THE UNDERWORLD
According to Clarence Larkin, Finis J. Dake and Others
I. The underworld has often been thought of as one compartment known as hell where the wicked
dead all go after death and sometimes referred to as the location of a group of fallen angels who have rebelled at some point in past history. However, the underworld cannot be thought
of as one compartment but several. Some teachers refer to five compartments or divisions that
exist beneath the surface of the earth on which we live. These compartments are:
(1) Tartarus,
(2) Shoel-Hades which consists of (a)Paradise and (b) Hell,
(3) the Abyss or bottomless pit, and
(4) the Lake of Fire.
II. TARTARUS
A. Define tartarus
5020 tartaróo – properly, send to Tartarus ("Tartaros"). The NT uses 5020 (tartaróo) for the netherworld – the place of punishment fit only for demons. Later, Tartaros came to represent eternal punishment for wicked people.
"5020 (tartaróo) is a Greek name for the under-world, especially the abode of the damned – hence to cast into hell" (A-S); to send into the subterranean abyss reserved for demons and the dead.
[In Greek mythology, Tartarus was a "place of punishment under the earth, to which, for example, the Titans were sent" (Souter).]
B. Prison of the fallen angels referred to as the "sons of God" in Gen 6 that sinned both before and after the flood.
C. Defining Scriptures:
1. II Peter 2:4 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Strong's 5020], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;"
2. Jude 6 "And the angels which kept not their first estate [original, creative position], but left their own habitation [Heavenly dwellings], he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
Jude 7 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
"like manner" seems to indicate that the sin of the angels and the sin of Sodom and Gomorrha were similar sexual sins.
D. No humans are or will ever be in tartarus.
III. SHOEL-HADES
A. Define
1. Shoel is OT Hebrew Define:
07585 Sh@’ owl {sheh-ole} grave 31, hell 31, pit 3
grave, hell, pit
Or shol {sheh-ole'}; from sha'al; Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates -- grave, hell, pit.
underworld (place to which people descend at death)
2. Hades is NT Greek Define:
Hell 10, grave 1
86 hádes (from 1 /A "not" and idein/eido, "see") – properly, the "unseen place," referring to the (invisible) realm in which all the dead reside, i.e. the present dwelling place of all the departed (deceased); Hades.
hadés: Hades, the abode of departed spirits
In Biblical Greek it is associated with Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the earth, the common receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually Hades is just the abode of the wicked.
3. Comment Dr. Watson from G.F. Taylor The Second Coming of Christ
Hebrew scholars tell us that there is a place beneath the surface of the earth called in the Hebrew Shoel. The Greek word for the same place is Hades. The word shoel occurs in the Hebrew OT 65 times, and in our English Bible is translated 31 times by the word "hell" and 31 times by the word "grave" and three times by the word "pit". The Greek word "hades," which means "the unseen world," occurs 11 times in the NT, and is mostly translated by the word "hell," and sometimes by the word "grave." But both words mean "the unseen world of the souls," whether good or bad. Now, remember that these two words do not in a single instance in the Bible signify the place where dead bodies are buried, and hence should never be translated "grave," as the word grave, or tomb or sepulcher, is a different word entirely; but "shoel" and "hades," are expressly for souls, proving that the body and soul have different receptacles after death.
B. Consist of two compartments divided by a "great gulf" Luke 16:19-31 Read
1. Before the resurrection of Christ all the righteous dead went down to one of these compartments, while the wicked dead went down to the other; the one into peace and happiness, the other into fear and torment.
2. The righteous dead could not enter Heaven
Man's fall had closed the doors of heaven. The ancient sacrifices provided for temporal salvation; but they could never provide of eternal salvation (Heb 10:1-4). Hence no man could enter heaven until Jesus made an atonement sufficient to settle
the sin question forever. G.F. Taylor pg 53
3. Divisions
a. Paradise (Abraham's Bosom)
Temporary confinement but comfort and happiness.
Luke 23: 43 "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
3857 parádeisos – an ancient Persian word meaning "enclosure, garden, park."
b. Hell
Torment, flames, no water, confined until final judgment.
C. Christ unlocked the door to Heaven
1. The devil had the power of death and of the underworld before Christ conquered
him.
Colossians 2:14 "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;"
v. 15 "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a open shew
of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
Hebrews 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;"
v. 15 "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage." [In hades --> Abraham's bosom --> paradise.]
Revelations 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [Strong's 86 "hades"] and of death.
Matthew 16:18 "And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
2. Jesus, being under the curse of the law, His soul after death had to descend into
shoel-hades, where he met the thief according to appointment. But, it had been
prophesied that Christ would not remain here. Ps 16:10 Acts 2:27 13:35
Acts 2:31
Psalms 16:10 "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Strong's 07585 shoel]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
Prophesied over 1000 years before Christ.
Define Corruption:
1312 diaphthorá – thorough corruption (decay). See 1311 (diaphtheiro).
destruction, corruption
Peter quoted this scripture on the day of Pentecost Acts 2:27 "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
Acts 2:31 " He seeing before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption."
Paul quoted it at Antioch Acts 13:35 "Wherefore he saith in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
3. The third day He arose from the grave, took His own blood, and was going to
Heaven to make atonement; but He stopped to comfort Mary Magdalene.
She tried to take hold on Him, but He said: "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." John 20:17 On the day of atonement, after the high priest had taken the blood, it meant instant death to any one who touched him before he entered the Most Holy Place and made atonement. Jesus was the High Priest, He had taken the blood, but not made the atonement.
Matthew 12:39 "But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:" v. 40 "For as Jonas was three day and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
4. Having obtained this eternal redemption, and thus unlocked the doors of Heaven, Christ went back to Hades and proclaimed to both the righteous and wicked dead, for the word "preached" does not mean that He evangelized them, but that He proclaimed His absolute victory over sin, Satan, death and hades. Then, by authority of His atonement, He opened the portals of Paradise, and brought the saints all up from the underworld. G.F. Taylor pg 54 Eph 4:7-10
Ephesians 4:8 "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity [Those in the portion of hades known as Abraham's bosom and also called paradise.] captive, and gave gifts unto men." v. 9 "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts [hades] of the earth?"
*Some believe Christ also visited Tartarus and preached to the angels confined here.
I Peter 3:19 "By which he went and preached [herald, to publish, to proclaim] unto the spirits in prison;"
Spiros Zodhiates The aim of the Apostle appears to have been to set forth the glorious issue of Chirst's sufferings, and thus what He proclaimed was the completion of His mediatorial work in His final victory over death and the grave. It was part of the triumph that awaited the Redeemer. In His resurrected body He would ascend from earth, enter the invisible world, and there, as a mighty Conqueror returning from His successful campaign, make the proclamation that His mission to earth was accomplished; that He had made and end of sin, brought in an everlasting righteousness, and had "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light." The scripture is full of the most glowing allusions to this triumphant ascension of our Lord, "leading captivity captive" as if death and hades were bound to His chariot wheels. Thus, the Apostle presents our Lord ascending in His resurrection body, comforting or heralding to all worlds tidings of His victory and completion of His work. So universal and far-sounding is this proclamation that it reaches "even to the spirits in prison," and as such I Peter 3:18-19 should certainly be rendered.
5. Paradise
a. Christ moved paradise to the third heaven.
Paul visited in vision or personal experience. II Corinthians 12:4
"How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
b. The paradise of the underworld is now empty unless as some teach, hell has enlarged (Isa. 5:14) to encompass this compartment of the underworld.
6. Since then when a Christian dies he goes direct to Heaven.
II Cor 5:1-8; Phil 1:21; Heb 12:22-23;
7. The wicked dead from Adam to the end of the Millennium are still confined in hades, where they will be until the judgment. Then at this time the wicked will be liberated out of this prison and will be given immortal bodies and be judged before being cast into the lake of fire forever. Rev. 20:11-15; 21:8
IV. THE BOTTOMLESS PIT OR ABYSS
A. It is the abode or prison of demons and certain angelic beings.
B. Define Abyss
12 abussos --. Strong's Concordance. abussos: boundless, bottomless
Of Orcus, a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest parts of the earth used as the common receptacle of the dead and especially the abode of demons
Define Pit
5421 phrear {freh’ – ar} pit 5, well 2
well, pit.
Of uncertain derivation; a hole in the ground (dug for obtaining or holding water or other purposes), i.e. A cistern or well; figuratively, an abyss (as a prison) -- well, pit.
C. There is a king over these devils Rev 9:11
"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."
a. Hebrew Abaddon Define
3 (ab-ad-done') Abaddon 1
(place of) destruction or ruin, Abaddon
b. Greek Apollyon Define
623. Apolluón . Strong's Concordance. Apolluón: "a destroyer," Apollyon,
the angel of the abyss.
D. Will be opened during tribulation period at the Fifth Trumpet Rev. 9
9:1 "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star [angel] fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit."
9:2 "And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air was darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
9:3 "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power."
1. Smoke arises
2. Sun is darkened
3. Locusts-like creatures with power of scorpions to hurt five months
E. Four angels are then released at the Sixth Trumpet
1. These angels are wicked being that they have been bound.
2. Why they are bound at the Euphrates River is not explained, though that area is the cradle of civilization (Gen 2:14) and the boundaries for Israel (Gen 15 :18).
3. These angels are believed to command an army of 200,000,000 devil horsemen
who will be loosed out of the bottomless pit after the plague after the devilish
locusts is finished.
4. Which have been bound for a special purpose --> to slay a third part of the pop. of men existing at that time. Being that the fourth seal, which previously released the pale horse and his rider Death with Hell following (Rev. 6:8), allowed for the killing of a fourth part of the mankind, this means that half of the world's pop.
will be dead by the time the sixth trumpet judgment is completed and before
the seventh trumpet ever sounds.
Revelations 6:8 "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."
One fourth -->100% - 25% = 75%
Revelations 9:15 "And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men."
One third of the now existing 75% means 75% - 25% = 50%
5. Satan shall be bound for 1000 years
Rev 20:1-3
v. 1 "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
v. 2 "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
v. 3 "And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season."
Define Key
2807 kleis key 6
1) a key
1a) since the keeper of the keys has the power to open and to shut
1b) metaph. In the NT to denote power and authority of various kinds
V. THE LAKE OF FIRE
A. This department is the Eternal Hell and perdition of wicked men, demons, fallen angels and all rebellious creatures who have ever rebelled against God. It is called the Gehenna of Fire and is always translated Hell.
B. Define Gehenna
1067 geenna
Hell 9, hell fire 3
Gehenna, a valley west and South of Jerusalem, also a symbolic name for the final place of punishment of the ungodly
Usage: Gehenna, and originally the name of a valley or cavity near Jerusalem, a place underneath the earth, a place of punishment for evil.
Hell is the place of the future punishment called “Gehenna” or “Gehena of fire”.
This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and
dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and
their future destruction.
C. Also referred to as the "second death." Rev 2:11; 20:6,13-14
Revelations 20:13 "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."
v. 14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
D. Currently empty.
E. Prepared of the devil and his angels. Matt 25:41-46
v. 41 "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
F. The beast and the false prophet will be cast into it. Rev 19:20
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
G. Satan will join after 1000 years. Revelations 20:10
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
