Hell

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Revelation 1: 18)

There are three Greek words for "Hell" in the New Testament and one word in the Hebrew Old Testament for it. The three Greek words are Hades, Gehenna (Hebrew originally), and Tartarus. The Hebrew word is "Sheol."

"Hades (Greek) - It is identical to Sheol (Hebrew). It is the non-permanent place or temporary address of the disembodied souls of dead. It is not the grave or sepulcher, nor is it the eternal location of the souls of the dead. Hades is translated "Hell" 10 times and "grave" once by KJV. It is the place for the soul, not the body.

Gehenna (Greek, but originally from a Hebrew name) - translated "Hell" all 12 times in KJV It is the permanent place for destruction of the "... soul and body ..." (Matthew 10:28). It is a place of "... fire that never shall be quenched" (Mark 9:45). In most of the references, it is clear from the context that those who enter Gehenna, do so in their bodies, not merely as bodiless souls. For this to happen, it must occur after the resurrection of the damned at the great white throne of judgment. Therefore, Gehenna is the Lake of Fire described in Revelation 19 and 20. It is presently uninhabited, but the Beast and the False Prophet will be cast into it at the end of the tribulation (Revelation 19:20). One thousand years later, Satan will be cast into it (Rev 20:10) and will be followed shortly by the lost people of all previous time periods (Revelation 20:15). They will all enter Gehenna together, in there resurrected bodies, where they will remain in torment for all eternity.

Sheol (Hebrew) and Hades (Greek) are the temporary place of torment for the souls of the wicked dead. Prior to Christ's resurrection, saints were kept and comforted in the now vacant half of Hades, known as Abraham's Bosom. Gehenna (Greek, but from a Hebrew name) is the Lake of Fire for the permanent place of torment of the souls of the wicked dead in their resurrected bodies. Hell is a rather general and inadequate term that is often used to refer to either Gehenna or the torment side of Hades, both by those who know the basic difference between these two specific places and by those who do not."

http://www.matthewmcgee.org/helwords.html

Hades may be called a "jail" while Gehenna may be called a "prison," for one is a temporary holding place strictly for the soul, while the other, Gehenna or the Lake of Fire, is the permanent holding place for both soul and body.

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna)." (Matthew 10: 28 KJV)

Notice how Jesus includes the body as also being destroyed in Gehenna. In Hades it is the soul that is in torment.

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell (Hades) he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." (Luke 16: 22, 23)

Notice how the body of the rich man, like Lazarus, was what "died," and was "buried," while the soul "departed" the body and removed to Hades. The "torments" of the Hades Jail are strictly for the soul (mind or consciousness) of the wicked dead. But, there were also "comforts" in Hades as well as "torments."

Hades was a divided place. It had sections to it. It had higher and lower levels. It also had two "sides," one side being called by Jesus "Abraham's bosom," and the other, on the opposite side of the great chasm, being a place of torments in fire.

"Tartarus" was the place that the apostles designated as the place into which the "angels that sinned" were cast and are now chained and "reserved," or "kept under guard." They too are in the Hadean Jail, waiting their sentencing, but are in it lowest regions, the place of the greatest suffering. (See II Peter 2: 4 & Jude 6) "Tartarus," to the Greeks, was the lowest abyss in Hades, the basest dungeon.

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matthew 16: 18)

Hades is here viewed as a gated place. The "gate of Hades" that was a name for a place in the ancient world, in the area of Phillipi, and was depicted with an iron door, the kind one might find in a "jail" or "prison." It marked the "entrance" to the "underworld" of "spirits" or "souls."

Just as Heaven has "apartments" or "cells" or individual rooms ("mansions" KJV) for its occupants (John 14: 2), so too does the Hadean Jail have its rooms or cells.

"Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Hades), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." (Acts 2: 27)

This verse was uttered by king David in the Psalms but was cited in the New Testament. David went to "Hell" ("Sheol" or "Hades") in soul or spirit when he died, just as every Old Testament person. If a person died righteous, then he went to that part of Sheol or Hades that was "reserved" for them, to "Abraham's bosom," to the place of rest and comfort, and of patient waiting, but if he died unforgiven, or as a wicked man, he went to that part "reserved" for such, to the place of fire, chains, and torments of soul.

Jesus too descended in spirit or soul, when he died upon the cross, into Hades. When entering the underworld, the made announcement to the inhabitants.

To the righteous dead, he announced his career, that he had died for them as their sacrifice for sin, and that he was now ready to lead their spirits into Heaven itself. Thus, when he ascended from Hades he "led captivity captive (or "away")." (See Ephesians 4: 8 KJV)

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." (I Peter 3: 18-20)

The message Jesus preached (or 'proclaimed' or 'announced'), though "good news" for the righteous, was clearly not good news to the demons or wicked inhabitants of Hades!

In this proclamation to the inhabitants of Hades, there was in one sense the same message to them all, righteous and unrighteous, and in another sense, there was a difference in the message and the effects of it on the two groups.

Certainly he entered the Hadean world to announce his lordship over all worlds, including Hades. He came to announce his death and victory over sin and Satan and his lordship and possession of the Hadean world.

To the criminals, awaiting their final trial and sentencing, this was a message that struck horror into them, for it signaled their utter doom and soon coming trial.

To the righteous souls, like Abraham, David, and Lazarus, yea, even the thief on the cross, this entrance of Christ in spirit into the Hadean world was a welcomed sight and message. Out of this world Christ removed the righteous and led them through the pearly gates into Heaven itself. Not only this, but, after Christ was resurrected, "many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose and went into the holy city and appeared unto many." (Matthew 27: 52 KJV)

Christ said to the thief on the cross - "Today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23: 43) Jesus was not resurrected in body till three days later. He, like the thief, descended, in spirit or soul, into Hades, to "Abraham's bosom," and then led these "captives" into "Paradise," or the "third heaven." (II Corinthians 12: 4)

"Where, O death (Hades), is your victory? Where, O death (Hades), is your sting?" The sting of death (Hades) is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 15: 55, 56 KJV)

Hades is no longer occupied by the righteous, but only the unrighteous. Christ emptied the Hadean world of its godly occupants. All Christians who now die go to Heaven to be with Christ. Only Old Testament saints who died before Christ went to Hades.

"The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death." (Revelation 20: 13, 14)

Notice that Hades ultimately is done away with after the great Day of Judgment, after the resurrection of the wicked, when all the jailed and imprisoned criminals of the Hadean jail are placed into Gehenna, the Lake of Fire, their permament "prison" for all eternity.

When the text says "death (grave) and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them," this shows that the proper occupants of the "grave" are the bodies of men, while the proper occupants of Hades are the spirits or souls of men. In the day of the "second resurrection," or "resurrection of the unjust," men will stand before God embodied, their souls and bodies being reunited.

Friend, is Heaven or Hell the place of your destiny?