Showing posts with label Gehenna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gehenna. Show all posts

5/07/2019

The FEAR of GOD --- The FORGOTTEN MESSAGE of the CHURCH --- How to DEVELOP the FEAR of GOD in ORDER TO SAVE MEN'S SOULS


Why are there no Conversions to CHRIST ?
Could it be we have forgotten something ?
 Is there something MISSING from our current "invitation to CHRIST? "

3/21/2018

Was JESUS Wrong ?


But whosoever shall deny ME+ 
before men, 
him will I+ also deny before
 My+ FATHER 
which is in Heaven. 
Matthew 10: 32-33
+  +  +
Was JESUS Wrong ?

4/02/2008

RESURRECTION SEASON ~ ~ ~ DAY 11 ... In the Heart of The Earth



Resurrection Season ~ ~ ~ Day 11
… In the Heart of the Earth
for the Year of Our LORD, 4.2.2008

For as Jonas was
three days and three nights
in the whale’s belly;
so shall the Son of Man+ be
three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
The Words of The LORD JESUS CHRIST,
recorded in Matthew 12:40




What happened
during those 3 days and 3 nights
HE+ spent in the heart of the earth?


However, before we look at what happened, we must first understand what the situation was "in the heart of the earth."
In short, we must take a reasonable look at HELL.


For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption.

Psalm 16:10







To the common mind, hell is a very hot place to which very bad people descend when they die. The KJV translators used hell as an umbrella term to cover four --- (yes, 4!!)--- different words used in the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures.

The first two, briefly, we will define, but it is the last two that will hold our focus.

Hell: Tartarus. This is a Greek word used only in 2 Peter 2:4. It refers to the place where fallen angelic beings are put, reserved for eternal fire at the final judgement.

Hell: Gehenna. This is a Greek word. It is the lake of burning fire of Revelation 19 and 20. Gehenna (Valley of Hinnom) was an actual valley near Jerusalem, west and southwest of it. Some old maps have it marked. A perpetual fire burned there of all manner of trash and refuse, including “unclean” dead bodies of both man and animal. It was here that Jeremiah’s TOPHET was located. (See Jer. 7:31 and chapter 19). Tophet had an altar where apostate Israel burned their sons and daughters as human sacrifices, much to the abhorrence of the LORD.

The LORD used Gehenna 11 times for hell in the Gospels. James used it once. Gehenna, without ceasing, destroys both body and soul (Mt. 5:22,29,30) … and is where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched… ( Mark 9: 43-48), the LORD JESUS said. Into this lake of burning fire (Gehenna) are thrown Death and Hades at the end of the LORD’S 1,000-year-reign upon the earth (Rev. 20:14). Isaiah 66:24 also has a curious reference about this lake of burning fire, using the same words as found in Mark 9.


For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psalm 16:10



However, the focus of our discussion here concerns the other two terms translated as hell. In the Old Testament it is Sheol (Heb.) and in the New Testament the word is Hades (Gk). Both of these terms --- Hades and Sheol­­­--- refer to the same place, the abode of the unseen, the dead, the departed human soul & spirit. They both refer to the HEART OF THE EARTH.

Some scholars say it is a hollow place in the heart of the earth. This is because of the reference to Abraham’s Bosom found in Luke 16:22-26. [ NOTE THIS: In ancient societies, people gathered their loose outer garments as a sack, if necessary, to carry measures of meal, grain, etc., pressed close to their chests. See Luke 6:38. Hence bosom was synonymous with a hollowed-out place, in the ancient world.]


Before Our LORD’S death and resurrection, the hell actually known to the ancients as Hades/Sheol was divided into 2 parts, according to Luke 16. A great chasm (Gk) was fixed between the two parts. (Luke 16:22-26 KJV says “gulf”). Some scholars say the two parts were divided into an uppper and a lower region, based on Scriptures like Deuteronomy 32:22, Psalm 63:9, and Proverbs 7:27. The righteous dead went into the part of Hades/Sheol known as Abraham’s Bosom or Paradise (Luke 23:43). They were comforted there, in a pleasant place as was Lazarus.


The SECOND part of hell/Hades/ Sheol was for the UNrighteous dead. Again, Luke 16:22-26 indicates that this part of Hades had absolutely no comfort but rather torments of flame, thirst, and anguishing thoughts. Flames here are such that they afflict only the soul and spirit of man, NOT his physical body.Ezekiel 32:24 calls Hades/ Sheol “the nether parts of the earth.” In Proverbs 9:18, it is called “the depths of Sheol,” in reference to the unrighteous dead. (Keep in mind this is different from Tartarus and Gehenna. In Gehenna, the lake of burning fire, is the flame that afflicts without ceasing both body and soul. )


THE PITS

In this SECOND division of Hades/hell was located a shaft, like a well or mine shaft so to speak. The Greek word used is phrear which means shaft or dungeon; KJV translates that word as pit. This shaft (KJV pit) leads into the abyss… a place with no bottom. This is the same abyss (the deep) that the demons begged The LORD not to send them into before their time. (See Luke 8:31, Mt. 8:29.)

The Hebrew Old Testament word pit, however, is different. In Hebrew, pit seems to be synonymous in usage to grave, Sheol, or corruption. Thus, it is used in Psalms 28:1, 30:3, the Messianic Psalm 40:2, Psalm 88:4, Isaiah 14:15, and that wonderful chapter 9 of Zechariah which says:



“…Behold, you King comes to you.
HE is righteous and victorious;
lowly and riding on a donkey…
His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from The River
to the ends of the earth…
by the Blood of Your Covenant
I have freed Your prisoners
from the pit wherein is no water.”
(from verses 9,10, and 11, Green’s Hebrew Interlinear)



So…which part of hell did the living soul and spirit

of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST descend into,

leaving His+ tired, though uncorrupted,

sinless body in the tomb?

Which part was HE+ in for 3 days and 3 nights… and why?

What was HE+ doing down there?


(To be continued)



Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2: 22-27

The Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST
… the most life-changing event
in human history.


+ + +

3/13/2008

LENTEN MEDITATION 37 ~~~ KEEP CUTTING !

LENTEN MEDITATION 37 ~~~ Keep Cutting !
For the Year of Our LORD, 3.13.2008



Let us hear the Word of The LORD JESUS CHRIST once more:


And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off:
it is better for thee to enter halt into life,

than having two feet to be cast into hell [Gehenna, Gk.]
the fire that never shall be quenched:

Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out:

it is better for thee
to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye,
than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

For every one shall be salted with fire,
and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Salt is good:
but if the salt have lost his saltness,
wherewith will ye season it?
Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Mark 9:45-50





Have you ever wondered why The LORD gave the explicit instruction to the Israelites concerning who could NOT serve in the Tabernacle/Temple worship? In Leviticus 21:16-24, The LORD instructed Moses that no-one with any bodily infirmity or handicap could officiate in the Tabernacle or Temple worship. That man could not offer the sacrifices, nor the bread, nor enter into the Veil, nor come nigh the altar. He could, however, eat of the bread.


Now we know the GOD of all compassion and mercy would never discriminate against persons who were handicapped or limited in body or mind. Indeed, HE+ is of tender compassion with those who are encased in such prisons within their bodies. HE+ promises His+ children wholeness of mind and body, upon Resurrection, if they enter into His+ Covenant through The LORD JESUS CHRIST.

But why would HE disallow those handicapped persons (Israelites who were already in His Covenant) to officiate in worship ceremonies, to perform them before all the people? Did HE think the worship service would be too marred by someone who stuttered or who moved with a limp or whose crippled arm couldn’t handle the sacrifices rightly? NO.


Let us remember here what GOD, the GOD of hope, told Moses: See that you do everything exactly As I have told you. It was to be done with strict exactness because it was a pattern of things in the Heavenlies. [See Hebrews 8:5 and Exodus 25:40].


In the Heavenly Kingdom, there are no handicaps, no lameness, no bodily limitations of form nor mind. The pattern was established to bring forth hope of the coming promise, the coming kingdom, in which there will be NO HANDICAPS !

Thus, when the handicapped person saw the worship service done by persons who were “whole,” they could take heart that some day… yes, GOD is faithful… some day they too would be whole. That day was a day of hope for them. The pattern of things to come was intentionally set before them.

This is why Our LORD said, “ It is better to enter into life halt or maimed or having only one eye,” than to practice sin and miss Eternal Life in the Kingdom of GOD. Once we enter into Life in the Kingdom of GOD, the Resurrection, there will be no handicaps. Our severed hand or foot and our missing eye will be restored in His+ Kingdom.

However, if we continue to practice sin, we will enter into Gehenna, even having all our body intact; our whole bodies, souls, and minds… with which we practiced sin… will do us no good in Gehenna, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.


Dear Gracious and Life-Giving Heavenly FATHER,
I come to THEE this day with the burning desire to cease from all sin, all Self-centeredness, all thoughts unworthy of Thy SON JESUS CHRIST. Help me to move from Self-indulgence to a life centered upon pleasing THEE. I Thank THEE for the hope of Eternal Life through Thy Beloved SON, the worthy Lamb of GOD, Who taketh away the sins of all the repentant, both handicapped and whole alike. LORD, let me never, ever out-live my love for THEE.

This I pray, in the name of The FATHER, of The SON, and of The HOLY SPIRIT, both now and forever.

Amen
+ + +.