Hell

Scriptural discussion of Hell What does the Bible reveal about Hell? A wonderful, thorough survey of all Scripture says about this place of the dead, dispelling myth and revealing the love and goodness of God towards men.
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What the Bible really says about HELL

Is Hell The Lake of Fire?

There are some similarities between the Lake of Fire and Hell. In Luke 16 the rich man in Hell begged Abraham for a mere drop of water to cool his tongue, for, he said, "I am tormented in these flames" (16:24). A condition of extraordinary, tormenting heat also exist in the Lake of Fire. The lake is, after all, the "Lake of Fire". Jesus used the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" only in reference to the Lake of Fire (Mt. 24:51; Lk. 13:28), but some degree of "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is the inconsolable condition of all the wicked dead, wherever they now are or will be in the future, whether in Hell or in the Lake of Fire. So, the most obvious similarity between Hell and the Lake of Fire is the element of fire itself. But beyond this, similarities are few.

One of the major differences between these two places of the damned is suggested by Jesus when he said, "Children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; in that place shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mt. 8:12; cp. 22:13 and 25:30). With the words, "outer darkness", the Lord presents us with oft-overlooked information about the Lake of Fire; namely, it is filled with a fire that burns with no light.

Unlike Hell, the Lake of Fire is a place of eternal, absolute, and oppressive darkness. Psalm 49:19 tells us that the damned in that place "shall never see light." By these things, we know that the "outer darkness" and the "blackness of darkness" of which Jesus and Jude spoke (Mt. 22:13; Jude 13) are references to the Lake of Fire, not to Hell, because in Hell the condemned can see (Lk. 16:23).

The Lake of Fire burns "with brimstone and fire". Brimstone is sulfur, and anyone who has ever had fumes from burning sulfur rise up into his nostrils knows that it has a suffocating effect. This may have been what Peter was referring to when he described the eternal place of the damned as "a mist of darkness" (2Pet. 2:17), as if the darkness in that place will have a quality of thickness to it. This feeling is consistent with Jesus' declaration that the damned will be "bound hand and foot". Concerning the condemned wedding guest, the Lord commanded, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; in that place shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mt. 22:13). This binding of hands and feet suggests that in the Lake of Fire there is an eternal and absolute absence of choice such as has never been known on earth, so that the damned will never be able so much as to change body positions and that they will suffer excruciating pain in the tormenting blackness forever.

Of course, from the Lake of Fire there will never be any escape or relief. Unlike Hell, it is the permanent home of the damned. The wicked will be tormented in the pitch black flames of God's wrath "day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10). It is a place of endless, absolute hopelessness and suffering. It is a place to which no one wants to go, and to which no godly person would want anyone else to go.

So, the answer to our question, "Is Hell The Lake of Fire?", is "No." Hell is not the Lake of Fire. Hell is a terrifying, painful holding pen for the wicked dead until the Day of Judgment. At the Final Judgment, the wicked will all be taken out of Hell to be judged, and, after that, they will all be cast into the Lake of Fire, along with Hell and Death (Rev. 20:14).