Lake of fire....

What is the "lake of fire"? Is it the same place as "hell"?

@galveston75 said
What is the "lake of fire"? Is it the same place as "hell"?

@galveston75 said
What is the "lake of fire"? Is it the same place as "hell"?

@galveston75 said
What is the "lake of fire"? Is it the same place as "hell"?

Here come the cut and pastes.

@rajk999 said
Here come the cut and pastes.

First about "hell". What is it and where is it. Some Bible translations use the word “hell” for the Hebrew word “Sheol” and the matching Greek word “Hades,” both of which refer to the common grave of mankind. You can look that up with a very simple research.
In it's original languages, the Bible uses the Hebrew word sheʼohlʹ and its Greek equivalent haiʹdes more than 70 times. Both words are related to death. Some Bible translations render them as “grave,” “hell,” or “pit.” However, in most languages there are no words that convey the precise sense of these Hebrew and Greek words. The New World Translation therefore uses the words “Sheol” and “Hades” in footnotes. What do these words really mean? Let us note how they are used in different Bible passages.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 states: “There is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave “Sheol”, where you are going.” Does this mean that Sheol refers to a specific, or individual, grave site where we may have buried a loved one? No. When the Bible refers to a specific burial place, or grave, it uses other Hebrew and Greek words, not sheʼohlʹ and haiʹdes. (Genesis 23:7-9; Matthew 28:1) Also, the Bible does not use the word “Sheol” for a grave where several individuals are buried together, such as a family grave or a mass grave.​—Genesis 49:30, 31.

To what kind of place, then, does “Sheol” refer? God’s Word indicates that “Sheol,” or “Hades,” refers to something much more than even a large mass grave. For instance, Isaiah 5:14 notes that the Grave, or Sheol, “has enlarged itself and has opened its mouth wide without limit.” Although Sheol has already swallowed, so to speak, countless dead people, it always seems to hunger for more. (Proverbs 30:15, 16) Unlike any literal burial site, which can hold only a limited number of the dead, ‘the Grave is never satisfied.’ (Proverbs 27:20) That is, Sheol never becomes full. It has no limits. Sheol, or Hades, is thus not a literal place in a specific location. Rather, it is the common grave of dead mankind, the figurative location where most of mankind sleep in death.

The Bible teaching of the resurrection helps us to gain further insight into the meaning of “Sheol” and “Hades.” God’s Word associates Sheol and Hades with the sort of death from which there will be a resurrection. * (Job 14:13; Acts 2:31; Revelation 20:13) God’s Word also shows that those in Sheol, or Hades, include not only those who have served Jehovah but also many who have not served him. (Genesis 37:35; Psalm 55:15) Therefore, the Bible teaches that there will be “a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”​—Acts 24:15.

@galveston75 said
What is the "lake of fire"? Is it the same place as "hell"?

So what is the "lake of fire"? Is it a real place? hardly....

The five Bible verses that mention “the lake of fire” show it to be a symbol rather than a literal lake. (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8) The following are cast into the lake of fire:

The Devil. (Revelation 20:10) As a spirit creature, the Devil cannot be harmed by literal fire.​—Exodus 3:2; Judges 13:20.

Death. (Revelation 20:14) This is not a literal entity but represents a state of inactivity, the absence of life. (Ecclesiastes 9:​10) Death cannot literally be burned.

“The wild beast” and “the false prophet.” (Revelation 19:20) Since these are symbols, doesn’t it seem reasonable to conclude that the lake they are thrown into is also a symbol?​—Revelation 13:11, 12;



So this is a symbol. But what does it symbolize?

The Bible says that the lake of fire “means the second death.” (Revelation 20:14; 21:8) The first kind of death mentioned in the Bible resulted from Adam’s sin. This death can be reversed by resurrection and will eventually be eliminated by God.​—1 Corinthians 15:21, 22, 26.

There is no release from the symbolic lake of fire

The lake of fire represents a different, or second, kind of death. Although it too represents a state of total inactivity, it is different in that the Bible says nothing about a resurrection from the second death. For example, the Bible says that Jesus has “the keys of hell and of death,” showing that he has the authority to release people from the death brought by Adam’s sin. (Revelation 1:​18; 20:13, King James Version) However, neither Jesus nor anyone else has a key to the lake of fire. That symbolic lake represents eternal punishment in the form of permanent destruction.​—2 Thessalonians 1:9.

Identical to Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom
Gehenna (Greek geʹen·na) is mentioned 12 times in the Bible. Like the lake of fire, it is a symbol of eternal destruction. Although some translations render this word as “hell,” Gehenna is different from hell (Hebrew sheʼohlʹ, Greek haiʹdes).

The ancient valley of Hinnom outside the wall of Jerusalem with a fire constantly burning
The Valley of Hinnom

The word “Gehenna” literally means “Valley of Hinnom,” referring to a valley just outside Jerusalem. In Bible times, the city residents used this valley as a garbage dump. They kept a fire constantly burning there to destroy refuse; maggots consumed anything that the fire did not reach.

Jesus used Gehenna as a symbol of everlasting destruction. (Matthew 23:33) He said that in Gehenna “the maggot does not die and the fire is not put out.” (Mark 9:​47, 48) He thus alluded to the conditions in the Valley of Hinnom and also to the prophecy at Isaiah 66:24, which says: “They will go out and look on the carcasses of the men who rebelled against me; for the worms on them will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished.” Jesus’ illustration describes, not torture, but complete annihilation. The worms and fire consume carcasses, or dead bodies, not living people.

The Bible gives no indication of any return from Gehenna. “The lake of fire” and “the fiery Gehenna” both represent permanent, everlasting destruction.​—Revelation 20:14, 15; 21:8; Matthew 18:9.

How “tormented day and night forever and ever”?
If the lake of fire is a symbol of destruction, why does the Bible say that in it the Devil, the wild beast, and the false prophet “will be tormented day and night forever and ever”? (Revelation 20:10) Consider four reasons why this torment does not refer to literal torture:

For the Devil to be tortured eternally, he would have to be kept alive forever. However, the Bible says that he will be brought to nothing, or put out of existence.​—Hebrews 2:​14.

Everlasting life is a gift from God, not a punishment.​—Romans 6:​23.

The wild beast and the false prophet are symbols and cannot experience literal torture.

The context of the Bible indicates that the torment of the Devil is everlasting restraint or destruction.

The word used for “torment” in the Bible can also mean “a condition of restraint.” For example, the Greek word for “tormentors” used at Matthew 18:34 is rendered as “jailers” in many translations, showing the connection between the words “torment” and “restraint.” Likewise, the parallel accounts at Matthew 8:​29 and Luke 8:​30, 31 equate “torment” with “the abyss,” a figurative place of complete inactivity or death. (Romans 10:7; Revelation 20:​1, 3) In fact, several times the book of Revelation uses the word “torment” in a symbolic sense.​—Revelation 9:5; 11:10; 18:​7, 10.

@rajk999 said
Here come the cut and pastes.

@fmf said
Bingo!

😆

@galveston75 said
Must be jealous because you haven't got the references and backing to prove your personal non biblical opinions.

@rajk999 said
When the day comes that my brain is so dead that I have to cut and paste everything, I will stop posting. So Im not jealous of you. I pity your inability to teach people about your doctrine in your words.

@rajk999 said
The man is so predictable. lol