.. await evildoers when they face God the Judge (Richards p. 531). Again, it is very clear that theologians and apostles alike agree with the idea of hell.
The most shocking of all the New Testament letter writers is that of 2 Peter chapter 2. In verses four through ten, Peter outlines those who have been found in judgment of God and the means in which he uses to deal with them. Verse 4 says, For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment (2 Peter 2:4). Peter is speaking of those angels who joined a rebellion with Satan and attempted to exalt themselves (Ezekiel 28:12). When these angels attempted to rise up, God created hell to put them there. Peter is admonishing the readers that as God has dealt with the angels when they sinned, how much more will he deal with his children as they sin against him.
God is not a respecter of persons, He shows no favoritism. Everyone is treated the same. This is the point that Peter is attempting to get across, the righteous judgment of those who sin and the consequences thereof. They will be sent to hell. Furthermore, Guthrie says, In Revelation there is a more graphic representation of hell (Guthrie p. 891), and this is true.
For example, Revelation says, and the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image (Revelation 14:11). This smoke should be taken in a literal sense, because it goes hand in hand with the statements which Jesus made. Jesus spoke of a lake of fire, an eternal place, and this passage continues with that thought.
The smoke could be understood as coming from the fire, and no rest means just that; there will be no rest for those who are condemned to hell. It will be an eternal state in which they will not be able to escape. Guthrie writes on this verse and says, There is no question about the severity of this judgment (Guthrie p. 891). Also, Revelation chapter twenty verse ten, speaks of burning sulphur and that they will be tormented both day and night (Revelation 20:10) which reiterates the aforementioned scripture.
Hell is a place of eternal torment and destruction, and in the end, it will be filled with those souls who choose to reject God. Since God created hell to house Satan and the other fallen angels (Ezekiel 28), it should be construed that it was not created for the believer. Gods will is that none would perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). The term perish as Stamps says, is the forgotten word of verse 16. It points not to physical death, but to the dreadful reality of eternal punishment (Stamps p.
1588). Gods will is not to create beings to try and follow a bunch of regulations so that he can send them to hell. His will is that He loves all of creation, and he offers them the gift of eternal life, and if they choose life, they may have it. Those that choose to reject God will live in a state of eternal separation from Him. Not because he has chosen to send them there, but because they have chosen to not choose everlasting life. Jesus said, Not everyone who says unto me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21)and he concludes this passage with Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evil doers (Matthew 7:23).
Jesus makes a bold statement that those who do not choose to have a relationship with him will find themselves eternally cast away from the presence of God. Guthrie supports this by saying, to be excluded from Gods presence is the real meaning of hell (Guthrie p. 890). When speaking of separation from God in the lake of fire, Dake says there is nothing mysterious about it as some make believer (Dake p. 752). So, in addition to being in the lake of fire, the unrepentant person will be eternally separated from God; no longer able to feel his wind or his grace, or to call out and have him hear.
They are eternally damned to the lake of fire to spend eternity in the burning sulphur. In Matthew chapter twenty-five verses thirty-one through forty-six, Jesus is telling the parable of the sheep and the goats. He explains that those who are not in a right relationship with God, and do not show their love for their neighbor, will not be allowed to enter into eternal life. It can be concluded from this passage that Jesus is speaking about those who choose to not show hospitality to either God, or their fellow man. He says, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me, then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew 25:45-46). It must be understood that those who do not maintain a right relationship with God, cannot inherit eternal life.
Also, Revelation reads, If anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Jesus said, He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life (Revelation 3:5). Stamps says, To have ones name blotted out of the book of life is to lose eternal life itself, and to be condemned to the lake of fire (Stamps p.
2011). That lake of fire will be the destination of those who do not overcome, who do not know Jesus and have relationship with him. Which brings us back to our original focus: The state of those whose name will not be found the book of life. Those names who do not appear in the book of life will be sent to hell, a real tangible hell that is described by Jesus himself as a lake of fire that burns. It will be a horrific place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and there will be no end to it. It is eternal in every sense of the word, and those who are condemned to it will spend eternity there.
There will be no second chance for them. The dispensation of those who choose to separate themselves from God will be separated, separated eternally to the point of destruction. Likewise, Dake says, There is nothing to be gained by denying that there is a real hell (Dake p.752). Guthrie says, The doctrine of eternal punishment is not an attractive doctrine and the desire to substitute it for the view that, at the judgment, the souls of the wicked will cease to exist, is understandable (Guthrie p.
892). Hell is real, and those who choose to deny the real existence of it, could quite possibly find themselves there. If one denies that there is no hell, they better hope not, because the Creator of the universe knows the hearts of all His creation and holds the future of the earth. In conclusion, it has been discovered what hell is, and what hell is not. Hell is not a mythological place, but an actual literal place of eternal torment and suffering. It exists to hold those souls who are sent there, by their own choice, because they did not choose God.
Hell is an eternal place that will never cease to exist. It will remain permanent and those who are sent there will spend eternity in the lake of fire, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those whose names are not found in the book of life will be sent there, and remain there forever. There are two places where people will go when their physical body ceases to breathe; one is heaven and the other is hell.
If ones name is in the book of life, heaven is their inheritance; if ones name is not, then they will literally go to hell. Bibliography Dake, Finis Jennings. Gods Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, Georgia: Dake Publishing Incorporated, 1977.
Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Theology. Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1981. Martin, Walter R.
The Kingdom of the Cults. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany Fellowship Inc., 1977. Richards, Lawrence O. Complete Bible Handbook.
Dallas, Texas: Word Incorporated, 1987 Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. The Ryrie Study Bible. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1978 Stagg, Frank, Editor. The Broadman Bible Commentary. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1969.
Stamps, Donald C., Editor. The Full Life Study Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: The Zondervan Corporation, 1992. Strong, James.
The New Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1995.
