In each blog, I often reference many different topics that I've already covered (or will soon cover), and maybe you've missed. Please review my blogs to read more...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
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hades - Jesus Fourth Occasion
[4] "I [Jesus] ... have the keys to hell [hades/unseen]" (Rev 1:18)
Full context:
Rev 1:18 I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [G86 - hades] and of death.
I've already covered these keys in part in Whence Hell? - Part 11 if you'd like to review it.
Here we see that these "gates of hades" are locked and Jesus has the "keys".
In other words, it is possible, through Jesus to GET OUT of hades. Does Christendom claim there is an escape from hell? No.
Did you also notice that in this fourth occurrence Jesus connects something else to hades?
He states that He has to keys to hades "...AND death".
Notice that Jesus does not state that He has the "keys to hades and the DEAD".
That would be redundant, for hades IS the state of the dead.
Rather, Jesus has the keys to "hades AND [the conjunction 'and' signifies something else; something additional] DEATH."
Death is a process, a means, and a completed act.
I want to go to the Disciples 7th occasion of the word hades, where we have two Scriptures showing the difference between death and hades.
We'll tie this 4th occasion of Jesus to the 7th occasion of the Apostle John.
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hades - Disciples, Seventh Occasion
[7] "Death and hell [hades/unseen] delivered up the dead" (Rev 20:13)
Next verse:
"Death and hell [hades/unseen] were cast into Lake of Fire" (Rev 20:14)
Again, we see "death and hell/hades" used together, just as Jesus used in Rev 1:18.
Why is this?
First, we see the the dead are delivered out of hades and then death and hades were both cast into the Lake of Fire... "the dead" are not yet cast.
If hades is the state or realm of the dead, why is this word linked with "death."
Notice this verse:
Psa 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell [sheol]: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Are not "death" that seizes them, and "sheol/hades" where they go down to, one and the same?
No, they are not.
Death seizes upon them, and then because of this death they have something else happen to them:
... they "go down quickly to sheol".
In other words, death is the "act of, or process of - dying" which in turn, delivers one to the "state of the dead" which is sheol/hades, where there is no longer any consciousness, pain, joy, or "any thing" (Ecc 9:5).
Seeing that "death seizes" upon them, they are not yet dead, but the act of death is seizing upon them, that is, it is the cause of their dying until they are actually in the state of being dead.
"Death" is what causes them to ultimately become dead, hence they then "go down quick into hades", which is now the state of their caused death - they are in fact now dead.
This is precisely what God told Adam would happen if he ate the forbidden fruit:
CLV Gen 2:17 Yet from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you are not to be eating from it, for in the day you eat from it, to die shall you be dying.
Here is what our dictionaries tell us:
death, n. [1] the act of dying; the termination of life. [2] the state of being dead. [3] the cause of dying" ( American Heritage College Dictionary).
Why does it seem like I'm stating the obvious?
Because this is important to consider.
The word death, as defined above is inclusive of, and denotes an [1] ACT, [2] STATE, and [3] CAUSE.
It can be confusing if we do not keep this in mind when dealing with the abolition of ALL aspects of "death" which Scripture says will happen one day.
So when God tells us that "the last enemy to be destroyed is DEATH" (1 Cor 15:26), it must include every and all aspects of what death really is... this will also include the second death!
Death will no longer be the cause of anyone going through death in the act of dying, neither will there be any more dead people in the final state of death.
But will Christians accept the abolition (or destruction) of the ACT of death, the CAUSE of death, and the STATE of death, as representing what Jesus Christ will, literally and spiritually "destroy"?
No, of course not. How could they then continue hanging on to their hatred towards others with their pagan belief of torture in hell for all eternity for those nasty, heathen, unbelieving sinners?
Death itself will be destroyed, or as the CLV renders it: "the last enemy being abolished: death".
(Side note: It is technically more accurate to "abolish" something that is inanimate rather than to "destroy" it as the King James translates it. "abolish" is exactly how the Greek renders it - [G2673 - katargeo, abolish]).
So we have the act, the state, and the cause, all being part of the definition of "death."
All three must be abolished or there will yet remain some form of death which would then continue to be an eternal "enemy" in God's creation.
The Lake of Fire/second death is how God deals with the sins of humanity.
Jesus died for the sins of ALL humanity:
1 Jn 2:2 And He [Jesus] is the propitiation [G2434 - hilasmos, atonement, an expiator] for our sins: and NOT for ours only, but ALSO for the sins of the whole world.
After Jesus has died for the sins of the world, the world continues to sin. Surely we can see from the Scriptures that God wants to abolish ALL forms of sin...
Rom 6:23 for the wages of the sin IS death...
If Jesus died to save sinners, is He going to save only some sinners?
His chosen Elect only?
By saving only a few chosen elect sinners, does that make Jesus literally, truly, and actually - "The Saviour OF THE WORLD" (1 Jn 4:14)?
God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ commissioned Jesus "TO BE the Saviour of the world".
1 Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son TO BE the Saviour of the world.
Will Jesus be justified by His Father if He saves only a FEW?
Will Jesus have accomplished the task that His Father sent Him to accomplish?
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened, and another book was opened which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their WORKS.
Rev 20:13-14 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [G86 - hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged EVERY MAN according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Notice again, the dead have been delivered from death and hades and "stand before God".
This is the resurrection from the dead.
For this is exactly what resurrection means (anastasis in Greek means, "to stand up again" See Strong's G386 translated "resurrection").
It is in resurrection that "the dead... stand", that the dead are "delivered up" before God.
And yes, since we know Revelation is a book of Spiritual symbols, we would be correct in stating that it is "the SPIRITUALLY dead" who are standing before God.
Aspects of this Judgment:
[1] the dead, small and great stand [resurrected] before God
[2] they are judged according to the books, according to their works
[3] the sea [the sea of wicked humanity] give up its [spiritually] dead
[4] this includes "every man" [Greek: each one, or every one, or every person]
[5] death [the cause] and hell [hades - the realm] are cast into the Lake of Fire
[6] and those "not found in the Book of Life were cast into the Lake of Fire"
[7] this "Lake of Fire IS the second death". Christ's final act will be to destroy ALL death, every aspect of death (including sin), and yes! Including the second death!
Again...
Act 17:31 Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge THE WORLD in righteousness by that Man [Jesus] whom He hath ordained; whereof He HAS GIVEN assurance unto ALL MEN, in that He [The Father] has raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.
Jesus has the keys... despite what Christendom says, hades is NOT permanent, endless, or eternal. ALL will be resurrected from hades:
1 Cor 15:22-23 For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive. BUT EVERY man in his own order:
Just as Jesus departed from hades... so shall EVERY man, woman, and child also depart one day before hades is permanently abolished...
... for Jesus has already been "made alive" and in so doing has conquered BOTH death and hades for us.
Jesus is the only One who could possibly possess those keys!
Jesus is the only One who can open the gates of hades!
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
___________________________
hades - Jesus Fourth Occasion
[4] "I [Jesus] ... have the keys to hell [hades/unseen]" (Rev 1:18)
Full context:
Rev 1:18 I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [G86 - hades] and of death.
I've already covered these keys in part in Whence Hell? - Part 11 if you'd like to review it.
Here we see that these "gates of hades" are locked and Jesus has the "keys".
In other words, it is possible, through Jesus to GET OUT of hades. Does Christendom claim there is an escape from hell? No.
Did you also notice that in this fourth occurrence Jesus connects something else to hades?
He states that He has to keys to hades "...AND death".
Notice that Jesus does not state that He has the "keys to hades and the DEAD".
That would be redundant, for hades IS the state of the dead.
Rather, Jesus has the keys to "hades AND [the conjunction 'and' signifies something else; something additional] DEATH."
Death is a process, a means, and a completed act.
I want to go to the Disciples 7th occasion of the word hades, where we have two Scriptures showing the difference between death and hades.
We'll tie this 4th occasion of Jesus to the 7th occasion of the Apostle John.
________________________
hades - Disciples, Seventh Occasion
[7] "Death and hell [hades/unseen] delivered up the dead" (Rev 20:13)
Next verse:
"Death and hell [hades/unseen] were cast into Lake of Fire" (Rev 20:14)
Again, we see "death and hell/hades" used together, just as Jesus used in Rev 1:18.
Why is this?
First, we see the the dead are delivered out of hades and then death and hades were both cast into the Lake of Fire... "the dead" are not yet cast.
If hades is the state or realm of the dead, why is this word linked with "death."
Notice this verse:
Psa 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell [sheol]: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Are not "death" that seizes them, and "sheol/hades" where they go down to, one and the same?
No, they are not.
Death seizes upon them, and then because of this death they have something else happen to them:
... they "go down quickly to sheol".
In other words, death is the "act of, or process of - dying" which in turn, delivers one to the "state of the dead" which is sheol/hades, where there is no longer any consciousness, pain, joy, or "any thing" (Ecc 9:5).
Seeing that "death seizes" upon them, they are not yet dead, but the act of death is seizing upon them, that is, it is the cause of their dying until they are actually in the state of being dead.
"Death" is what causes them to ultimately become dead, hence they then "go down quick into hades", which is now the state of their caused death - they are in fact now dead.
This is precisely what God told Adam would happen if he ate the forbidden fruit:
CLV Gen 2:17 Yet from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you are not to be eating from it, for in the day you eat from it, to die shall you be dying.
Here is what our dictionaries tell us:
death, n. [1] the act of dying; the termination of life. [2] the state of being dead. [3] the cause of dying" ( American Heritage College Dictionary).
Why does it seem like I'm stating the obvious?
Because this is important to consider.
The word death, as defined above is inclusive of, and denotes an [1] ACT, [2] STATE, and [3] CAUSE.
It can be confusing if we do not keep this in mind when dealing with the abolition of ALL aspects of "death" which Scripture says will happen one day.
So when God tells us that "the last enemy to be destroyed is DEATH" (1 Cor 15:26), it must include every and all aspects of what death really is... this will also include the second death!
Death will no longer be the cause of anyone going through death in the act of dying, neither will there be any more dead people in the final state of death.
But will Christians accept the abolition (or destruction) of the ACT of death, the CAUSE of death, and the STATE of death, as representing what Jesus Christ will, literally and spiritually "destroy"?
No, of course not. How could they then continue hanging on to their hatred towards others with their pagan belief of torture in hell for all eternity for those nasty, heathen, unbelieving sinners?
Death itself will be destroyed, or as the CLV renders it: "the last enemy being abolished: death".
(Side note: It is technically more accurate to "abolish" something that is inanimate rather than to "destroy" it as the King James translates it. "abolish" is exactly how the Greek renders it - [G2673 - katargeo, abolish]).
So we have the act, the state, and the cause, all being part of the definition of "death."
All three must be abolished or there will yet remain some form of death which would then continue to be an eternal "enemy" in God's creation.
The Lake of Fire/second death is how God deals with the sins of humanity.
Jesus died for the sins of ALL humanity:
1 Jn 2:2 And He [Jesus] is the propitiation [G2434 - hilasmos, atonement, an expiator] for our sins: and NOT for ours only, but ALSO for the sins of the whole world.
After Jesus has died for the sins of the world, the world continues to sin. Surely we can see from the Scriptures that God wants to abolish ALL forms of sin...
Rom 6:23 for the wages of the sin IS death...
If Jesus died to save sinners, is He going to save only some sinners?
His chosen Elect only?
By saving only a few chosen elect sinners, does that make Jesus literally, truly, and actually - "The Saviour OF THE WORLD" (1 Jn 4:14)?
God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ commissioned Jesus "TO BE the Saviour of the world".
1 Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son TO BE the Saviour of the world.
Will Jesus be justified by His Father if He saves only a FEW?
Will Jesus have accomplished the task that His Father sent Him to accomplish?
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened, and another book was opened which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their WORKS.
Rev 20:13-14 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [G86 - hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged EVERY MAN according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Notice again, the dead have been delivered from death and hades and "stand before God".
This is the resurrection from the dead.
For this is exactly what resurrection means (anastasis in Greek means, "to stand up again" See Strong's G386 translated "resurrection").
It is in resurrection that "the dead... stand", that the dead are "delivered up" before God.
And yes, since we know Revelation is a book of Spiritual symbols, we would be correct in stating that it is "the SPIRITUALLY dead" who are standing before God.
Aspects of this Judgment:
[1] the dead, small and great stand [resurrected] before God
[2] they are judged according to the books, according to their works
[3] the sea [the sea of wicked humanity] give up its [spiritually] dead
[4] this includes "every man" [Greek: each one, or every one, or every person]
[5] death [the cause] and hell [hades - the realm] are cast into the Lake of Fire
[6] and those "not found in the Book of Life were cast into the Lake of Fire"
[7] this "Lake of Fire IS the second death". Christ's final act will be to destroy ALL death, every aspect of death (including sin), and yes! Including the second death!
Again...
Act 17:31 Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge THE WORLD in righteousness by that Man [Jesus] whom He hath ordained; whereof He HAS GIVEN assurance unto ALL MEN, in that He [The Father] has raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.
Jesus has the keys... despite what Christendom says, hades is NOT permanent, endless, or eternal. ALL will be resurrected from hades:
1 Cor 15:22-23 For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive. BUT EVERY man in his own order:
Just as Jesus departed from hades... so shall EVERY man, woman, and child also depart one day before hades is permanently abolished...
... for Jesus has already been "made alive" and in so doing has conquered BOTH death and hades for us.
Jesus is the only One who could possibly possess those keys!
Jesus is the only One who can open the gates of hades!
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
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