As we have already seen, there are three different Greek words that are translated as “hell” in the King James Version of the New Testament. The first of these Greek words is “Hades.”  We have seen that Hades is a very real place where the souls of the dead are held awaiting final judgment. Hades is a temporary place of torment for the unrighteous, and a temporary place of comfort for the righteous. At the judgment seat, Hades is emptied out and then it is thrown into the lake of fire. Its usefulness has been completed.

The next word translated as “hell” is “Gehenna.” In Mathew 10:28 Jesus used the term Gehenna to refer to the place where God is able to destroy both the body and soul. He said, “Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (WEB).

Notice that here Jesus does not talk about the soul being in torment as in Hades. Here Jesus talks about the soul being destroyed, along with the body. In Hades the soul of the unrighteous is tormented after the natural physical body has died. In Gehenna, the soul and the resurrected spiritual body are destroyed. Jesus tells us in John 5:29, all “will come forth; those who did good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” 1 Corinthians 15:44 says, “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” The body that is destroyed in Gehenna is the spiritual body of the resurrection.

Jesus uses the word Gehenna again in Mark 9:43-48 where He says, “It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire, ‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched’” (WEB). He is quoting from Isaiah 66:24 where the Lord says, “As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all mankind” (WEB).

Here Isaiah describes a scene on the new earth, just outside of the New Jerusalem. As the people leave the New Jerusalem, after worshipping the Lord, they pass by this lake of fire and see the dead bodies of the people who rebelled against the Lord. This lake of fire is the place of eternal fire, the place of eternal punishment, spoken of in Matthew 25 and in Revelation 20, referred to by Jesus in Mark 9 as Gehenna.

In Matthew 25:41-45 Jesus says, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Again, this should give us pause to consider how we are living our lives in relation to the poor and needy around us.

Notice that the eternal fire was prepared for the devil and the angels that followed him. In fact, in Revelation 20:10 we read that the devil was “thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” This Gehenna, the lake of fire, the place of eternal fire, was not created for people, but for the devil and his angels. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God does not want any people to perish, “but for all to come to repentance.”

However, we see in Revelation 20 that anyone whose name is not found written in the Lamb’s book of life is cast into this lake of fire, Gehenna, the place of eternal punishment. God’s desire is that none would perish. However, when a person chooses to rebel against God, and refuses to repent, and refuses to listen to the voice of the Lord and obey Him, eventually the righteous God must judge them according to their actions.

This lake of fire, Gehenna, is called the second death because in the lake of fire the bodies and souls of these people that are cast into it are destroyed. This is why Isaiah did not describe the people in the lake of fire as alive and in torment. He only saw the dead spiritual bodies of those that had been resurrected, the corpses, of the unrighteous people that had rebelled against the Lord.

I have not found any place in Scripture that says people will be tormented for eternity. However, the Scriptures are very clear that the souls of the unrighteous will be tormented in Hades until Hades is emptied at the coming judgment. The people that are cast into the lake of fire are destroyed, body and soul, and only their dead carcasses, only their corpses, remain as an eternal reminder of God’s righteous judgment.

There is a passage in Revelation 14:9-11 that often causes confusion on this point. This passage says, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand . . . he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

As we saw in Isaiah 66, the lake of fire is “away from” the presence of the Lord. However, in the passage above we see that those that receive the mark of the beast are tormented “in” the presence of the Lord and “in” the presence of the holy angels. Psalm 139:8 says, “If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.” The Lord is not only in heaven, He is also there in Hades or Sheol. Therefore, it appears that this torment takes place in Hades in the presence of the Lord and possibly at the judgment seat.

Hebrews 9:27 informs us that, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Hebrews 10:27 says there is a “terrifying expectation of judgment.” Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” It sounds like the unrighteous will experience another time of torment “in” the presence of the Lord at the coming judgment. However, there is no indication of any person being tormented forever “away from” the Lord in Gehenna, the lake of fire.

We should also notice that this passage says that the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. It does not say that they are tormented forever and ever. Also note that the word translated forever and ever is the Greek word “aion.” This is not the same as the Greek word translated eternal, “aionios.” Aion means eon or ages, a long period of time. As we have seen, Hades is not emptied for the final judgment until after the 1,000 year reign of Christ. It appears, therefore, that those who received the mark of the beast will spend at least 1,000 years in the torment of Hades. That is a long period of time with no rest.

The final word translated as hell is the Greek word “Tartarus.” 2 Peter 2:4 says, “God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (WEB). Tartarus means an abyss. It is a place that God created to hold these rebellious angels until the final judgment.

Let’s summarize the meaning of the three Greek words translated as “hell” in the New Testament. Hades is the temporary holding place of the souls of people whose natural physical bodies have died. It has an upper section, paradise, where the souls of the righteous are comforted. It also has a lower section where the souls of the unrighteous are tormented. It is not possible to cross over from one section to the other. When you die your fate is sealed, it cannot be changed.

Gehenna is the final place of eternal punishment that was prepared by God for Satan and the evil spirits that followed him. It is a lake of eternal fire into which the people whose names are not found in the book of life at the judgment seat are cast. Both the resurrected spiritual bodies and the souls of these people are destroyed in this lake of fire. This lake of fire remains on the new earth outside the New Jerusalem, away from the presence of the Lord as an eternal remembrance of God’s righteous judgment.

The last word translated as “hell” is Tartarus. It is the abyss where some of the angels that rebelled with Satan are held awaiting their final judgment.

In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will answer them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from me, you lawbreakers.’”

Many people will be shocked at the judgment when they learn that everything done out of self-effort and religious duty will be considered lawlessness. Only obedience that issues from a living, loving relationship with Jesus will be of any value. Only those that believe God’s promise and live by faith in Jesus will be considered righteous.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.