OLD TESTAMENT HELL
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Hell
a) Is hell real or just a metaphor? Is it eternal and without end as the Scriptures seem to indicate? What does the Bible say about whether hell is eternal or not?
b) The Old Testament uses a different word for hell than does the New Testament and that shouldn’t surprise us because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew while the New Testament was written in Greek, although there is some Aramaic because that is what was commonly spoken in Judea at the time. So what are the differences between what translators used for the word hell in the Bible?
1. Hell a) Is hell real or just a metaphor? Is it eternal and without end as the Scriptures seem to indicate? What does the Bible say about whether hell is eternal or not?
b) The Old Testament uses a different word for hell than does the New Testament and that shouldn’t surprise us because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew while the New Testament was written in Greek, although there is some Aramaic because that is what was commonly spoken in Judea at the time. So what are the differences between what translators used for the word hell in the Bible?
2. Old Testament Hell – Sheol
a) The Old Testament uses the word “hell” 31 times and each time in the Hebrew it is Sheol. While our English word hell seems to refer to a place of eternal torment, the Old Testament word for hell, Sheol, is not. It simply refers to the grave or the abiding place of the dead. It is not particularly a place of eternal punishment for the wicked as hell is mentioned in the New Testament, however it does appear that Sheol was divided into two different sections; one for the departed wicked and one for the righteous dead.
b) Samuel was in the Sheol for the righteous when the wicked king Saul summoned him up from the grave (1 Samuel 28) but Sheol is also a place of torture for those who died outside of the faith in the Old Testament while awaiting a final resurrection for judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20.
c) Prior to Jesus’ atoning work at Calvary, He spoke about such a place in a parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16). The rich man was in Sheol while Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom but both were dead. Is the place of the deceased righteous in the Old Testament what was called “Paradise?” It could well be. The Greek word of Paradise is “paradeisos” which refers to the Greeks’ idea of a Persian concept of a well-watered garden, park or hunting ground that is abundantly provisioned. Paradise is what Israel believed was the destination for those who had faith in God and died in the faith. From this parable that Jesus’ gave, it would appear that there are two places for the deceased after death. One place is a place of torture while the other is like a Paradise. It appears that after Jesus’ death on the cross, He made possible the way for those to cross over from Paradise into the presence of the Lord.
The End ...
a) The Old Testament uses the word “hell” 31 times and each time in the Hebrew it is Sheol. While our English word hell seems to refer to a place of eternal torment, the Old Testament word for hell, Sheol, is not. It simply refers to the grave or the abiding place of the dead. It is not particularly a place of eternal punishment for the wicked as hell is mentioned in the New Testament, however it does appear that Sheol was divided into two different sections; one for the departed wicked and one for the righteous dead.
b) Samuel was in the Sheol for the righteous when the wicked king Saul summoned him up from the grave (1 Samuel 28) but Sheol is also a place of torture for those who died outside of the faith in the Old Testament while awaiting a final resurrection for judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20.
c) Prior to Jesus’ atoning work at Calvary, He spoke about such a place in a parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16). The rich man was in Sheol while Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom but both were dead. Is the place of the deceased righteous in the Old Testament what was called “Paradise?” It could well be. The Greek word of Paradise is “paradeisos” which refers to the Greeks’ idea of a Persian concept of a well-watered garden, park or hunting ground that is abundantly provisioned. Paradise is what Israel believed was the destination for those who had faith in God and died in the faith. From this parable that Jesus’ gave, it would appear that there are two places for the deceased after death. One place is a place of torture while the other is like a Paradise. It appears that after Jesus’ death on the cross, He made possible the way for those to cross over from Paradise into the presence of the Lord.
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