Today we’re going to look at some surprising things about Hell you might not know. Most people believe things about Hell that aren’t even in the Bible.
and you might be surprised at what the Bible actually says about Hell. I know I was.
When people think about Hell, they picture a place of fire and torment, complete with demons holding pitchforks. Many even think that Hell is the home of Satan and that he’s the one in charge of dealing out punishments. But, the Bible never mentions Satan having such authority. In Fact, the Bible says that God is the one who punishes the wicked, not Satan.
The Bible also never tells us that Satan lives in Hell. It says he dwells on earth and his throne is on earth (Revelation 2:13), and that he was cast down to earth from Heaven. (Revelation 12:9 and Luke 10:18) The Bible also describes him as going to and fro on the earth and looking for people to devour. (Job1:7 and 1 Peter 5:8)
Satan is not the god of Hell either. The Bible calls him the god of this age, (2 Corinthians 4:4) the ruler of this world, (John 12:31 John 14:30 and John 16:11)
and the god of the air, (Ephesians 2:2) but the Bible never says he’s in charge of Hell.
It actually says that Hell was created as a punishment for Satan and his demons.
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:”
– Matthew 25:41
The Bible also says that he will be tormented in the lake of fire. He’s not going to be tormenting others.
“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” – Revelation 20:10
The idea that Satan is the god of the underworld actually comes from pagan mythology and is completely unbiblical. In Egypt, Osiris was the god of the underworld and Anubis was the guardian of the dead. In Greek mythology, Hades was not only the god of the underworld but also the name of the underworld, and in Norse mythology, Hel, the daughter of Loki ruled over the underworld, also called Hel.
Many pagan religions believe in a deity who rules over the underworld, and over the centuries these pagan doctrines have slowly crept into the Church.
Satan is not currently in Hell, it’s not his home, and he’s not in charge of torturing sinners. In fact, the Bible says that Satan will be thrown into Hell after the thousand-year reign of the Messiah.
“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” – Revelation 20:10
It’s also a common belief that sinners go immediately to Hell when they die, but you might be surprised to learn that this is not Biblical either. The Bible tells us the wicked will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment, at the end of the age, after the thousand-year reign of Messiah, and it’s only at that point when they will be cast into the lake of fire.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” – Revelation 20:11–15
The Bible never says that people go directly to heaven or hell when they die.
Instead, the Bible describes all the dead as if they are simply sleeping in the grave, waiting for the resurrection to happen.
“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” – John 5:28–29
It’s at this point that the righteous receive eternal life and the wicked are condemned to the lake of fire.
People also believe that the wicked will be tortured in Hell for eternity, but you might be surprised to find out that the Bible actually says the wicked will be destroyed in the fire.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28
We see this concept in many famous Bible verses, such as
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
and in
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
In both of these verses, we see the contrast between eternal life or death. We also see that the lake of fire is even called the second death.
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” – Revelation 21:8
So why does the Bible say the fire is everlasting if the wicked are destroyed by it? That’s actually pretty simple. The fire is everlasting because there is no coming back from it. Once you die the second death, you will never live again. There’s no more hope. The punishment is final and lasts forever. The Bible even shows us an example of what this eternal fire looks like.
“as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” – Jude 7
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire, and those cities have never been rebuilt. They’re not still burning with fire, yet the Bible says they were destroyed by eternal fire. The destruction that occurs from that fire is permanent. That’s why its called eternal fire.
Another popular belief about Hell is that Hell is the absence of God, but you might be surprised to find out that the Bible says God is even in Hell.
“If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” – Psalm 139:8
King David wrote this Psalm, so it should cause us to wonder why he would be speaking about making his bed in hell. It should also make us wonder why God would be there with him. The word translated hell in this verse is the Hebrew word Sheol. So, by simply using logic, we must conclude that:
- A) Sheol isn’t Hell, or
- B) Hell isn’t the absence of God, or
- C) neither of these things is true
David had no problem with the idea that he would make his bed in Sheol because he understood that everyone eventually dies and goes to Sheol. The word Sheol occurs 65 times in the Hebrew Bible. The King James Version translates 31 of those occurrences as hell another 31 as grave and three as a pit. Why would Bible translators use different concepts to translate the same word?
That brings us to the big surprise. The word “Hell” doesn’t even come from the Bible. It actually comes from Norse mythology and refers to the place of the dead. According to Mythology, Hel was ruled over by Loki’s daughter, who also happened to be named Hel. The word “Hell” was adopted later by Christians as the translation for several different words such as Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartaroo.
Sheol is the Hebrew word for grave or underworld and refers to the location of everyone who dies, both the wicked and the righteous. Hades is the Greek equivalent of the word Sheol and has similar context and meaning, referring to death, the grave, and the resting place of the dead. In Greek Mythology, Hades refers to the underworld or dwelling place of the dead and is ruled over by the pagan god named Hades.
The word Hell has also become synonymous with the lake of fire. However, the Bible says that Hades will be cast into the lake of fire. So, how can both hades and the lake of fire be the same thing?
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” – Revelation 20:14
So, according to logic, Hades and the Lake of Fire cannot both be Hell, since Hades is cast into the Lake of fire. This is one of the reasons why there is so much confusion about Hell because that word is used inconsistently to refer to different things in the Bible.
The next word translated “Hell” is Gehenna, and it means “valley of whining” or “valley of lamentation”, and it refers to the valley south of Jerusalem, also known as the valley of Hinnom, which in ancient times was a place of child sacrifice, but at the time of the New Testament, it had become a garbage dump where trash was burned.
The final word translated as Hell is the Greek word Tartaroo, which appears only once in the Bible.
“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell(tartaroo) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;” – 2 Peter 2:4
This is the only place in the entire Bible that the word Tartaroo is used, and it refers exclusively to a prison for fallen angels.
Tartaroo means an abyss or a bottomless pit, and although it’s not mentioned by name, it’s most likely the same bottomless pit where Satan will be imprisoned for thousand years (Revelation 20:1-2), as well as the abyss into which the Legion of demons begged Yeshua not to send them. (Luke 8:31)
In Greek mythology, Tartarus is a deep abyss that was used as a dungeon of torment and served as a prison for the Titans.
Plato said that Tartarus was the place where souls were judged and punished after death, which might be where we get the idea that humans could end up there.
However, the Bible never says that humans will go there and it’s presumptuous to jump to any such conclusions without scriptural evidence.
We must always let the scriptures guide our understanding and not allow ourselves to be influenced by pagan mythology.
The Bible simply describes Tartaroo as a temporary prison, not a place of fiery torment or judgment. If the demons were terrified of the temporary prison, what does that say about the punishment they will receive in the lake of fire?
I’m not sure why Bible translators decided to translate so many different words and concepts with the word Hell, but it sure has caused a lot of confusion. Honestly, I don’t even see a need to translate any of those words. What’s wrong with saying Sheol or Hades, or Gehenna? It would sure make it a lot easier to understand what was being spoken about.