Is Hell's Punishment Unending (6) (Luke 16:19-31)

The question we must ultimately consider is, Does the Bible speak of a place of unending punishment for the wicked?  We did not use the word hell because we first see the need to define some terms from Scripture.  This defining will result in what we consider to be the answer as to what happens to the wicked after death and throughout eternity.  We will begin with the Old Testament and use a common context in Ezekiel for illustrations.

·        Sheol.  This term is translated hell (Ezek. 31:16,17).  That translation seems to fit there because it speaks of sheol as a place for many dead wicked people (cf. Isa. 14:9 where the wicked await the arrival of other wicked in sheol).  But it is agreed that this term often is translated simply grave (Hosea 13:14, a passage quoted in the NT using the term grave).

·        The Pit.  This word for a prison, well or cistern is used of the place of the dead (e.g. Ezek. 31:14,16).  In Gen. 37:20 the pit would have been a grave or simply a hole in which to hide Joseph’s body.

The OT is not definitive about the nature of the abode of the dead.  But it does refer to is as a place of continued existence and of torment for the wicked.  

Let us now consider the NT terms.

·        Hades.  The parable of Luke 16:19-31 (which some argue is an actual event and not simply a parable since Jesus did not speak of it as a parable as He usually did) describes hades (v23) as the abode of both wicked and righteous people.  The righteous were in Abraham’s bosom (v22) or Paradise (Lk. 23:43). The wicked were in torment from which there was no relief.  On the other hand Rev. 20:14 indicates only the wicked are in hades since all who are there are cast into the lake of fire.  Jesus, after His death and before His resurrection was in hades (Acts 2:27 where hades is a translation of sheol in Psalm 16:10).  Our understanding is that Christ led from hades the righteous, taking them into heaven (Eph. 4:8; 1 Peter 3:18-20).

·        The Abyss.  This refers to a prison that reserves certain fallen angels for eventual punishment (Luke 8:31; Rev. 17:8).  The lone use of the Greek term Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4) likely refers to this place as well.

·        Hell.  The term is gehenna, a reference to the valley of Hinnom on the south side of Jerusalem that served as the city dump where the fire never went out (Mark 9:43,45).  We believe hell is also referred to as the lake of fire (Rev. 19:10; 20:10,14,15; 21:8).  One writer put it this way: "Gehenna was not to their (the Jews) minds, a raging fire that would quickly consume all but asbestosized bodies.  Rather, it was the Valley of Hinnom, a putrefying place of horrible odor & filth, a place where maggots did their needed but repugnant work, accompanied by the always smoldering garbage fires." (Edward Fudge in Christianity Today, 8/6/76, Putting Hell In Its Place)

Hopefully this will help as we continue to study this tragic but critical theme.