The working man's Guide.

Hell is not elaborated on much because of the negative connotations and is regarded as hate speech. Because of this, very little is understood about it. Hell is mentioned many times, so a bit of understanding well help. So let us delve into it. Firstly, I will look at the place itself, where it is, what's it like and who's there. Then secondly and very briefly, I will look at the biggest controversies, which will be more informative than the controversies themselves. The controversies are once you die you go into the grave or, and only come out at the resurrection, once saved always saved. How long are people in hell for, and you do not actually go to hell but are annihilated, or do you just cease to exist? The word hell has its origins in Old German, meaning a hole in the ground that you may fall into. Over time, the concept of it being a prison was added and this slowly changed again to be what we have today. A prison and a place of punishment below the earth's surface. The abode of certain death. Hell is often thought of as one place, but in fact, there are two entirely unique places. The first is Sheol or Hades and several other obscurer names which we will call Sheol from now on. The next is the Lake of Fire, which is the place that should be called Hell. It already exists and will exist forever. Hence, we do not get a new Earth, a new Heaven, and a new Hell because the same hell carries on. Sheol is one of the three heavens that were created in the beginning. Genesis 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens (plural) and the earth. We know of three heavens and Paul writes of a third heaven, Paradise. There are the Kingdoms and Principalities of Ephesians the second heaven. Sheol, the first or lower heaven. No other place that relates to creation is called a heaven. Sheol is underground, numerous scriptures describe going down into Sheol in the Old Testament and the New, but we will also see that it includes the sea. Looks like Davy Jones Locker is a real place. It is not all the earth and sea under the surface, for the centre is the bottomless pit. The name bottomless pit is something we can use to determine its location. In physics, you cannot get a bottomless pit except at the centre of the earth, where gravity is equal. How big is this area? It could be considerable. To date, the Bottomless pit is a prison for Angels who have stepped out from their appointed places. This would be the angels from before the flood. People do not go there. In Rev19 it says that just before the judgment that the dead are gathered from the sea, from Hades, and Death. Hades and Death are not only spiritual beings, their names are also given to places. In the Psalms, when describing how far down the rulers of these places can hear what's going on in the world, Death and Abaddon are mentioned together as being close to each other. Hades is near the surface, for the Gates of Hell are called the Gates of Hades, and they will not prevail against the Gospel. Then we go down to Death and the deepest is Abaddon, the prince of the bottomless pit. Sheol has levels of punishment, for which there are many scriptures to back that up. There are also scriptures saying people are put in the deepest parts according to their wickedness. In the shallowest parts and the sea, it is barely more than being asleep. People who sin but have mitigating circumstances. The more sinful, the deeper you go until you go out of Hades' area of control and into Death's area. The levels of sin are sin against your physical body, sin against other people's physical bodies. Sins against your own spirit, sin against other people spiritually, and being greater the more people involved and the unforgivable sin. The last two end up in Death's domain for certain. Little is known of Sheol's role before Jesus. When Jesus dies, he goes into Sheol and sets the captives free. This is mentioned by Peter and Zechariah. How this all worked before that time would be just speculation. What is punishment like? Luke 16-24 Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. So, a list of what it is like in Hell is tormented by flame, weeping and gnashing of teeth, no rest day or night. Anguish, fear, and pain. Not much fun and needs some interpretation as the physical body does not go down there but only the spirit and soul. Because Sheol is one of the three creation heavens, it has a life span and will cease to exist one day. The heavens and the earth will be wiped away and there will be a new heaven and earth. You are not in this place forever, but only until Judgment Day. The Lake of fire is called the eternal flame and has always been. A place where the flame does not cease, and the worm does not die. We have little information about it. The flame cannot be as we think of as flame. Our flame is a chemical reaction that gives off electromagnetic waves that we perceive as heat. The Lake exists before and after our physical or atomic world, so the chemical reaction of fire cannot exist there. The flame is some kind of metaphor. The first recorded people to be thrown into the lake will be the Anti-Christ/Beast, Abaddon, and the False Prophet. There is a chance that they will have to sit in the naughty chair reflecting on what they have done, by themselves, for a thousand years until more people turn up. Satan and his Angels are put into the bottomless pit. In English, most bibles say people are there forever and ever, but that is not what it says. It says in Greek for “ages of ages” and I will elaborate on this when I cover how long are you in hell. Even though people can end up in the lake, the Bible says that is a place prepared for Satan and his angels. Unlike Sheol, there does not seem to be different depths of hell, but does have a severity of punishment depending on wickedness. I speculate there will their areas to accommodate the various beings that end up there. Satan and his fallen angels, the angels who did not keep their places before the flood. The beings that live in the second heaven, are demonic spirits in all their various forms. Rulers of Spiritual kingdoms and principalities, demonic spirits that possess people, etc. People who have been sinners, thieves, adulterers, homosexuals, and the like.
How Long
There are six distinct places mentioned in the Bible where beings exist. In genesis, it says God made the heavens and the earth. Heavens, plural, and the New Testament tells us of three heavens. The first heaven is Sheol, the abode of the dead and called hell. The second heaven is around us. The place of demonic spirits, authorities, and spiritual kingdoms. When Gabriel was trying to go to Daniel, he had to fight the Prince of Persia with Michael's help. The Prince of Persia was a spiritual being and ruled Persia spiritually. The third heaven is Paradise. The earth or the atomic world, four. The eternal Lake of Fire and the original heaven where everything started from. The place that Satan was cast out of, and that makes six.
How long are we in hell for? Is it forever, or are we just washed away as though we had never existed?
Firstly, there are two places called hell. The Lake of Fire and Sheol or Hades. If you end up in Sheol, you will be there until the resurrection. There is a time limit to being in there, in fact, the place itself has a time limit. The Lake of Fire is another story. The main confusion about the Lake is that most descriptions of the time involved with it are about the place itself. It has always been there and will be there forever. We jump to the conclusion that it is also talking about the inhabitor. There are few places in the bible that describe how long we will be there. Revelations 20.10 and Matthew 25.46 have descriptions and two of the parables.
Matt 5 25-29 “Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matt 18 32-34. You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So, also, my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. Until you have paid your debt.
Revelations, in Greek, does not say forever and ever but until for 'ages of ages', and parables say it is until you have paid every last penny of your debt. When Matthew 25.46 says eternal punishment, but this eternal is in the sense of non-stop. Unlike the place itself, there will be an end to the torment, but it will be in relationship to your sins. The ages of ages, what does that mean? Ages relate to our salvation or development. There have been several ages already that will get covered later on. To use the plural, ages of ages, means, some of the ages. In Revelations 20, it says how long Satan will be in hell for it says, The ages of the ages, meaning all of them. These ages are for the saved and unsaved, we just do not go and sit on a cloud and play the harp, there are new things to grow and mature into.
Do we just get wiped from history? There are no scriptures to support this. Even Matthew 10 28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This just says he can do it.

Once saved, always saved. The Scriptures say, 'once you are saved, no one can take you out of the hand of God'. It does not say that you cannot do that to yourself. By your actions, you can say I would rather not be part of God's plans any more and lose your salvation. Do you go into the grave and do not come out until the resurrection? Pre Jesus there may be some argument for that, but New Testament scriptures say we end up in Paradise.