There are many popular misconceptions about Heaven and Hell. People are comforted to believe they will go to a better place of light and sweetness when they die, but all the people they believe to be bad will go to Hell, a place of fire and torment.
This is not what the scriptures teach!
Heaven - Heavens - Shamayim (Hebrew)
The realm where God dwells and operates, where Yeshua the Massiah is now seated in glory and where the angels minister. The heavens is also used of the visible sky by day and by night ( Genesis account ).
Paul spoke of his revelation experience; being caught up in the third heaven. This comes from the Jewish view of the order of things. (1) the Earth's atmosphere, (2) Outer Space and the stars, (3) the presence of God.
The references to Heaven in the New Testament are mostly to "the Kingdom of Heaven"
| Matthew 5 v19 | Entering the Kingdom of Heaven |
| Matthew 16 v19 | The keys to the Kingdom of Heaven |
| Matthew 19 v16 | Kingdom of God / Heaven - synonymous with eternal life, being saved |
There are other references
| Acts 1 v11 | Jesus taken up into Heaven |
| Revelation 11 v12 | the two witnesses taken up in a cloud |
| Revelation 21 v1 | a new Heaven |
Clearly, for the believer, the kingdom of heaven is entered by an act of will; of commitment and submission to the kingship of God (Father, Son and indwelling Holy Spirit) This decision to surrender the rule of our lives to God, which is usually referred to as repentance or getting saved is a voluntary entrance to the Kingdom of God. We become citizens of Heaven; but living outside Heaven itself for the time being. We are like ambassadors for the Kingdom of Heaven in an alien land. Only on retirement will we go to our home land.
The problem with Heaven is that those who refuse to accept the kingdom of heaven here on earth have no grounds to expect to find themselves included in Heaven when they die. God respects our free will and a decision not to accept His offer. Also Heaven (the presence of our holy God) is perfect and we can only enter without spoiling it if we have put off our sinful nature and taken on the nature of Jesus. See His parable . . .
Paradise
Paradise is a Persian word for pleasure gardens. In terms of prophecy, it is the state of bliss or delight which will exist when God restores us to fellowship with Himself. The Song of Songs is in these terms.
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In Luke 23 v 43 Jesus promises the penitent thief who was dying alongside Him that "this afternoon you will be with me in Paradise." In David Stearn's Complete Hebrew Bible this is rendered as "in Gan Eden" the Garden of Eden - restored as it was before mankind's fall.
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| In Revelation chapter 2 Paradise is where the Tree of
Life grows. In 2 Corinthians v12, Paradise is synonymous with the
Third Heaven; where God dwells.
In the Talmud (Jewish commentaries on scripture, Paradise is the home of the righteous, a place of blessedness to which the righteous go to await future vindication. |
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This concept of waiting brings us to the Old Testament concept of . . .
She'ol
The Hebrew word, She'ol is not used in the NIV but translations such as "the grave" or "the pit" are used. She'ol is the realm of the dead, the nether world where departed spirits live. (Job 3 v16 ponders the possibility of having been stillborn and going straight to Sheol (ponder the issue of abortion in this context) ) In Psalm 30 David cries "out of the depths" (She'ol, Hades, grave, pit) ith all the associations of silence, darkness, destruction, corruption and dust. The writer of the Proverbs (ch2 v18) speaks of the deceased being in She'ol, the chambers of death. The Greek word Hades is equivalent, and is personified in Revelation 6 v8 as the pale horse; having the ashen appearance of the dead. In Matthew 16 v18 Sheol / Hades, the Gates of Hades, the power of Death are all forces opposed to Jesus the Messiah.
She'ol appears in Old Testament writing, to be a neutral waiting place for the departed. With the coming of Jesus, announcing the Kingdom of God, the destination of departing souls appears to be strongly polarized. See Paradise (Luke 23 above) and Hell below.
Hell Gehenna in Greek and associated with the Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem where children had been sacrificed in fire to the heathen god Molech. Most references to Hell are in the New Testament. James 3 v6 speaks of the tongue set on fire by Hell, suggesting that Hell is the evil equivalent of Heaven - the realm in which evil operates (for the time being)
Hell is distinct from She'ol / Hades. In Luke 16 v23 it is the place to which the wicked go to await final judgment. The torment is evident from the plight of the rich man who found himself separate from Lazarus the beggar who, in life, had sat at his gate.
Luke 16 v19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
References to Hell are in terms of Fire (Rev 20), Agony (Rev 14 v11) and Separation (Matthew 8 v12).
Separation appears to be a key concept in thinking about Hell. Hell is the place which man goes by default if he refuses the offer of Heaven. Hell offers eternity to regret that decision to refuse the kingdom of God.
Remember, Hell is not just something for Christians to threaten non Christians with. Most Bible warnings about Hell are addressed to Christians. (the exceptions being addressed to Pharisees) Christians need to keep trusting in order to keep clear of Hell. "Once saved - always saved" is not found in the Bible.