I truly enjoyed reading the late Jack Kinsalla’s, “Weekend in Hell” article. It was awe- inspiring and so truthful, according to the Holy Scriptures! Many a Bible student forgets the Hebrew expression of Gehenna. This underscores the reason why to study the Bible according to the Hebrew Language.
Gehenna (Greek γέεννα), Gehinnom (Rabbinical Hebrew: גהנום/גהנם) and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom(Hebrew: גֵיא בֶן־הִנֹּם or גיא בן-הינום); one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.
Originally, it was believed that this was a location where children were sacrificed to Moloch, hence from the perspective of the authors of the Hebrew Bible, it was deemed to be cursed.
In Jewish, Christian and Islamic scripture, Gehenna is a destination of the wicked. This is different from the more neutral Sheol/Hades, the abode of the dead, though the King James Version of the Bible translates both with the Anglo-Saxon word Hell. [1]
If we continue to look at other words like “Sheol” we understand this word to mean the “grave.”
“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 inhell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”(Luke 16:22-23, emphasis added).
Taking these words as spoken in the Scriptures, we can now see that hell was two separate places, depending on whom you chose to follow: Jesus Christ or the other guy. Of course we must also understand, that was the case PRIOR to Jesus Christ dying on the cross at Calvary and descending into hell and retrieving those that belonged to HIM. Hell, before the Lord’s descent was Gehenna, and the holding place for the righteous was Paradise, hence the Lord’s statement to the crucified criminal: “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” This is absolutely fantastic!
It is now, heaven, where we who love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ go to when we pass on, from here on this earth. It is then conceivable that one moment we are in a hospital bed dying and the very next we are walking with our Lord. What could be more fantastic than that promise? This is the ultimate promise for us on each every day of our lives. Of course many live it only at Easter…sadly. This opens another verse that we readily accept as believers:
“Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Corinthians 5:5-9, emphasis added).
Consistently throughout the Word of God─the Bible─we are reminded to give the Lord thanks and blessings for the FACTS cited in the Scripture above. It is inconceivable to any who loves the Lord how life could ever be any other way. This alone, through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary makes these verses possible, not as simple words but more as a promise to each one of us.
For non-believers this is really difficult because they are not attuned to study the Scriptures. This is one reason why we as believers must be reading our Bibles and studying to be approved. We can explain these promises to those who are lost. It makes it clear to believers why we must read and hold dear the Word of God, because we must pass on the knowledge we have to those whodo not have it. Are you able to see how the Bible “moves and shakes?” It is unending and walks through the lives of all men.
The truths here are to be had by all, if we are willing to listen and then study. It requires “thinking” and then action. The Bible─the Word of God─then moves from YOU to ANOTHER! And the progression of these events continues, as the next believer is born-again to our Lord and Savior.
So the question is this: “Why would any believer NOT be willing to tell others about Jesus Christ? This line of thinking brings to life the gospel and the truth Jesus Christ gives us every day and then guides us into the life we are meant to live. That life we live is to show the Word of God to the lost and help them find that “narrow” road to heaven and our Lord and Savior. It is the Lord God Almighty that calls them and saves them and it is for you and me to point and show them where to find the Lord God Almighty.
I am aware that I should be explaining the Rapture and the Tribulation according to where this article is published, but how does one speak of these things without first bringing people to Christ in the first place? Eschatology and Apologetics (the end-times and defending the truth of Jesus Christ) are wrapped-up together. You can’t have one without the other. Apologetics (defending the truth of Jesus Christ) comes first and brings the lost to Jesus Christ and then eschatology, the end-times — show how we are spared the wrath of God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross on Calvary. Is me alone or do others see the “perfection” of the Word of God?
I am constantly amazed, to say the least. Reading the entire Word of God builds the picture of our Lord and Savior like no other! We see the actions of those before us and we then see the results of those actions, showing you and me how we should be living everyday.
We know that life is not like a map. The shortest distance between two places is a straight line. But life has never been a straight line. Therefore, we need a good map to follow. We are then able to move from place to place, good, bad, or indifferent by the use of this map because the roads are squiggly and full of turns. There are way too many side roads that will ultimately keep us from our final destination.
Roads that are pitted and difficult, roads that end-up with you and me falling into temptation. Roads that will lead us astray if we are not paying attention! What if we had a “guide,” someone that would save us from making wrong decisions, someone that knows all the roads and is with you and me? The entire trip would that be a lot easier, without a doubt! Life is that map and the land we must cross through. Jesus Christ is not only our Guide but our Savior as well. Someone we can trust for everything!
“As for me and my House, we will serve the Lord!”
Endnotes [1] Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna