Name: Todd
Question: Brandon,
What is your scriptural belief of hell? Is it to you the consuming fire of God and the eternal dissipation of one’s spirit as smoke rising into nothingness? As a spit over the fire, metaphorically speaking? And in having been done also the blotting out of the Book of Life of such individual. And therefore end of story? Or as scripture seems to depict, a more literal punishable fire and brimstone and lake of fire eternal scenario? Which is it in your interpretive study? Seems to be something in rightly dividing the Word for me to be complex even by the use of the Strong’s! And it is Exhaustive!? Thank you so very much for your Elect brotherhood in Christ! See you on the inside gate of New Jerusalem University!
Answer: Thank you for the question Todd, you are doing fine.
What Does The Bible Say About Hell?
I am going to take a guess and say you will know the answer to these questions, but putting them together here should help it gel in your mind.
What is our God?
…“Our God is a consuming fire.” – Hebrews 12:29
Is our Father the God of the dead or of the living?
…”He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” – Luke 20:38
Our Father is a consuming fire and that is exactly how the age will be destroyed, by His Fire, (2 Peter 3:10).
God is not going to have a bunch of burning dead people hanging around forever and ever. Our Father’s Word is filled with symbolism and parables as it is not meant for all to understand, however, it does provide for different levels of teaching and understanding, (Mark 4:11-12).
Is God really a fire?
Of course not, the fire is simply His Holy Spirit that chars those who hate Him and warms those who love Him.
Please turn your Bible with me to,
Revelation 20:14-15
14 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the first is of the flesh.”15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
What does the word “hell” actually mean?
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If you open the Strong’s Concordance that you referred to, you will see it is word G86 in the Greek and simply means “grave“.
Hell is the grave.
Not a burning pit of screaming charred bodies.
Let me ask, is death and hell something tangible?
No.
Yet, we were told they were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is symbology as well that means death including Satan will be destroyed and this is very permanent (Hebrews 2:14).
After the Millennium, after the White Throne Judgement, we enter the Eternity when,
“God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” – Revelation 21:4
People screaming and yelling in pain and agony in the Lake of Fire during the Eternity would contradict that statement.
That is how we can be certain; death, hell, Satan and all those who offend God will be permanently exterminated just before the Eternity, where there is no sorrow, no crying, and no more pain.
Additional Reading: