Hell Part II

Okay, so hell is real in all that, but what is it like?  For the sake of time and simplicity, I will combine hell and the Lake of fire in this post, they are different as in different places, but they are both very similar in what they are like.

In the last study we learned that hell is a place of torment, in the presence of God with fire.  It sounds bad, but let me illustrate just what it might be like.  You are dropped into the middle of a bonfire...  You cannot escape... You can feel all the pain of the flame, but...  You cannot die...  Ever...  You are thirsty... There is no water...  The pain continues you wish to die but you cannot...  All the while in the back ground others in the fire are screaming and gnashing their teeth...  You are too...  Just think of this all for a minute, imagine the above scenario for two minutes, what about ten?  How about sixty?  One day?  A year?  How about eternity?

We have all been burned sometime in our lives. Imagine the pain of the burn going on forever, it never diminishes, and you never die.  On top of that you are desperately thirsty.  You cannot quench your thirst at all, there is no water, think about what it is like when you are really thirsty, then start adding time, and heat, imagine the pain and desperation.  You cannot escape.  On top of all this you have all the teeth gnashing, and the moans screams and groans, along with the horrible suffocating smell of sulfur.  Folks, words fail to tell the half of it, you have to really feel it to know. 

Say have you ever been burned really bad?  I have, it was a steam burn to the face, and it hurt terribly for days, after the source of heat was removed.  I can't even imagine if it was a dry burn how it would have hurt, and folks, it wont be wet in  hell, it will be fire, not steam.  Have you ever tended a large brush fire?  How unbearable the heat can be, even when you are at a distance, just think of being actually in the fire, what would it be like then?  Hell is like that but worse.  In hell there is no second chances, you are there to stay, no escape, no help, you are stuck there, burning, burning forever.  The pain is worse than anything that can be described, and it goes on forever.  Stick you finger in the flame of a candle and hold it there till you cannot bare it, multiply that pain by a hundred all over your body, make escape impossible, death impossible, water no where to be found, throw in the stifling sulfur, the gnashing, and eternity, then my friends you have hell. 

Here is some good news to end on, nobody has to go there, no one, period.  I'll tell you about that next post.

God Bless,
                 Flame of Jah

Who wrote Ecclesiastes?

In the back of my Bible it says that its author is unknown, except that he is a son of David and a King over Israel.  That is absolutely wrong.

In chapter 1 verse 16 it says:  I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

That verse tells us that the author was wiser than all before him.  What son of David was wiser than all before him?

Now look at chapter 2 verse 1-7 especially 7:  I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

He was richer than all that were before him.  Now what son of David was richer and wiser than Solomon?  From this you see, Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes.   There was no son of David as great as him.

Thanks for reading.
           
                                  In Christ,
                                                     Flame of Jah

Hell part I

Upon further study, and per a question asked by someone here, I have found it needful to change the format of this series.  In part one I will show that Hell is real, and will cover what it is.  Part two I will cover Death, Part three, The Lake of Fire, Part four, How not to end up in any of those places.  So, without further ado, let us jump right into our discussion, "Is Hell real, and if so, what is it?"

Is Hell real?  The short answer is, yes, it is real, very real.  The Bible speaks of hell directly many times, such as Deuteronomy 32:22 "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Or, Proverbs 7:27 "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."  Or further, Luke 16:23 "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazerus in his bosom..." Revelation 20:13-14 also, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." So  there is a place called "Hell".

What is this place called Hell?  Hell is a place of torment for all those that have sinned.  It has fire: Matthew 5:22, Matthew 13:50, Mark 9:27, Luke 16:23-24, and James also mentions the tongue being set on fire of hell.  It is a pit, Ezekiel 26:20, Revelation 9:1.  It is down, Numbers 16:30 and 33, Psalm 30:3, Isaiah 14:15.  It is dark: Matthew 8:12. Last but not least there is weeping and gnashing of teeth in it, Matthew 8:12, 13:50, and 22:13.

Is Hell eternal separation from God?  In light of Scripture no.  In Psalms it speaks of hell saying, "if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there," Psalm 139:8, that Psalm speaks of God's omnipresence, He is everywhere all the time, and no where is separation from Him.  Even the lake of fire after the final judgment is in the presence of the Lord, Revelation 14:10-11.  So no, hell is not separation from God.  If that was all it is, it would not be a punishment for some people for they hate God and don't want to be in His presence anyway.

So there you have it, hell is real, hell has fire, and hell is not separation from God.  Be sure to check back for part two, What is hell like?

God Bless

A series on Hell....

It seems that there is much confusion today among believers and non-believers alike as to the true nature of Hell.  In the next series of posts I will use scripture to establish, that, Hell is, and what it is.  Why is this important?  First and foremost, I believe that it is due to a misunderstanding of what Hell is that leads so many believers into apathy.  If you really understood how terrible that place is, and truly believed that it was real, you'd feel a much greater burden to tell people that they are in sin and going there, and that they must believe on Jesus Christ to be saved from it.  Hell is very real, and it is very dreadful, when I think about it, I can only but thank God for His gift to us, so that we don't have to go there.  It is very interesting that the Church has made a shift to preaching on getting saved so that you can go to heaven.  That is not why Christ died, He died to pay for our sin, so, if we believe on Him, we don't have to pay the just penalty for our sins, in Hell.  Hell is where all non-believers go, and if Jesus had not paid the penalty for our sins, we'd be there too.  Jesus did not die so we could go to heaven, he died out of mercy to give us a way to not go to hell. Next post up, I'll prove that hell is real, and that it is a real place of torment.  After that I'll try to illistrate in a post what would be like to be in Hell.  Remember folks, eternity is a long time, a very long time, please don't forget that...

May the Lord Bless you as you study His word, and serve Him from day to day,

Flame of Jah