Hell & Judgement Part 2

2 December 2012





man is destined to die once
and after that to face judgement

(HEB 9:27)

Justice is restoration & acknowledgement

Judgement brings light; restoration brings healing.

Hell is the fate of those who cannot face their judgement
and will not make restoration

Punishment is not justice

DISCUSS:
1. How much punishment would it take to make WWI ok?
2. How do you see justice & judgement?


Judgement, Justice & Restoration

Understood in these terms, we not only create hell
when we express our selfishness at the expense of others
but we allow hell to be manifest
when we refuse to oppose evil
or confront others with a judgement of their actions.



Are we manifesting hell or heaven here?
Which kingdom do we partner with?
We will be judged against this.
Judgement, Justice & Restoration
Hell in the Old Testament
Sheol & Hades
HEBREW GREEK
(OT) (NT)

Grave/realm of the dead
(not Hell)


In the earth where we
lay our bodies (NUM 16, JOB
7:9, PS 31:17, PS 86:13)


It holds an expectation of
judgement (ECC 9:10, IS 14)


Its defeat is promised
(HOS 13:14)

Hell in the New Testament
Gehenna
Gehenna is the term Jesus uses exclusively.
A physical place outside Jerusalem where garbage burned and
bodies of the dead were cast if they did not deserve burial.
(Hence they were fed on by worms &the air was cleansed by fires)

Gehenna
Gehenna means the valley of Hinnom despised in the OT as a
place where children were sacrificed to the pagan god Molech.
Jesus uses this term to reflect the prophecy of Isaiah 66
Jesus Statements About Hell




If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it
away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your
whole body to be thrown into hell.
(MATT 5:29)

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in
hell.
(MATT 10:28)

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your
body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell
you, fear him.
(LUKE 12:5)






Jesus Statements About Hell



Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have
succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
(MATT 23:15)

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being
condemned to hell?
(MATT 23:33)




Utter Darkness & Gnashing of Teeth
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his
kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will
throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. Then the rigtheous will shine like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father
(MATT 13:40-43)

MATT 22:33 Parable of the wedding banquet




DISCUSS:
1. Who does Jesus suggest goes there?
Matt 7:21-23
Matt 8:5-13
Matt 10:24-33
Matt 12:36
Matt 13:41
Matt 21:43
Matt 22:11
Matt 23:1-33 (Matt 24:51)
Matt 25:28-30
Matt 25:41-46

2. Whats the common thread?

Tartarus a Greek mythological term




For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to
hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment
(2 PETE 2:4)


And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but
abandoned their proper dwellingthese he has kept in darkness,
bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
(JUDE 6)





The Lake of Fire




I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and
thrown into the blazing fire.
(DAN 7:11)

But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had
performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded
those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its
image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of
burning sulfur.
(REV 19:20)

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of
fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in
the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
(REV 20:14)






Torment

In Hades, where he was in
torment, he looked up and saw
Abraham far away
(LUKE 16:23)

Typically, torment is a state not an
action. When the Bible refers to
people being tormented it is
usually by an evil spirit. There are
only two exceptions:
The devil, the beast and the false
prophet who are tormented in the
lake of fire (REV 20:10)
Those who are tormented in the
presence of the Holy angels and of
the Lamb (REV 14:10)



Four Main Views of Hell
Literal, conscious torment forever
Hell is a literal & eternal place where sinners go and remain forever, in
an unending state of torture of body and soul.
The scriptures are actual, literal descriptions of what hell is like.

BEST ARGUMENT:
Scriptures at face value not complicated.
Luke 16:19-31 The rich man says I am in agony in this fire
The Bible itself never argues against a literal interpretation
Gods infinite holiness requires an infinite punishment on sin

TOUGHEST QUESTIONS:
Doesnt fit model of punishment equal to crime (Ex 21:24)
Eternal fire & eternal darkness? How? Invisible flames?
Shouldnt the sheep & goats be literal too?





Universalism: we all get there in the end
Hell is real, but Gods unconditional love ultimately triumphs over all.
It emphasizes grace & mercy over judgment & justice and argues from
Christs victory at the cross as being totally complete. Salvation for all.

BEST ARGUMENT:
If an eternal hell is real, then love is eternally frustrated. Heaven is a
place of either mourning or perverse glee in sinners suffering
John 12:32 draw all men Rom 11:32 mercy on them all
1 Tim 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9 God desires that none perish 2 Cor 5:19

TOUGHEST QUESTIONS:
How does justice & restoration fit in?
Hitler & Mother Theresa share an identical fate?
Overrides our free willour freedom to reject God?
Cant resolve Mark 10:28 & Luke 12:5





Annihilation: eternal life only for the righteous
Hell is real. Gods punishments last forever but he isnt eternally
punishing forever. God judges. He doesnt torture. Eternity is a gift.

BEST ARGUMENT:
God does not grant immortality to the wicked to inflict endless pain
on them. He removes wickedness & evil God alone has the power to
destroy body & soul (Matt 10:28).
The destiny of the wicked is destruction (Phil 3:19). Sodom, Gomorrah
and the Flood stand as witnesses (2 Peter 2:6 & 3:6-7) .
In eternity this is the second death (Rev 20:14-15)
Only God is immortal (1 Tim 6:16) eternal life is a gift (2 Tim 1:10)
Prison is not a biblical concept

TOUGHEST QUESTIONS:
Scripture describes hell and its fire as eternal not temporary




Metaphoric: symbols to help us comprehend
Hell is real but the imagery Jesus and the scriptures use are symbolic.
Uses concepts from our realm to present the reality of another realm.

BEST ARGUMENT:
Jesus is using metaphors to help us see the concept of hell in terms
we can understand, just like he does with heaven (The kingdom of
heaven is like)
The symbols cant be literal because they conflict (eternal fire & a
place of darkness; eternal flames & eternal physical worms etc)
It is the Western mind that feels a need to literalise the Bible

TOUGHEST QUESTIONS:
If its all metaphoric, what can we know? What is non-literal eternal
suffering and eternal fire?




What to make of it all?
An Ill-timed Repentence
a Demonstrate fable
Carls Suggestions
Fire is a property of God & Heaven, not Satan or hell
Reject both literalism (torture) & universalism (non-judgement)
Understand the symbols as real but metaphoric
Understand that many people we think reject God are
actually rejecting religion. Christ, not religion is the issue.

We will all die and face judgement (HEB 9:27)
This includes Christians (1 COR 3:11-15)






Carls Suggestions
On meeting Christ and really seeing him, those who can
accept the judgement of who they are and accept Christs
offering will enter eternity

Those who cannot, or have no substance beyond their
wickedness and hate, will be destroyed with death and
the kingdom of darkness.

God will not force them, but he will remove them.

No one who sees God and receives his judgement will feel
unjustly treated.




END