Illuminated Bible: The Afterlife

In this episode of the Illuminated Bible series, Shayn and I got both academic and philosophical, discussing what the Bible, science, and philosophy have to say about life after death. It turned into a 2.5 hour discussion and we barely touched half of our notes. I honestly really enjoyed the conversation and I hope you do too! What follows, as always, are my notes and citations for the main claims of the episode. We mentioned a lot of unplanned passages and sources so if I missed anything, let me know and I’ll update the article!

At the beginning of the episode, Shayn and I ended up talking about near death experiences and neuroscience. This lead me to mention the amazing book The Immortal Mind, A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul, by Dr. Michael Egnor. This book takes a scientific approach to making a strong case for life after death. It might be a little academic for some people, but that’s what I like about it. You can learn about the book and research associated with it here:

https://theimmortalmind.org/

Alright, let’s talk biblical afterlife.

When we die, we do not cease to exist. If that is what it means to die then humans never do. In a very real sense, we are immortal. Our bodies, however, suffer a different fate. When our bodies die—when they become inanimate—our spirit detaches and goes to one of two locations. This process and the destinations, as the Bible explains them, are quite different from what many seem to believe. I find frequently, in conversation and correspondence, that death, heaven, hell, and their eternity are anything from slightly to vastly misunderstood. Let’s take an honest look at what the Bible actually has to say about it.

What is Hell, Hades, or Sheol?

Hades is the Greek word for the realm of the dead, as well as the name if its leader in Greek mythology. Sheol is Hebrew word for the realm of the dead. Neither strictly refer to a place of torment, but rather a larger realm which included a place of torment and a place of peace. The English word “hell” normally refers specifically to a place of torment, which some might argue is a mistake when attempting to remain in keeping with the biblical traditions. The Bible describes the underworld as divided into two halves—that of torment and that of paradise—separated by an impassable chasm.

It is also described as a deep (Job 11:8, Proverbs 9:18), dark (Job 17:13), prison (Job 17:16, Psalm 18:5), and pit (Psalm 30:3, Proverbs 1:12), under the eye and sovereignty of God (Job 26:6, Psalm 139:8).

Luke 16:19-31
19  “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20  And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21  and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22  Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23  In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24  And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27  And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28  for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29  But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30  But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31  But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Redemption from Sheol

Sheol was the home of the dead in general, whether good or bad. Even before Jesus died for our sins, the righteous looked forward to future deliverance from Sheol.

The first time we see the word Sheol Jacob (now named Israel) says he wants to go to Sheol to be with his innocent son who he believed to have been killed by a wild animal.

Genesis 37:35
All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

Psalm 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Psalm 49:15
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
For He will receive me.

This redemption was part of the immediate impact of Christ’s victory over death. The righteous were held captive in Sheol, waiting for the Messiah to release them. By paying the ransom, Christ made a way for them to be released from Sheol and welcomed into heaven.

Now when a believer in the Jesus dies, they go straight to heaven (Philippians 1:23, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Colossians 3:1, 1 Peter 3:22).

The punishment of Sheol

This means that the paradise side of Sheol is now empty. The torment side, however, remains a place of temporary punishment (for humans and angels alike) until the day of judgment.

In 2 Peter 2, it is made abundantly clear that both the wicked and the fallen angels suffer similar fates in the gloomy darkness of hell until the final judgment (The Great White Throne Judgement).

2 Peter 2:4–9
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

2 Peter 2:17
These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.

For further study, here are the verses containing Hades in the New Testament (ᾅδης).

Lake of Fire

The lake of fire is the eternal destination of the wicked, anyone who is not saved by Jesus Christ by His grace and faith in Him. Let’s see how Scripture describes it.

Matthew 10:28
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

A place of divine destruction.

Mark 9:43
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,

A place of unquenchable fire.

Mark 9:48
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

A place of worms.

Revelation 19:20
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

A place for the false prophet, and Antichrist.

Matthew 25:41
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

A place for the wicked, cursed, the devil, and his angels.

For further study, here are the verses containing Gehenna (γέεννα), commonly translated simply as “hell”, though many (if not most) scholars see Gehenna as Christ describes it to be referring to the lake of fire.

Re-framing our perspective of hell and the lake of fire

1. Hell is ruled by God not the Devil or demons.
2. Hell is not a place of torture for the innocent. It is a place of divine justice for criminals against the divine.
3. Hell is not absent of God. You will not be able to escape his omnipresence or wrath but you will also not be able to commune with or enjoy His presence either.

The words hell and fire only show up in the same verse 4 times.

Matt 5:22, Matt 18:9, Mark 9:43, James 3:6

Only 2 times for Sheol and fire.

Deut 32:22, Prov 30:16

Compare that to Heaven and fire which appear in the same verses 51 times.

Here is just a few:

Gen 19:24, Exod 9:23, Deut 4:11, Deut 4:36, 2 Kings 1:10, 2 Kings 1:12, 2 Kings 1:14, 2 Kings 2:11, 1 Chron 21:26, 2 Chron 7:1, Job 1:16, Ps 18:13, Jer 7:18, Joel 2:30, Luke 9:54, Luke 17:29, Acts 2:19, 2 Pet 3:7, 2 Pet 3:12, Rev 10:1, Rev 13:13, Rev 20:9

The Destinies and Eternal Destinations

Scripture tells us that hell, heaven, and earth are all destined for destruction. In the end there will be the lake of fire and the new earth, which will also be heaven.

2 Peter 3:5–13
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 20:7–21:8
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Judgment Before the Great White Throne 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The New Heaven and the New Earth

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Reading Revelation 21-22 is incredibly reassuring for believers in Jesus Christ, because the remainder of eternity is not some strange and unknowable thing but will be spent in human bodies once again, on a new earth, with God, as it was originally meant to be (Genesis 1-2). We will not be playing harps in clouds for eternity, but rather we will fulfill our original purpose and dwell with God in perfect harmony with Him, each other, and nature. The end is the fulfillment of both justice and mercy. The lake of fire as God’s place of eternal justice and the new earth as God’s place of eternal mercy.