Matthew 11:23, 16:18; Luke 10:15, 16:23; Acts 2:27, 2:31; Revelation 1:18, 6:8, 20:13, 20:14.