What happens when we die? This question drives most people to begin their investigation into religion. Throughout history, different religions have tried to answer this question. Catholics believe that purgatory is waiting for them after death. Hindus believe that they get to start all over again by being reincarnated. Islamic tradition says that if you are willing to die fighting the infidel you will receive great rewards in the afterlife...including 70 virgins.
As Christians, disciples of Jesus, we look to the Bible for our information about the afterlife. I bet you’ve heard of heaven and hell, but what do you know about the other places we read about in the bible? Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna, Paradise, the Bosom of Abraham? To the best of our ability we will try to explain all these places.
The messages this week and next week are very much one message broken into two parts. And they really do need to be understood together, so please don’t miss next week when we will tie all of this into the end times.
Today we begin with the realms of the living and the dead.
Andy
So Randall just mentioned all these various places the Bible mentions, but the Bible also summarizes these when it speaks to all existence several times in verses like:
Phl 2:10
Rev 5:3
Rev 5:13
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the
earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Now, these all use the idea of heaven, earth, and under the earth as places which exist, but each gives us other clues as well. We know that Jesus is known in all places, we know that men inhabit each place, and we know that not only men, but creatures also inhabit these places. It's more than a figure of speech, but something that was part of God's design for the world we're in now.
So what do these reference? In order to understand what happens when someone dies, we need to have some understanding of how existence is made up, i.e. what these verses are referring to, and what or who goes where.
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth,
And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to
open the scroll or to look into it,
Firstly is heaven, which we don’t see depicted here in this graphic, but we’ll see more of next week. This needs to be a separate place on account of sin entering the earth. You see, no flesh can enter the direct presence of God unless it is as Holy as He is Holy, otherwise judgement would be immediate. With sin entering the earth, Heaven had to be separated for our sake, and us removed from it until a way could be made to make us Holy.
Again, more on that later, but for now I’ll be focusing on the 2 elements of “on the earth” and Randall the 2 elements of “under the earth”
Most obvious would be the physical earth we inhabit. How many know this is a thing? I think most of us, aside from those fringe weirdos who don’t think we’re actually here but just think we’re here... any of those? Ok...we'll pray for ya. For the rest of us, we're comfortable with the idea of a physical realm of earth in which we live.
And what inhabits the earth? Things with flesh and blood, with bodies. Randall has talked about this plenty in the past, about how in order to be legal in the earth you have to possess a body. As for men and creatures then, we see and understand these kinds of things being on the earth.
There are another class of beings which can occupy this space for a time also. We call them angels. If we're the natural inhabitants here, they're like diplomatic ambassadors able to enter our space with orders from the King for His purposes.
The other side being rebellious angels could also enter on a more nefarious diplomatic mission for the one they serve, Satan.
These don't remain here, but their bodies, unlike ours, allow passage through multiple levels of existence like a diplomatic passport allows free flow between nations.
There is a difference, however, between those sent by the King and those on the opposing side. Both have the ability, but only one is a legal boarder crossing. Jude mentions this in verse 6:
Jude 1:6
...
And soon enough Randall will continue to show what happens to them for their mischief surrounding their illegal boarder crossing adventures.
As for those with legal authority by the King, the Bible gives us multiple examples of this, and clearly shows they aren't just apparitions, but physically manifest when they come. We get examples of them eating and drinking, and grabbing people like in Genesis 19 with Lot.
Gen 19:3;10-11
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of
authority, but left their proper dwelling
But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and
entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked
unleavened bread, and they ate.
But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the
house with them and shut the door.
And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance
of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves
out groping for the door.
One New Testament reference would be in Acts 12:7 when an angel strikes Peter.
Acts 12:7
Interestingly in both of these cases, they not only exhibit real manifestation in this physical earth, but also maintain abilities which transcend our natural laws, again like diplomatic privilege to not be strictly bound by the laws of the land they visit.
Which leads us to the next question, where is their home plane?
Deut 10:14
ORD
Deut 32:1“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
These are 2 examples of, depending where you look in the Bible, you'll see heaven either singular or plural. Normally singular refers to where God is, and plural refers to broader spiritual planes, or even our atmosphere depending on context.
Angels then, would have naturally found home in the singular sense of Heaven, and had the ability to traverse down to the lower heavens and into earth also depending on their job assignment.
For rebellious angels however, they're now in the realm of earth, but in the lower heavens. This refers to something alongside us, yet mostly undetected; something we talk about as the spiritual realm.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light
shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him,
saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.
Behold, to the L
your God belong heaven and the heaven of
heavens, the earth with all that is in it.
When we then talk about “Things on the earth” then, we can think of both physical and spiritual realms side by side or even overlapping. The physical realm of earth was intended to be inhabited, the heavenly aspect of earth was more intended to be an operating theatre for heavenly support, not for residence. However, because of rebellion in the heavenlies we now have beings which have taken residence here and generally cause mischief in the earth.
Eph 6:12
This passage in Ephesians we’re all so familiar with, is talking about our war being with those very same entities.
Paul isn’t just waxing eloquent here either by giving one thing several names, he’s alluding to the fact there is a hierarchy of organized malevolence, not just one evil force. Similarly to how in Heaven God has different ranks of angels for different purposes, those fallen also organize in a counterfeit version of what God does, but under Satan’s rule.
In the same letter as we just read, in chapter 2, Paul calls the one in charge, Satan, the “prince of the power of the air,” which seemingly alludes to his dominion in the earth being from the spiritual realm on earth.
So we have Satan’s seat in this space, his organization of fallen angels, but who are the foot soldiers, the lower ranks and masses with which we engage more regularly? Well, we call them “demons.”
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this
present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.
Demons also inhabit the spiritual realm of earth, but unlike angels, they cannot move between levels. They are stuck here. When we see them in scripture also, they have unique desires and motives as compared to other angelic hosts. Whereas an angel can manifest and interact with our physical plane with power, the demons are trying to invade an existing body. They long to manifest physically, but cannot on their own.
What are these then? The answer comes when we step back and examine everything that was made in the earth. Everything God made has a proper place, but our enemy is a counterfeiter. Anyone remember a counterfeit creation being made on the earth? That’s right, the Nephilim.
Gen 6:4
These were non-sanctioned souls made from hybridizing angels and humans, and thus their souls don’t follow the normal trajectory of one who dies in the earth. They are then, upon being wiped out in the flood, stuck on earth but behind the veil.
They remember having a body, retain the desires of the flesh, but have no flesh of their own to satisfy those desires.
This is just one of the reasons they envy and hate you, and try to get you to engage in depravity, then invite them in so that they can use your body to satisfy their fleshly desires.
The large portion of what Ephesians 6 is talking about is the constant wrestling with these forces. What lies behind depraved behaviors is more than just our sinful pleasures, but the
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward,
when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they
bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of
old, the men of renown.
indulgence of these vile creatures. Hopefully realizing that will give you a second pause before you choose to sin.
So that about covers the surface level of earth and what lives on either side of the veil here, but what about this “under the earth” the Bible talks about?
Randall
Old Testament Sheol (Hebrew) or New Testament Hades (Greek) Sheol is mentioned a lot in the Old Testament.
Psalm 6:5 “5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?”
Ecclesiastes 9:10 “10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”
Genesis 37:34-35 “34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.”
In the Old testament, Sheol was the place where anyone who died expected to go. It was the realm of all human dead. And it is the place where death currently holds some of those who have passed from this life, into the afterlife.
Sheol/Hades was divided into two areas. A place of rest and a place of torment.
There was a place of comfort for those who died in faith, called Paradise or Abrahams’s Bosom. This is where all those people listed in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith would have gone when they died to be comforted. After the resurrection of Jesus that changed. More on that next week.
The other section of Hades was a place of torment for those who died without faith, called Gehenna. Anyone that you have ever known, who has passed away and was not a Christian, is currently there. This is not hell. That is a completely separate place that we will talk about next week. Am I saying that Hitler is not in hell right now?...yes, that is exactly what I am saying.
Sheol/Hades could be considered a holding place for those who have rejected Christ and died in unbelief. Think of it like a jail for someone who has been convicted, and is awaiting sentencing and final punishment. County jail is not pleasant, but it’s not a maximum security prison.
Those currently in Hades know they are guilty. This is illustrated by something Jesus said In Luke’s gospel.
Luke 16:19-26 “19 “There was a rich man who was clothedin purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously everyday. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things,
and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
When the poor man died he went to be comforted by Abraham’s side in Paradise. When the rich man died he went to Gehenna to be tormented. Jesus doesn’t go into why each of them ended up in their respective places, but the context of what Jesus was talking about earlier in the chapter is money and that the Pharisees were lovers of money.
The rich man could see Abraham and Lazarus, so he called out and asked for some comfort from his torment. Abraham tells him that he received his comfort in his earthly life, and besides, there is a great chasm between the two places.
Luke 16:27-31 “27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
Then we get to the main point of all this. The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers on earth to warn them to repent of their love of money and avoid the punishment he is enduring. He says that if someone returns from the dead his brothers will listen them.
Abraham tells him that his brothers have Moses and the prophets...and if they won’t listen to them, then they won’t listen to someone who comes back from the dead. Abraham was telling the rich man that his brothers have the words of the Old Testament to show them their need for repentance.
Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they have the Old Testament to warn them of their need for repentance...And Jesus is telling us we have His word that warns us to repent. Because you see, Jesus did return from the dead...and people still don’t believe they need to repent.
Just like the rich man from this passage, anyone you know who rejected Jesus and has died, is currently in Hades awaiting final judgment. They are aware of their guilt...and the one thing they beg to do, if it were possible, is to return from the dead and warn you to repent so you don’t share their fate.
Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 “33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
The word that is in the Greek manuscripts is not hell, it was the Greek word Gehenna. This was a reference to an actual physical place. It was in the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the trash and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned. A literal dumpster fire, is the image Jesus used to describe the place the Pharisees would be sentenced to go.
Paradise
Luke 23:42-43 “42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
After His death, Jesus goes to Paradise on the comfort side of hades. While He’s there He does some awesome stuff. More on that next week.
There is one last place we will mention today. It is Tartarus. Tartarus is a maximum security prison that holds the Watchers. Remember them from Genesis 6? They were the Rebellious angels who came to earth to corrupt mankind. Their offspring were the Nephilim that Andy mentioned earlier.
2 Peter 2:4 “4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell (Tartarus) and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment”
Jude 5-6 “5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land ofEgypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day”
The disobedient Watchers are being held in Tartarus until their final punishment is delivered.
Every place we have talked about today is temporary. No one will be in any of those places eventually. Next week we will continue this message and show you how it all ends and where everyone goes. Those on the earth, above the earth and under the earth...Humans, disobedient Watchers, angels and demons alike will all have a final destination. Next week we will continue this message and bring this series to an end.
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