Originally posted by Eduardo,
May I ask this question? Could hell be the last battle with God, the armegeddon? Its said that that is the hell the bible is referring too because during that time of destruction it makes all other wars look puny when we think of the weapons man will have coming against the Holy City.
I'm sure you know the Hebrew word translated Hell
(SHEOL = the realm of the dead, the abode of the dead, or the state of the dead), as well as the three Greek words translated Hell
(1. HADES = the Greek equivalent of Sheol; 2. GEHENNA = the Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna, which was the city dump outside the walls of Jerusalem, a place of constant burning of refuse; 3. TARTAROO = a restraint, a confinement, a prison, a condition in which the angels are held for a specific period of time, in the same manner as prisoners are often held in jail awaiting the day of trial.)
And then there is the
LAKE OF FIRE, which is
THE SECOND DEATH. The term
"second death" (this is the lake of fire- Revelation 20:14) carries in its name its own definition. It is
DEATH.
Why should unbelievers who have been judged
(judgment means making right), go to the second death? For the same reason we who are now justified by faith go to the
first one (i.e. - the same reason the firstfruits experience the "first death.") In other words, sooner or later, we
ALL die for what we still are, that is, human beings born into the realm of Adam. The carnal, worldly, old Adamic man MUST DIE eventually! It happens to some sooner, and some later.
Revelation 2:11 says;
"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches; He that overcomes shall not be HURT of the second death." Notice this DOES NOT say that the overcomer experiences nothing of the second death, that he does not pass through it, or that its work is not wrought in his life; but says he
will not be "hurt" by it.
"And these three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they HAVE NO HURT; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Daniel 3:23-25).
The word "hurt" is from the Greek
ADIKEO meaning
to be unjust, do wrong, injure or offend. So Revelation 2:11:
"He that overcomes shall not be done an injustice, wronged, injured or offended by the second death." The difference between the unbeliever and the child of God is that the unbeliever is taken hand and foot and
"cast" into the lake of fire, fighting, kicking, screaming, cursing, and resisting all the way, while the child of God willingly and obediently
"walks" into God's
"refiner's fire" (Malachi 3:2-3) hand in hand with
"the Son of God." God IS A
CONSUMING FIRE (Hebrews 12:25-29) - And one way or the other,
ALL MUST DIE UNTO SIN.
The ludicrous lie of eternal torment in Hell has confused this very simple Truth.
As far as your question, there of course are "HELL ON EARTH" situations, both physically and psychologically. And there are many Scriptural passages which connect hell, either literally or metaphorically, to darkness, restraint, distress, sorrow, suffering, pain, etc. So yes, that situation will indeed be a
HELL on Earth. But the idea of "eternal torment" in Hell which the majority of Christendom professes........
The Greatest Lie Ever Told! And the greatest evil ever conceived.
