SHEOL & HADES
November 3, 2002
Two different names but the same meaning, one is Hebrew (Sheol) and the other is Greek (Hades). Hades NT:86, "the region of departed spirits of the lost" (but including the blessed dead in the period preceding the ascension of Christ). It has been thought by some that the word meant "the unseen" (from a, negative, and eido, "to see"), but this derivation is questionable; a more probable derivation is from hado, signifying "all receiving." It corresponds to "Sheol" in the OT. In the KJV of the OT and NT; it has been unhappily rendered grave, hell, and pit.
But what are they, we’ll look first at Sheol. In the first biblical appearance of the word Jacob said that he would "go down into the grave unto my son mourning" KJV
GENESIS 37:35
35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him.
Death and the grave, all men die, but do all men go to Sheol?
Job 24:19
19 "Drought and heat consume the snow waters,
So does Sheol those who have sinned.
PSLAMS 9:17
17 The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God.
Sinners go, how about the good people?
Job 14:13
13 "Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
HOSEA 13:14
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? 0 Death, where are your thorns? 0 Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
So now in the Old Testament both good and bad went to Sheol how about in the New Testament? Hades is used 10 times in the New Testament, where Sheol was used 67. Jesus used Hades 4 times.
MATTHEW 11:23
23 "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
MATTHEW 16:18
18 "1 also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
LUKE 10: 15
15 "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!
LUKE 16:23
23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
Jesus used Hades four times three were in a negative way only the last usage, if you read farther, is positive. Paul in Acts 2:27 & 31 use it to tell where Christ was for a short time after His death.
ACTS 2:31
31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.
Now we find that both are to be in Hades, the good and the bad. How can this be?
Luke 16:23 31
23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 "And he cried out and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’
25 "But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
26 "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’
27 "And he said, "Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house
28 for I have five brothers in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 "But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 "But he said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’
31 "But he said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead."’
There are two sides to Hades, one the side of punishment of the sinner and one for those that died in Christ. First the side of punishment.
2 PETER 2:4
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
Greek tartaroosas (NT:5020) "thrusting them down to Tartarus." The word here used occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, though it is common in the Classical writers. It is a verb formed from [Tartaros], Tartarus, which in Greek mythology was the lower part, or abyss of Hades, Hades, where the shades of the wicked were supposed to be imprisoned and tormented.
Now the word Hell is found 13 times in the New Testament, only once used as here the other 12 times it is used to describe a place of everlasting punishment. We’ll get to that later. Now the other side of Hades is shown in Luke 16:23 and 23:43.
LUKE 23:43
43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
Paradise or Heaven and Tartarus both in the same word Hades. Both a place of punishment and a place of blessedness, just as it says in Luke 16:23. Something is going to happen to Hades and we find that in Revelations.
Rev 20:13 14
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
*Now this where a new word comes into play, Gehenna, the lake of fire. The other 12 times Hell is used in the NT it refers to Gehenna. The valley of Hinnon. commonly translated "hell,," is made up of two Hebrew words, and signifies the valley of Hinnom. This was formerly a pleasant valley near to Jerusalem, on the south. A small brook or torrent usually ran through it and partly encompassed the city. This valley the idolatrous Israelites devoted formerly to the horrid worship of Moloch, 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chron 28:3. In that worship, the ancient Jewish writers inform us, the idol of Moloch was of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended as if to embrace anyone. When they offered children to him they heated the statue within by a great fire, and when it was burning hot they put the miserable child into his arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat; and, in order that the cries of the child might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums and other instruments about the idol. After the return of the Jews from captivity, this place was held in such disgust that, by the example of Josiah (2 Kings 23: 10), it was made the place where to throw all the dead carcasses and filth of the city, and was frequently the place of public executions. It became, therefore, extremely offensive; the sight was terrific; the air was polluted and pestilent; and to preserve it in any manner pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually burning there. The extreme loathsomeness of the place; the filth and putrefaction; the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and night, made it one of the most appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was acquainted. It was called the GEHENNA of fire, and was the image which our Savior often employed to denote the future punishment of the wicked. It denotes a degree of suffering higher than the punishment inflicted by the Hades.
Now just as Hades has two sides the return of the Lord has two sides also, one Gehenna and the other Heaven.
REVELATION 21:1 8
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. "
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that bums with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
PLAN OF SALVATION
ROMANS 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
ACTS 2:38
38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 10:9 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
MARK 16:16
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
MATTIFIEW 7:21
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
*(from Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
