Bible study 7: Heaven - What about Hell?
Bible study 7: Heaven - What about Hell?
7.1 Key themes⤒🔗
- Just like heaven, hell is also a real place that was created by God.
- The only way to escape hell is to believe the Word of God while you are still living here on earth.
- Hell is the place of God’s wrath (his holy anger against sin).
- Hell is like:
- Eternal fire – God’s wrath surrounds people forever.
- A worm that does not die – eternal death and destruction.
- Darkness – people are far away from God’s love. - God teaches us about hell, so that we will respond with:
- Thankfulness
- Prayerfulness
- Sadness
- Witness
7.2 Luke 16:19–31←⤒🔗
16:19 There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
16:20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores,
16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.
16:22 Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
16:23 And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.
16:24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’
16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.
16:26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
16:27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father – send Lazarus to my father’s house
16:28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’
16:29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’
16:30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
16:31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’
© NET Bible
7.3 What about hell?←⤒🔗
Everyone goes somewhere after they die: heaven or hell. We have seen that heaven is a real place. God created it for his servants. Hell is also a real place, and God also created it. He created it for the devil and for everyone who serves the devil. If you do not believe in hell, then you cannot believe in heaven. The Bible speaks of both.
Hell is not something that we enjoy thinking about. But did you know that Jesus talked more about hell than about heaven? Jesus did not only tell people about God’s love. He also told people about God’s justice. God’s justice means that he punishes sin. The punishment for sin is eternal death in hell.
7.4 The rich man and Lazarus←⤒🔗
In our passage (Luke 16:19-31) Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were people who knew the Old Testament very well. But most of them rejected Jesus.
Jesus tells the Pharisees a parable. A parable is a story that helps people to understand a spiritual truth. When we listen to a parable, we must not think that everything in the parable is real. For example, we should not think that people in hell will really speak to Abraham, or that Abraham will speak to them. We must listen to the big message of the parable.
The big message of this parable is: When you are in hell, it is too late for you. There is no escape. The only way to escape hell is to believe the Word of God while you are still living here on earth.
Jesus is warning the Pharisees that they still have time. They are like the five brothers of the rich man. They have the Old Testament (“Moses and the prophets” – verse 29). They must believe it! The Old Testament speaks about Christ, who will come to the world. If the Pharisees do not believe the Old Testament, they will never believe¾not even “if someone rises from the dead” (verse 31).
That is exactly what would happen after Jesus’ resurrection. The Pharisees would still not believe, even though they would see the empty tomb.
7.5 Hell is eternal and terrible←⤒🔗
Hell is the place of God’s wrath. God’s wrath is his holy anger against sin.
What is hell like? Jesus calls it a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (for example, in Matthew 13:42). This shows us that people in hell are always in pain, and that they are always angry at God.
Jesus uses three pictures to describe hell: fire, worms, and darkness.
Jesus calls hell the “eternal fire” (Matthew 18:8). Think of a piece of wood that is thrown into a fire. The fire will surround the wood and destroy it. When a person is in hell, the wrath of God will be like a fire that surrounds him. It will be everywhere around him. But hell is different from fire, because hell is eternal. A person who is in hell will feel God’s wrath forever.
In hell the “worm never dies” (Mark 9:48). When a body lies in a grave, it is eaten by worms. The worms destroy the body until there is nothing left. Hell is also a place of death and destruction. But it never stops (the “worm never dies”). It goes on forever.
In Matthew 8:12 Jesus describes hell as a place of outer darkness. To be in God’s loving presence is to be in the “light.” Jesus came to bring this light to the world (John 1:9). But if a person rejects Jesus, he rejects the light. He will go to hell, where there is nothing of God’s mercy and kindness. He will be outside of God’s love forever. That is what is meant by “outer darkness.”
Remember: fire, worms, and darkness are pictures. There are not real flames or worms in hell. But Jesus uses these pictures, to help us understand how terrible hell is.
7.6 How we should respond←⤒🔗
There are good reasons why God wants us to think about hell. How should a believer respond to the Bible’s teaching about hell?
You and I deserve hell. But when Jesus died, he suffered the pains of hell in our place. God placed his wrath on Jesus, so that we will never have to experience it. This should fill our hearts with thankfulness and praise.
Most of the Israelites (Jews) rejected Jesus. In Romans 9:2 Paul writes that he has great sorrow and anguish over this. In Romans 10:1 he writes, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (NIV).
Let us pray without stopping for those people who do not believe in Jesus yet. Let us fall on our knees for them. God wants to save people, and that is why he tells us to pray for them (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Also, God commands us to pray that he will send more gospel preachers into the world (Luke 10:2).
Jesus wept when he looked at Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). Paul also wept about the Israelites. We should pray with sadness and tears for people who do not understand the danger they are in.
The gospel is the power of God that saves people (Romans 1:16–17). While there is still a chance, let us do everything in our power to make the gospel go out to people. Use the opportunities that God gives you to tell the gospel to others, and to help so that more people will hear the gospel.
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