It drives me crazy when I hear how so many Christians, especially pastors and big-name teachers, keep saying the same thing over and over: “Yeshua talked about hell twice as much as He talked about heaven.”
Maybe you've heard them say this in one of their "fire and brimstone" doomsday sermons? They say it like it’s obvious. If they would actually do the research, instead of "parroting" what they've been taught, they would find that this is Scripturally UNTRUE!
Yeshua mentions "heaven" more than a hundred times—especially when He’s talking about the "kingdom of heaven" or "kingdom of God". So if the "twice as much" thing were right, you’d think Yeshua would be dropping the word "hell" hundreds of times too, right? Nope. Not even close.
Grab any red-letter Bible (King James works fine), and a concordance, and check it yourself. Yeshua only brings up "hell" (translated from Gehenna or sometimes hades) in just a handful of places—basically four main teachings. One of those is the Capernaum warning (Matthew 11 and Luke 10), but even though it shows up in two Gospels, it’s the same conversation. So really, we’re talking about four separate times Yeshua teaches on it.
That’s it.
Outside of what Yeshua said, the rest of the New Testament writers (Luke in Acts, John in Revelation, Paul in his letters) only mention hades or 'hell' a few more times total. Like, four or five verses combined.
I’ve looked it up in concordances, counted the verses, read the parallels—takes maybe five or ten minutes. The numbers just don’t add up to "twice as much". If anything, Yeshua talks way more about heaven, the kingdom, aionian life, and God’s love than He does about judgment and hell.
I think the idea got started somewhere and just got repeated so much that people stopped checking. But when you actually sit down and read the red letters yourself, it’s pretty clear: this is one of those things that sounds spiritual but doesn’t hold up.
So if you’re studying on your own like I am, don’t just take someone’s word for it—open the Book and see for yourself. It’s eye-opening.
YESHUA
"Capernaum... brought down to hell [hades/unseen]" (Matt. 11:23)
"Capernaum... thrust down to hell [hades/unseen]" (Luke 10:15)
Was Capernaum cast down to hell?
Above we see a picture of Capernaum of Galilee from an aerial view. New Franciscan and Greek churches stand on the ruins of Capernaum. The remains of a 2nd or 3rd century synagogue (right center) stand on an earlier one in use during Christ's stern proclamation against sinful Capernaum. Clearly Capernaum has visibly been "brought down to hades/unseen."
Hades is a condition, state, mode, or realm, not a place or geographical location. That Capernum was to be brought "down" to hades is used to describe a condition rather than a direction. Up implies inspiration and life, whereas down implies woe and death.
Capernaum did die out as a city, and all of her citizens are in hades--the state or realm of the dead until the resurrection to judgment. In that sense, the gates of hades has been prevailing against Capernaum.
Contrary-wise, Jesus stated that the gates of hades would not prevail against His Church. And that "hades and death" are like locked gates to which only he possesses the keys.
If hades is the realm, or state, of the dead, is Yeshua suggesting that death will not come to those in His Church. No, He isn't saying that at all. Yeshua Himself prophesied numerous times that some of His disciples would be killed or martyred, and certainly all of Yeshua's followers eventually die and enter the realm of hades the realm of death. We need to look carefully at what He said:
"hell [hades/unseen] shall not prevail against...church" (Matt. 16:18)
He said that hades would not "prevail" against it. That is, hades/death would not have a victory over His Church.
"And in hell [hades/unseen] he lifted up his eyes" (Luke 16:23--parable)
The above is from the parable of Lazarus and the rich man... this is covered in detail in another blog. Rest assured, this parable is not speaking of "eternal torment" in Christendom's hell.
"I [Yeshua] ... have the keys to hell [hades/unseen]" (Rev. 1:18)
Now we learn that these "gates of hades" are locked and Yeshua has the "keys". In other words, it is possible through Yeshua to GET OUT OF HADES. But did you notice that in this fourth usage Yeshua connects something else to hades. He states that He has to keys to hades, "...AND death." Notice that Yeshua does not state that He has the "keys to hades and the DEAD." No, that would be redundant, for hades IS the state of the dead... death! DEATH is a process, a means, and a completed act when you are actually DEAD.
DISCIPLES
"You will not leave My [Yeshua's] soul in hell [hades/unseen]" (Acts 2:27)
Above, Peter is quoting from the OT (Psa 16:10). This is one of our proof texts that dictate the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades are one and the same.
If you review my blog: OT and Sheol - we could just stop here. Hades absolutely does not equal Christendom's definition of "hell".
No matter how fanciful one's ideas may be regarding the use of the word hades in the New Testament, it does not take on the meaning of consciousness, judging, torture, chastisement, annihilation, or eternity. It is the UNSEEN, IMPERCEPTIBLE, UNCONSCIOUS STATE OF THE DEAD called sheol throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. Case closed!
LIFE? Nope-- "... the dead are there... in the depths of sheol" (Prov. 9:18).
SCREAMING? Nope-- "... let them be silent in sheol" (Psa. 31:17).
KNOWLEDGE? Nope-- "... there is no knowledge in sheol..." (Ecc. 9:10).
HOPELESSNESS? Nope-- "... I will ransom them from sheol..." (Hos. 13:14).
DAMNED? Nope-- "...God will redeem my soul from sheol..." (Psa. 49:15).
EVERLASTING? Nope-- "... O sheol, I will be thy destruction..." (Hos. 13:14).
The next verse is covered above and in the sheol blog. Yeshua died, and just like all mankind, went to hades through death. He is the only One who has been released from hades permanently.
"Christ... His soul was not left in hell [hades/unseen]" (Verse 31)
Once again, below we see the translator's theology creeping into our printed English Bibles. The translator deliberately translated hades as "hell" three times and then decided:
"ooh... I can't use hell here - I better use grave."
"Death and hell [hades/unseen] followed with him" (Rev. 6:8)
"Death and hell [ hades/unseen] delivered up the dead" (Rev. 20:13)
"Death and hell [hades/unseen] were cast into lake of fire" (Verse 14)
"O grave [hades/unseen] where is thy victory" (1 Cor. 15:55)
Gehenna (12 verses, all from Jesus' teachings)
Some of these passages are a retelling of the same story in a difference gospel account.
Gehenna is a literal garbage dump outside of Jerusalem used to burn up garbage and corpses. It will become very active again at the beginning of the Millennial Reign.
All of these verses should be translated as "Gehenna".
- Matthew 5:22 — "...whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."
- Matthew 5:29 — "...thy whole body should be cast into hell."
- Matthew 5:30 — "...thy whole body should be cast into hell."
- Matthew 10:28 — "...destroy both soul and body in hell."
- Matthew 18:9 — "...to be cast into hell fire." (parallel to Mark 9:47)
- Matthew 23:15 — "...ye make him twofold more the child of hell."
- Matthew 23:33 — "...how can ye escape the sentence [G2920] of hell?"
- Mark 9:43 — "...having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched."
- Mark 9:45 — "...having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched."
- Mark 9:47 — "...having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."
- Luke 12:5 — "...hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
Hades (10 verses in KJV translated as "hell")
- Matthew 11:23 — "...shalt be brought down to hell."
- Matthew 16:18 — "...the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
- Luke 10:15 — "...shalt be thrust down to hell." (parallel to Matt 11:23)
- Luke 16:23 — "...in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments..." (parable of rich man and Lazarus)
- Acts 2:27 — "...my soul was not left in hell..." (quoting Psalm 16:10)
- Acts 2:31 — "...neither was he left in hell..."
- Revelation 1:18 — "...have the keys of hell and of death."
- Revelation 6:8 — "...his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
- Revelation 20:13 — "...death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them."
- Revelation 20:14 — "...death and hell were cast into the lake of fire."
Tartarus (1 verse)
- 2 Peter 2:4 — "...God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell..." (referring to a place of chains/darkness for fallen angels)
No comments:
Post a Comment