Does Hell Exist?
A seduction of Satan is promises of prominent places of authority in his ultimate kingdom, hell. Those who are loyal to the Enemy through coercion or false promises don’t doubt a Creator God or hell; they’re led to believe they get to govern the underworld with Satan. Yet, that’s his biggest bait and switch of all because Satan shares his throne with no one and he’s called the Enemy of our soul for a reason.
As described in my book, "The Son of God IS Real," not only did my time in the black abyss show me that hell does indeed exist but also, I know I only experienced a fraction of what hell is really like. Because my experiences in the black place were so horrific, I don’t want anyone to go there. But we can’t pretend hell doesn’t exist because it’s a concept that makes us uncomfortable or causes us to question how a loving God can send anyone there. If you were a parent, would you allow a child molester or rapist to rent a room in your home where your children live? It’s because God is a loving parent that He won’t allow unsanctified members to live in His house with His other children.
My main prayer for mankind is that everyone who has ever walked the earth will be saved. I pray that Jesus finds a way to save everyone in death just as He found a way to save us in life. I don’t pray this because I’m such a loving person (the Lord is still working with me in this area) but because I don’t want Satan to win any souls, not a single one! If we don’t like the concept of hell and don’t want to face that truth, we can’t re-write the Bible to fit our comfort level – we have to go to the wall[1] and intercede for mankind just like Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah[2] and Moses did for the Israelites.[3]
When I was struggling with this issue during Bible College, Jesus led me to the parable of the lost coin in Luke 15:8. If my desire is for all of mankind to be saved, how much more is it God’s desire! He is a good God who is Faithful and True. We can trust His judgment and mercy!
Some church leaders say that the “hell” referenced in the New Testament comes from the Greek word gehenna and represents a trash dump that continuously burned outside the city of Jerusalem, therefore, hell isn’t a real place.
Gehenna became the word for hell in the NT after the Greek transliterated word geena for the “Valley of Hinnom” in Hebrew or ge hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom or the Valley of Slaughter[4] is the location where human sacrifices, particularly children, were offered through fire to the god Molech, also referred to as Baal in the book of Jeremiah, a type for Satan. Jesus mentions gehenna or hell eleven times in the NT[5] and refers to it as the final destination of the wicked.[6] This is why the burning trash dump outside of Jerusalem became a metaphor for hell in the New Testament. This doesn’t nullify an actual hell it enforces it by illustrating there is a place that burns with fire continuously where humans will go who choose Satan. Remember, not choosing is making a choice!
[1] Ezekiel 22:30
[2] Genesis 18:23-33
[3] Deuteronomy 9:13-19
[4] Jeremiah 19:5-6
[5] Zondervan. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011, Print, 512.
[6] Ibid, 611.
Comments