What Really Happens When We Die?

Most of us grew up in an environment where we were taught to fear a burning place of fire called “hell” more than learning about how to love our Heavenly Father.  We received our theology from movies, songs, and religious teachings that taught us that hell is a place where people who do not profess a faith in Messiah and the wicked go after they die.  They all receive eternal life and are forever tortured by the “devil.”  The good news, and the Biblical reality, is this type of mythological hell does NOT exist.  As well, no one after death is immediately going up in the sky to look down on their family and friends whom they left behind.  Both of these non-Biblical concepts have been influenced heavily through the centuries by extra-biblical sources.

Messiah Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) said in John 3:13:

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (NKJV)

We must trust Yeshua, our Messiah, and no one else.  He also gave us an example when Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary, died in John 11:1-44.  The text tells us that Lazarus had been dead for four days.  Yeshua responds that Lazarus is only sleeping in the grave.  Lazarus’s sisters understood that Lazarus had died and was there awaiting the future resurrection of the dead, on the “last day.”  They did not have the modern view that Lazarus was up in heaven looking down on them.  Yes, Lazarus was really dead and was not in heaven or hell, but sleeping in the grave when Yeshua woke him up to live again.

The purpose of our article is to dispel myths (fables) and to obtain a true perspective of how our Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, deals with mankind after they die. His description of Himself does not align with man’s traditional view of who He is and how He deals with people.  In God’s own words about His character, we see a balance of mercy and judgment.  We read in Exodus 34:6-7:

"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." (NKJV)

Most importantly, we are NOT saying that at the final judgement, the wicked, death, and the grave will not be consumed by God’s fire.  In Revelation 20:4-6; 11-15, it describes this judgement.  However, throughout God’s Word, we find His divine fire comes from His presence and from around His throne:

“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24)

“So, fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” (Leviticus10:2)

“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him.” (Daniel 7:9)

“The L-rd reigns…righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. A fire goes before Him, and burns up His enemies round about.” (Psalm 97:1-3)

Our main point is that mankind should fear standing before a holy God and not a mythological place!  (more on the judgement below)

WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD SAY ABOUT HELL?

God’s Word should be the basis of our theology and doctrine; not mythology or man’s imagination. Besides, God’s way is a lot more compassionate than the ways of the pagans, as we will see below.

The first five books of our Bible (Torah) contain 613 laws in statutes, ordinances, warnings, blessings and curses. These books teach that the consequences for the wicked is their total destruction or being cut off from eternal life by their death. They are not forever tortured as in modern Christianity’s concept of “hell.”

In the words of our Messiah Yeshua, John 3:15-16:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

He draws a contrast here between those who are within His Abrahamic Covenant and will receive eternal life and live forever, and those who WILL NOT receive eternal life. Those who do not receive eternal life will be destroyed, annihilated, or become cosmic dust. They will not receive “eternal life” swimming in a fiery hell. However, they will stand before God’s judgement seat and give an account of their actions.

Paul echoes this reality in Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is DEATH; but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE.”

This same truth was introduced in the beginning with the story of Adam and Eve.  In Gen 2:17, God said, “…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely DIE.”  This is referred to as the “fall of mankind.”  Their sin required an offering as God took the skin of an animal and clothed them.  We believe this animal was a lamb.  This would make sense as Messiah Yeshua was referred to the “lamb of God” who was slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

THE HEBREW WORD “SHEOL”

Our Bible tells us that Abraham and the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs went to “Sheol” (the grave) when they died.  Genesis 25:8 describes Abraham as being “gathered to his people.”  This is where ALL people go when they die. Abraham is still there awaiting the resurrection of the dead.

Sheol appears 65 times in Older Covenant (KJV) Hebrew text and is translated three different ways by translators:

• “Grave“- 31 times;

  
  

• “Hell“ - 31 times; and

  
  

• “Pit“ - 3 times.

  
  

Sheol is the only Hebrew word in the Older Covenant that is translated “Hell.”

In Simcha Paull Raphael’s book, Jewish Views of the Afterlife, in the foreword by Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi, he states:

“The early part parts of the Bible know not of an afterlife above or in heaven… region known as Sheol…In that region all souls, righteous and wicked abide…Scripturally, the dead sleep in the dust and await the time they will be raised from their graves.”

This view is consistent with what our Bible teaches if we look at the origin of each word used to describe what occurs to us when we die. This is called “etymology,” the study of word origins. We have discovered that down through time the literal meaning of the words Hades and Hell has been changed.

Sheol (Hebrew), Hades (Greek), and Hell (English) all mean the same thing; a hole in the ground where people are placed and covered with dirt.  This is where they remain until the resurrection of the dead. This will bear out as we continue to look at the original meaning of these words.

The Christian Wycliffe Bible Dictionary states on page 1573, “Sheol is much used in poetry and often parallels ‘death’ or the ‘grave.’

Christian scholar, Dr. Strong, in his Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, states:

“Hades, from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492;  properly unseen, i.e. ‘Hades’ or the place (state) of departed souls—hell, grave.”

HADES IS SYNONYMOUS WITH SHEOL AND HELL

The Book of Acts provides us with evidence in Acts, 2:27:

"Because You will not leave My soul in hell [hades], neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption."

This a quote from Psalm 16:10:

"For You will not leave My soul in Sheol, neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption."

The word “Hades” appears 11 times in the Greek text in the Apostolic Writings.

• It is rendered "grave" 1 time, and "hell" 10 times in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.

  
  

• “Hades” is rendered “hades” ALL 11 times in more modern translation, New King James Version (NKJV), of the bible.

  
  

• “Hades is translated “hades” 5 times, “grave” 2 times, “death” 1 time, “hell” 1 time, and “depths” 2 times in the New International Version (NIV). Their translators provide a note that states these are the same Greek word, “Hades.”

In the following quote, we can see the influence of the Greek pagan culture on Jewish culture.  Professor Stephen L. Harris, Understanding the Bible, states:

“The concept of eternal punishment does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, which uses the term Sheol to designate a bleak subterranean region where the dead, good and bad alike...When Hellenistic Jewish scribes rendered the Bible into Greek, they used the word Hades to translate Sheol, bringing a whole new mythological association to the idea of posthumous existence. In ancient Greek myth, Hades, named after the gloomy deity who ruled over it, was originally similar to the Hebrew Sheol, a dark underground realm in which all the dead, regardless of individual merit, were indiscriminately housed.”

Paul warns us about the use of mythology in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (myths).” (NKJV)

SEPTUAGINT (LXX) TRANSLATION

The Hebrew Bible (Law, Prophets, Psalms) was translated into the Greek Language (Koine Greek) by a group of Jewish scholars in the 3rd century B.C.E. in Alexandria, Egypt. This text was called the “Septuagint or LXX.”  Their purpose was to provide a copy of the Hebrew Bible to Hellenized Jews spread throughout the Greek empire who no longer spoke or read Hebrew.  Hellenization is defined as “devotion to, or imitation of ancient Greek thought, customs, or styles.”  Many Jews had become Hellenized while living in other nations.

The LXX is quoted more than the Masoretic texts in the Apostolic Writings. Therefore, the Greek corresponding words must carry over the literal meaning of the corresponding Hebrew words.

Authors of the LXX used the word “Hades” to translate the Hebrew word “Sheol.” Therefore, this word literally means “death or grave.”

Sheol and Hades were used when describing Jacob and Job and where they expected to go after they died.

• Genesis 42:38 [Jacob speaking], "Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [sheol].”

  
  

• Job 17:13-16 [Job speaking], "If I wait, the grave [sheol] is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, You are my father; to the worm, You are my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit [sheol], when our rest together is in the dust."

Sheol and Hades are simply the place everyone goes when they die. They are placed six feet under ground or in a hillside tomb, nothing more and nothing less.

The prophet Daniel states in Daniel 12:2:

“And many…that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:18-21:

 “For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; ... as the one dies, so dies the other; yea, they have all one spirit; and man has no preeminence above the beasts [in death]: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all return to dust again.”

King Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes 9:10:

"...there is no works, nor device [intelligence/reason], nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in sheol where you go."

MYTHOLOGY MIXES WITH MODERN THEOLOGY

Hades, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is:

“the grim god of the lower world dwelling in the abode of the dead conceived as either a dark and gloomy subterranean realm or a remote island beyond the western sea."

The Greek god Hades, god of the underworld, is pictured as a red-figure, enthroned on an Apulian vase made in the 4th century B.C.E.  He has a bird-headed staff in his hand.

Wordsworth Dictionary of Mythology, 1994 edition, writes about Hades:

“In Greek mythology, he is the son of Cronos and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. When the world was divided between the three brothers, the underworld and hell fell to Hades, while Zeus took the heavens and Poseidon, the sea. Hades ruled the dead, assisted by demons over whom he had authority.”

In The History of Hell, by Alice K. Turner, 1993, 1995, states the Egyptians were creators of the underworld mythology for the dead:

“…Thomas Thayer supports Professor Stuart, Greppo's Essay, and Spineto, that: "The Amenti of the Egyptians originated the classic fables of Hades and Tartarus. (Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Chapter 3, P. 7).”

A few hundred years before Christianity, there was a Greek Philosopher and Aristocrat named PLATO (348/347 BCE). He was the founder of the Academy in Athens where Aristotle studied. Dr. Daniel Tutt states:

“Plato, ever the dialogue-based philosopher gave up all of the dialogues after Socrates died… As Hannah Arendt points out, “the myth of hell was created in the end of the Republic for those who could not handle philosophical truth.” Hell was created as a myth to promote a form of nonviolence as the foundation of political decision making. Plato’s invention of hell was a way for citizens to have a new system of rewards and punishments in the hereafter, thus it was a coercive device to promote a new form of democracy. It might also be this invention, not of hell exactly, but of forms of coercion that seek to control the unruly citizenry that has left many pondering on Plato’s totalitarianism.”

As stated above, Plato actually got his ideas from the Egyptians. Their ideas of what occurs to the dead goes back to the 8th century B.C.E. Their place of torture was called Amenti.

This is where the Italian, Catholic, writer Dante Alighieri (1265 AD) got his ideas for his poem “The Divine Comedy.”  There is section called “Inferno” (hell).  It carried the idea of people going to the underworld to be tortured by the gods.  Dante started with the first layer called “purgatory,” which is still referred to today by the Catholic church.  He invented nine more layers that had increasing levels of torture eventually arriving where “the devil” dwelt.

The Jewish people were not exempt from Plato’s influence.  In his “The Sedra on Bo,” Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, wrote:

“There was a time, under both the Greeks and the Romans, during which Hellenistic culture had an enormous appeal for many Jews. They assimilated. They were drawn to Greek art and drama. They took part in athletic competitions. For them Hellenism was cosmopolitan, Judaism merely parochial [closed-minded]. Both periods (the Greek in the second century BCE, the Roman in the first century CE) represented crises of Jewish identity, not unlike the one Diaspora Jewry is going through today.”

There is much more information on mythology and Hades that is easily researched online.

ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH WORD HELL

The word “HELL” appears 54 times in the King James Version of the Bible. It is translated from one Hebrew word and three Greek words:

• Hebrew sheol - 31 times

• Greek gehenna - 12 times

• Greek hades - 10 times

• Greek tartarus - 1 time

There are several modern translations that DO NOT use the word “hell” to translate these words.

In the Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins, by John Ayto:

“Etymologically, ‘hell’ is a 'hidden place.' It goes back ultimately to Indo-European 'kel' (cover, hide), which has contributed an extraordinary number of words to English, including 'apocalypse,'' cell,' 'cellar,' 'conceal,' 'helmet,' 'hull,' 'pod,' 'occult,' and possibly 'colour' and 'holster.' Its Germanic descendant was 'khel-,' 'khal-,' whose derivatives included 'khallo' and 'khaljo.' The first became modern English 'hall,' the second modern English 'hell-'-so both hall and hell were originally 'concealed or covered places,' although very different ways: the 'hall' with a roof, 'hell' with at least six feet of earth…"

In old English, ‘Records may be found of the helling of potatoes, which meant the putting of potatoes into pits or root cellars where they were concealed or hidden from view until they were brought out to eat. When the helling of a house was spoken of, it meant covering the roof with a suitable roofing material.’”

In England, where this word was first used, it was simply understood that hell was a dark, cold, quiet place that was a hole in the ground.

Webster’s New World Dictionary Encyclopedic, Edition 1951, agrees:

“Hell - to cover, conceal, hide, [base of Anglo Saxon helan]”

The Encyclopedia Britannica states:

“Hel or Hela, in Scandinavian mythology, goddess of the dead, a child of Loki and the giantess Angurboga, dwelt beneath the roots of the sacred ash, Yggdrasil (q.v.), and ruled the nine worlds of Helheim. In early myth all the dead went to her: in later legend only those who died of old age or sickness; she then became synonymous with suffering and horror.”

The On Line Etymological Dictionary defines Hell:

“also Hell, Old English hel, helle, ‘nether world, abode of the dead, infernal regions, place of torment for the wicked after death,’… English word may be in part from Old Norse mythological Hel… A pagan concept and word fitted to a Christian idiom.’”

It is apparent that Hell, Hades, and Sheol all have the same meaning i.e.,"the grave," without mythology attached to them.

WHAT DID MESSIAH YESHUA TEACH?

The valley of Gei-Hinnon runs on the southern edge of Jerusalem. It was once an area where people placed their refuse/garbage and where dead bodies were thrown by the Romans to be either eaten by worms or burned by its perpetual fire.  It was also a place where pagan deities were worshiped using human sacrifices.  Yeshua mentions this place in Matthew 5:29:

“If your right eye makes you sin, gouge it out and throw it away! Better that you should lose one part of you than have your whole body thrown into Gei-Hinnom.” (Complete Jewish Bible)

“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (NKJV)

Yeshua was using this place as a symbol of eternal destruction, not torture.  If this valley was the mythological “hell,” then it certainly is not burning today.  It is actually a green space park that we visited, called today the “Hinnom Valley”!

The only two people in the Apostolic Writings to refer to “Gei-Hinnom,” were Yeshua and the Apostle James.  It was used in a symbolic way to teach about the “second death” (Revelation 20:14), for those who will NOT inherit eternal life.

WHAT ABOUT LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN?

This parable is only found in Luke 16:19-31.  Remember that parables are NOT to be taken literally; they are to be understood “figuratively.”  Keep in mind what we have learned above that mythological “Hades” or “Hell” does NOT exist in the Hebrew Bible or the New Covenant.

Webster Dictionary defines a parable as:

“A short and simple tale based on familiar things meant to convey a much deeper and profound moral or spiritual truth."

Other things to keep in mind when reading this parable, the people in Yeshua’s day understood the:

• Symbology

• Idioms

• “Street” language

• Temple politics

This is critical for understanding the meaning of this parable.

Another important point is that Yeshua, not Abraham, will judge and give rewards and punishments AFTER the final resurrection of the dead (Matthew 10:15).  We believe this scene takes place during the resurrection of the dead when the rich man has consciousness and is standing before the throne of God; realizing he is in the wrong group.

Being rich or poor does not determine who receives eternal life (Genesis 13:2, Abraham). No one will receive salvation because they are simply beggars; being poor or rich is not a sin!

His audience were: the Pharisees (16:14), His Disciples (16:1), the Scribes (14:3), the Tax Collectors (15:1), and the Sinners/Multitudes (15:1/14:25). There are several characters mentioned: Abraham, Lazarus, Rich Man, Five Brothers, Dogs, and Angels/Messengers/Servants.

The contrast between a rich man and beggar is drawn. We find that neither are guilty of something that would require capital punishment or eternal punishing in a mythological hell.

We see Lazarus “begging” for bread. The scripture states in Psalms 37:25:

“…yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his decedents begging for bread.” So, clearly, Yeshua is not talking about physical food.

There are many clues about who Yeshua was addressing;

• The rich man wore purple and fine linen (symbol of Kingship/Priesthood), had five brothers (the current High Priest had five brothers), and after his death, he was tested and judged.

  
  

• The beggar has a place within “Abraham’s bosom” (eternal life in Paradise).

  
  

• We do not have the time to explain everything here but consider: the ruling class; the corrupt Priesthood; and how the common people (the neglected classes); and the God-Fearers (Nations) were being treated.  They were being deprived of spiritual food, which is the Word of God.

  
  

• He was teaching them that there would be consequences for them on the future Judgement Day, if they continue to neglect their responsibilities as leaders in Israel.

Please go back and read this parable without a mythological bias. We believe the main point of this parable is that Yeshua was warning corrupt leadership within the geopolitical and religious spheres of the day.  Also, the rest of the Bible does not teach a consciousness immediately after death.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN BY “SLEEPING IN THE GRAVE”

When Adam was created in Geneses 2:7, he was formed out of the dust of the earth and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.  This teaches us that the human physical body is separate from the divine life force, called our spirit.  When we die, the physical body returns to the dust and our divine life force returns to God who gave it.

Based on our Messiah’s example, our bodies will return to the earth and our spirit returns to God. Then, one day God will breathe life into us again:

"And when Yeshua had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last." (Luke 23:46)

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to the God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

The Hebrew word used above for spirit is ruach; not neshamah (breath) that goes forth. Overwhelmingly, the Bible teaches us that our conscience dies on the day we die.

Psalm 146:3-4, “Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.  His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”

Psalm 104:29, "...you gather in their spirit [ruach] they expire, and return to their dust."

Daniel 12:2, “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.”

Ezekiel 37:13-25, “And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves. And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live... And David my servant shall be king over them.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Yeshua will God bring with him.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Master himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the shofar of God: and the dead in Messiah shall rise first:”

As seen above, death is described as sleep for the family of God.  Sleep is a normal experience for every human being.  God uses this physical reality to let us rehearse our future death, burial, and resurrection every day.  We go to sleep at night, lay down, cover ourselves, and then we rise up in the morning.  In fact, there are several biblical poetic ways of describing the resurrection of the dead occurring in the early part of the day, such as: “the awakening,” “in the morning,” “like the dew,” “like the dawn”, etc.

JUDGEMENT OCCURS WHEN MESSIAH YESHUA RETURNS

Some interpret 1 Corinthians 5:8-10 as evidence that when we die, we immediately go into the presence of the Lord.  In context, we believe Paul is talking about the future resurrection day when we receive our rewards:

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Messiah, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

When we appear before the judgment seat of Messiah, we will be conscious because we must give an account for what we have done in our lives.

• Hebrews 9:27, “And it is appointed for men to die once, but AFTER this the judgment.”

  
  

• Matthew 10:15, “Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

  
  

• Matthew 12:41, "Men, Ninevites, will be rising in the judging with this generation and will be condemning it...”

  
  

• Revelation 11:18, “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

  
  

• Revelation 20:11-14, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him who is sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven did flee away…I saw the dead, small and great, standing before G-d, and scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is that of the life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls--according to their works; and the sea did give up those dead in it, and the death and the hades [grave] did give up the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works; and the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire--this is the second death.” (Young’s Literal Translation)

  
  

YESHUA IS THE JUDGE

• 2 Timothy 4:1, “I charge you therefore before God and the Master Yeshua Messiah, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:”

  
  

• 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, “…since it is a righteous thing with God to REPAY with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us WHEN the Master Yeshua is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Master Yeshua Messiah. THESE SHALL BE PUNISHED WITH EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION from the presence of the Lord and from His glory and from the glory of His power.”

  
  

• John 5:28-29, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which ALL that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: judgment].”

  
  

LAKE OF FIRE

The phrase “Lake of Fire” only appears in the Book of Revelation.  However, Yeshua alludes to it in Matthew 25:41 where He states it was prepared for the devil and his angels:

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Below, we see where the Apostle John used the phrase “lake of fire” to describe the place of final judgement:

“And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.” (Revelation 19:20)

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone [sulfur], where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented (the devil) day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 KJV)

• NKJV, NAS, NIV, CJB – inserts “they” before the word “shall”

• The beast and false prophet are men who will perish like other men.

• “Tormented”  - some believe a better translation is “examined” or “tested.”

“And death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14)

• Should read “And death and the grave…”

“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

• They are consumed, destroyed, perish…

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8) [see Revelation 20:6]

THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE

Believe it or not, many teachers use the phrase “their worm does not die” found in Isaiah 66:24, and quoted in Mark 9:44, to describe eternal consciousness or awareness for the wicked after death.  Here two different translations of this verse in Isaiah:

“And they shall go forth, and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me.  For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (NKJV)

“And they will go out and see the corpses of the men who rebelled against me, for their decay will not cease and their fire will not be extinguished, and they will lie in disgrace before all mankind.” (The Stone Edition of the TANACH)

We believe this phrase to mean, the wicked will be destroyed and their destruction is permanent. This describes a place like the valley of Ge-Hinnom (described above) in Yeshua’s day, which was a garbage dump with literal maggots and burning fires.  The word translated as “Worm” in the Strong’s Concordance number H8438 (to-law', to-lay-aw', (3,4) to-lah'-ath):

From H3216; a maggot (as voracious); specifically (often with ellipsis of H8144) the crimson grub, but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith: - crimson, scarlet, worm

H3216 ילע   yâla‛ yaw-lah‘ - A primitive root; to blurt or utter inconsiderately: - devour

It is not God’s will for any one to be destroyed.  He gave the ultimate sacrifice of His Son so that whosoever trusts in Him will have eternal life. (John 3:16)

CONCLUSION

There are several other verses in the New Covenant that other teachers use as proof text for their position that there is a literal hell where some of God’s creation will go and be endlessly tortured. Sadly, we cannot address every doctrine at this time due to making this too long.

Remember, the PAGAN concept of “eternal punishing” is NOT how a just and righteous God hands out justice. His final judgement is eternal punishment; quick and merciful.

We wrote this to provoke thinking about this subject in a different way. We believe that our perspective is more in line with the whole of God’s Word, without mythology. We believe the Bible teaches we should love and respect (fear) God more than we fear a horned guy with a tail and a pitchfork living in a sea of fire!