Hell.
The word itself still evokes a sense of unease.
We whisper it in fear, joke about it in rebellion, and avoid it in church bulletins because, frankly, it ruins brunch conversations.
And yet, Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else in Scripture. That means we have to talk about it, too… like it or not.
Renaissance painters portray hell with demons with pitchforks. Dante mapped nine poetic circles of torment.
But ancient Israel had no such imagery. Their word for the grave was ‘Sheol.’ It was the place of the dead. It wasn’t the inferno of cartoons or cathedrals; it was the shadowy realm of silence and sleep.
Later, the New Testament writers used the words ‘Hades’ (from Greek mythology) and ‘Gehenna’ (a burning valley outside Jerusalem) as metaphors for final judgment.
These terms were meant to evoke a sense of separation from God, not a fiery kingdom by cartoon devils.
It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the infernal imagery of fire, torture, and monsters became popular.
Paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and poetry like Dante’s ‘Inferno’ shaped the Western imagination. Hell was no longer simply “the absence of God” but a theater of divine horror.
And though those images endure, the Bible paints something both simpler and more haunting:
Hell is what happens when God finally honors a person’s lifelong wish to live without Him.
Scripture speaks plainly and uncomfortably:
Whether these are literal descriptions or metaphors for spiritual ruin, the point is the same: hell is the natural consequence of rejecting the only source of life, God Himself.
Hell was never meant for humans. Jesus said it was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
Yet those who persistently refuse God’s grace end up sharing in their master’s fate. This isn’t because God delights in punishment, but because He will not force anyone into heaven kicking and screaming.
For the first Christians, hell was not the centerpiece of their preaching. Rather, it was the backdrop that made the Gospel shine brighter.
Writers like Irenaeus and Tertullian described hell as “real but just.” It was described as a final separation, not an eternal sadism. The emphasis wasn’t on flames but on the tragedy of loss.
To the early church thinkers, the greatest pain of hell was not physical torment, but the unbearable awareness of being cut off from God’s love forever.
Over the centuries, hell has become distorted into folklore. A few myths are worth debunking:
Myth 1: The devil rules hell.
Scripture says the opposite. Satan himself will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). He’s not hosting a party; he’s the condemned guest of honor.
Myth 2: Hell is for the worst people.
The Bible never grades on a curve. The “bad” people aren’t in hell for being worse; they’re there for rejecting grace.
Hell isn’t populated by monsters; it’s filled with ordinary people who preferred autonomy over surrender.
Myth 3: A loving God couldn’t send anyone there.
Hell doesn’t exist because God stopped loving. It exists because love requires freedom. God’s love is not coercive. He will not override your will, even if that means letting you walk away forever.
C. S. Lewis once said it best: “There are only two kinds of people in the end—those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”
EMBARK ON A JOURNEY THROUGH REVELATION
We’re slowly but surely animating the entire Book of Revelation. You can check out our first episode on John’s epic vision here.
Make sure to leave a comment and tell us what you think! 👇🏽
One can debate semantics on whether hell is eternal torment or an eternally raging fire that destroys souls forever.
One interpretation means people suffer forever. The other interpretation means the soul “dies” and ceases to exist.
Theologians continue to debate the concept of whether hell brings about suffering for all time, or if it mercifully ends.
But the fact remains: hell is real.
In modern times, we’ve softened hell into a metaphor. We say “a loving God wouldn’t do that,” forgetting that a just God must deal with evil.
We may not like to think about it, but a heaven without justice would be just another broken world.
Hell is what happens when people say, “I don’t need You,” and God, heartbroken, finally steps aside.
And make no mistake: God takes no pleasure in it.
“I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (Ezekiel 18:32)
The cross itself is proof. God went to hell and back, quite literally, to save us from it.
So, who goes to heaven?
Not the perfect ones. Not the religious. Not the ones who won the moral Olympics.
Heaven belongs to those who receive the gift of grace through Jesus Christ. It’s not earned; it’s accepted.
