Gehenna is the Hebrew name for a deep valley near Jerusalem called Ge Hinnom, valley of Hinnom. It is also called Topheth (2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33; Jer. 19:13). The worshippers of Molech burned their children there, and later the Jews burned the bodies of criminals there as well as unclean things. The fire there never went out. The Bible uses this picture to describe how sinners will be burned in the lake of fire outside of the New Jerusalem as an eternal punishment.
1. “The judgment of Gehenna” (Matt. 23:33).
2. “Into Gehenna, where...the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47-48).
The judgment of Gehenna is the judgment of unquenchable fire; therefore, it is an eternal judgment in the lake of fire. The word translated as “hell” in the King James Version in Mark 9:43 and 47; Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; and 23:15; Luke 12:5; and James 3:6 are all Gehenna in the original text. Thus, they all refer to the judgment of the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the final dwelling place for the devil with his angels and for all the sinners and everything that is contrary to God.
1. “The beast was seized, and with him the false prophet...These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone” (Rev. 19:20).
Antichrist, the beast, and his false prophet will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. They will be the first to go into the lake of fire since they oppose God most fiercely. They will be cast into the lake of fire when the Lord returns to defeat the nations who oppose Him on the earth. This will occur before the start of the millennial kingdom.
2. “If anyone worships the beast and his image...he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone” (Rev. 14:9-10).
Those who worship Antichrist, the beast, and his image will suffer in the lake of fire. They will go into the lake of fire before the millennium.
3. “Into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
When the Lord comes to judge the nations living on earth, those who are condemned as evil, that is, the goats, will go into the lake of fire to suffer eternal punishment. This will occur before the millennial kingdom. This eternal fire was prepared by God as a place of eternal punishment for the devil and the angels who followed him in his rebellion against God. Unforgiven sinners will be thrown into the lake of fire because they followed the devil to sin against God. Those who followed the devil in rebellion against God will be punished with the devil. As companions of the devil in sinning, the unbelievers will be companions of the devil in his punishment.
4. “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” (Rev. 20:10).
The devil will be cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire was originally prepared for him, and it is fitting that he be thrown into the lake of fire after the millennial kingdom.
5. “Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14).
Even death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Aside from the lake of fire, all matters pertaining to death are included in the first death. Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire after the millennial kingdom when all the spirits and souls of the dead in Hades are resurrected. At this time Hades will be empty and useless. Therefore, God will throw Hades into the lake of fire to terminate it.
6. “If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire”; “The cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all the false, their part will be in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 20:15; 21:8).
All the unsaved people throughout the ages, whose names are not written in the book of life, that is, those who are not in Christ, will be cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire will be the portion that they deserve for their sins. After the millennial kingdom, they will rise from Hades to pass through judgment at the great white throne and then be cast into the lake of fire. They will be the last group cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death to them. Prior to being cast into the lake of fire, all the sufferings that they have passed through, whether of spirit, soul, or body, are part of the first death. The first death is merely temporary; the second death is an eternal death and their eternal end. Hades is merely a temporary jail. At the great white throne they will pass through judgment and will be cast into the lake of fire, which will be their permanent prison.
7. “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and makes a lie” (Rev. 22:15).
The lake of fire will be outside of the New Jerusalem, just as Gehenna was outside of the earthly Jerusalem. Those who commit sins and are cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment are like unclean dogs in the eyes of God. They are cast into the lake of fire to be punished for eternity because God considers them unclean.
The lake of fire signifies eternal punishment for all who oppose God, and the New Jerusalem signifies eternal enjoyment for all God’s people. They are the exact opposite of each other. The result of God’s work in the universe throughout the ages issues in two very different ends. One is a city of water of life and the other is a lake of fire of death. One is God’s eternal habitation, and the other is the devil’s eternal prison. One is a place of eternal enjoyment for God and all who belong to Him, and the other is a place of eternal punishment for the devil and all who follow him. All who choose God and stand with Him will be part of (enter into) the glorious city as the wife of the Lamb (21:9) for His eternal enjoyment. All who choose the devil and stand with him will descend into the lake of suffering as the devil’s companions in his eternal punishment.
1. “They entreated Him not to order them to depart into the abyss” (Luke 8:31).
Demons are imprisoned in the abyss. The demons’ entreaty to the Lord Jesus in Luke 8:31 proves that God has imprisoned the demons in the abyss. Demons are not related to the devil himself, sinning angels, or the spirits and souls of dead men. According to the Bible, demons must be a group of living creatures who were under the devil’s control on the earth in the preadamic age. When they followed the devil in his rebellion against God, they became disembodied evil spirits. They are on the earth to harm sinful, worldly people, but God wants to imprison them in the abyss.
2. “He laid hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil...and cast him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him” (Rev. 20:2-3).
The devil will be laid hold of and cast into the abyss to be shut up there. In addition to these portions, Revelation 9:1-2; 11:7; and 17:8 speak of the abyss. They refer to the devil and demons. In Romans 10:7 the word abyss is also used.
1. “If God did not spare the angels who sinned but delivered them to gloomy pits, having cast them down to Tartarus, they being kept for judgment” (2 Pet. 2:4, some ancient manuscripts say gloomy chains instead of gloomy pits).
Tartarus is a Greek word that refers to a deep and gloomy pit where sinning angels are imprisoned. The angels who sinned were cast into Tartarus. The Chinese Union Version translates Tartarus as “hell.” Actually, Tartarus is not hell. In the Greek, hell is another word. Tartarus is a very deep pit into which God has cast the angels who sinned, giving them up to the gloom, or to the chains of gloom. He shut them up there to wait for judgment (Jude 6). Tartarus is where sinning angels are imprisoned. This place is the prison spoken of in 1 Peter 3:19.
The section of torment in Hades, the abyss, and Tartarus are like three different jails. The section of torment in Hades is a jail for the spirits and souls of unbelieving sinners, the abyss is a jail for the devil and demons, and Tartarus is a jail for angels who have sinned. Using these jails, God carries out His judgment in His government in the universe. God has prepared a place for each category of rebellious, sinful creature, and He jails them each in their own place.