Shadows, Souls And Where They Go Series

Gehenna

The Valley of “Hinnom”

Is gehenna simply a stronger definition of the word "hell"? No, it’s a different concept entirely! When we see how the word gehenna is used in contrast to hades, we will see two different ideas, and to label both as "hell" has been very misleading to English-speaking Bible readers down through the centuries!

We have heard that Gehenna is a valley just outside Jerusalem, which was used basically as the city dump. Trash was burned there, as were the bodies of dead criminals. Maggots and other scavengers thrived in the debris, which gave rise to the vivid picture of "worms that don’t die," as Yashua warned about in Mark chapter 9.

What else do we know about this "Valley of Hinnom" outside Jerusalem? It had a rich history before it became the city dump. In this valley, the ancient Canaanites worshiped Baal and the fire-god Molech by sacrificing their children in a fire that burned continuously. Ahaz and Manasseh, two of the kings of Judah, revived this horrible practice when Baalism became the state religion of Judah (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6). King Josiah finally put an end to this worship. He defiled the valley in order to make it unfit even for pagan worship (2 Kings 23:10-14). By the time of the Messiah, it had become nothing more than a garbage dump. As for its future, Jeremiah has prophecied that God will send so much destruction on Jerusalem that this valley would be known as the "Valley of Slaughter" (Jeremiah 7:31-34; 19:2-6).

The word gehenna occurs 12 times in the Greek scriptures, each time translated in KJV as "hell": Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5. The word also occurs once in the epistle of James (3:6).

It is not used in this passage at all. Only the word for Hades and Tartaruo which we’ll talk about in a minute.

Shadows, Souls, and Where They Go

So what do we learn from the story Jesus told. Four lessons are clear.

Hades: Lesson One

There is a reward in the coming life that is based on our behavior in the present life

Notice that the contrast is between a poor man and a rich man. This alone should give us pause when we think about the value of material wealth. Riches do not mean we have found favor with God.

In fact, over and over in scripture we are warned about the seductive nature of wealth. Jesus taught about money and its dangers more than any other subject. More than prayer and more than love – in fact, you may remember that Jesus said that it’s easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into heaven.

The critical key is that there is a relationship between this life and the next. This much is very clear in this story.

Hades: Lesson Two

The grave (hades) has two separate regions

A place of comfort

Lazarus was comforted in the “the arms of Abraham”. He was broken and worthless in this life. His existence was fragile and tenuous – but in the grave he was tended to and held close.

Can you image a tenderer image than being held close. Recently, my grandson (age three) jumped off of a yellow parking bumper – all of 5 inches off the ground – and tripped. His face bounced off the pavement and he got a huge fat lip out of his adventure. As he erupted into tears his mother picked him up and held him close as she comforted him and the pain slowly ebbed away.