hell
The Spirit World: Ch. 20 (The Great White Throne)
The Great White Throne
(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)
With the fullness of the righteous dead accounted for, one remaining category of resurrection and judgment remains. From the beginning of time there has been no resurrection or judgment appointed for the unrighteous. They have been relegated to Abaddon, within Hades, awaiting a final judgment which will determine their stature in the eternal lake of fire. This final assignment of the unrighteous is noted also in Revelation 20. Continue reading
“The Resurrections and Judgments” Vlog Series Now Available
For twenty weeks ReturningKing.com has been releasing the author’s The Spirit World book one chapter at a time. Very soon this book will be complete in its online free distribution. The Spirit World systematically traces the abodes of the departed spirits of men and angels throughout scripture. It examines the nature of Sheol/Hades, the Abyss, the Lake of Fire and numerous other spiritual “containers” which are referenced and described in scripture.
The second half of the spirit world is concerned with the transference of people from one spiritual abode to another. In short, it is primarily concerned with the resurrections and the judgments of all mankind as detailed in scripture.
The author recently completed a sermon series at his home church entitled The Resurrections and Judgments which is an oral presentation of the same general material as the second half of The Spirit World.
That series has since been uploaded (unedited) and is now available as a vlog series on our Video Courses page where this video teaching series and others are being regularly added to ReturningKing.com as a extension of our teaching ministries.
The scripture teaches a fascinating journey, separate for the believer and the unbeliever, involving a very methodical and procedural resurrection and judgment for every human being throughout history. The scriptures teach that all who have ever lived will one day reconstitute and rise from the dead; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and contempt. The Resurrections and Judgments series details that process in six sermons which are designed to be heard in order. We hope you will have an opportunity to listen.
The Spirit World: Ch. 12 (The Great River Euphrates)
The Great River Euphrates
(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)
The Euphrates River is noted several times in scripture in its common usage. It normally refers to the literal Euphrates River, of course, which begins in Russia and flows through Syria and Iraq, emptying into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates is first mentioned in the book of Genesis, being one of the four rivers which flow out of Eden. Continue reading
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
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
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
The Spirit World: Chapter Four (The Pit)
The Pit
(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)
The term
“The Pit,” is to be described in this work using its English rendering because two different Hebrew terms are translated “the pit” in the Old Testament. Both terms, when used metaphorically, clearly speak of the same place, however. Additionally, both terms translate into English as “the pit,” so are grouped together in this section. Continue reading
The Spirit World: Chapter Three (Abaddon)
Abaddon
(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)
Abaddon is also a Hebrew term, thus is constrained to the Old Testament, except for one occasion when the Hebrew term is referenced in its original language in the New Testament. Abaddon appears seven times in the Bible. Since it is used so sparingly, this chapter will examine each use of the term.
Abaddon is translated “destruction” throughout the NIV and KJV, except for the Revelation passage, where Abaddon is rendered in its native Hebrew, as a proper name.
Each use of the term is listed below. Continue reading
The Spirit World: Chapter Two (Hades)
Hades
(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)
Skipping ahead to the New Testament, the next term to be observed in this work is the Greek term, Hades. Obviously, being Greek, Hades appears only in the New Testament. The term is used only ten times in Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Hades is translated in the NIV as “the grave,” “the depths,” “death” or is left in its original Greek form, transliterated as “Hades.” Also in the NIV it is translated “Hell,” in Luke 16 (below), but in the modern understanding of that term, “Hell” is not the best designation to be used. (More will be discussed on this in chapter eight) With the NIV being a more modern translation, this is an inexplicable use of the term “Hell” in English translation. Hades is, however, translated as “Hell” in all ten usages of the KJV, a much older translation. Continue reading
The Spirit World: Chapter One (Sheol)
Sheol
(This is a continuation of The Spirit World book series. This post assumes the prerequisite reading of earlier posts in the series.)
Giving consideration to the fact that the Bible is translated from the Hebrew and Greek languages (with some Aramaic), it is necessary to evaluate original language terms to have a consistent understanding of the meanings of the English terms which represent them in translation. One of the first terms one encounters in the scriptures which refers to a hidden spiritual realm is the Hebrew term, Sheol. Being Hebrew, Sheol is found, of course, in the Old Testament. Sheol literally means “the grave” or “the world of the dead.” It is frequently translated into English as “the grave” and at times, “Hell,” although “Hell” is not the best translation for modern English consumption as will be explained in chapter eight. Continue reading
