Appendix C

Hades and Gehenna

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:13-15)

In Appendix B we made a case for Jesus possibly suffering in hell and later joining the forgiven thief and His other saints in Abraham's bosom, ascending to Heaven, the place that the Bible calls Paradise, in victory having defeated Satan and his minions. However, as we briefly pointed out in note 26 of Part Two in our series, a case can be made for the distinction of the two Greek words Gehenna and Hades which are both translated as hell in the KJV.

Quite often the critics of the Faith Teachers make this distinction when disputing JDS. Because the Bible clearly states that Jesus descended into Hades, the critics will say "Yes, but Hades was divided into two parts – Gehenna for punishment and Paradise for the righteous." I will prove to the reader that the Bible makes no such statement concerning Hades. I will make a case showing that Hades is currently the place where the spirits of those who have not accepted Christ as personal Saviour go upon their deaths.

Also within this appendix I will show the reader that Gehenna is in fact the lake of fire where not only Hades will be cast into, but Satan and his followers will be cast there where they will suffer torment for the rest of eternity.

Though it is true that Hades was divided into two compartments, nothing in the Scriptures indicates that the portion of Hades that brought torments was called Gehenna. On the contrary, the Scriptures teach that people are currently being tormented in Hades itself:

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:22-24)

According to the Strong's concordance, the Greek word used for hell in this passage is from the word Hades (Strong's #86). The Amplified Bible translates verse 23 in this manner:

And in Hades (The Realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

Other versions that use the word Hades in the place of hell are the American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Wesley New Testament, Webster's, Literal Version, Darby, and the International Standard Version. These are only the ones I checked. I am sure that there are others that use the word Hades in the place of hell. I am amazed at all of the commentaries that boldly state that the rich man was in Gehenna.[1] This includes some commentaries written by scholars of the Greek language. Yet there is nothing in this passage or in the original Greek to make such an indication concerning the rich man. Nothing in this passage states that the rich man was in Gehenna. It explicitly states that he was in Hades.[2]

In Hades this rich man suffered torments. The rich man himself affirmed this truth when he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to speak to his brothers: "For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." (Luke 16:28). There is plenty of pain and suffering in the realm of Hades, which we point out again to the reader is not Gehenna. Matthew 11:23 also speaks of Hades as a place of punishment:

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. (Matt. 11:23-24)

Again, the original Greek Word used in this passage for hell is Hades. When Jesus was speaking to the city of Capernaum, He was speaking of their downfall. There being brought down to Hades was a punishment for rejecting the mighty works of God. Since Jesus Himself spoke the two passages referenced so far and used the word Hades in both passages, I have no doubt that He was distinguishing this particular place from Gehenna.

Sheol is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word Hades. In the Old Testament it is sometimes referred to as the place of rest for the OT saints. We have the New Testament verification of this truth in Luke 16:22. Yet, the Old Testament also uses it as a place of punishment and torment (2 Sam. 22:5-6; Psalm 9:17; 116:3-4; Prov. 15:24; Isa. 14:12-15).

Now having established the fact that Hades (or Sheol) is indeed a place of torment, is it not possible that our Lord Jesus suffered there as a result of taking upon Himself our sin and becoming a curse on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21; Gel. 3:13; 1 Pet. 2:24)? We pointed out this possibility in part two of our series of essays. We will briefly touch on this again. Acts 2:24-31:

Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

As we pointed out in part two the word pains (or pangs in most versions) denotes some kind of suffering. If Jesus had only went to Abraham's bosom then He would not have suffered any pains of death. Albert Barnes gives more insight on the meaning of the "pains of death" that Christ suffered:

The word translated pains denotes, properly, the extreme sufferings of parturition, and then any severe or excruciating pangs. Hence it is applied also to death, as being a state of extreme suffering. A very frequent meaning of the Hebrew word, of which this is the translation, is cord, or band. This perhaps was the original idea of the word; and the Hebrews expressed any extreme agony under the idea of bands or cords closely drawn, binding and constricting the limbs, and producing severe pain. Thus death was represented under this image of a band that confined men; that pressed closely on them; that prevented escape; and produced severe suffering. For this use of the word , see #Ps 119:61|; #Isa 66:7, Jer 22:23, Hoss 13:13|. It is applied to death, (#Ps 18:5|,) "The snares of death prevented me;" answering to the word sorrows in the previous part of the verse. #Ps 116:3|, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell (hades or sheol, the cords or pains that were binding me down to the grave) gat hold upon me."[3]

This is a very avid description of what the Bible says that Jesus had to be loosed from. Other translations also give us descriptions of what is possibly the experience that our Lord had while He was in Hades:

God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. (Douay-Rheims)

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. (New International Version)

But God would not allow the bitter pains of death to hold him. He raised him to life again – indeed there was nothing by which death could hold such a man. (Phillips)

But God has raised him up and freed him from the suffering of death; it was impossible that death could keep its hold on him. (Jewish New Testament)

However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip. (New Living Translation)

Sorrows, agony, bitter pains, suffering, and horrors. This does not sound as if our Lord sat three days in Abraham's bosom enjoying heavenly bliss until it was time for His ressurection. For those who strangely believe that He went directly to Heaven and to the Father upon His death, the words used to describe our Lord's death experience do not seem to make such an implication. Furthermore verses 27 and 31 makes it clear that His soul was in Hades.

All of these descriptions are spoken of our Lord while His soul was still in Hades. Therefore it is not necessary to say that only in Gehenna one suffers torment and punishment for sin. The Bible teaches us that Hades and Gehenna are places that have torments awaiting the unrighteous one that would enter into its gates. The evidence that some scholars use to make a case against the possibility of Jesus having suffered in hell is not sufficient in light of what we have seen thus far.

Gehenna – The Lake of Fire

The other Greek word normally translated into English as hell besides Hades is Gehenna. The root of the word is from Ge Hinnon, the valley of Hinnon outside of the city of Jerusalem. Many centuries ago the worshippers of Moloch the fire-god had burned their children as an offering. In 2 Kings 23:10, we find that Josiah has desecrated and defiled this place to prevent any further worship of this type.

When The Lord spoke of Gehenna He often spoke of its physical torments. In other words, Jesus specifically stated that people would go bodily into Gehenna:

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matt. 5:29-30)

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. (Matt. 10:28)

Now this does not happen to the person who goes to Hades. Luke 16:22-23 begins to speak of the rich man's death and soon after his body was buried. The next thing we see is him lifting up his eyes in Hades. His body stayed buried but his spirit and soul was in Hades. Jesus' body was laid in the tomb but Acts 2:27 speaks of his soul being in Hades. Yet Jesus says that the whole body will be cast into Gehenna. The only time we see this happening is at the white thrown Judgment when people that are not found in the book of life are being thrown into the Lake of Fire:

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Rev. 19:20)

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:13-15)

We see that the beast and the false prophet will be cast bodily into the lake of fire. They won't even be given a chance to die before they are placed there. The fact that the sea has to give up its dead shows that there will be a bodily ressurection of the unsaved dead before they are judged and thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Another fact about Gehenna is that it has everlasting fire which is never quenched:

Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. (Matt. 18:7-9)

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 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. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:42-48)

The Book of Revelation teaches us that those who are banished into the Lake of fire will suffer an everlasting and unquenchable torment:

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 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. 14:10-11)

The word "everlasting" used in Matthew 18:8 is the word aion (Strong's#165) which means (according to Strong's concordance) forever. The word "for ever" used in Rev. 14:11 is from the Greek word aionios (Strong's #166). This word comes from the Greek word aion and can be translated as eternal and everlasting. Take notice that Hades is being cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14) so Jesus could not be referring to a separate section of Hades when he speaks of Gehenna. Finally, the fire that Jesus often refers to when speaking of Satan's final and eternal torment is not Hades, but the Lake of fire:

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: (Matt. 25:41)

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)

I can't say how often I have heard preachers quote Matthew 25:41 and say "Hell was made for the devil and his angels." This may be partly true but we are not being specific. Right now Satan is not in Hades suffering eternal torment. He is presently in the either in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:2; 6:10-12) or roaming the earth causing trouble amongst mankind (Job 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:8, 9). Besides the fact that Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire before Hades is placed there proves that Hades was not created for Satan and his angels.

The fact that Jesus said that Satan and his angels will be in an everlasting fire and Revelation tells us that it is the Lake of Fire where Satan will suffer torment, we know that Satan destination is not necessarily hell itself, but the Lake of fire. What does this have to do with Gehenna not being a compartment of Hades? Plenty. Jesus describes Gehenna as an everlasting fire. Satan will be placed in an everlasting fire. So will Hades. So clearly, from Scriptural evidence, we must conclude that Gehenna is NOT a compartment in Hades itself but Gehenna is indeed synonymous with the Lake of Fire. These two are one and the same.

In conclusion I submit to you that Gehenna was never a compartment in Hades. Gehenna is the Lake of Fire. Hades is a place of temporary torment until the White Thrown judgment where God will judge those who rejected Christ. Afterwards they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Since Jesus did descend into Hades it is possible that He may have suffered there for a short time as our substitute. I do not present this as a dogmatic conclusion but as a possibility. There is enough evidence for this that its critics should cease from labeling this as heresy. I doubt that they will. In my experience I have found that the more Scriptural and historical one gives the critic, the harder his/her heart becomes and the more resolved they become in their crusade against Word-of-Faith teachers.

But you dear reader need not feel that you are a heretic because you believe that the Lord suffered greater and unimaginable sufferings that surpassed a physical sacrifice.

Notes

W.B. Godbey differed from most commentators in that he believed that the rich man went to the compartment of hell called Tartarus. (See Godbey's New Testament Commentaries Volume VII -- Matthew-John (Part 2)(Harmonized) (Spokane, WA: Holiness Data Ministry)) This shows how much opinions differ among even those who are experts in the original Bible languages. Personally I think we could save ourselves a lot of confusion by simply believing what the Bible clearly states which is the rich man went to Hades. It says nothing else other than this.
Just as we also proved that nothing in this passage teaches that Lazarus was in Paradise. It simply states that he was in Abraham's Bosom. See appendix B for more details on this.
Barnes, Albert Barnes New Testament Notes (Tempe, AZ, The CrossWire Bible Society), The Sword Project Bible Software which can be downloaded for free at http://www.crosswire.org/. Although I use Barnes definition of the word pains to bring out my point I cannot say that Barnes would agree with any conclusions taught by the Faith Movement on this since he further states, "We are not to infer from this that our Lord suffered anything after death. It means simply that he could not be held by the grave, but that God loosed the bonds which had held him there; and that he now set him free who had been encompassed by these pains or bonds, until they had brought him down to the grave." I am perplexed as to why Barnes would give us such a strong definition of what the word pains that Christ loosed from and then tell us that we are not to infer that He suffered anything from them. This is scholarly fancy-footing and proof that often even knowledgeable scholars are hindered by their own theological bias.

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