Jesus points out to the Sadducee's who do not believe in the resurrection about a beggar and a rich man, the gulf is too wide to cross from there to here or from here to there so I doubt you have actually been there. Saying that you may well have been in some very nasty situations, but you are not alone in this. The hell I am deluding to is the one with satan prodding Hitler with a pitch fork or even what is described as purgatory in Dante's Inferno.
Yes I am trying to prompt us into action, action of belief, and responsibility for that belief.
Greetings bikerchaz,
First of all, there are three individual words translated as "Hell" in the new testament, which are as follows:
Tartaroo/Tartarus: This word is used only once in 2 Peter 2:4 when describing those angels, whom God put in chains of darkness until judgment, which are most likely the same angels that Jude 6 is referring to. These angels spoken of are most likely those angels, the son's of God, mentioned in Gen.6:1 who took human women as wives, defiling themselves, who brought forth giants and whom Enoch also refers to in great detail.
Hades: The "unseen place," referring to the (invisible) realm in which all the unrighteous dead reside, i.e. the present dwelling place of all the unrighteous (deceased), which is synonymous with the Hebrew "Sheol." This place is located under the earth and is the same place where that rich man went, with Abraham and Lazarus being on the other side separated by that great chasm. This was the place where all of the OT saints went up until Jesus removed them after his resurrection. Now Paul says regarding the spirit/soul of the righteous at the time of death, that to be absent from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord. However, regarding the unrighteous, those who do not belong to Christ, Hades is where they are taken to and will remain until the end of the thousand years where they will all be resurrected out to be judged at the great throne judgment (Rev.20:11-15). By the way, Satan is not prodding anyone with a pitch fork or otherwise, for Hades, just like the Lake of fire, is a place of torment in flame created by God and Satan does not reside in Hades/Sheol.
Lake of Fire: Also called "
the second death" is the final place of torment after the great white throne judgment which was created for Satan and his angels. Consequently, anyone who is not following Christ is following Satan, whether they realize it or not. In opposition to Hades, which is a temporary place of punishment in flame beneath the earth, the Lake of fire is eternal punishment and its location is never revealed in scripture.
Purgatory: Is found no where in scripture, but is a false teaching created by Roman Catholicism. Supposedly, even though a person has been saved by Christ, all Catholics must go to Purgatory first so that they can be refined in the fire for any sins that were they were not absolved of by a priest while alive on earth. However regarding this, scripture says that Christ paid the entire penalty for our sins and therefore, rescued the faithful from the wrath of God and condemning judgment, once and for all. As previously stated, believers who die in Christ, their spirits/souls depart from their bodies and go immediately to be in the presence of the Lord (2 Cor.5:6-8, Phil.1:23).