Heaven is the place where God dwells though he is not contained or restrained there (1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:8). Heaven is a holy place where God makes his home (Isaiah 57:15; 63:15; Matt. 5:16; 16:17; 18:10). The redeemed are also citizens of heaven a future home for the believer as we read in Ephesians 2:19 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” and also in Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”.
Heaven is also a place of reward and inheritance for the believer (1 Pet. 1:4; 2 Cor. 5:1–5; John 14:2; Matt. 5:12; 6:20; cf. Col. 1:5). The experience of Heaven will be like no other and the impossible will be made possible as we stand in God’s and be will see His face (Rev. 22:4). We will live with God there for there will be no more tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain (Rev. 21:4). All of heaven will be illuminated and not by the sun or the moon but by God glory (Rev. 21:23).
In heaven true worship will be given to God as he deserves for we will see clearly and “shall know fully” and be “face to face” with our maker which to me a terrifying picture yet at the same time a glorious picture of what Christ accomplish in all the redeemed. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).
I also believe that the final state of the wicked is close to the reverse of heaven. While heaven is all that is good, hell is a place void of any good things. Because all good things come from above (James 1:17) and hell is a place void of God’s presence, therefore all that is experienced in hell is tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain with no end to the suffering (Jer. 50:31; Ez. 44:12; Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Pet. 2:9; Heb. 10:29).
Hell was originally “prepared for the devil and his angels” and is also the final state of the wicked (Matt. 25:41). While heaven is all that is good, hell is a place void of any good things. Because all good things come from above (James 1:17) and hell is a place void of God’s presence, therefore all that is experienced in hell is tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain with no end to the suffering (Jer. 50:31; Ez. 44:12; Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Pet. 2:9; Heb. 10:29).
Though Hell is a literal place for the wicked I believe that the fire mentioned in Scripture is only an imagery to allow us to understand the level of suffering. It is not the source of suffering – the source is separation from God. The image of fire came from the constant threat of the outbreak of fire. Juvenal, a Roman poet in the late 1st and early 2nd century would be quoted saying, “No, no!” he cried, I must live where there is no fire and the night is free from alarms!”[1]
Fire also came from Gehenna (The Valley of Hinnom) the word James (James 3:6) and Jesus spoke explicitly in relation to Hell (Matt 5:22-30, 10:28; Mk 9:44 Luke 12:5). Gehenna was a place where fires burned constantly and was known as a place of torment where children were known to be burned as sacrifices to idols.[2] The valley also became a place where garbage was burnt, along with the corpses of animals and criminals.[3] Gehenna became a synonym for hell and was used as imagery because no words could truly describe one’s suffering when in a state of complete and total absence of God’s presence, creation, and mercy. I believe that the suffering is forever (Rev. 19:3; 20:10) and there is to be no end or putting out of the source of the anguish (Matt. 3:12, 18:8; Mark 9:43; Luke 3:17).
There is little evidence for annihilationism in Scripture. We see constantly that the suffering is forever (Rev. 19:3; 20:10) and there seems to be no end or putting out of the source of the anguish (Matt. 3:12, 18:8; Mark 9:43; Luke 3:17).
Though I believe hell to be a literal state for the final state of the wicked I do believe in the possibility of the fire mentioned in Scripture to be an imagery of the source of the suffering. I believe there would be no words that could truly describe ones suffering when in a state of complete and total absence of God presence, creation, and mercy.
[1] David J. Williams, Paul’s Metaphors: Their context and Character (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Pub.), 13.
[2] David Noel Freedman, vol. 3, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 202.
[3] Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 517.
