Matthew 18:7-9 says, “7Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 8Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.” 

In the Bible, there are 5 Hebrew and Greek Words for hell:
1) sheol – Numbers 16:30, 33; Job 17:16 – chambers

2) hades – unseen world of departed spirits (Revelation 6:8 – spirit)
3) gehenna – valley of lamentation; place of child sacrfice to foreign gods; Greek word for hell (Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mk 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5)
4) tartaros – 2 Peter 2:4 = Greek word for hell – referring to the lowest level of hell
5) abyss – Revelation 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3 – bottomless pit; also translated as “deep”; Job 28:14; Psalms 21:20 can also be translated to sea*

The locations of these chambers are under the earth (Numbers 16:30), under the mountains (Jonah 2:6) , hell and fire burns underneath the mountains and under the waters (Job 26:5). One of those greek words for hell was “Gehenna”, which was an actual place in Jesus’ day of earthly ministry. In OT time, this place was called “The Valley of the Sons of Gehinnom” or, “Tophet.” The reason believed it was called Tophet was because of a Canaanite god that was worshipped there called Molech. Solomon actually gave his children up to this idol. It was a cow from the waist up, human from the waist down, standing upon a brass pedestal, and had a hole in its stomach with hands stretched out. They would put pitch and tar in its stomach, causing it to burn and heat up. Then, they’d beat the drums, and it was the sound of the drums that would drown out the cries of the children during the time of casting sons and daughters in the fire. (1 Kings 11:7-10) In this valley, there was a continual fire, garbage and dung. It was the “trash dump” of Jerusalem. In the gospels Jesus is describing a place with a high cliff where garbage is kept, a fire continually burns, smoke constantly ascends, a horrible odor is smelled, and it is very unpopular. This was the place where Judas Iscariot would hang himself. When he repented, he repented to himself, not to God. It was prophesied by Zechariah that “He weighed for my price 30 pieces of silver…And I took the 30 pieces of silver…and cast them to the potter.” After Judas took the money back to the priests, they refused it because it was “blood money” and could not take it back to the treasury. So, Judas comes into area of Gehenna and hangs himself on a tree. In the day of the prophet Jeremiah, this area was called the potter’s field and was located near the edge of the Valley of Gehinnom. The potter’s field was a place where when the pottery was useless, they would throw it from off the city wall in an area where potters were walking, and the pottery was trampled under the horses and people, which resulted in useless piles of clay. Judas hang himself here because in his eyes, what he had done was beyond repair! It was believed that the branch broke, and when it did, he fell headlong, and his bowels gushed out. They took the “blood money” and bought a field in the lower slopes of Jerusalem.

 

Gehenna is located on the west side, or edge, of Jerusalem. When you go down the mountains, you end up in the area of the Dead Sea. In the future coming of Christ, the LORD sets his feet on the Mt. of Olives, and it will open up the area between Gehenna and the Dead Sea. The healing water under the northern part of the Dead Sea will flow into the northern part, healing the sea, fulfilling Ezek 47:8-10. The southern part will never be healed, and the fire below the mountains of Edom and Moab will have openings so that people can look down and see the carcasses of men, fulfilling Isaiah 66:24 (Millennial reign of Christ).*  

 

In the future, the Dead Sea area will be the possible location of the Lake of Fire. It is the lowest spot on earth, an area where Christ was tempted of the devil in Matthew and Luke 4. It was located on the side of Israel around the Judean wilderness area. Geographic Strebo said, “The Dead Sea was formed by earthquakes and a boiling of fire and hot water, impregnated with bitumen and brimstone.” There was a lot of volcanic activity there at one time. Clouds of smoke are often observed to issue from the Dead Sea. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were located at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Destruction was by fire and brimstone coming from God in heaven. Historical references show that there are fires beneath the Dead Sea, and sulfur can be dug up around in this area. This area is known for subterranean fires. In the year 312, Arabaic tribesmen had rafts made of reefs and would come to the southern area of the Dead Sea, waiting for “bulls,” which were big pieces of black asphalt or tar. They would suddenly surface from the bottom of the Dead Sea. There would be three men per raft, waiting for these black pieces of asphalt to come to the surface of the water, and they would take axes, chop those chunks, and bring them back to shore where they would roll them in sand, put them in bags, and take them to Alexander, Egypt where they would sell them. It was used as like “jelly crude oil” to heat. There are earthquake fault lines that run side by side in the edge of the Dead Sea. Pits are already forming in the area of the Judean wilderness because there is something underneath the ground. Through history and the Bible, the Dead Sea has been an area of tar, sulfur (brimstone), subterranean fires, surfacing smoke from time to time with a sulfur smell. Isaiah 66:24 says, “And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for the worm shall not die.” The Dead Sea is mysterious and is linked to the future fire of the Millennial reign of Christ. Isaiah 34:9-10 says, “And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.” In this area, at Petra, there will be smoke, brimstone, burning pitch, and a fire that will never be stopped.* No sin is worth this place of eternal damnation and torment, but it is your choice to make. Choose wisely!

 

Just as there are levels of reward in heaven, there will be levels of punishment in hell. Mk 12:38-40 says, “And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.” Luke 12:48 says, “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” There is no good part to hell whatsoever, regardless of what level of punishment you receive, but if you choose to die in a backslidden condition or as a “fake” Christian, your punishment will be that much worse. Now that you have an idea what hell will be like, a place where the flames, heat and pressure never stops, where the cries and screams of multitudes never ends. It is so great in size that it enlarges its borders daily, and I firmly believe that it could be the reason why earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are so numerous. The lava from a volcano has to come somewhere, and that is from the heart of the earth. If you could get a glimpse of hell just one time, you would refuse to let that one drug, one look at pornography, one sin with that boy or girl keep you from the pearly gates of heaven. I would rather be Lazarus and the rich man. Don’t learn that lesson the hard way because once you end up in hell, there is no turning back. You have only one chance to live this life. You will never be able to come back in a reincarnated state and live it again. Live it right!

 

Resources:

*Dr. Perry Stone – “Journey to the Underworld”  DVD Message