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The Spirit World: Chapter Ten (Gehenna)

Gehenna

(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)

Gehenna is a Greek term, yet it comes to the Greek from the combination of two Hebrew terms, Gei and Hinnom.  Gei Hinnom literally means “the Valley of Hinnom.”

The Valley of Hinnom was an area outside the walls of New Testament Jerusalem, at the southwestern corner of the city.  The pertinence of Gehenna in Jesus’ day was that it was Jerusalem’s trash dump.  All manners of refuse were thrown there, from typical household waste to industrial discards.  Dead bodies also were thrown here, both of animals and humans.  Criminals with no proper burial choices were discarded there, as were others who were unable to afford nicer burials. Continue Reading

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The Spirit World: Chapter Nine (Lake of Fire)

The Lake of Fire

(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)

The phrases describing the “lake of fire” occur four times in scripture, each in the book of Revelation.  Being a phrase of several very common terms, the “lake of fire” is a simple representation of this group categorically.  The phrase is rendered as the “lake of fire and burning sulfur,” with slight variances, in three places, and simply “lake of fire” in the fourth.  Variances are slight throughout numerous translations, with each yielding the same essence, “lake of fire.”  Because there are only four references to this phrase, each one will be examined in this section. Continue Reading

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The Spirit World: Chapter Eight (Hell)

Hell

(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)

Of all abodes of the dead, perhaps none bring the immediate sense of recognition as does the term, “Hell.”  Hell is an English word from the Saxon “helan,” which means “to cover” or “to hide”.  There is no single underlying Hebrew or Greek term which can be traced biblically to coincide with the use of “Hell” in varying translations.  To that end, Hell must be treated first by its English understanding and then applied to those Hebrew and Greek terms which represent that definition in scripture. Continue Reading

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The Spirit World: Introduction

Introduction

(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)

Numerous are the terms used in scripture to reference the other-worldly spiritual abodes which remain unseen to the human eye.  Some biblical students are content to quickly categorize these many terms into two simple categories: Heaven and Hell.  However upon a thorough examination of scripture it becomes exceptionally clear that many of the abodes of spiritual existence in scripture are not synonymous with either Heaven or Hell.  Hades, is often considered synonymous with Hell, for example, yet numerous Godly men, including Jesus himself, are noted in scripture to have entered Hades upon their deaths.  While there are some who erroneously teach that Jesus went to “Hell” when he died (meaning “the eternal lake of fire”), scripture is unwavering in its clear assertion that in fact, Hell is not yet occupied.  Continue Reading

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The Second Resurrection & Judgment

The Judgment of the Lost:  The Great White Throne

 

Revelation 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Continue Reading

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The Judgments of Believers

The Judgments of Believers

The first question one would ask when discussing the “judgment” of saints is, “for what?”  Clearly scripture teaches that believers are not judged for their sin[1].  Christ alone received the judgment for sin on the cross.  Yet, scripture teaches that believers will undergo judgment.  The purpose of judgment for believers will be demonstrated in this section to be a judgment for reward rather than a judgment for punishment. Continue Reading

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Heaven

Heaven

The Term

In Hebrew, the term translated “heaven” or “heavens” is shamayim, which is used about four hundred times in the Old Testament.  “Heaven” is likewise translated into English from the Greek term ouranos or derivatives of it in the New Testament.  Ouranos and shamayim have three distinct meanings in scripture.  In both Greek and Hebrew culture and language, heaven was distinguished contextually to be one of three places: Continue Reading

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