Misconceptions about Hell fire and Lake of fire

                                                                           

                                                            This is a Lake of Fire. Not Hell Fire                     

Bible Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New Testament with keywords Concordance-CLNT (Revelation 20:11-15)

"...And I perceived the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And scrolls were opened. And another scroll was opened which is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged by which is written in the scrolls in accord with their acts.  And sea gives up the dead the dead in it, and death and unseen (i.e. Hades/graves/hell) give up dead in them. And they were condemned, each in accord with their acts. And death and unseen (i.e. Hades/graves/hell) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death - the lake of fire. And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire"(Revelation 20:12-15).

          Have you ever come to think about what Hell Fire and Lake of fire is all about? I have heard many Christians mentioning hell fire as if it is a kind of fire that is currently burning those who have done bad things on earth before they died. Some religious/non-religious people love to curse people they perceive to be bad to burn in hell forever. This makes me wonder if these people actually understand what they are saying.

          Many assumptions about hell have been widely accepted by many people. Some people have also testified in places of worship and on internet that they saw people burning in Hell Fire. As a result of these testimonies, many people have been in deep sorrow for their loved ones they believed must be currently burning in "Hell Fire". On internet, the former Pope had once stated that there was no hell. Of course, many religious people did not agree with this Pope. This becomes more confusing to know what to believe. The good news is that no confusion is permanent.

Through the scriptures, I realized that some words have been incorrectly interpreted just like the word ever/forever/unending/eternal when they meant to mentioned the word eon/ion/aon. Nothing last forever but only Yahweh does. Ion means a definite number of years no matter how long it may look like.

          So, when people talk about Hell Fire, they are mixing two different words together. The word is either Hell or Lake of Fire. Hell is a place people were concealed. It is synonymous to Hades. Hades is where dead people are being kept.  Dead people are sleeping (Ecclesiastes 9:5). They are not being tormented unlike what many religious leaders may have informed you. Some even collect some money from people to appease to the "spiritual beings in hell/God" to reduce the punishments of those who did evil and died. All these are lies. Paul made it known to us in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed for a person to die once and after death is the judgment. People are being misguided due to lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6 paraphrased). Knowledge is power if it is correctly applied. The scriptures cannot be annulled (John 10:35).

          Fire does not stand alone. It is Lake of Fire. This is where the people whose their names are not found in the Lambkin scroll would be cast into. This is also known as the second death. It is called Lake of Fire because it is only going to torment three beings. They are Vicar of Christ (i.e. the Antichrist), False Prophet and Satan per Revelations 19:19-20. So, Hell Fire is like when you mention two peoples' names together incorrectly. For an example, when Donald Trump and Barack Obama are addressed as Donald Obama and Trump Barack. These are confusing. The same way Hell Fire/Hell is being recorded in many scripture versions. It is either Hell or Lake of Fire.

One more thing, Gehenna is not Hell Fire or Lake of Fire. It is a place in the southern valley in the land of Jerusalem. It is a place where rebels are being corrected (Matthew 5:22-30; 10:28; Mark 9:43-47). It is not a Lake of Fire. It is not the place of eternity punishment. Therefore, please, stop mixing these words together.

I hope this week's blog has been a blessing to you as well.

 

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