It has been said that “ the fear of hell is the hangman’s whip to keep the rogues in order.” No other man made doctrine such as that, that has to do with the everlasting torment of the wicked, has done so much to turn intelligent men and women away from the Bible. To imagine a place where the damned souls of the finally incorrigible wicked are to be sent to suffer untold agonies throughout the endless ages of eternity demands a mind that has completely voided itself o f all power and reasoning and mercy. It has been for this reason that so many in our day have rejected the Bible rather than believe such a heinous doctrine. This tendency has been more or less detected by many denominations and the teaching concerning hell, consequently curtailed. The doctrine, though held in the background, is still firmly believed by most religious leaders and occupies a place o f repute in their tenets. It is with a view o f dispelling the clouds o f ignorance surrounding the subject of hell that the writer felt induced to set forth in this issue and subsequent ones the true Bible teaching concerning it.
We shall first confine ourselves to the old testament teaching concerning hell. By reference ta a good Bible concordance, we find that the word hell in the old testament is translated from just one word, Sheol. Without exception, whenever we read the word, ‘hell,’’ in the old testament, the original Hebrew word is Sheol. The word means literally, “the unseen state,” and is used to describe the state o f those who have- died. Sheol has been rendered by the translators; hell, 31 times, grave 31 times, and pit, 3 times. Although translated “grave” 31 times, it does not mean a burying place, sepulchre as w e might first imagine it to be. Another Hebrew word is employed to represent grave as a burying place; qeber. If is, rather used in a figurative sense as we might sometimes use grave; not having in mind particularly an entombment, but more specifically the general condition o f death. Those who have died, whether they have been buried or not could be spoken o f as having gone to the grave. In the old testament, it would have been said of them that they had gone to Sheol. In as much as Sheol has been rendered both hell and grave in the King James version, it is evident that what is said about one could be said about the other. In, all subsequent verses, for the sake o f clarity, the original word Sheol will be inserted, followed by either the letter, “H ” (to designate its translation as hell) or “G ” (to indicate its translation as grave).
Who Goes To Hell?
The Bible is the only place where one may find an accurate description o f the condition of those who-have entered the state o f Sheol. It will be our first endeavour to establish first who are destined to enter the unseen state, and then to determine the conditions, that exist there. There are many references in the scriptures where an expectation is voiced o f some day entering into Sheol. Following are a few, that will help us to determine which individuals are ordained for Sheol
The wicked are to enter.
“The wicked shall be turned info Sheol (H), and all the nations that forget God.”— Psalm 9:17.
“And they shall not lie with the mighty that are- fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to Sheol (H) with their weapons o f war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land o f the living.”— Ezekiel 32:27.
Jacob Expected to Go there.
“And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him (Jacob); but he refused to be comforted; and he said, ‘For I will go down to Sheol unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.”‘—Genesis 37:35.
Job Desired To Go There.
“ O that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol ( G), that thou wouldest keep my secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me.”—Job 14:13.
Hezekiah Was Temporarily Saved From Entering It.
“I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of Sheol (G): I am deprived of the residue of my years.”— Isaiah 38:10.
David And All Mankind Shall Not Escape It.
“What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of Sheol (G)?”— Psalm 89:48.
In consideration of the scriptures quoted above, it is plain that all mankind, the wicked and righteous alike are destined to some day enter the realm of sheol. None shall be able to escape it, with the exception of those who are alive at the return of Jesus, and are found worthy. Whether we choose to use the grave or hell as the proper translation of sheol matters not. The English word does not alter the original Hebrew, as perhaps was intended by the translators of the King James version. In all cases where sheol is originally used, both hell and grave are inter- changeable.
What Is The Condition Of All Who Enter Sheol?
Having firmly established that everyone who dies passes into sheol, we shall now proceed to demonstrate that their condition is one of complete insensibility and inactivity.
When Hezekiah was sick unto death, God granted him 15 years of additional life. The king, on this occasion was about to pass from the land of the living and enter into sheol. What would have been Hezekiah’s condition had God not granted him his request for life? Let us quote the words of Hezekiah himself as he relates the fate from which he had been delivered;
“Behold for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast oil may sins behind thy back. For Sheol (G) cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.”— Isaiah 38:17-19.
Hezekiah was about to enter the “pit of corruption,” from whence it would have been impossible for him to have praised his God. Those who enter this state of Sheol pass into a condition of complete unconsciousness. The king’s words, here stand unchallenged, and must be accepted as the true expression of the mind of the Spirit. David reveals the same truth in Psalm 6:5, “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in Sheol (G) who shall give thee thanks?” Again, in Psalm 31:17, “Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon thee; let the wicked be ashamed and let them be silent in Sheol (G).”
The declaration of both David and Hezekiah are founded upon the fact that when man dies, all the activities formerly associated with life perish. All manifestation and evidence of life cease to be exhibited, and man returns to inanimate dust. Solomon, because of the wisdom, with which Gad had filled his heart, clearly defines the “ state of being” of those who have entered sheol;
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they anymore a reward: for the memory of them is forgotten. Also, their Love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in Sheol (G), whither thou goest.” — Ecclesiastes 9:5,6,1 0.
To suppose, as some religionists teach, that Solomon has reference only to the wicked, and that the righteous, though entering Sheol, still are in possession of their faculties, is to go beyond and in direct contrast to the divine word. The wise man, earlier in the chapter, definitely states that the destiny described in the verses above is in store for all. “ All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. There is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea also the heart of the sons is full of evil, and the madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” (Eccl. 9:2,3). The of all who have gone into this state is clearly set forth in the remainder of the chapter, some of which appears above.
The Righteous To Be Liberated From Sheol
The patriarch, David refers to the realm of the dead as the “land of forgetfulness.” It is called a land of forgetfulness, because all who go there cease to exist. Their thoughts perish completely (Psalm 146:4) and they themselves are consumed in the grave. (Psalm 49:14). Though, while they lived, they inwardly thought that their houses should continue to all generations, even naming lands after their names, the Psalmist declares that they perish and leave their wealth to others. Many, however, who go into Sheol are remembered of God, and shall some day be delivered from its bonds. Malachi speaks of a book of remembrance written before God for those that feared the Lord and thought upon his name. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when 1 make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him .” (Malachi 3:16,17).
When the sufferings of Job became almost unbearable, he prayed that God would hide him in sheol (G), because there he would experience no longer the infirmities of the flesh, being completely unconscious. But the prophet also petitioned his Maker that he be remembered after a set time. The hope of Job is clearly set forth in the following verses, where he speaks of a future emergence from sheol;
“O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep my secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! if a man die shall he live again? All the days of m y appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.” — Job 14:13-15.
The deliverance sought by Job will be realized through the resurrection from the dead, and is distinctly stated as such in Job 19:25-27.
David also speaks of being delivered from the bonds of corruption through a resurrection; “But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol (G): for he shall receive me.” (Psalm 49:15). “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness.”— (Psalm 17:15).
Daniel, likewise, foretells the glorious liberation from death to be experienced by the wise: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2). All these references point to an event that God has in store for those who please him; a complete and final release from the imprisonment of Sheol. This hope is eloquently voiced through the prophet Hosea, whose words have been echoed and re-echoed down through the centuries by the children of God. “ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol (G); I will redeem them from: Death; O death, I will be thy plague; O Sheol (G), I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” (Hosea 13:14).
Summary
A true student o f the Bible will lay aside all thoughts that may emanate from the flesh, and like a child, set before him all the facts about a given subject, and fit them into truisms. In the case of the subject at hand. let us, too, cast from our minds all pre-conceived ideas; let us forsake the vain speculations of men, and objectively arrange the information., yielded thus, far from our Bible.
- All who die, wicked and righteous alike, go to Sheol.
- Sheol, the unseen state, is expressive o f complete unconsciousness and inactivity.
- The righteous will some day be liberated from sheol by means o f a resurrection from the dead.
- Only in the case of parable, for the purpose of presenting a truth, are those in Sheol, represented as speaking. (Lord willing, we shall consider every place in the Bible where Sheol’s occupants speak.)
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One