HADES
NASB Concord. # 86- adhV, ou hadˆs; perh.
from 1 (as a neg. pref.) and 7054 (1491a) (3708);Hades,
the abode of departed spirits :-- Hades(10).
The Greek word "Hades" is translated into English as "Hades" 10 times
in the New American Standard (NASB) and that is the ONLY way it is translated.
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Matt 11:23 (NASB) "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven,
will you? You shall descend to Hades; for
if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have
remained to this day.
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Matt 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this
rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades
shall not overpower it.
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Luke 10:15 "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will
you? You will be brought down to Hades!
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Luke 16:22 "Now it came about that the poor man died and he was
carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died
and was buried. 23 "And in Hades
he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and
Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of
his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.'
25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you
received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he
is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 'And besides
all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that
those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and [that]
none may cross over from there to us.'
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Acts 2:27 Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to
Hades, Nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.
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Acts 2:31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor
did His flesh suffer decay.
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Reve 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
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Reve 6:8 And I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on
it had the name Death; and Hades was following
with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to
kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts
of the earth.
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Reve 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death
and Hades gave up the dead which were in them;
and they were judged, every one [of them] according to their deeds.
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14 And death and Hades were thrown into
the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
From this little study of the Greek word, Hades, we learn this:
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Hades is down (Luke 10:15)
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Those in Hades are being tormented (Luke 16:23) in flames (vs 24.)
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All dead do not go to Hades. Some go to "Abraham's Bosom."
(Luke 16:22, 25)
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Once you are dead, there is nothing you can do about about your whereabouts.
(Luke 16:26)
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The soul (the conscious part of us) is what goes to Hades. (Acts
2:27.)
-
Jesus (who was dead but is now alive forever) has the keys of Hades.
(Rev 1:18.)
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The dead who are in Hades, will one day come out to be judged. (Rev
20:13)
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Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14.)
LAKE
OF FIRE
So what is this "lake of fire"? It is spoken of 5 times.
Read those verses below.
NASB Concord. # 3041- limnh, hV limnˆ; from
leib“ (to pour); a lake
:-- lake(11).
NASB Concord. # 4442 - pur, oV pur; a prim.
word; fire :-- burning(2), fiery(2), fire(69).
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Reve 19:20 (NASB) And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet
who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who
had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these
two were thrown alive into the lake of fire
which burns with brimstone.
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Reve 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the
lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
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Reve 20:14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This
is the second death, the lake of fire. 15
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book
of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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Rev 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving
and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters
and all liars, their part [will be] in the
lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which
is the second death."
From these we learn:
-
The "lake of fire" burns with brimstone (sulfur.) (Rev 19:20)
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It is a place of torment "day and night forever"(Rev 20:10)
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Going there is "the second death" (Rev 20:14)
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Anyone whose name is not written in the Book
of Life goes there!!!! (Rev 20:15)
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Those who commit bad sins go there, but then so do the cowardly and
unbelieving! (Rev 21:8)
eternal...
Another passage sheds a little more light on the subject.
Matt 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His
left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal
fire which has been prepared for the devil and
his angels ; 42 for I was hungry, and
you gave Me [nothing] to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me
nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you
did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick,
and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44
"Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see
You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer
them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it
to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46
" And these will go away into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life."
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The fire is "eternal." (Mt 25:41)
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It was not prepared for man. It was prepared for the devil and his
angels (demons.) (Mt 25:41)
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The punishment is "eternal" (vs 46)
unquenchable...
Need more proof?
Mark 9:41 "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because
of your name as [followers] of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not
lose his reward. 42 "And whoever causes one of these little
ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy
millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. 43
"And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you
to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell,
into the unquenchable fire, 44
[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.]
45 "And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better
for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast into
hell,
46 [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched.] 47 "And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast
it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye,
than having two eyes, to be cast into hell,
48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched.
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The fire never stops, it is "unquenchable". (Mk 9:43,46,48)
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There are also worms (maggots) which are involved in the torment, and they
never stop either! (Mk 9:44,46,48) Yukkkk!!!
maggots...
Does the Old Testament describe this? You bet it does!!!
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Isa 11 'Your pomp [and] the music of your harps Have been brought
down to Sheol; Maggots are spread
out [as your bed] beneath you, And worms are your covering.'
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Isa 66:22 "For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which
I make will endure before Me," declares the Lord, "So your offspring and
your name will endure. 23 "And it shall be from new moon to
new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down
before Me," says the Lord. 24 "Then they shall go forth and
look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their
worm shall not die, And their fire shall not be quenched;
And they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind."
HELL
And what do you think about "hell" (Gehenna)?
You know that the term came from a garbage dump where refuse was constantly
burning. I think the idea conveyed is the constant burning (and maybe
the stench). Read each time that Greek word is used in the scriptures
and decide for yourself.
NASB Concord. # 1067 geenna, hV geenna;
of Heb. origin 01516 and 02011 ; Gehenna,
a valley W. and S. of Jer., also a symbolic name for the final place of
punishment of the ungodly :-- hell(12).
The only 12 uses of gehenna are these:
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Matt 5:22 (NASB) "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his
brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his
brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever
shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty [enough to go] into the
fiery hell.
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Matt 5:29 "And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and
throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your
body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into
hell. 30 "And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off,
and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of
your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell.
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Matt 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable
to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell.
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Matt 18:8 "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,
cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled
or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the
eternal fire. 9 "And if your eye causes you to
stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter
life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery
hell.
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Matt 23:15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you
travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes
one, you make him twice as much a son of hell
as yourselves.
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Matt 23:33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape
the sentence of hell?
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Mark 9:43 "And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go
into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
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Mark 9:45 "And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast
into hell...47 "And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it
is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having
two eyes, to be cast into hell,
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Luke 12:4 "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those
who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 "But
I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has
authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you,
fear Him!
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James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, the [very] world of iniquity; the
tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body,
and sets on fire the course of [our] life, and is set on fire by hell.
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Hell is fiery (Mt 5:22)
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The fire is "eternal" and it is "hell". It is so bad that it would
be better to cut off a part of your body to avoid going there. (Mt
5:29-30; 18:8-9; Mk 9:43-48) Does that sound like "the grave"
to you?
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Hell is for the soul as well as the body. (Mt 10:28)
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Some people are sentenced to hell (Mt 23:33)
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They are then cast into hell. (Mk 9:45,47)
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Those who only kill the body do not cast anyone into hell; they merely
cast someone into their grave. Only the Lord has the authority
to cast a person into hell. (Luke 12:4)
ABYSS
There is another place called the abyss.
It is also called the bottomless pit.
It seems to be a location inside the earth, or something, and may possibly
be the same as hades, but it is definitely different from the lake of fire.
If you are interested, look up these references to the abyss: Luke 8:31;
Romans 10:7; Rev 9:1,11;11:7;17:8;20:1
You will find out...
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Demons don't want to go there. (Lk 8:31)
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Presumably, no one can go there, or perhaps no one can go there and get
back out on his own accord. (Rom 10:7)
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It is down, and Jesus was there. (Rom 10:7)
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It is in the earth, and is locked with a key which an angel has. (Rev 9:1)
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It has smoke (and where there's smoke...) (Rev 9:2)
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It has a King (Rev 9:11) and locust-like demons (see vs 3-10)
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A beast comes out of it to kill the two witnesses. (Rev 11:7)
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Then he (he is identified as Antichrist here) goes to destruction (Rev
17:8)
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Satan is chained up here for 1000 years (Rev 20:1-3)
In looking over all of these scriptures, I'm sure you can see why most
teach that some people are being tormented in Hades even as we speak, but
other people are in Paradise or Abraham's bosom. However, there is
no one in the Lake of Fire yet. People will go there after their
judgment, and we will all be judged. "For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed
for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good
or bad." 2 Cor 5:10
The truth is, none of us are "good enough" to stand before a Holy God.
No matter how "good" we are, no matter how hard we try, "all our righteous
deeds are like a filthy garment" Isa 64:6. That is why
the sinless Lamb of God, Jesus, had to be sacrificed, in our place, so
that we would have a means to escape the fate of hell, which was originally
intended only for the devil and his demons.
"For if the word spoken
through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we
neglect so great a salvation?"
Heb
2:2-3.
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