(PART 6)

The majority of Christians believe, with all honesty, that there is a place of eternal fire and torment called Hell and that it is the ultimate fate of the wicked. They believe that Satan will rule Hell and torture his subjects for all eternity.

Actually, the idea of an eternal fiery Hell designed to torment sinners forever sprang up into the church during the Dark Ages from pagan teachings and has been taught and accepted as true for many centuries. Key to this belief is the idea that no one will ever die. Rather upon death, your mortal body dies and your spirit immediately travels to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. You either live forever in heaven with God, or you live forever in torment in Hell with Satan and his angels. At least that is what is taught and believed by most of the Christian world.

Many take the following passages for "proof" that Jesus descended into Hell to free the captives and preach after His death.

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) ~ Ephesians 4:8-10

When taken in context with the rest of the Bible we find that this is basically asking; If Jesus didn’t die and rest in the grave then what is the significance of the resurrection? The resurrection is victory over death, which is the penalty for sin. Jesus must first die to have victory over the grave. Jesus was quite literally dead and remained in the grave until His resurrection early on Sunday. He did nothing and went nowhere.

Now, before His death, the thief on the cross was told by Jesus that He would be with him that day in paradise. There appears to be another conflict, but let’s see what the Bible says.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. ~ Luke 23:43

From what this says, Jesus and the thief would ascend into paradise that day. That seems perfectly clear at first glance but then we find a counter statement from the book of John.

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. ~ John 20:17

So, we find that on Sunday, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene that he has not yet ascended to heaven. From Jesus’ own words, He could not possibly have went to heaven (paradise) with the thief on Friday afternoon. Jesus had spent an entire Sabbath at rest, asleep in the tomb, dead. He was then resurrected on Sunday morning by His Father in victory over death.

On a minor note but interesting one: The original Greek did not have punctuation. The punctuation has been supplied in the Old English translation and is not present in the original texts, if we just move one comma we find that the verse then fits the rest of the Bible.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee To day, shalt thou be with me in paradise. ~ Luke 23:43

It IS a promise that the thief will see paradise, but not a promise to be fulfilled that very day.

Historically it is found that the King James Version of the Bible was translated from the Catholic Bible after the Dark Ages, which was written in Latin. Many people believe that it comes from the original Hebrew and Greek but it does not.

Let's look at the Book of Revelation to see the ultimate fate of death.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. ~ Revelation 20:14, 15

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. ~ 1st Corinthians 15:26

Please notice that death and hell (the grave) are cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. They will no longer be. Death and the grave will be ended, never again to plague mankind. If all believers receive the gift of eternal life, and lead a life without sin, there can be no death or grave for them. The second death in the lake of fire is what the faith and hope in Jesus will keep you from.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. ~ Revelation 2:11

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. ~ Revelation 20:6

The second death is absolute and permanent destruction. For the wicked it will mean eternal obliteration. It is the total destruction of the second death that Jesus gained victory over for us, if we have faith. Just as Matthew 16:18 states, the gates of hell (the grave/death) shall not prevail against the faithful church, not even the second death.

Strong’s Dictionary defines the word hell as originating from the Hebrew word Sheol which is further translated as: "the place of no return", "without praise of God", "the place of exile", and is further defined as "the grave".

So what is Satan's fate if there will not be anywhere for him to rule over sinners?

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. ~ Revelation 20:10

Satan will receive the second death and be cast into the lake of fire and perish. With him will be the beast, false prophet, death and the grave. When read, this verse says they will be tormented forever. The Greek word translated as "forever" is "aion", which actually doesn’t always mean "forever" the way we understand it. From the Greek word "aion" is derived the word "eon". An "eon" is an unspecified, indefinite period of time, but it does have an end. "Eon" is used to describe long periods of time or ages, but an eon does end and another begin.

So Revelation 20:10 can be saying that the torment will be for an eon, an unspecified period of time that has an end. The lake of fire is where the concept of an eternal burning hell comes from. Yet the lake of fire is described as the second death as we saw in Revelation 20:14. It is a death from which no one will ever be resurrected. It is obliteration for eternity.

The proof of this is in the Book of Ezekiel where the fate of Satan is more clearly defined,

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee, thou shalt be a terror and never shalt thou be anymore. ~ Ezekiel 28:12-19

It is well known that this passage, though addressed to the King of Tyre, is actually speaking of Satan. Satan was originally a covering cherub (angel) in heaven. Covering cherubs are on either end of the ark of the testimony in the sanctuary (Exodus 25:19-21) and above the mercy seat which covers the Ten Commandments. Satan will first be displayed before all so that they may see the father of sin. He will then be consumed by fire and destroyed, brought to ashes on the earth as he is cast into the lake of fire as Rev 20:10 describes. He will no longer exist!

Satan's demise was is also prophesied by a head wound in Genesis:

And I will put enmity between thee (Satan) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (Jesus) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ~ Genesis 3:15

The following passage from the Bible also makes Satan's ultimate fate clear:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Jesus] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ~ Hebrews 2:14-15

The word "destroy" in the Greek is "katargeo", which is defined: to be rendered entirely idle, useless, abolish, cease, cumber, deliver, destroy, do away, become no more, bring to nought, put away, vanish.