HEAVEN AND HELL
CHRISTIANITY OASIS HAS PROVIDED YOU WITH THIS HEAVEN AND HELL STUDY. THIS STUDY ON HEAVEN AND HELL IS BUT ONE OF MANY BIBLE STUDY PROGRAMS WE HAVE FOR YOU ... HEAVEN AND HELL HAVE BEEN ON THE MINDS OF HUMANS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THIS HEAVEN AND HELL STUDY WILL BRING LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS OF NOT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE AS CHRISTIANS DIE. LET US SEEK AND FIND THE TRUTH OF HEAVEN AND HELL TOGETHER, SHALL WE?

May I suggest that before we continue with this study, that you visit our Fear of Death study and our Abraham’s Bosom study, if you have not already checked out these studies as to understand what happens to your physical body, your spirit, and your soul, once the ol’ ticker stops beating . . . before the Savior returns.

This study is an extension of those two studies and it will give you a little better perspective on where your soul may go when the Day of the Lord arrives, depending upon your choices in life.

Do you know what a “realm” is? A realm is a spiritual place or experience. You can’t reach out and grasp it with your hand, though while you're there, you may believe it’s tangible.

All realms are not spiritual in a godly sense. Let me give you some examples of different realms.

        Others can be in the same realm as you at the same time.

As you can see, there are all kinds of realms. They’re not make believe just because they’re not physical places. They really do exist. They’re not pretend, just because by faith you believe in them, yet there is no physical evidence of where exactly they are.

Now let’s talk about HEAVEN AND HELL. One of these realms is where your soul will ultimately end up.

There is one question you may ask yourself concerning life and the afterlife.

Which one is which?

In our logical carnal minds, we tend to think that life on earth is the real thing, and the spiritual life is … well … hard to put your finger on. What if, in fact, it turns out to be the other way around. Actually, the true Christian belief is based on that very hope and belief. This earthly, fleshly life is the temporary one. How many times have you boasted; It’s just a test - Lay up your treasures in heaven - You can’t take it with you, and things of this nature?

We spout brave words like this when we want to impress our own selves, our friends, our relatives and even God, but do we really live those beliefs? If we want our destination realm to be Heaven . . . We should.

One more interesting thing about the word realm before we go on. In the Bible, different authors use this word in place of the word kingdom.

Sooooo, what can we expect once we get to the realm (kingdom) of Heaven?

Well, think of the most blissful place you can imagine and Isaiah and Paul both say . . . Not even close!

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard,

nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen,

O God, beside thee,

what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man,

the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.

The inspiration for these messages was God and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus gives us several parables of what it’s “like” in the realm of Heaven, but you must keep in mind, He had to use human words for us and we can’t fully understand a spiritual realm, explained in human words. It’s kind of like explaining what love is to someone who’s never been in love. Heaven is more than a place that is here or there. Like being in love, it envelops your whole being, and as anyone who has TRULY been IN LOVE knows . . . It's more than words can say, and that’s why we’re taught that we can’t even imagine what Heaven is like.

As you read the words of Jesus, you’ll begin to understand that this Kingdom of Heaven is not so much a specific place but rather . . . A state of mind and heart.

You can find the Lord’s similitudes of what Heaven is like in the Gospel according to Matthew 13:

13:3 The parable of the sower.

13:24 The parable of the field and the tares.

13:31 The parable of the mustard seed.

13:33 The parable of the leaven.

13:44 The parable of the treasure in the field.

13:45 The parable of the merchantman.

13:47 The parable of the net, cast into the sea.

20:1 The parable of the workers.

22:2 The parable of the wedding feast.

You can also read these in the Gospel of Jesus Christ study in the section called Kingdom of Heaven.

In the Gospel according to John 14:2-4, Jesus tells us this about Heaven:

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again (on the Day of the Lord), and receive (invite, welcome, enjoin) you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go (Heaven) ye know (understand), and the way (following in His footsteps) ye know (understand).

Now that you have a better idea of the kingdom (realm) of Heaven, let’s look at the opposite realm called Hell, where the devil tries to lead souls to, because of his immense jealousy of God. This quest of the devil’s is called spiritual warfare.

Just as you can’t imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him, one also can’t imagine the unending torment that awaits in hell for the unbeliever’s soul. Don’t be deceived that once a soul goes to hell, that there’s an end to the pain and agony that awaits there. Death is also a realm and in the end, death is cast into the lake of fire along with hell, and “lives” forever there in never ending torture. Don’t misinterpret the realm of death to be the “end” of anything, except your physical, fleshly life on earth. A soul still lives on in hell and continues to experience it’s pain forever.

To make things a little easier to understand, it’s important to know that hell and the bottomless pit are the same place, just as Paradise and Abraham’s Bosom are one and the same.

At the beginning of this study, we learned that a soul may take one of two paths when the human body dies. This chart shows the path of these souls.

THE BELIEVER’S SOUL VS. THE UNBELIEVER’S SOUL

Have you ever been in so much pain that you’ve gnashed your teeth? Jesus describes hell this way, several times.

Matthew 8:12

Matthew 13:42

Matthew 13:50

Matthew 22:13

Matthew 24:51

Matthew 25:30

In the book of Proverbs, Solomon’s references to hell are preventive only. In other words, they are admonitions.

Proverbs 15:24

The way of life is above to the wise,

that he may depart from hell beneath.

This doesn’t mean that a soul may depart from hell whenever it wants, but rather, Solomon is saying that you can avoid hell by being wise.

Proverbs 23:13-14

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 27:20

Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

There’s always enough room for more souls in hell, don’t be deceived by the devil’s tricks that make people believe that they can be satisfied with fleshly desires.

And, make no mistake, there are no “get out of hell free” cards in the devil’s game. It’s not a game.

You may also wonder why Jesus went to Abraham’s Bosom and preached to the spirits in hell if there’s no chance of ever leaving once you’re there. The answer is, up until that time they didn’t have the truth of Jesus in their lifetime on earth, so they were given the chance to hear and believe the Gospel, as we have. They have died the first death, but God’s final judgment still awaits.

There are some descriptions in the Bible that give us an idea as to what hell is like. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Deuteronomy 32:22 - The fire of hell is God’s anger and it can destroy the entire earth. The lowest hell refers to the depths of hell, it isn’t to suggest that there is more than one hell.

2 Samuel 22:6 - Hell is full of sorrow.

Job 11:8 - Hell is deep.

Isaiah 5:14-15 - Hell is immeasurable, the mean man is brought down there, the mighty and the proud are humbled there.

Isaiah 14:11 - In hell, the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you.

Isaiah 14:15 - Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Ezekiel 32:23 - Graves are set in the sides of the pit.

This may bring up a question in your mind about the “bottomless” pit. Remember that hell is a realm, so there is no physical form to it. The term “bottomless” therefore, is an indication of it’s ongoing and endless pain, and the vastness of the agony, darkness, and torment that are there.

Ezekiel 32:27 - Just as when believers die, their mortal bodies become celestial bodies, and the unbelievers body is changed as well. From this description in Ezekiel, it may be that those bodies are skeletal in nature because he says, Their iniquities shall be upon their bones.

Jonah 2:2 - Jonah describes being in the belly of a whale as a comparison to hell.

These are some of the things that king David wrote concerning hell.

Psalms 9:17 - The wicked shall be turned into hell,

and all the nations that forget God.

Psalms 55:15 - Souls are alive in hell.

Psalms 86:13 - God’s mercy can save (prevent) you from hell.

Psalms 116:3 - Pain, trouble, sorrow.

Psalms 139:8 - God knows who is there.

In Psalms 16:10, David writes:

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;

neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Peter speaks of this as well.

Acts 2:27

Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,

neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Acts 2:31

He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ,

that His soul was not left in hell,

neither his flesh did see corruption.

Although Jesus did speak to the spirits in prison (in hell), He did not Himself experience death. The word “see” in this case, means “experience.”

In Matthew 5:29 and Mark 9:43, Jesus says:

And if thy right eye offend thee,

pluck it out, and cast it from thee:

for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,

and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

This of course is a figure of speech that Jesus is using. There aren’t eyeballs and hands and ears running around hell while the rest of people’s bodies are in Abraham’s Bosom. In other words, it would be better to take some pretty drastic measures than to end up in hell.

Here are more references to hell from the New Testament.

Matthew 10:28 & Luke 12:5 - God can destroy both body and soul in hell.

Matthew 16:18 - The gates (kingdom) of hell will not succeed against the church.

Mark 9:44, 48 - In hell, the worm doesn’t die.

Jesus repeatedly reminds that the fire will never be quenched in hell in these verses:

Mark 9:43, 44, 45, 46, & 48

If you’ve read the study on Abraham’s Bosom, you know Jesus’ story of the soul of Lazarus in Abraham’s Bosom and the rich man’s soul that went to hell, Luke 16:19-31.

2 Peter 2:4 - Hell has chains of darkness where souls are reserved for judgment.

In this particular reference, Peter is speaking of the fallen angels who are in hell. You can find out more about that in the Book of Enoch.

The book of Revelation also has some very interesting things in it about hell.

Revelation 1:18 - Jesus has the keys of hell and death.

Revelation 6:8 - The 4^th horseman of the Apocalypse represents hell and death.

Revelation 20:13-14 - Death and hell deliver up the dead souls in them for judgment (see the chart above) and death and hell are thrown into the lake of fire.