Hell and How To Get Out Of It?
There is a widespread belief that "hell" is a place where immortal souls of
the wicked are tortured for ever. Many authors have described the agonies of
"hell" in detail and artists have painted scenes of horror. The Bible however
presents a quite different view of "hell". The dead are unconscious; this is
clearly stated in Ecclesiastes:
"...for the living know that they will die, but the dead know not anything and
they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten".
(Ecclesiastes 9 v 5 N.K.J.V.)
But what about the many references to hell in the Bible? How do these mentions
of "hell" square with unconsciousness in death? The answer lies in the way that
the Bible has been translated. The original words translated as "hell" just as
frequently appear as "the grave". The people who heard Jesus preach did not
have any problem understanding about "hell". When Jesus spoke about "hell" and
in some cases about "hell fire" he wasn't speaking in English. He spoke in the
language of his country and would use the word "gehenna". All the people who
heard him knew that "Gehenna" was a valley outside Jerusalem where all the
refuse of the city was burned. Jerusalem had a lot of refuse and so the fire
burned continually day and night. So to get the idea of total destruction Jesus
created a picture of burning rubbish in the minds of his listeners.
Recent translations of the Bible are more accurate, translating "hell" as
"grave". When Jesus died he did not go into hell, he went into the grave. We
know that his grave was a tomb cut into the rock with an entrance covered with a
large stone. Jesus got out of his tomb because God raised him to life and made
him immortal. He cannot die again. So using the words of some translations,
Jesus got out of "hell".
What happens if we die before Jesus returns to the earth? Our only hope of
getting out of "hell" or the grave, as we should call it, is to share in the
resurrection promised to all those that believe in God and His Son Jesus. Now
is the time to reflect on the future and think about what we believe.
