We have always confessed, as Reformed Christians, that when Jesus comes as Judge from heaven, He "shall cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall take me with all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory" (Heidelberg Catechism, q. 52). All that we have left in our overview of "last things" is the matter of eternity. Although this subject is really outside of the scope of "last things," we now consider it because there is no other place to consider this important subject.

First, taking our cue from the catechism, we consider the final state of the wicked. After the Judgment the wicked are consigned eternally to hell.

The first thing we must insist upon, because the Bible insists upon it, is that hell is a place.

Some, you see, insist that when the Bible speaks about hell, it is to be understood as being "destruction" or "annihila­tion." However, in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 we read that this destruction is "eternal destruction." The wicked will expe­rience the agony of punishment without end throughout eternity. It will not be a punishment at one point in time. It will be without end. Time will be no more!

Liberals will speak of hell as a way of speaking of one's condition. For them, it is a figurative way of speaking but certainly it is not a place.

The Bible, however, places the emphasis on hell as a locality. We are told that men can be "cast into the hell of fire" (Matthew 18:9) and "into the furnace of fire" (Matthew 13:42). Even 2 Peter 2:4 which speaks about the intermediate state for the wicked speaks of hell as a place.

The word for "hell" in the Bible is the word "Gehenna." Gehenna was a locality — a place. The Bible reveals much about hell as we see what happened at Gehenna.

Gehenna was literally "Ge-Hinnom" or the land or valley originally belonging to Hinnom. It is a valley just south of Jerusalem and curving west.

There, a high place was built. It was called Tophet which means "place of spitting out" or "abhorrence." It was a place of burning.

It was there that Ahaz and Manasseh made their children pass through terrible fire as offerings to Moloch (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6).

Jeremiah predicted God's judgment on Gehenna. He said that it would become known as "the valley of slaughter" (Jeremiah 7:31-34; 19:2; 32:35)."

Finally, God-fearing Josiah stopped the wickedness tak­ing place there (2 Kings 23:10). After that, Gehenna became an ever-burning garbage dump.

This is the place, the name of which became the word we translate "hell"!

There is one other word which is translated "hell." It is "hades." These are not two different places as some sug­gest. Rather, hades refers to hell as it is experienced in the intermediate state. Gehenna refers to hell as it is experienced after the Judgment.

Second, hell is a place of torment. Medieval writers loved to make graphic pictures in words of hell as a place of torment. Especially notable is Dante's Divine Comedy.

Hell is a place of torment because it is the total absence of God's favor. It is not the absence of God. Rather, God is there in all His wrath (Psalm 139:7-12; Revelation 14:10).

This burning wrath of God brings about pains of body and soul. For those there Christ did not bear the punishment for sin on the cross. They must pay — and eternally — for their sin. What anguish will be theirs! We are told that it will be "outer darkness" and the "furnace of fire" where will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12; 13:50). It will be "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43, 48). The torment will be in the presence of the Lamb (Revelation 14:10).

Will there be degrees of punishment in hell? Indeed. Jesus said,

But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.  Matthew 11:24, cf. v.22

One question about hell remains. How do we understand the "fire of hell"?

Of course, the liberal dismisses it as being merely an ancient way of thinking — a way of thinking outmoded today.

On the other hand, true Bible scholars take it seriously. Louis Berkhof reminded us that the purpose of these words is descriptive. They tell us about the nature of hell's anguish. William Hendriksen told us that the literal and physical do not exhaust the idea of fire. While, indeed, it is an actual fire, it is one that brings an intense agony to men's spirits, as well as physical misery.

Another theologian who also would take the fire of hell seriously — Herman Hoeksema — wrote in his Reformed Dogmatics (p. 866):

We must ... beware that we not understand terms like fire, sulphur, worm, and smoke in the literal sense of the word, no more than we may interpret these terms in that earthly sense when the Scripture speaks of the golden streets and the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem.

While these words are not merely an ancient way of speaking, they are vivid descriptions of an existence in unspeakable suffering, Hoeksema adds.

For the believer, eternity will be experienced in The New Creation.

With the Judgment, the universe will be renewed (2 Peter 3:7, 11, 12; Matthew 19:28; Acts 3:21; Psalm 102:26, 27; Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Hebrews 12:27-29; Revelation 21:1-5). In this new universe we will dwell. The joy of heaven will only be part of the believer's eternal joy. The new earth will also be our dwelling place.

What a blessed place this will be! It will be a place of perfect harmony. God will be there and there will be no unrighteousness (Revelation 21:3, 4; Isaiah 11:6-9). It will be the place of the covenant fulfilled (Revelation 21:3). It will be the place of fulfilled life (Revelation 22:1-5). In fact, the whole of Revela­tion 22 speaks of the blessedness of the New Creation. The curse because of sin will be gone (v. 3). God's wrath against sin which is manifest in the thorn and the thistle, in suffer­ing, sorrow and death, will be forever gone. Instead, "...his servants ... shall see his face" (vv. 3, 4,). Though it will ever be impossible to see God in His infinite essence, we shall see His face the highest revelation — in the face of Christ. True knowledge of God and His will will fill our minds and hearts (v. 4). This will be direct knowledge (v. 5). The Kingdom, for which we pray, will have been perfected. All things shall serve Him — and everlastingly!

The church, the New Jerusalem (21:2), will be complete, and complete in her Savior! All of God's elect shall have been gathered. All of God's elect will know the fullness of glorification. Then, the church will know that eternal sab­bath rest which is laid up for her (Hebrews 4:9).

In a very beautiful and devotional way, the Dr. William Hendriksen pictured what this dwelling will be like on the basis of Jesus' words, "In my Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2) (The Bible on the Life Hereafter, pp. 209, 10).

This will be home — and as home it will be a place of fellowship. It will be a place of safety and rest. It will be a place of perfect understanding and love. It will be a place of permanence. No wonder our Marriage Form reminds us that the godly home "affords a foretaste of the eternal home."

Is it any wonder, then, that the church Reformed has confessed (Belgic Confession Article XXXVII):

Therefore we expect that great day with a most ardent desire,
to the end that we may fully enjoy the promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.
Amen, come, Lord Jesus, — Revelation 22:20.