Introduction

Almost all Christian denominations are united in their belief in the theological concept of Hell and eternal damnation. The doctrine of endless punishment for the wicked and it’s pertinence to the Christian faith and psyche cannot be underestimated. It is the reason why men and women are drawn to the clergy and ecclesiastical hierarchies of today’s churches. It is the most central doctrine at the beating heart of the gospel message – one that must be vigorously preached amongst the nations.

The very word “Hell” itself is found in most modern language Bible translations though few Christians would be aware of its origins or its historical place in the Hebrew and Greek scriptures. Fewer still know that there exist numerous Bible translations (some of which are the most accurate) which do not even contain the word “Hell” and that further modern translations are also dropping the word. Is this the work of a growing new age political correctness seeping into the worlds theological circles or simply the handicraft of Satan himself, working feverishly to undermine a lukewarm end time church?

The truth (though few would dare to believe it) is very different.  A wealth of historical evidence and indeed the scriptures themselves prove beyond a doubt, that the teaching of eternal torture by fire is in fact a pagan/heathen belief and doctrine. This teaching far antedates the Christian era and the Old Testament knows nothing of a place of eternal torture in fire upon death. After careful study of the scriptures, it is impossible to conclude that the ancient pagans borrowed the concept of an “eternal hell of punishment by fire” from the Christian Bible. Is that where the pagans and heathens learned of this supposed fate of the wicked? Or rather, did some Christian translators borrow this damnable doctrine from the pagans, and attempt to make it sound Biblical?

Few Christians today know that the word “Hell” has changed meaning over time, let alone the fact that it is translated from four ancient words, one from the Old Testament Hebrew texts and three from the New Testament Greek texts. Here are the words for which "Hell" was inserted as a "translation" into English:

The Hebrew word Sheol (31 times)

The Greek word Gehenna (12 times)

The Greek word Hades (10 times)

The Greek word Tartarus (1 time)

Without stating the obvious, most realize that Jesus did not speak Archaic King James English and most also realize that the King James Bible is not the one that the Apostles used. There were no "bibles" during Christ’s ministry; there were only the Hebrew Scriptures, and a popular Greek translation of those Hebrew Scriptures called the Septuagint. What we call the New Testament was not even written until near the end of the first century, and was not put into book form until much later, and was not printed until many centuries later.

The word “Hell” is an old English word that was used to translate these above words found in the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. Why did Bible scholars choose to use the old English word “hell” as a translation? Careful study proves that it had nothing to do with scholarship, but everything to do with forcing pagan ideals into the teachings of Jesus Christ.

It is astonishing how much of Christian theology is pagan in origin. Even mainstream Christian teaching concerning death contradicts dozens of scriptures. Job for example was inspired by God’s Spirit to write,

 “Shall MORTAL man be more just than God?” Job 4:17).

Scripture states that it is dead people who are raised in the resurrection, not cadavers which once belonged to living people.

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all bechanged, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must  put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (I Cor.15:51-54).

Did the Old Testament patriarchs believe in the “immortality of the soul?” No. Did Paul believe in the “immortality of the soul?” No. Did the pagan Egyptians believe in the “immortality of the soul?” ....YES!!! The very pyramids themselves were the supposed launching pads for the Pharaohs’ IMMORTAL souls to be transported into the heavens! First Century Christians never believed their souls went into the starry firmament of heaven at death—it was the PAGANS AND HEATHENS that believed in such mythological nonsense. God brought Israel out of Egypt, but it doesn’t look like the paganism of Egypt ever came out of Israel.

How is it possible to teach Christian indoctrinated people the Truths of God? Well, of course, without the spirit of God it is completely impossible for them to understand. When people cannot even wrap their minds around the truth that “dead people are really DEAD,” there is little one can do to help them. Dead people do not “GO” anywhere. Good dead people do not go to heaven to float on clouds and walk streets of gold, and bad dead people do not go to a place called hell to be tortured in fire for all eternity.

It is not just the doctrine of hell and eternal punishment that the modern Christian church has fervently promulgated however. The doctrine of “immortal soulism” (unknown of in the Old Testament scriptures) refuted by leading Protestant Reformers has now been disregarded by the modern church once again for Satan’s original lie to Adam and Eve “you shall NOT surely die” Of course God said “to die, you shall surely be dying,”(Gen 2:17) and “Adam...DIED” (Gen 5:5).

Paul also said that “for ALL have sinned,” and that “the wages of sin is DEATH”  and therefore...”in Adam ALL DIE...”(1 Cor 15:22). What theologian calling himself a Christian would deny these profound scriptural statement s of truth?

God said to Adam: “you shall SURELY die” (Gen 2:17) But...

The serpent said:     “you shall NOT surely die” (Gen 3:4)

Theologians teach:  “you shall NOT surely die”

Christianity teaches: “you shall NOT surely die”

The King James says:   “you shall NEVER die” (John 11:26)

Theologians teach that : “once we are born we never die.”

Yes, the world’s first recorded lie is still believed by the majority of the human race, including the world of Christendom. The whole orthodox Christian church teaches that man’s soul is “immortal” – albeit God contradicts the whole Christian world by saying: “you shall surely die.” Man is not immortal. Man has no immortal soul. God only, and “only He has immortality” (1 Tim 6:16)

Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His Own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is NOW made manifest by the APPEARING of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who has abolished death [no one abolished death in the Old Testament], and has brought life and IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT THROUGH THE GOSPEL" (II Tim. 1:9-10).

There it is. It is ONLY through the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that the knowledge of a coming "immortality" for mankind was made known, and even then, it is something that is yet future; something that must be "put on" at the time of the resurrection of the dead (I Cor. 15:53), not something that any sinning human has ever possessed. The serpent made Eve think that she already possessed immortality within herself, and therefore told her, "you shall NOT surely die," whereas God plainly told them, that eating of the tree of knowledge would cause them to die. So who should we believe, Satan and carnal theology...or God?

Then there is this. Of all the Christian statements of faith and holy creeds, never has one ever been totally scripturally true. The most famous of all creeds for example, is “The Apostles Creed.” Actually, all of the Apostles would turn over in their graves if they knew what unscriptural trash is being attributed to them. The second to last line reads "I believe… in the resurrection of THE BODY." Unfortunately, the scriptures don’t teach it, the Apostles certainly didn’t believe it and Jesus himself definitely didn’t!

In Scripture we read of, "the resurrection OF THE DEAD" fifteen times. We read of "the resurrection… of the just and unjust," "resurrection of life," "resurrection of judgment," "the resurrection of Christ," but we never ever read of "the resurrection of the BODY."

So why doesn’t the "Apostles Creed" say, "I believe…in the resurrection OF THE DEAD" instead of the body? Because the orthodox Christian Church teaches that the soul is immortal and so doesn’t believe that we EVER DIE, that’s why. Who would ever believe the devils lie over the truth of God? “you shall surely die” (Gen 2:7) Who would be so incredibly foolish as to believe Satan over God? Why the entire world wide orthodox church!

Here is the truth. Dead people are dead and will remain dead until the “Resurrection from the DEAD,” and that resurrection is yet FUTURE. The entire fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians Deals with the resurrection of the DEAD! In fact, Paul states that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then our faith is vain and we don’t have a Saviour.

Yet the Church teaches by her heathen doctrines that the resurrection of the dead is less than USELESS when it comes to living forever in a place they call heaven. Theology teaches us that all believers go to heaven (ALIVE) at DEATH, and this “resurrection of the DEAD” that Paul talked about is totally unnecessary for eternal life in heaven!

There are hundreds and hundreds of Scriptures which speak of “judgment,” yet the Church teaches that people by the BILLIONS are sent to an eternal hell of fire and are not even judged before they go there. Another Scriptural doctrine (judgment) bites the dust of Christian heresy. Who ever heard of sentencing something to life in prison without even being judged guilty of anything? But, according to Christendom, it happens thousands of times a day all over the world and the sentence isn’t for a short number of years, but for all eternity.

Whenever we refuse to BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES we become hopelessly lost in a maze of theological confusion that has no end. Is there a Scripture that states that man is “immortal” or has an “immortal soul” as the Egyptians taught and believed. No. Does Christendom believe that man has an “immortal soul?” Yes, absolutely. Is there a Scripture that states when a man dies, he is DEAD? Yes. Does Christendom believe that when a man dies, he is DEAD? No of course not. Is there a Scripture that states when a man dies, he is still alive? No. Do Christians believe when we die we are still alive, albeit it a different geographical location (heaven or hell)? Yes, of course.

 

 

Hell – A word and a doctrine

Hell is not only a word found in many Bible versions; it is also a doctrine based on that word. The doctrine of hell is an invention of carnal man and is nowhere found in the Hebrew or Greek manuscripts. Protestant theologians cringe at the accusation that the “inerrant” King James Bible owes much to Jerome’s Catholic vulgate and to the Latin language from which it sprang. Much of the King James is “Latin” and not “English.” It is from the Latin that our Bibles contain such words as substance, redemption, justification, sanctification, perdition, perish, punish, torment, damnation, dispensation, predestination, revelation, priest, minister, congregation, propitiation, disciple, parable, eternal etc.

That is not to say that these are not perfectly fine words, they are, but we must be aware that the meaning of words change, and when words change to the very opposite of what they meant hundreds or thousands of years ago, it behoves us to take note! Amazingly (as we shall discover), neither did the common use of the word “hell” back in Old England, mean a place where living people are tortured in literal everlasting fire!

The King James Bible is “Catholic” in many ways. Anyone with a copy of the 1611 King James Bible knows that it contains the fourteen books of the Apocrypha still retained by Catholic Bibles to this day. Protestants who teach the “inerrancy” and “flawlessness” of the King James have a difficult time explaining why fourteen whole books have been cut out of this “inerrant” Translation. And yet those who try to teach the proper use of just two King James errors (hell & eternal) are met with frightening opposition.

But just how has the word “Hell” changed meaning in even the last few hundred years for example?

First the “Hell” of four centuries ago: Webster’s Twentieth Century Dictionary:

“hell, n. [ME, helle; AS, hell, hell, from helan, to cover, conceal.]”

Second the “hell” of the 21^st Century: The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary:

“The abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan… a state of separation from God… a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction… torment, anguish.”

Now if the English word “helan/helle/hell”  had retained its Middle English/Anglo Saxon meaning, of to “hide,” “cover,” and “conceal,” it might still be an acceptable (albeit it not the best) translation of “Sheol/Hades.”  But as this word has long since taken on the meaning of the pagan teachings concerning the realm of the dead and the supposed evils contained therein, it is absolutely out of place as a translation of any Hebrew or Greek word found in the manuscripts. Amazing!

How times have changed. Tell a person to “go to Hell” today and it is an insult of the highest level. Tell a person back in the dark ages of England to “go to hell” and he would probably go to a cool cellar and bring back some potatoes for dinner. For that is where they stored potatoes—in Hell.

 

 

Grave errors

Every time the word “Hell” is found in the King James Bible it is translated from one of four words. We find the word “Sheol” translated “Hell” 31 times and as “grave” 31 times in the KJV Old Testament. Vital to this study then, is the definition of the word “Sheol” in the English translations of the Old Testament. We start with “Sheol” translated as “grave.”

American Heritage Collage Dictionary:   

“grave 1. An excavaion for the internment of a corpse. b. A place of burial."

Why is this so important? Well, the Hebrew word “Sheol” and it’s equivalent Greek word “hades” are both translated at different times into either one of the English words “Hell” and “grave.” The Hebrew word “Sheol” has been translated either “Hell” or “grave” or “pit” in the 65 times it appears in the Hebrew scriptures – the SAME Hebrew word! But are “Hell,” “grave” or “pit” the same word? Well...NO! Do they all have the same meaning? ...NO! Then WHY are they all translated as such from the ONE Hebrew word “Sheol?” There is something sinfully wrong here - something that carnal theologians and translators have obscured from the majority of self professing, Bible believing Christians everywhere.

Sheol is translated: “grave—an excavation for the internment of a corpse, a place of burial”

AND:

Sheol is translated: “hell--the abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan… a state of separation from God… a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction… torment, anguish.”

So how can the word “Sheol” (and “Hades” in the New Testament) have for a definition and for a translation two words that have TOTALLY OPPOSITE AND TOTALLY DIFFERENT MEANINGS? Well, in honest scholarship and honest translating, THEY CAN’T AND THEY DON’T! The word "hell" is in no way the most accurate and correct English word available to translate, the Hebrew “Sheol,” or the New Testament “Hades,” “Tartarus” and “Gehenna” for that matter! According to traditional theology, these four words must all have the same meaning. But in reality only two of these four words have the same meaning.

The Hebrew word “Sheol” and the Greek word “Hades” are synonymous in meaning. And here is the proof from the Scriptures and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Hebrew “Sheol” and the Greek “Hades” are identical in meaning:

"Because You will not leave My soul in hell [Gk: hades], neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption"(Acts 2:27) " is quoted from:

"For You will not leave My soul in hell [Heb: sheol]; neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption." (Psalm 16:10)

And so the inspiration of the Spirit of God proves, that the Greek word “Hades,” is the right and proper translation of the Hebrew word “Sheol.”  Whatever "Hades" means, "Sheol" means the same, and whatever "Sheol" means, "Hades" also means the same. This is axiomatic! Furthermore, we know for a fact that the Hebrew word “Sheol” is translated "Hell" 31 times in the KJV of the Bible. But… BUT, we also know for a fact that the same Hebrew word “Sheol” is translated "grave" 31 times in the KJV Bible. Herein lies some of the worst scholarship and translating ever undertaken!

So why is this? Why should this be? Why is there a 50/50 split on the translation of this word? Ask any theologian or pastor if the words "grave" and "hell" mean the very same thing in the Bible, and see what they will say. Of course their answer would be a resounding NO! – that they are NOT the same, that they are very much different. Why, oh, why then are both "Hell" and "grave" translations of the very same Hebrew word, "Sheol?” Which should it be? The silence of the grave?....or the realm of screaming demons, unspeakable torture and horror in the flaming abyss of hell fire?

Simply, there is NO justifiable reason to translate “Sheol” as hell! It is abundantly clear that "grave" is the only proper translation for “Sheol.” While it is true that a number of verses use “Sheol” – (the unseen, the grave) in a poetic or figurative sense, absolutely nowhere is it used to represent a place of life, consciousness, fire, or torture—nowhere, absolutely nowhere. Remembering of course that “the living know that they shall die, but the dead do NOT know ANYTHING” (Ecc 9:5)

Even the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary states that “Sheol is much used in poetry and often parallels ‘death’ or the ‘grave.’ A uniform translation ‘grave’ would solve several problems of interpretation." (Pg1573)  

AMAZING! These "several problems," however, are in reality, the most major problems in all theology. Admitting to this theological revelation would destroy the damnable doctrine of eternal torture in the church for good of course...if only all were given “the eyes to see.”

 

 

The “HELL” of the Old Testament

We now know, in the Old Testament of the King James Version of the Bible we find the word "Hell" 31 times. All 31 times it is translated from the very same one, Hebrew word, “Sheol.” It would seem logical then to assume that "Sheol" means "Hell." But before we look at these 31 references, there is further confounding evidence that relates to the pure inconsistency of this theological malaise. Although "hell" is always the translation of the word “Sheol”, “Sheol” is not always translated "Hell." No sir. In fact, “Sheol” is also translated 31 times as "grave." And just for good measure, the Hebrew “Sheol” is translated 3 times into English as "pit." Is there any rhyme or reason for this nonsense? No, none.

Remember that every time we come across the word “Sheol” (no matter how it is translated in the particular verse we are examining), it is the same word and never changes from that same word, whether the translators render it "pit," "grave," or "Hell."

If the word “Sheol” can be properly and accurately translated by the English word "hell," then there must be present in each and every verse some form or semblance of the definition of the word "hell Is this too logical and rational to be good theology? Here then is every verse of Scripture in which we find the Hebrew word “Sheol”, translated in the KJV as either "pit," "grave," or "Hell." A veritable toss of the coin if ever there was one! Heads or tails anyone? “Sheol” is translated as...

Deut. 32:22	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Gen. 37:35	"grave"	burying place of the dead
II Sam. 22:6	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Gen. 42:38	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Job 11:8	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Gen. 44:29	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Job 26:6	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Gen. 44:31	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 9:17	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
I Sam. 2:6	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 16:10	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
I Kings 2:6	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 18:5	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
I Kings 2:9	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 55:15	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Job 7:9	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 86:13	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Job 14:13	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 116:3	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Job 17:13	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Psalm 139:8	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Job 21:13	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prov. 5:5	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Job 24:19	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prove. 7:27	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 6:5	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prov. 9:18	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 30:3	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prov. 15:11	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 31:17	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prov. 15:24	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 49:14	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prov. 23:14	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 49:14	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Prov. 27:20	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 49:15	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Isa. 5:14	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 88:3	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Isa. 14:9	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 89:48	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Isa. 14:15	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Prov. 1:12	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Isa. 28:15	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Prov. 30:16	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Isa. 28:18	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Ecc. 9:10	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Isa. 57:0	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Song 8:6	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Ezek. 31:16	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Isa. 14:11	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Ezek. 31:17	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Isa. 38:10	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Ezek. 32:21	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Isa. 38:18	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Ezek. 32:27	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Ezek. 31:15	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Amos 9:2	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Hosea 13:14	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Jonah 2:2	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Hosea 13:14	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Hab. 2:5	"hell"	eternal life of torture in fire
Psalm 141:7	"grave"	burying place of the dead
Num. 16:30	"pit"	a huge hole in the earth
Num. 16:33	"pit"	a huge hole in the earth
Job 17:16	"pit"	a place of rest in the dust

This is not only unscholarly and unscriptural, but is a profane translation of the one Hebrew word “Sheol.” In one verse Christian theologians would have us believe God is speaking of “ETERNAL TORTURE IN FIRE” and in another verse using the very same word, they would have us believe that scripture is talking about simply “being dead.” This is truly Christendom’s most dirty laundry laid bare!

 

 

“Sheol” Translated – “PIT”

Let us start by looking first at the word "pit." “Pit” is found 77 times in the Old Testament, but only 3 times is it translated from the Hebrew word “Sheol.”

1. "If these men DIED the common DEATH of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the PIT [Heb: sheol]; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord."(Numbers 16:29-30).

2. "And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the GROUND clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the PIT [Heb: sheol] , and the EARTH closed upon them: and they PERISHED from among the congregation"(Numbers 16:31-33).

Now then, what can we learn from this word "Sheol" in these verses? We learn that “Sheol” is in "the GROUND… under them."Korah and his men all "died" an uncommon "death" in this Sheol--pit. And it says that "they PERISHED."While the ground was "opened up," it was a PIT. After the ground closes up the pit, it was a GRAVE. This whole episode was a supernatural "mass burial in a mass grave," and nothing more. All these men are "dead and perished."What does the word "perished" signify? Are they lost for all eternity, because God caused them to "perish?" No, not at all. Even righteous people "perish." "The righteous perish and no man lays it to heart…" (Isa. 57:1).

Also consider, if “Sheol” is a hell of torture in fire, did you notice that God consigned the "houses" of Korah and his men to this same fate. Do we reckon that the "houses" of Korah and his men will also be "tortured in the fire of hell forever?" Nonsense of course!

3. "If I wait, the GRAVE [Heb: sheol] is mine HOUSE: I have made my BED in the DARKNESS. I have said to CORRUPTION, You are my father; to the worm, You are my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the PIT [Heb: sheol] , when our REST together is in the DUST" (Job 17:13-16).

Anything wrong with this picture of "Sheol" being an "eternal hell of torture in fire?" What we see here is: "grave, house, bed, darkness, corruption, worm, pit, rest, and dust." There are all kinds of problems with these verses if we desire to pervert them into an "eternal hell of fire." A "grave" is in the ground. A "house" is an abode, not a place designed for torture in fire. A "bed" is where one sleeps, and God likens death in the grave [sheol] to "sleep" "…lest I sleep the sleep of death" (Psalm 13:3).

"Darkness" is something that is found in a grave beneath the earth, not something you would find where there is a huge fire present."Corruption" is what happens when a corpse decays in a relatively short period of time, not something that is never accomplished in even an eternity of burning in the fabled Christian hell. "Worms" live in the ground in dead bodies, and in garbage where they continue to live and multiply as long as there is food present, but they don’t do very well in literal fire.

A "pit" is "a hole in the ground" according to Webster’s Dictionary. We would hardly be at "rest" if we were being eternally tortured by literal fire. And "dust" is what bodies return to when they are dead. God formed man from the "dust of the ground," not from "eternal hell fire." Besides all this proof, does anyone think that God would eternally torture Job (apparently the most righteous man on the face of the earth in his day) in literal fire when he died? This completes the 3 times that “sheol” is translated "pit."

 

 

“Sheol” Translated -“Grave”

And now let’s look at the verses where “Sheol” has been translated as the “grave.”

1. "And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [Heb: sheol] unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him" (Gen. 37:35).

Here "grave" (sheol) is used figuratively. Jacob did not literally go into the grave of his son Joseph, seeing that Joseph was not even "literally" dead at this time.

2. "And he [Jacob] said, My son [Benjamin] shall not go down with you; for his brother [Joseph] is dead [Jacob thought Joseph was dead], and he is left alone: If mischief befall him by the way in the which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [Heb: sheol]" (Gen. 42:38).

Gray hairs can only figuratively "sorrow." And "hair" does not do well in fire.

3. "And if you take this also from me, and mischief befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave" (Gen. 44:29).

Once again, Jacob uses the word "grave" (sheol) figuratively, and there is no mention of fire.

4. "…and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave [Heb: sheol]" (Gen. 44:31).

5. "The Lord kills, and makes alive: He brings down to the grave [Heb: sheol], and brings up" (I Sam. 2:6).

And so, just as surely as God "brings down to the grave," He likewise, "brings up [from the grave]." Therefore, the "grave" [sheol] is not an eternal place. Plus, no mention of "fire" in this place called sheol.

6. "Do therefore according to your wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave [Heb: sheol] in PEACE" (I Kings 2:6).

Obviously, this verse tells us that the "grave” (sheol) is a place of "peace," and that is why David didn’t want his enemy’s death to be a peaceful one.

7. "Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for you are a wise man, and know what you ought to do to him; but his hoar head bring you down to the grave [Heb: sheol] with BLOOD" (I Kings 2:9).

Kind David is called a "bloody man" in the Scriptures. David liked blood and violence. His dying words are for His son Solomon to be a "hit man" for him, and to violently destroy David’s long-time enemies (for which David will have to bitterly repent in the Great White Throne Judgment). David wanted Solomon to make their deaths painful and "bloody," as even David himself knew that his enemies would merely "sleep the sleep of death" once they were killed. But again, no "fire" in this "grave"—only "peace," even for David’s worst enemies.

8. "As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away; so he that goes down to the grave [Heb:sheol] shall come up no more" (Job 7:9).

Job was inspired to write that a person "vanishes away" in sheol. No fire there.

9. "O that You would hide me in the grave [Heb: sheol] …If a man die, shallhe live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come" (Job 14:13-14).

Job knew that he would not stay in “Sheol” forever. No fire there.

10. "If I wait, the grave [Heb: sheol] is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness"(Job 17:13).

Same words Job used previously.

11. "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave [Heb: sheol]" (Job 21:13).

Job goes on to say in verses 23-26 that those blessed and those cursed, "They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them."

12. "Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave [Heb: sheol] those which have sinned"(Job 24:19).

"ALL have sinned," and so all "consume" away in the grave until they return to the dust from where they came.

13. "For in death there is NO REMEMBRANCE of Thee: in the grave [Heb: sheol] who shall give You thanks?" (Psalm 6:5).

King David knew and was inspired to write that if he were to die, he knew that there would be no remembrance of God in the grave. No fire here either.

14. "O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave [Heb: sheol]: You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit [this time pit is not translated from sheol]" (Psalm 30:3).

Here King David is likewise speaking figuratively, as he was not literally killed or put into a grave.

15. "Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave [Heb: sheol]"(Psalm 31:17).

Well, so much for all the supposed cries of anguish in “Sheol.” David knew that “Sheol” was a place of complete "silence."

16 & 17. "Like sheep they are laid in the grave [Heb: sheol]; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave [Heb: sheol] from their dwelling" (Psalm 49:14).

There is "death" in the grave (sheol). There is not living torture in fire.

18. "But God will REDEEM MY SOUL from the power of the grave [Heb: sheol]: for he shall receive me. Selah" (Psalm 49:15).

Well there you have it! Souls can be "redeemed from the power of sheol"! No eternal torture in fire where souls can and will be "REDEEMED"! It should be self-explanatory as to why the translators didn’t translate this particular "Sheol" into the English word "Hell." They sure didn’t want anyone to know that souls will be "redeemed from Hell."

19. "For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draws nigh unto the grave [Heb: sheol]" (Psalm 88:3).

King David knew that when he died he was going to be placed in “Sheol.”

20. "What man is he that lives, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave [Heb: sheol]. Selah" (Psalm 89:48).

And so according to this verse of scripture, there is not a man who ever lives, (that’s all humanity) that shall not go to “Sheol” when he dies. Everyone goes to the grave; everyone goes to “Sheol.” But it is silent there. No remembrance. No pain, suffering, or fire.

21. "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit" (Prov. 1:12).

This too is speaking of the grave in figurative language.

22. "…There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say, not, it is enough. The grave [Heb: sheol]; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that says not, it is enough" (Prov. 30:15-16).

The earth is our "grave," and it can hold billions of bodies.

23. "Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave [Heb: sheol], where you go"(Ecclesiastes 9:10).

The word "device" means "contrivance, intelligence and reason." And there are none of these in “Sheol.” Neither is there any work, knowledge, or wisdom there. Since there are not any of these faculties of consciousness there, how can "Sheol" be translated "hell" which is supposed to be a place of eternal torture in fire?

24. "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave [Heb: sheol]: the coats thereof are coats of fire, which have a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench LOVE, neither can the floods drown it…" (Song of Solomon 8:6-7).

We include verse 7 here so that no one would be confused and think that the "flames of fire" are in "Sheol," but are rather the "coats of fire and flame" of jealousy.

25. "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave [Heb: sheol], and the noise of your viols [harps]: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you" (Isa. 14:11).

This is figurative language once more. Seeing that "pomp," a character flaw, and "harps," musical instruments do not literally go anywhere, but they do cease to exist from the perspective of the person possessing them.

26. "I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave [Heb: sheol]: I am deprived of the residue of my years" (Isa. 38:10).

If one were to continue living in a place called hell, he could hardly declare that his days and years would end. If hell is eternal, then he would continue to live forever.

27. "For the grave [Heb: sheol] cannot praise Thee, death can not celebrate Thee: they that go down in to the pit cannot hope for Thy truth"(Isa. 38:18).

Of course "Sheol cannot praise Thee," seeing that there is no intelligence or reason in “Sheol”, as we just learned a few Scriptures above.

28. "Thus said the Lord God, In the day when he [Pharaoh] went down to the grave [Heb: sheol] I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him" (Ezek. 31:15).

Ezek. 31:16-17 again contain the word "Sheol" again, but there it is translated "Hell." (which we will cover when we cover all the verses with "Hell" in them) But there is no eternal torture by fire in this verse.

29 & 30. "I will RANSOM them from the power of the grave [Heb: sheol]; I will REDEEM them from death: O DEATH, I will be your plagues; O grave [Heb: sheol], I will be your destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes" (Hosea 13:14).

This verse all by itself destroys the whole eternal torture in fire theory. If “Sheol” is "Hell," then this verse plainly tells us that [1] God will "ransom" those who are in “Sheol.” [2] God will be the plague of DEATH.[3] God tells us that “Sheol” itself is to be "DESTROYED." And isn’t this exactly what we are told in Revelation 20:14 — "And DEATH and hell [Gk: hades/Heb: sheol] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second DEATH."

31. "Our BONES are scattered at the grave’s [Heb: sheol] mouth, as when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth. (Psalm 141:7).

Once more King David is speaking figuratively in a poetic style. The grave does not literally have a "mouth."

 

 

Sheol/Hades – The state of the dead

When it comes to matters regarding the salvation of all mankind, Christian theology finds it necessary to distort scripture to force a compliance with its pagan teaching on the subject.  Although “Sheol” is translated “grave” 31 times in scripture, the question remains, should it even be translated “grave” at all considering there is another Hebrew term used in scripture that specifically means “grave?”  It all makes sense however as scripture emphasises two aspects regarding the grave. These are;

The PHYSICAL GRAVE, which includes the location and type of burial.

 And the CONDITIONAL GRAVE, which tells us why someone is in the grave, what their sins were, what their present condition is, and what their losses are.

The Hebrew qeber qibrah means: sepulcher, burying place, grave (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary). It is used many times in Scripture, as in Job 21:32:

"Yet shall he be brought to the grave [Heb: qeber qibrah], and shall remain in the tomb."

This verse pretty much defines gave by stating that a person brought to the grave would remain in the tomb (the "tomb" being a "burying place"). But does not “Sheol/Hades” also mean: sepulcher, burying place, grave? Strong’s definition of qeber gibrah is quite accurate and accords perfectly with the Scriptures.

His definition of “Sheol” however, leaves much to be desired: "Sheol—hades”, the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates: “grave,” “Hell,” “pit." "The world of the dead, a subterranean retreat, including its accessories and inmates."

Of course, nowhere is the grave called "a world," and nowhere are there "inmates"—that is living residents in the grave. Strong’s word "retreat," however, is interesting. Here’s an American Heritage College Dictionary definition of “retreat.”

 "retreat, a place affording peace, quite, privacy, or security."

Sounds more like a country club in the Caribbean, than the hell of Christendom. However, the last three words he uses to define Sheol—"grave, Hell, pit" could all be correct and acceptable if we use and understand "Hell" to be only what it was defined as and used as in Old English—"to cover or conceal."

In the New Testament of course, “Hades” (Greek) is the equivalent of the Old Testament “Sheol.” (Hebrew) Strongs defines sheol as hades,

"#86. Hades, from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; properly unseen, i.e. ‘Hades’ or the place (state) of departed souls—hell, grave."

Again, "Hell” and “grave" would be acceptable if we understand "Hell" to mean "conceal or cover" rather than, "a place where sinners are tortured with Satan and devils in literal fire for eternity." The "grave" is the common denominator in all verses regarding “Sheol.” But why didn’t the writers use the Hebrew qeber qibrah which most definitely means “grave?” Why are both terms used if what is always meant is "the grave?"

ANSWER: The Hebrew qeber gibrah always has reference to the geographical location and vessel of internment for the body. For example, is the body buried on the top of a mountain in a cave, down in the valley in the ground, or maybe in a garden in a tomb? The first time qeber qibrah is used in the Scriptures is a perfect example:

"And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave [Heb: qeber qibrah]: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave [qeber qibrah] unto this day" (Gen. 35:20).

Here’s another:

"My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die [am dying] in my grave [Heb: qeber qibrah—grave, sepulcher, burying place or tomb] which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, THERE shall they bury me" (Gen. 50:5).

So, if the "qeber qibrah—grave" is the location and type of burying place, what does "Sheol—grave" mean? Does “Sheol” then fit the description and definition of a grave? Yes, it does, but with an added dimension. The "Sheol—grave" addresses not so much the location or type of burying place, but rather the CONDITIONS surrounding the person(s) entombed.

Here are just some of the things associated with “sheol” as a “grave.”

·         darkness, corruption, worms, rest in dust (Job 17:13-16)

·         down to sheol is DEATH and up from sheol is to MAKE ALIVE (I Sam. 2:6)

·         a CHANGE must come to live again (Job 14:14)

·         no thanks in sheol (Psalm 6:5)

·         it is silent in sheol (Psalm 31:17)

·         the DEAD are in sheol (Proverbs 9:18)

·         souls are REDEEMED from sheol (Psalm 49:15)

·         there is no work, device, knowledge or wisdom in sheol (Ecc. 9:10)

·         no praise in sheol (Isa. 38:18—not even from the RIGHTEOUS who are there)

·         God will RANSOM souls from sheol (Hosea 13:14)

·         sheol is a place of DEATH (Psalm 55:15)

·         the DEAD are in sheol (Psalm 139:8)

·         God is in sheol (Psalm 139:8)

·         God will DESTROY sheol (Hosea 13:14)

That concludes the 31 places “Sheol” is translated “grave.” Not one of these 34 verses cited use “Sheol” to mean a place or condition of conscious torture in literal fire for all eternity. Why then would we suppose that the next 31 verses that use this exact same word “Sheol,” would change the meaning to a place of conscious torture of wicked people in literal hell fire for all eternity? How can such a travesty of error and poor scholarship ever be accepted by those still possessing a functioning mind?

 

 

“Sheol” translated “HELL”

But if things aren’t insane enough, we then discover that in the King James Old Testament, all 31 “hells” are ALSO translated from the SAME Hebrew word “Sheol.” Do any of the following scriptures resemble anything like the fire and torture of the Christian hell? Amazingly in all the Torah (the Law – the first five books of the Bible) the word “Hell” only appears but once in the King James Bible. Lets look at the following verses.

1. "For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell [Heb: sheol], and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains" (Deut. 32:22).

Well, at last. There it is, "fire" is found with the word “Sheol”, so surely now we have found Scriptural proof that “Sheol” sometimes does mean the Christian "hell of eternal torture in fire," right? WRONG! This verse says nothing of burning dead people in “Sheol” with fire. The whole chapter is a "Song of Moses" (See verse 1). God prophesies through Moses’ Song, His anger over Israel’s lack of faith and the fact that they will turn to other god’s, and for this God will punish them. He will not, however, torture them in an eternal fire of a Christian hell. Here is what God will do to them:

"For the Lord shall judge His people… I KILL, and I make ALIVE: I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand" (Deut. 32:36a & 39).

Notice that according to God Himself, the only way that someone He "kills" can ever live again is if God also "makes alive" again. Do Christians believe that dead people must be made alive again? No, of course not. They don’t believe that dead people are even dead, so why would God ever have to "make alive" again? It is not Scientifically, Physiologically, or scripturally possible to physically DIE and yet be alive. The most profound point in this Song of Moses which should remove any and all doubt as to whether Israel is being "tortured in literal fire" in this "lowest Sheol." (Verse 25)

"The sword without, and the terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, THE SUCKLING [an infant; a BABY] also with the man of gray hairs."

To be sure, God affirms that “sucklings” will be in this sheol. Are we to believe that God will TORTURE sucklings in sheol? Is sheol really a hell of torture in fire as orthodoxy demands? No, this is nothing more than the "grave" that we saw in the previous 31 Scriptures translated from the same Hebrew word “Sheol.”

2. The sorrows of hell [Heb: sheol] compassed [surrounded] me about: the snares of death prevented [confronted] me" (II Sam. 22:6).

Does anyone believe that David just narrowly escaped the tortures of an eternal hell of pain in literal fire? No?

3. It [the wisdom and secrets of God] is as high as heaven; what can you do? Deeper than hell [Heb: sheol] ; what can you know" (Job 11:8).

This is poetic language and has nothing to do with a place of torture in fire.

4. Hell [Heb: sheol] is naked before him, and destruction has no covering" (Job 26:6).

5. The wicked shall be turned [Heb: shub] into hell [Heb: sheol], and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).

"The wicked shall be turned into hell." The word translated "turned" is the Hebrew word shub and it means "to RETURN," (not, "turn" or "turned"), but REturn or REturned. In fact this word is translated "return" or "returned" almost 100% of the approximately 450 times it is used.

Notice how other versions correct this same verse: The Bible likens death to a "Return." The soul RETURNS to “Sheol/Hades”—the UNSEEN. The spirit RETURNS to God who gave it. And the body RETURNS to the dust of the ground from whence it came. And so likewise, the wicked nations will be RETURNED to “Sheol—the grave”, “Sheol”, the unseen, DEATH. If "Sheol" is a Christian hell of torture in fire, then they would also have to conclude that these nations also CAME FROM an eternity of suffering in fire, and they are not RETURNING to that same place. Anyone see a problem with such unscriptural nonsense?

6. "For you will not leave my soul in hell [Heb: sheol]; neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16:10).

Although this is a prophecy concerning the Lord, it is nonetheless, the words of David concerning himself and his own salvation from sheol. Notice that David concedes that he (his soul, the conscious, sentient self) will die and go to sheol. But David’s prayer is that God, "will not LEAVE my soul in sheol." Everyone’s soul goes to “Sheol” at death—both the sinners and the saints.

7. "The sorrows of hell [Heb: sheol] compassed me about: the snares of death prevented [confronted] me" (Psalm 18:5).

David is not in “Sheol,” but rather is sorrowful in just contemplating death.

8. "Let DEATH seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell [Heb: sheol]: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them" (Psalm 55:15).

Notice that that one must be "dead" in order to go to “sheol.”

9. "For great is Thy mercy toward me: and you have delivered my soul from the lowest [depth of] hell [Heb: sheol]" (Psalm 86:13).

10. "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell [Hb: sheol] got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow" (Ps. 116:3).

11. "If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in hell [Heb: sheol], behold, You are there" (Psalm 139:8).

12. "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell [Heb: sheol]" (Prov. 5:5).

Seems pretty clear that feet and steps are one, and they go to one place—death and hell [sheol] are all one.

13. "Her house is the way to hell [Heb: sheol], going down to the chambers of death" (Prov. 7:27).

Once more, her house with its chambers, go down to Hell/Sheol and death.

14. "But he knows not that the DEAD are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell [Heb: sheol]" (Prov. 9:18).

“Hell/sheol” contains DEAD PEOPLE, not living souls!

15. "Hell [Heb: sheol] and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?" (Prov. 15:11).

16. "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart [keep away] from hell [Heb: sheol] beneath" (Prov. 15:24).

17. "You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell [Heb: sheol]" (Prov. 23:14).

18. Hell [Heb: sheol] and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied" (Prov. 27:20).

19. "Therefore hell [Heb: sheol] has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth with out measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices, shall descend into it" (Isa. 5:14).

20. Hell [Heb: sheol] from beneath is moved for you to meet you at the coming; it stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations" (Isa. 14:9).

21. "Yet you shall be brought down to hell [Heb: sheol] to the sides of the pit" (Isa. 14:15).

22. "Because you have said, We have made a covenant with DEATH, and with hell [Heb: sheol] are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves" (Isa. 28:15).

23. "And your covenant with DEATH shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell [Heb: sheol] shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it" (Isa. 28:18).

Notice in both verses 15 and 18 of Isa. 28 that "death and Hell" keep company together. Another major proof that those in “Sheol” are DEAD, not tortured in fire. “Sheol” is associated with DEATH, not life.

24. "And you went to the king with ointment, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your messengers far off, and did debase yourself even unto hell [Heb: sheol]" (Isa. 57:9).

25. "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall; when I cast him down to hell [Heb: sheol] with them that descend into the pit and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth" (Ezek. 31:16).

26. "They also went down into hell [Heb: sheol] with him unto them that be slain with the sword: and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen" (Ezek. 31:17).

27. "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell [Heb: sheol] with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword" (Ezek. 32:21).

28. "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell [Heb: sheol] with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, through they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living" (Ezk. 32:27).

29. "Though they dig into hell [Heb: sheol], thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down" (Amos 9:2).

30. "And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me; out of the BELLY of hell [Heb: sheol] cried I, and You heard my voice" (Jonah 2:2).

Imagine that! The belly of a FISH is also the "belly of hell." But for sure there was no literal fire inside that fish torturing Jonah.

31. "Yea also, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man, neither keeps at home, who enlarges his desire as hell [Heb: sheol] , and is as DEATH, and cannot be satisfied, but gathers unto him all nations, and heaps unto him all people" (Hab. 2:5).

Again we see death and hell keeping company. There is NO CONSCIOUSNESS in sheol / hades / grave / death. Jonah only figuratively (symbolically) cried out from "the belly of Hell/Sheol." Jonah was not literally in “Sheol”, as he had not died, although he was very close to it. David in the same way, cried out in his agony as though he had already been consumed with death, although he had not.

We have now quoted every Scripture from the Hebrew Old Testament which contains the word “Sheol.” 3 times as "pit," 31 times "grave," and 31 times "Hell." Not once did we read of "PUNISHMENT," "TORTURE IN FIRE," or a place of "EVERLASTING" anything. We have clearly seen that both the righteous and the unrighteous go to this same condition and place called “Sheol.” It is spoken of literally, figuratively, symbolically, and poetically.

 

 

No torment in HELL!

So it really behoves us to ask ourselves honestly and scripturally, is there any torture going on in “Sheol?” Is there ANY human activity whatsoever going on in “Sheol?” Is there even consciousness in “Sheol?” Of course not – SHEOL is DEAD! But Christian theology assures us that Sheol/Hades/Hell is a place of extreme activity, pain, screaming, torture, fire, demons, Satan etc etc. So let us consider the Christian definition of hell in a dictionary.

The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary:

"hell, the abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan… a state of separation of God… a place of evil, misery, discord or destruction… torment, anguish."

We should find these ten words scattered all through the verses of Scripture which speak of Sheol/grave/Hell. (or so one would think!) The answer is?...

1. condemned souls is found	ZERO times
2. devils	ZERO times
3. eternal punishment (or punish alone)	ZERO times
4. Satan	ZERO times
5. separation of God	ZERO times
6. evil	ZERO times
7. misery	ZERO times
8. discord or destruction	ZERO times
9. torment	ZERO times
10. anguish	ZERO times
	----------------------
	TOTAL: ZERO!

This kind of “scholarship” defies belief, yet few pastors or learned Christians would ever subscribe to the truth. It cannot be emphasised enough, how insane this all really is! Take the Hebrew word “laban” for example - that means "white"—like milk, like teeth—WHITE. First, imagine translating this word “laban” in 31 verses of Scripture into the English word "white" and then “laban” in 31 different verses of Scripture into the English word "BLACK." Does anyone see a problem with such scholarship?  It’s crazy, and yet this IS what has happened in the KJV with regards to the Hebrew word “Sheol”—31 times "grave," and 31 times "Hell." And what does UNCONSCIOUS DEATH IN THE GRAVE have in common with A CONSCIOUS LIFE OF ETERNAL TORTURE IN FIRE? Nothing—absolutely NOTHING! It’s as different as "black" and "white."

This then, is what we can conclude from the use and context of the ancient Hebrew word “Sheol.” We have seen "Sheol" used in poetic figurative language as a place, condition, or realm of "sorrow and mourning," as for a dead or presumed dead child. Only figuratively does someone still living go down to "Sheol." It is decidedly the realm of the dead, and therefore is figuratively used sometimes to represent something very ghastly or frightening (as we will later see was the case with Jonah).

When God kills someone, it is said that God brings them down to "Sheol."

When someone goes down to "Sheol," he is not able to come back up.

In Job we learned that when we die we are hid in "Sheol" until an appointed time when we will be changed from whatever our condition in "Sheol" is.

Also, Job likens "Sheol" to a bed in a dark place (not unlike sleeping in our bedroom with the lights off). And Job also informs us that the blessed and cursed both go to "Sheol."

We consume away in this place called "Sheol."

In "Sheol" there is no remembrance or communication with the world of the living.

The hand of "Sheol" is called death, and everyone who lives will be drawn to it.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 is probably the most telling Scripture of all with regards to what we do NOT find in "Sheol." No work, device [intelligence/reason], knowledge or wisdom.

Not even the righteous can celebrate or praise God in "Sheol."

Hosea informed us that God will be death’s PLAGUE. In other words, God will be a plague to "sheol" itself, not the dead people who reside in “Sheol.” In fact God says He will RANSOM AND REDEEM those in "Sheol." Oh yes, God will ransom and redeem them ALL who go down to “Sheol,” but not all at the same time. Remember there are TWO resurrections—One to life with Christ in His Kingdom, and Another to the great white throne/lake of fire/second death, Judgment.

Although everyone has a perception OF death, and many actually experience the process OF dying, absolutely no one will ever experience anything IN the death state itself. There is no experience or perception in death. And although no one desires to go to “Sheol” [the grave]; that is no one desires to DIE, but nonetheless, it is a safe place to be while we await resurrection. Nothing can harm us there. There is no fear or darkness there, because there is NO PERCEPTION THERE. “Sheol” is truly like a deep, sound SLEEP. The truth is profound – Not ONCE in all 65 verses where we find the word “Sheol” do we find even an inkling of an association with the concept of the Christian HELL!

 

 

Dead and buried

The pertinence of the usage of the words “death,” “dead” or some form of dying (as in slain with the sword) cannot be underestimated in the scriptures regarding “hell.” After all, we do not find any of these words used in any way shape or form that could be associated with the Christian doctrine of Hell and eternal punishment. Let us consider some very interesting translations.

In Psalm 88:6 we read this:

"You have laid me in the LOWEST PIT [Heb: bor—a hole, a pit], in darkness, in the deeps."

And in Psalm 139:15 this:

"My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the LOWEST PARTS of the earth."

But in Deut. 32:22 we read:

"For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the LOWEST HELL [Heb: sheol].

Why "hell?" Why not "pit?" We already have Scriptural proof that there are such things as the "lowest pit" and "lowest parts" with absolutely no connection or reference to any kind of hellish torture chamber, so why not use "pit" in Deut. 32:22? Actually "grave" would be better, but since they like to translate “Sheol” as "pit," why not make it pit in Deut. 32:22?

In Job 17:13 we read:

"If I wait, the grave [Heb: sheol] is mine house, I have made MY BED in the darkness"

Here we have God telling us that Job will make his "bed" in the darkness of the “Sheol-grave.”

But in Psalm 139:8 we read:

"If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make MY BED in HELL [Heb: sheol] behold, You are there."

What sense is it for Job to say, "If" he makes his "BED in the sheol-GRAVE," whereas King David considers, "If" he make his "BED in the sheol-HELL?"

Consider also that when people have been buried in graves from time immemorial, they are laid down as in a bed (witness the mummies of Egypt), but in what possible, conceivable way can a person in a "Christian hell" who is supposedly being tortured in literal fire, be considered to be "in BED?" Clearly, Psalm 138:8 should be translated "If I make my bed in the GRAVE…" Furthermore we have Scriptural proof that David was buried in a grave:

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both DEAD and BURIED, and his SEPULCHRE is with us unto this day" (Acts 2:29).

And NO, David never went to heaven either:

"For David is not [‘is not’—In both Greek and English, that means "IS NOT’] ascended into the heavens…" (Verse 34).

It is truly astounding how Christian theology has continued to promulgate heretical teaching when the weight of scriptural evidence lies so heavily against it. But what of Christendom’s “hell is complete separation from God” tirade? Is this often repeated statement in Christendom true? No. Not according to the scriptures!

"If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make MY BED in HELL [Heb: sheol] behold, You are there." (Psalm 139:8)

“Sheol” cannot separate God from humanity. God is just as surely in “sheol” as He is in Heaven.

"But God WILL REDEEM MY SOUL from the power of sheol [grave]: for he shall receive me. Selah." (Psalm 49;15)

And Hosea 13:14:

"I WILL RANSOM THEM from the power of sheol [grave]…"

Notice the context of this verse in this chapter as it is speaking of SINFUL Israel. Israel has sinned greatly, they have died, but notice God’s ultimate mercy upon them:

"O Israel, you have destroyed yourself, BUT in Me is your help" (Vs 9).

And so, even though they died in their sins without repentance, yet will God be their help and will "RANSOM them from the power of sheol." But orthodox Christian theology teaches us that once a wicked person goes to “Sheol” there will never ever be a return. They say that there will never be a "second chance" to be saved. As though the Scriptures ever speak of a FIRST CHANCE? Scripture truly sets free those aligned to the truth of God’s spirit.

 

 

Judgement and fire.

So, there is not one single word in the entirely of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures that speaks of the dead in “Sheol” being tortured or burned with fire. There is a Scripture however that speaks of a "refiner’s fire," but the time setting for this fire is not the Old Testament, but rather the New: Israel and especially the priests mocking ask: "WHERE is the God of judgment?" (Last phrase in Mal. 2:17).

To which God answers:

"Behold, I will send My Messenger before Me: and the Lord, Whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple [His people in whom He dwells, I Cor. 3;16], even the Messenger of the covenant [the NEW covenant], Whom you delight in: behold, He shall come, says the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? for He is like A REFINER’S FIRE, and like FULLERS’ SOAP: And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi…" (Mal. 3:1-3a).

Just who are the "sons of Levi" under the New Covenant? Why they are the "chosen elect FEW." Peter describes them:

"But you [those chosen for salvation in this church era] are a chosen generation, a royal PRIESTHOOD, and holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him Who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were NOT a people, but are NOW THE PEOPLE OF GOD…" (I Peter 2:9-10).

Ironically, it is the "people who were NOT a people" that make up the New Covenant "royal priesthood" (II Pet. 2:9). It is the "uncircumcision who are now God’s circumcision people" (Phil. 3:3) It is the GENTILES who are God’s New Covenant "JEW which is one inwardly" (Rom. 2:28). It is the GENTILES who are the New Covenant SPIRITUAL "Israel OF GOD" (Gal. 6:16). Notice that Peter calls us "a ROYAL priesthood." The word "royal" is translated from the Greek, basileios, and it means "kingly." Peter is speaking of " a KINGLY priesthood" or "KING/PRIESTS." "And has made us unto our God KINGS AND PRIESTS, and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:10 & Rev. 2:26-27).

Continuing in Mal. 3:3"…and purge them as gold and silver…"

Now where do we read of this in the New Testament/New Covenant? Paul makes clear to us that only the "gold, silver, and precious stones" of God’s word in us will survive the "refiner’s fire":

"Now if any man build upon the Foundation [Jesus Christ] gold, silver, precious stones [these are refined and purified and made much more valuable by the fire], [or] wood, hay, stubble [these are totally consumed and burned up by the fire]: Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by FIRE; [The ‘Refiner’s fire.’ ‘For our God is a CONSUMING [spiritual] FIRE,’ Heb. 12:29]; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by fire" (I Cor. 3:12-15).

Concluding Mal. 3, verse 3:

"that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."

It is this "offering in RIGHTEOUSNESS" that the "kings of the earth [we, the chosen elect few, ARE the ‘kings of the earth, Rev. 5:10] do bring their glory and honor [‘an offering in righteousness’] into it [New Jerusalem out of Heaven]" (Rev. 21:24). Where do we hear such a revelation of truth, certainly not within the hallowed seminaries of apostate Christian theology!

 

 

Blessings and cursings

It is vital then, that we understand the scriptural references of judgement under the old covenant – giving careful consideration to the ancient Hebrew mindset concerning blessing and cursing. Christians pay little attention to the patterns and types of the scriptures and even when they do, often things are twisted to suit the theology of the day. Prosperity evangelism is a classic example of this, promoting a profane alchemy which seeks to make the physical, spiritual - under the dispensation of the New Covenant.

In the Old Testament for example, blessings and cursings were both physical and temporal. All of the blessings are physical blessings of food, cattle, children, houses, and safety from enemies from without, in this land, in this life, ONLY. And the Cursings are loss of children, cattle, food, house, and their land, and sickness, disease, pain, suffering in their bodies, and captivity, slavery, bondage, misery, and death and destruction in scattered foreign lands. Nothing more, and nothing less. What sayeth the scholars?

Moses "maintains a profound silence on the rewards and punishments of another life. Milman

"In the Jewish Republic, both the rewards and punishments promised by Heaven were temporal only-such as health, long life, peace, plenty and dominion, etc., diseases, premature death, war, famine, want, subjections, captivity, etc. And in no one place of the Mosaic Institutes is there the least mention, or any intelligible hint, of the rewards and punishments of another life. Bishop Warburton

The Mosaic dispensation "dealt in temporal rewards and punishments. The blessings consisted altogether of worldly benefits, and the curses of worldly punishments. Paley

Prof. Mayer says, that "the rewards promised the righteous, and the punishments threatened the wicked, are such only as are awarded in the present state of being."

Lets’ look at the scriptural evidence.

THE BLESSINGS:

"And all these BLESSINGS shall come on you, and overtake you, IF you shall hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God" (Deut. 28:2).

·         Will set you high above all nations on earth

·         Blessed in city and field

·         Fruit of body, cattle and ground

·         Smite your enemies

·         Blessed in storehouses

·         Blessed in all you set hands to do

·         Blessed coming & going out

·         All nations will fear you

·         Will establish you an holy nation

·         Will make you plenteous in all goods

·         Shall lend but not borrow

·         Be the head and not the tail

THE CURSINGS:

"But it shall come to pass, IF you will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statues which I command you this day; that all these CURSES shall come upon you, and overtake you" (Deut. 28:15).

 

·         Cursed in city and in field

·         Cursed in basket and store

·         Cursed fruit of body, flocks & land

·         Cursed coming in & going out

·         Send cursings, till destroyed

·         Pestilence will consume you

·         Smite with consumption, fever, etc.

·         Extreme burning and the sword

·         Your heaven as brass & earth as iron

·         Smitten by your enemies

·         Smite you with botch of Egypt

·         Madness, blindness, astonishment of heart

·         Shall not prosper in your ways

·         Another man will take your wife

·         Build a house but not dwell in it

·         Plant a vineyard but not partake of it

·         Sons & daughters given to foreigner

·         Fruit of your lands eaten by other nations

·         You will go mad

·         Smitten with botch which cannot be healed

·         Smite from sole of foot to top of head

·         Shall serve other nations and their gods of stone

·         You will be mocked among the nations

·         Locust eat your fields, worms eat your grapes

·         Locust will consume all the trees of the field

·         Children will go into captivity

·         Strangers within will rule over you

·         Strangers will be the head and you will be the tail

·         Therefore you shall serve your enemies

·         He will put iron on your neck until you are DESTROYED

·         You shall have none assurance for your LIFE

So where in all these blessings is there ONE WORD about anything beyond the relatively short life of prosperity and safety in the land? Where is there ONE WORD about an afterlife of blessing with God? Where in all these cursings is there ONE WORD about anything beyond the relatively short life of disease, poverty, captivity, misery, slavery and death in scattered lands? Where is there ONE WORD about punishment beyond death in an afterlife of pain and we not all agree that it just isn’t there? The scripture do not lie, neither do they conceal a hidden lie.

 

 

Hints of an afterlife.

But does this mean that the Old Testament contains not a word about an after life? Well no, not quite. There are a few hints and a prophecy that confirm the dead will live again, but not a word that the DEAD ARE ALREADY LIVING. Interestingly, Moses never once makes mention of any such thing as a punishment upon the wicked after death, or a blessing upon the righteous after death. We have record of but a handful of men who even knew of an afterlife, but not one of them suggests and endless punishment for the wicked. From where then did this teaching originate considering the following scriptures?

RECORDED IN THE LAW:

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it [Heb: ‘He’—the One Seed, Christ] shall bruise [Heb: ‘hurt’] your [Satan’s] head, and you [Satan] shall bruise [hurt] his heel" (Gen. 3:15).

This prophecy was indeed vague at best to Adam and Eve, and even the Old Testament readers, but it was nonetheless, a positive affirmation that the deceiving work of Satan in the Garden would one day be rectified.

RECORDED IN JOB:

"If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. You shall call, and I will answer you: you will have a desire to the work of your hands" (Job 14:14).

Job was given to understand that there is coming life after the grave. Not IN the grave but after a period of "waiting," and after a "change" takes place.

RECORDED IN PSALMS:

"Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [Heb: sheol] (Psalm 49:14-15).

David realizes as does the writer of Ecclesiastes, that a person dies just like an animal, and both are consumed away in the grave. But, David was also given to understand that God will "redeem" his soul (the real, sentient David, preserved by God until resurrection back to life into a new body). This will take place in either of two resurrections of the dead.

RECORDED IN THE PROPHETS:

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting [Heb: ‘eonian’] life, and some to shame and everlasting [Heb: ‘eonian’] contempt" (Daniel 12:2).

Daniel does not tell us when these two resurrections of awakening out of sleep will occur, only that they will. We know from New Testament revelation that the First happens prior to Christ’s reign and the Latter happens after His 1000 year reign. But the hope of an afterlife was made know to at least a few of the Old Testament writers.

 

 

Forewarnings of endless punishment in the Old Testament.

And anyway, is anyone so foolish as to suggest that possibly God revealed the teaching of an endless punishment upon someone other than His Own chosen people, Israel? From the Garden of Eden, the first five books of the Bible by Moses, and the rest of the Old Testament canon, we find not a word about endless punishment.

Neither did the Jews believe in an endless punishment for the wicked. But, by the time of the coming of Messiah, many Jews where thoroughly indoctrinated with this teaching. There is a long void of canon history of some four hundred years from the last prophet Malachi and the coming of Messiah.

So what happened during this long period with relation to what the Jews believed regarding the belief in an afterlife? Where did they learn about "endless punishment" if not from their own Scriptures and prophets? From the very opening pages of the New Testament we find that the Jews believed in reincarnation, transmigration of souls, endless punishment, and many other such pagan doctrines never dreamed of by their patriarchs and forbearers. What of God’s warnings then of the afterlife to his own prophets and scribes in the Old Testament? Real scholarship confirms the REAL meaning of “hell” within its textual context.

"Sheol throughout the Old Testament, signifies not a place of punishment for the souls of bad men only, but the grave, or place of death." Rev. Dr. Whitby

“Sheol signifies the state of the dead in general, without regard to the goodness or badness of the persons, their happiness or misery” Dr George Campbell

"Sheol, in itself considered has no connection with future punishment." Dr Chapman

"The term Sheol itself, does not seem to mean anything more than the state of the dead in their dark abode." Dr. Allen

"Beyond doubt, Sheol, like Hades, was regarded as the abode after death, alike of the good and the bad." Dr. Firbairn of the College of Glasgow

Edward Leigh, who says Horne's, "Introduction," was "one of the most learned understanding of the original languages of the Scriptures," observes that "all learned Hebrew scholars know the Hebrews have no proper word for hell, as we take hell."

If this scholarship is accurate (and it is!), then there are themes right throughout the Old Testament that need serious consideration. Let’s look at some of them.

 

ADAM AND EVE WERE NEVER WARNED BY GOD OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT!

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall SURELY DIE" (Gen. 2:17).

The wages for eating the forbidden fruit was "you shall surely die." And:

"In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground [not be turned into a terrorists hellhole of endless torture in some pagan hell]: for out of it [the ground] were you taken; for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return" (Gen. 3:19). Death began immediately. Notice a better translation of Gen. 2:17:"…to die shall you BE DYING" (Concordant Old Testament).

Adam and Eve’s life was but a slow death until they returned to the dust of the ground. God said that their judgment for sinning was to be RETURNED to the ground from whence they came. They didn’t come from some terrorist hellhole of torture in fire, so how could they "return" to such a place when God plainly stated that they would "RETURN unto the ground?" They came from the earth and they returned to that earth. It’s so simple.

God cursed the serpent, and God cursed the ground, but nowhere did God curse Adam and Eve. God pointed out the different judgments against Adam and Eve, such as multiplied childbearing pains, sorrow in gathering food all the days of his life, thorns, thistles, and sweat, but no mention of punishment in death or after death. If Adam and Eve were to have a far greater punishment (trillions and trillions of times greater) at death or in death or after death, why did not God warn them of such an horrible destiny? Listen to what God said to Ezekiel:

"When I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die [hey, isn’t that exactly what God did say to Adam?] and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand" (Ezek. 3:18).

Are we to believe that God held Ezekiel to a higher standard of morality than God holds for HIMSELF?

God told Ezekiel that He would require Ezekiel’s blood if he did not warn the wicked so they could be saved from death. Do we then turn around and accuse God of a lower standard in which God Himself has utterly failed to warn the human race of a destiny that is trillions of times worse than mere death? God would hold Ezekiel responsible for the death of just one wicked person, whereas God Himself feels no responsibility for failing to warn the entire human race of a fate trillions of times more severe?

 

CAIN WAS NEVER WARNED BY GOD OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT

Notice very carefully God’s conversation with Cain:

"But unto Cain and to his offering He [God] had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why are you wroth? And why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, SIN lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him"(Gen. 4:5-7).

God warned Cain that if he did not do well, that sin would be at his door. But did God say "endless torment and punishment would be at his door?" No.

"And Cain talked with Abel, his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And He said, What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries unto Me from the ground.

And now are you cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand: When you till the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto you her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shall you be in the earth" (Verses 8-12).

Did God threaten Cain with "endless punishment in some subterranean hellhole of torture in fire?" No. But notice Cain’s reply?

"And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from Your face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth: and it shall come to pass, that every one [any one] that finds me shall slay me" (Verse 13-14).

What? My punishment is greater than I can bear? If Cain thought being a fugitive and vagabond and having poor crops was greater than he could bear, what pray tell would he have thought had God told him that he would be punished for all eternity in some hellish pit of fire?

Did God fail to tell Cain about the "endless torture" because He was afraid it would be too much for Cain to psychologically handle? Did God fail to inform Cain of his coming endless punishment because He was afraid it might discourage him, or some other unfathomable fiendish foolishness?  Search all we may, we won’t find this pagan doctrine of Christendom in the Scriptures. But hold on there’s more. We are not finished with this account of Cain yet.

"And the Lord said unto him, Therefore, whosoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him" (Verse 15).

Cain is a murderer. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Not only a murderer, but, a murderer of his OWN BROTHER. But God tells us that if someone should find and slay Cain the murderer, then that person would have vengeance taken on him seven times greater? SEVEN TIMES GREATER than burning in some fabled hell for all eternity?

Here then would be the orthodox logic of this whole scenario: Kill your brother, and receive a certain punishment: but kill the murderer of his brother, and receive "seven TIMES greater" punishment. Can we all say: Contradiction, Square Circles, Theological Insanity? Cain died, just as his parents (Adam and Eve) died. But there is no punishment in death. Cain’s "punishment" was here on this earth while Cain was still alive, not after. And likewise, anyone who found and killed Cain would have punishment on this earth while they were still alive, "seven times greater," than that of Cain.

 

NO ONE BEFORE THE FLOOD WAS WARNED OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually… And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall DIE" (Gen. 6:5 & 17).

All mankind are said to be only evil continually. That’s a lot of evil. And what does God say their punishment for all this evil will be? They shall die. Punished endlessly? No, they "shall die." Do we think that God lied to the whole world? Do we think that God said, "shall die," but secretly meant: "punished endlessly?" Ask any pastor if he has an answer to this Christian enigma? It apparently took a hundred years to build the ark, and so for a hundred years Noah warned the world that God would kill them for their gross sins. But not one word that God would punish them endlessly after they died:

"All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, DIED" (Gen. 7:22).

Why doesn’t even one of these verses tell us that this wicked people will be judged in death and then sentenced to an eternity of torture in real fire? Why? Why wouldn’t God give us at least one verse somewhere? He could have said something like this:

"Be it known to all sinners that whosoever repenteth not of his sins and dies, shall be sentenced to punishment in fire so hot as to burn brass, and he shall never ever be set free, and his pain and suffering shall never come to an end, no not ever, saith the Lord."

There are thousands and thousands and thousands of words in the Old Testament Scriptures, so why isn’t there one word warning us that unrepentant wicked people will be sentenced to an eternity of torture in real fire? Why? The books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy have 186 combined chapters. So why couldn’t at least one of these 186 chapters contain at least one verse which warns of the horrible eternal torture for most of the human race? Yet the Christian Church assures us that this punishment is there even if it is not seen and not stated.

Did all the people drowned in Noah’s flood go to hell? No… they DIED. Were they tortured or punished endlessly? No… they DIED. Are they in a place of punishment now? No… they’re DEAD. Did Jesus say that those in the flood are now being punished in some kind of a hellhole? No…"…and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:27). Is it possible for destroyed dead people to know pain and misery and punishment? No…"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5).

 

SODOM AND GOMORRAH WERE NEVER WARNED BY GOD OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT

Were any of these people told or warned that not only would they die for their sins, but that they would also be punished in death, endlessly? No, of course not. Not a word. Every generation since Adam and Noah has witnessed their loved ones either dying or being killed. "For the living know that they shall die…" (Ecc. 9:5a).

But Solomon and the Kingdom of Israel knew more than just the fact that they would all die one day. They also knew something that few theologians, few pastors, few Christians on earth know and believe, which is: "…but the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5b). Is there an orthodox theologian alive, who believes this divinely inspired Scripture? Likewise, in the New Testament, we are told emphatically that: "For the wages of sin is DEATH…" (Rom. 6:23).

 

 

The pagan origins of Hell

So, if “hell” is not an Old Testament doctrine, where did it come from? Why didn’t Moses warn about this fate in the Ten Commandments or the Mosaic Covenant consisting of over 600 laws, ordinances and warnings?

"Is it possible to imagine a more conclusive proof against the divine origin of the doctrine? If he had believed it to be of God, if he had believed in endless torments as the doom of the wicked after death, and had received this as a revelation from heaven, could he have passed it over in silence? Would he have dared to conceal it, or treat so terrible a subject with such marked contempt? And what motive could he have had for doing this? I cannot conceive of a more striking evidence of the fact that the doctrine is not of God. He knew whence the monstrous dogma came, and he had seen enough of Egypt already, and would have no more of her cruel superstitions; and so he casts this out, with her abominable idolatries, as false and unclean things." Dr. Thayer

What of the Prophets and Psalters? Did they miss something that only modern day Christendom has picked up on? “Sheol,” the Old Testament word erroneously translated “Hell,” only means “grave” and it is here that everyone ended up (good or evil, Jew or Gentile) when they died in the Old Testament. Contrary to the preaching of mainstream Christian teaching, real historians are well aware of the origins of the concepts of future torment beyond the grave.

It was of course the many foreign nations which surrounded Israel in the Old Testament that believed in the pagan idea of a hell like punishment in the afterlife. It was these heathen nations that sought to serve blood thirsty gods and promulgated the ideas of future retribution. The cultural influences of Egypt and Babylon are largely responsible for the dispensation of such doctrines upon their subjects and those they conquered.

"The Jews had acquired at Babylon a great number of Oriental notions, and their theological opinions had undergone great changes by this intercourse. We find in Ecclesiastes and the Wisdom of Solomon, and the later prophets, notions unknown to the Jews before the Babylonian captivity, which are manifestly derived from the Orientals. Thus, God represented under the image of light, and the principle of evil under that of darkness; the history of good and bad angels; paradise and Hell, etc., are doctrines of which the origin, or at least the positive determination, can only be referred to the Oriental philosophy." Milman

The religious practices of pagan nations and city states throughout Asia Minor were well entrenched by the time Israel was called to be a nation set apart by God. It was from these various cultures that pagan ideals infiltrated Hebrew teachings and later became popularised and dogmatised by Jewish theologians. Such concepts increasingly cemented themselves and became theological “truth,” especially under the auspices of Greek and Roman influences who in turn borrowed their ideas from Egypt.

Though the “hells” of religions and cultures surrounding Israel varied, the one central theme of suffering and torment and the horrors of the underworld remained. In many concepts of hell, it is a punishment ongoing and consists of inhumane torture such as burning ones flesh with literal fire. The hell of Christianity which is predicated on the pagan Greek hell is borrowed from the Egyptian hell called Amenti. According to Christian theology, the hell which non believers go is “Hades,” the hell of the pagan Greek religion!

Now here is a statement - The reason backsliding Christians and heathens are supposedly going to the pagan Greek/Egyptian hell as opposed to their own Hebrew hell, is because the Hebrews NEVER had a hell of their own! Amazing! They borrowed it from the Egyptians even though God specifically forbade them to do such things:

“...and that you NOT enquire after their gods...” (Deut 12:30)

"When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations... take heed to thyself that you be NOT snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire NOT after their gods saying: How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise" (Deut. 12:29-30).

"After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein you dwelled, shall you NOT do and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, shall you NOT do: NEITHER shall you walk in their ordinances" (Lev. 18:3).

Notice the words, "enquire not after their gods: How did these nations serve their gods." The Egyptian doctrines surrounding the hereafter are based solely on their gods and how they served those gods. Christendom has incorporated the religion of these Egyptian gods into the Christian faith. Such accepted beliefs as, man's soul is immortal; there is judgment immediately upon death; the dead are not dead at all, but still living; there is an immediate heaven (depicted by both Egyptians and Greeks, as fields of leisure and happiness); and there is an immediate sentencing for the wicked, to a destiny that can never be changed or improved. These Egyptian fables are the fundamental principles upon which the Christian doctrine of judgment and the hereafter are based.

 

THE CHRISTIAN HELL IS "THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN" THAT GOD FORBAD ISRAEL TO LEARN

“Clearly, the Greeks did not invent the idea of a hell of pain, misery, and punishment at death - the Egyptians did. The Greek hell of hades was plagiarized from the Egyptian hell of amenti. And so when you read the English word "hell" in a King James Bible where it was translated from the Greek word for hell, hades, you are really reading about the Egyptian hell of amenti seeing that the Greeks plagiarized their hell from Egypt. Both hells are the same in many ways, plus we have the admission of historians that the Greeks borrowed (plagiarized) the Egyptian hell of amenti and fashioned it to suit their religion and government." "The Amenti of the Egyptians originated the classic fables of Hades and Tartarus [the 'hell' of the Greeks]." (From: Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Ch.3,P.7).

"Before coming into the courtroom the dead person had to pass a labyrinth of gates and doors and answer questions correctly to pass through. The lion-god Aker let him through the last gate and he was facing the fourteen members of the jury in the Tribunal Hall. There he was allowed to speak about his behavior on Earth. Then god Anubis took him into the courtroom presenting him the scale where his heart would be put in balance with the feather of the goddess Mᡴ, patroness of truth and harmony. The procedure was recorded by Thoth - the god of writing and wisdom. Sometimes Thoth's animal (a baboon) was sitting on top of the scale ready to adjust the result using a sliding weight.

If the heart of the deceased wasn't too heavy with sins from his life on Earth, he went through and could continue his voyage to the afterlife and was granted a plot of land in the "Field of the Reeds". This was the paradise for the ancient Egyptians - to grow crops for eternity in a land that was the very image of the Nile Valley they just had left. If he failed the test on the other hand - his heart was immediately devoured by the beast Ammut sitting under the scale. In that case the dead faced the most horrible future imaginable for the Egyptians - he was denied an eternal life in the land in the West and his soul would be restless forever."THE COURT OF OSIRIS IN THE EGYPTIAN UNDERWORLD - Called: "The Island of Fire"

The above is a highly simplified explanation of the Egyptian Underworld. It was considerably more complex and complicated and convoluted and contradictory. Suffice it to say that the Egyptians and the Greeks knew a hundred times more about their hell and judgment procedures than Christians know about theirs. The fundamentals of the Egyptian hereafter are identical to that of Christendom. Only the fanciful gods attending to the judgment of the dead differ from that of Christendom, however, the main concepts of what man is and what happens to him at death are virtually the same.

1.    We see that the DEAD are STILL LIVING (Anything is possible in fables).

2.    The dead Egyptians had IMMORTAL SOULS.

3.    At the time of death, JUDGMENT took place immediately.

4.    Good people were ushered into a place of HAPPINESS at death.

5.    Bad people were: (a) Sentenced to ROAM AIMLESSLY, (b) were completely ANNIHILATED by being eaten by Ammut, or (c) they could be TORTURED as in fire.

And here is a startling thought. Not one of these five aspects of the Egyptian Underworld has Scriptural backing, yet virtually every one of them has a place in Christian doctrine!

 

 

Keeping the sheep dumb!

It is obvious that the Old Testament scriptures offer no substance and lend no credence to the “hell” of Christian theology. In fact, it has little to do with scripture and everything to do with the realms of carnality. Hitler once stated that “terrorism is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than the fear of sudden death.” He of course was a leader in a long line of leaders throughout history who used fear mongering for political gain. Such practices continue on today....and dare we say it – the church is not exempt from such a damning observation. Keeping the people in fear has always been used by the ruling elite to curtail their subjects to their own will – “keeping the sheep dumb”, “the cattle” or “the useless eaters” as some have called the ignorant masses of society.

Greek and Roman lawyers, philosophers, and priests, acknowledge their indebtedness to Egypt in this respect, and freely credit her with the ORIGINAL INVENTION OF THE FABLES AND TERRORS of the invisible world; though it must be allowed that they have improved somewhat upon the hints given, and shown a wonderful inventive faculty of their own. (Paraphrased from some of Thayer’s material). Such as is the style of the leadership of the Christian church throughout the centuries over their flocks!

So, how did they keep the dumb sheep in line? By filling their heads with visions of eternal torture in fire if they didn’t obey every whim of their religious and civil leaders. "How LONG, ye simple ones [Heb: ‘silly, seducible, foolish, naïve’] will ye love simplicity [Heb: ‘silliness, seductiveness, foolishness, naïvete’]? And the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?" (Prov. 1:22).

Is today’s enlightened mainstream Christian church exempt from such a serious indictment? Does even one in two billion Christians believe that this verse of Scripture is true?

"Now ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED UNTO THEM [For example: ‘The SHEPHERDS causing the sheep to go astray’ under the Old Covenant] for examples [Of how the Shepherds are ‘causing the sheep to go astray’ under the New Covenant] and they are written for OUR ADMONITION [We who are ‘Jews inwardly’—spiritual Jews (Rom. 2:29)], upon whom the ends of the ages are come" (I Cor. 10:11).

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means and My people LOVE TO HAVE IT SO…" (Jer. 5:31).

Did the Church learn these pagans heresies from God or from Egypt?’’

"WOE to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but NOT OF ME; and that cover with a covering [Heb: ‘devise a plan, weave a web’], but not of My spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down to EGYPT, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of EGYPT! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your CONFUSION…

That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceit. Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us" (Isa. 30:1-3 & 9-11).

The prayer of Israel, and today’s church, is to "cause the Holy One of Israel to CEASE FROM BEFORE US." Oh they don’t consciously think that that is what they are praying for, but that is, nonetheless, what they want. They want "smooth things," they want their prophets to prophesy "deceit." They don’t want the truth: "They can’t HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

·         It was from Satan and then from the Egyptians that the Church got the teaching of an immortal soul, not from God.

·         It was from the Egyptians that the Church got the teaching that there is judgment at death, not from Moses.

·         It was from the Egyptians that the church learned the pagan teaching of entering a paradise at death, not from the Law or the Prophets.

·         It was from the Egyptians that the church learned of a never-ending punishment at death, not from the Hebrew Scriptures.

Not one of aspect of the Egyptian Underworld has Scriptural backing, yet virtually every one of them has a place in Christian doctrine. Some will surely say: "Who would ever believe such absurd pagan nonsense?" Who? Millions and hundreds of millions and billions of Christians, that's who. Here are more proofs from history that the Christian hell was invented by the pagan Egyptians:

Saint Augustine from his writing, City of God:

"This seems to have been done on no other account, but as it was the business of princes, out of their wisdom and civil prudence, to DECEIVE THE PEOPLE in their religion; princes, under the name of religion, persuaded the people to believe those things true, which they themselves KNEW TO BE IDLE FABLES; by this means, for their own ease in government, tying them the more closely to civil society."

Do theologians believe that Saint Augustine lied? Or do they think he was miss-informed? Do they think he made this statement with absolutely nothing to back it up? For if Augustine's statement is true, then there is no Christian hell, for it is based on known deception on the part of the "princes" who conned the citizens into believing and fearing this monstrous lie. What do you think the two billion Christians will think and do when they find out that their leaders knew all along that the doctrine of Christian judgment is based on heathen lies straight out of Egypt?

The Jews borrowed from the Pagans the doctrine of transmigration [reincarnation], with all its accompaniments of future retribution, and ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. And they abundantly justify the statement of Enfield, that 'the purity of the divine doctrine was corrupted among the Jews in Egypt, who, under the disguise of allegory, admitted doctrines NEVER DREAMED OF BY THEIR LAWGIVER [God through Moses] and prophets; and adopted a mystical interpretation of the law, which converted its plain meaning into a thousand IDLE FANCIES" (Doctrine of Eternal Punishment by Dr. Thomas B. Thayer)

"It is plain enough, from their united testimony [that of the Greek writers, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and others] , that the whole matter of judgment after death, the rewards of a good life, and the punishments of a bad life, with all the formal solemnities of trial and condemnation, ORIGINATED AND WAS PERFECTED AMONG THE EGYPTIANS, according to the peculiar character of the mythology. From them IT WAS BORROWED BY THE GREEKS, who made such change and additions as fitted the system to the genius and circumstances of that people." (Thayer, Chapt. 3, p. 4).

"Since the multitude is ever fickle, full of lawless desires, irrational passions and violence, there is no other way to keep them in order but by the fear and terror of the invisible world; on which account out ancestors seem to me to have acted judiciously, when they CONTRIVED TO BRING INTO THE POPULAR BELIEF THESE NOTIONS OF THE GODS, AND OF THE INTERNAL REGIONS." (Polybius, B. vi 56).

*"The multitude are restrained from vice by the punishments the gods are said to inflict upon offenders, and by those terrors and threatenings which certain dreadful words and monstrous forms imprint upon their minds...For it is impossible to govern the crowd of women, and the common rabble, by philosophical reasoning, and lead them to piety, holiness and virtue ? but this must be done by SUPERSTITION, OR THE FEAR of the gods, by means of fables and wonders; for the thunder, the aegis, the trident, the torches (of the Furies), the dragons, etc., are ALL FABLES as is also ALL ANCIENT THEOLOGY. These things the legislators used as scarecrows to terrify the childish multitudes." (Strabo, Geography, B. I).

"Those things which make the internal regions terrible, the darkness, the prison, the river of flaming fire, the judgment seat, etc., are ALL A FABLE with which the poets amuse themselves and by them agitate us with vain terrors." Seneca--Roman stoic philosopher who lived at time of Christ.

These adopted heathen (now Christian) ideas pale in the light of one of the most profound and most ignored piece of Old Testament scripture. (one of the most prophetic passages in scripture concerning the messiah) What REALLY are Gods intentions for the masses of unbelieving humanity? A fiery Hell? A  chasm of eternal doom and torture?....What sayeth the scriptures?

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. (Psalm 22:27-29)

Can anyone explain this profound and glorious revelation regarding God’s plan for the nations?.....When indeed will the penny drop?

 

 

 

 

Egypt – the divine source of revelation

"Egypt has been called the 'Mother of Superstitions,' and her whole religious history shows the propriety of the appellation [her doctrines are provable superstitions]. Greeks and Romans, Lawgivers and Philosophers, acknowledge their indebtedness to her in this respect, and freely credit her with THE ORIGINAL INVENTION OF THE FABLES AND TERRORS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD....", (Thayer, Chapt. 3, p. 4).

So, during all the time that generations following generations of Jews were entertaining the ideas taught in the Old Testament passages regarding “Sheol,” the surrounding heathen believed in future, endless torment. The literature is full of it. It was believed in most countries that this a “Hell”, “Hades”, or invisible world, is divided into two very distinct and opposite regions, by a broad and impassable gulf; that the one is a seat of happiness, a paradise or elysium, and the other a seat of misery, a “Gehenna” or “Tartarus”; and that there is a supreme magistrate and an impartial tribunal belonging to the infernal shades, before which the ghosts must appear, and by which they are sentenced to the one or the other, according to the deeds done in the body.

Egypt is said to have been the inventress of this important and valuable part of the tradition; and undoubtedly it is to be found in the earliest records of Egyptian history. [It should be observed that “Gehenna” was not used before Christ, or until 150 A. D. to denote a place of future punishment.]  After all, why did God tell the Jews that burning their children alive in the fire to the false god Molech, (in the valley of Gehenna ) was so detestable to Him? God said that such a thing "never even entered His mind" (Jer. 32:35). How could God say such a thing to Israel, if He has plans to burn alive a good majority of His own creation in a spiritual and eternal “Gehenna” of His own making?

And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. (Jer 32:35)

Of course Moses knew well the religion of the Egyptians. He was raised as an Egyptian. Endless punishment for the wicked was a most common doctrine through all Egypt, and Moses was reared in the greatest centre of learning: "And Moses was learned in ALL THE WISDOM of the Egyptians…" (Acts 7:22). Yet, did Moses ever warn Israel of this pagan fate of the wicked taught by sinful Egypt? NO. Did Moses believe that this Egyptian myth was the Truth of God? NO.

"After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein you dwelled, shall ye not do…" (Lev. 18:3).

"Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Ezek. 20:7).

And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and ALL the wisdom of Egypt" (I Kings 4:30)

Solomon also never mentioned endless punishment to immortal souls upon death in any of his writings. If Solomon knew that the Egyptian doctrine of immortal souls being tortured in an eternity of hell fire were a true teaching from God, surely he would have mentioned it just once. Let’s read what God thinks of the "divine revelations" of truth in the nation whose very name is the personification of SIN. Here is God’s judgment on Egypt:

"Surely the princes of Zoan [ancient city in Egypt’s Delta] are FOOLS, the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become FOOLISH: how say you unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? Where are the wise men? And let them tell you now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed upon Egypt.

The princes of Zoan are become FOOLS, the princes of Noph [ancient name for Memphis] are DECEIVED; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay [the mainstay] of the tribes thereof.

The Lord has mingled a PERVERSE SPIRIT in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to ERR IN EVERY WORK THEREOF, as A DRUNKEN MAN STAGGERING IN HIS OWN VOMIT" (Isaiah 19:11-14).

Well, there you have it: "FOOLS, FOOLISH, FOOLS, DECEIVED, PERVERSE SPIRIT, ERR IN EVERY WORK, DRUNKEN MAN STAGGERING IN HIS OWN VOMIT." Does this sound like the kind of people and doctrines that we want to base the future destiny of the entire human race upon? Where did the now Christian doctrine of immortal souls, judgment at death, eternal punishment for the wicked, come from? From Egypt.

This is a matter of well-documented history, not speculation. The bedrock foundation of Christian doctrine comes out of Egypt by way of Greece, Rome, the Roman Church, and perverted bible translations into the homes of billions of unsuspecting Christians.  The most sickening of all heresies and religious teachings in the entire world is the Christian doctrine of ENDLESS TORMENT. And this unscriptural doctrine came from the "FOOLISH DECEIVED AND PERVERSE MEN [OF EGYPT] WHO ERR IN EVERYTHING AS DRUNKEN MEN STAGGERING IN THEIR OWN VOMIT"!

Nevertheless, let it be known from the Scriptures, that as vile, wicked, and disgraceful the ways of the Egyptians were, God will yet have mercy upon them. Just like wicked Jerusalem and even Sodom (Ezek. 16:55), Egypt will be SAVED. After God "smites and heals" Egypt [in JUDGMENT], and "sends them a Saviour" (Isa. 19:20 & 22), He will save them:

"Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, BLESSED BE EGYPT MY PEOPLE, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel [albeit Israel will be ‘the third, not the first of these three, Ver.24] mine inheritance" (Isa. 19:25). How pray tell, does "BLESSED be Egypt MY people" fit into the damnable Christian doctrine from Egypt who is, as we speak, burning in an eternal hellhole of fire? The church knows nothing of these matters?

 

 

Turned unto fables

Virtually all the themes of the afterlife and the great gods of Egypt, became the great gods of Greece and Rome. Professor Stuart, in a note to Greppo's Essay on Hieroglyphics, accepts the statement of Spineto, that the Amenti of the Egyptians originated the classic fables of Hades and Tartarus, Charon, Pluto, the judges of hell, the dog Cerberus, the Chimeras, Harpies, Gorgons, Furies, "and other such unnatural and horrible things with which the Greeks and Romans peopled their fantastic hell."

It is curious to note the exactness of the copy in many particulars.

The Egyptian Acherusia gives us the Greek Acheron, and perhaps Styx.

The Egyptian Tartar, significant of the lamentations of relatives over the dead refused burial on account of their wicked lives, furnishes the Greek Tartarus, where the wicked are punished.

The funeral boat across the lake, the ferryman, and the gold piece in the mouth of the dead, give rise to Charon, his boat, and fee, and the passage across the Styx into Hades.

The cemetery beyond the lake, surrounded by trees, called by the Egyptians Elisout or Elisaeus, is the original of the Greek Elysian Fields, the abode of the blessed.

The three infernal judges, Minos, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus, are borrowed from the Egyptian judges of the dead; and the heads of animals symbolizing these judges, mistaken by the Greeks, are changed into monster Gorgons, Harpies, Furies, &c.

Though the Greeks borrowed, they altered and improved. And, true to that individualism which was so marked a characteristic of that people, they are not satisfied with the Egyptian method of generalizing respecting the punishments of the wicked, but begin specifying particular sinners, and particular kinds of punishment adapted to particular offenses, hence the fables of Ixion, Tantalus, Tityrus, etc.

Everything must be sharp, pointed, and dramatic, to suit the lively genius of the Greek; and the terrors of the invisible world must be presented in a way to strike the imagination in the most powerful manner, and produce some direct result on the individual and on society. The whole thing is designed for effect, to influence the multitude, to restrain their passions, and to aid the magistrate and ruler in keeping them subject to authority.

It is the invention of priests and lawmakers, who take this as the easiest method of governing the people. They claim the "right divine" to govern; claim that their laws originate with the gods, as we have shown above; and that, therefore, the gods will visit on all offenders the terrors and tortures of the damned. Hence, through the joint cunning of priest and legislator, of church and state, mutually supporting each the other, we have all the stupendous frauds and falsehoods respecting the invisible world. And all of this is a matter of reams of documented history.

“Tartarus” is of particular interest as it pertains to the passage of scripture in II Peter – the lowest and worst part of “Hades” is called “Tartarus” in the Greek.

"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Gk: ‘tartaroo’]…" (II Peter. 2:4).

Tartaroo is the Greek “Tartarus.” But “Tartarus” is not from the Greek, it is EGYPTIAN. “Tartarus” comes from the Egyptian word "tartar," which had to do with the lamenting at Egyptian funerals when a loved one was forbidden burial across the lake. The paradise of the Egyptians was called Elisout or Elisaeus, or the Fields of Reeds.

When copied by the Greeks and Romans these areas of paradise were called the Elysian Fields. All of the major gods and goblins of the Egyptian netherworld were copied and reintroduced into Greek mythology. From there they were copied by the Romans, and then allowed to remain as part of the Roman Catholic Church, even though the theologians knew these practices and beliefs were pagan to the core. God has sternly warned:

"Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them [the pagan nations], after that they be destroyed from before you: and that you enquire NOT after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? EVEN SO WILL I DO LIKEWISE" (Deut. 12:30).

And just why does God say they should NOT do such a thing? Here’s why:

"Thou shall NOT do so unto the Lord your God: for [here comes the REAL reason from God’s Own mouth…] EVER ABOMINATION to the Lord, which He HATES, have they done unto their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they have BURNT IN THE FIRE TO THEIR GODS" (Deut. 12:31).

But SURELY the world of Christendom today would never, ever, ever have such an "ABOMINATION… which God HATES," in their arsenal of foundational, bedrock, fundamental doctrines, would they? Maybe it is time that we grow up and get our heads out of the sand. OF COURSE Christendom has these abominations which God hates in their most basic and necessary doctrines, but with one difference. They have taken this doctrine of the Canaanites burning their sons and daughters in fire to their gods to a level of total insanity.  What are we clearly told by Paul concerning the apostatized church of our day?

Paul said:

"…evil men and imposters seducers [Gk: ‘imposters’] shall wax [grow] worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (II Tim. 3:13).

These are those which Paul says:

"…shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Tim. 4:2-4).

"How did it come to pass that the fall of Adam, without remedy, should involve so many nations, with their INFANT CHILDREN, in eternal death [by which he means eternal torture in fire], but because of the will of God? It is a horrible decree, I confess!" (Calvin’s Institutes, Book III, c. 23, 7).

"’The condemnation of the CHILDREN dying without having been baptized," says the Catholic Bossuet, "is an article of firm faith of the church. They are guilty, since they die in the wrath of God, and in the powers of darkness.. Children of wrath by nature, objects of HATRED AND AVERSION, CAST DOWN TO HELL with the OTHER DAMNED, the remain there EVERLASTINGLY subject to the HORRIBLE VENGEANCE OF THE DEVIL.’ Thus the learned Denis Peteau has decided, as well as the most eminent Bellarmin, the Council of Lyons, the Council of Florence, and the Council of Trent." Thayer

Yes, we are now getting at the heart of the matter regarding the doctrines of the modern Christian church. One cannot turn away from the truth, unless they once had the truth. This is speaking of the Church. But how has today’s Church gotten worse and worse than burning their sons and daughter in fire? By teaching that their sons and daughters will not be burned up in fire, as the Canaanites did, but by teaching that their sons and daughters will BURN IN FIRE FOR EVER! Such beliefs were promulgated by Christendom’s most celebrated stalwarts and defenders and continue to be echoed today.

Most of the doctrines of the church today are from pagan sources. Herein lies the problem with the church of this age and its blasphemous teachings. All the worst religious teachings of pagan Rome are still in the Christian church. All the major Christian doctrines believed by Catholics and Protestants alike, are pagan to the core. All of them came from pagan Egypt, through pagan Greece, through pagan Rome, into the church of Rome, through the King James Bible and into the homes and lives of billions of unsuspecting Christians worldwide. Even the very word “church” itself is pagan!

We all know that the Christian holy days are no different. They are in fact, little more than these same pagan festivals with Christian orientations. Christmas for example is the pagan Roman Saturnalia or sometimes called “the festival of lights.” But even the Saturnalia predates the founding of Rome by centuries. This same festival can be traced to Babylon and yes, you guessed it, to Egypt and their winter celebration of lights. Likewise, Easter has suffered the same fate.

 

 

Conclusion

So what are we to conclude then in response to the Hebrew Scriptures, the teachings of Moses, the prophets and the law concerning the “Hell” of Christendom? The historical evidence alone proves outright that the pagan Greeko-Roman influence upon post apostolic Christianity has cast a long shadow indeed upon the so called “enlightened” modern day church. But more importantly, upon proper scriptural analysis, the “Hell” of the Old Testament is nowhere to be found! So did God leave something out of the holy scriptures....or did man in his “wisdom” slip something in? Consider the following.

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isa 26:9)

Pray do tell, where will all of the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness? Few learn it in their earthly lifetime that’s for sure considering that “few are called.” Where then will they learn righteousness? in Hell? in a torture chamber of the Christian “Hades” in the afterlife? Rest assured, ALL will one day learn righteousness but this will happen under the authority of Christ’s reign and by God who “judges the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31) in such a way that is not even in the same ball park as the churches blasphemous teaching suggests.

Where does that leave us then? If anything it probably creates more questions than answers – answers of course that MUST be founded upon scriptural truth! After all, if “Hell” is not an Old Testament doctrine, then surely it is a New Testament one? It is true that the New Testament makes reference to “Hell”(hades) and Gods judgements, but we must always remember one of the most profound revelations of all the scriptures. “HADES” IS the Greek equivalent of “Sheol.” Whatever “Hell”(Sheol) meant in the Old Testament – it means the same thing  “Hell”(Hades) in the New.

That only leaves us with the Greek (via Egyptian) “Tartarus” which we have touched on briefly and the final word in the New Testament erroneously rendered “Hell” called “Gehenna.”

Jesus did indeed speak of “Gehenna”(Hell)  and “fire” and the dangers thereof. But here is a most profound truth. Jesus only ever spoke of “Gehenna fire,” NEVER “hell fire” and reintroduces the Old Testament valley of Hinnom into His New Testament teaching. But His use of this Old Testament symbol of evil, idol worship, and slaughter has nothing to do with the definition of a Christian Hell.

Whatever Jesus meant when He spoke of GaHinnom/Gehenna fire, it certainly was not what the pagans of the past or the Christians of the last five centuries mean by the doctrine of "Hell." We will discuss exactly how Jesus used the notorious “valley of Hinnom” in His parabolic teachings on Judgment in a later study.

After all, by Jesus’ day, pagan ideas had become readily accepted and were taught even by the teachers of the law themselves. The apocryphal books of the intertestimental period had a tremendous impact on the Jews in the time of Christ. It is from these books, especially the book of Enoch, that many of the Jewish myths and fables concerning Hell, heaven, demons and angels and many other fables first became a part of Judaism and from there became a part of Christianity.

The myths and fables of these books came from Pagan influences (namely Zoroastrianism), during and after the Babylonian captivity of Israel . In fact, Zoroastrianism looks more like modern Christianity in many ways than ancient Judiasm does!

“the Jews came in contact with Greeks and with Greek philosophy, under one modification or another, It was around them and among them; for small bodies of that people were scattered through their own territories, as well as through the surrounding provinces. It insinuated itself very slowly at first; but stealing upon them from every quarter, and operating from age to age, it mingled at length in all their views, and by the year 150 before Christ, had wrought a visible change in their notions and habits of thought." Milman

It is insanity then, that Jesus who taught Israel to "LEARN NOT the way of the heathens," would then break his own commandments and teach His disciples and New Testament Church, the heathen doctrine of “Hell.” Neither had Moses taught Israel anything concerning the pagan Egyptian doctrine of their hell called Amenti.

Why indeed in the light of historical and scriptural truth, would we start now? It behoves us then to understand the usages and origins of the Greek words erroneously rendered “Hell” in the New Testament scriptures. Only in doing so can one be granted the faith and courage to trust in God’s word that he might give us “the love of the truth that you might be saved” (II Thes 2:10)

 

END