Originally, this was a chapter I was also going to leave out of this study. The reasons were once again; it is a common theme touched upon in every other book out there, regarding hell. It is hard to speak about hell and leave out any discussion about the study of the words used for hell. In my case, it also then connects more greatly to understanding the meaning of fire in the Bible. After some prayer, I realized it is impossible to leave out this part of the analysis, which led me to accepting universal restoration. Considering much of my story is also about “how the law of Christ decrees the salvation and restoration of all things.” In fact, fire plays an important part of this discussion. At least, in the sense of imagery. Let’s now look at fire in the bible and in specific, fire in relation to the awesome laws of Christ and the Kingdom of God.
8.1 The Fiery Law
It was 2018 when I unknowingly was enrolled into the University of Kingdom Law. Studying the laws that govern the cosmos. Laws which are certainly active, living and truly remarkable. As the Psalmist writes, “The law of Yahweh is flawless, restoring the soul; The testimony of Yahweh is faithful, making wise the simple; The precepts of Yahweh are upright, rejoicing the heart; The instruction of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes; (Psalm 19:7-8 CLV)” These laws literally emanate the character of our King and God. They are perfect.
I am sure we all know the words in Hebrews 12:29, “For our God is a consuming fire” which is coming from the Old Testament, “for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24 LEB).” As I began this journey into His kingdom laws, I came across Dr. Steven E. Jones’ and his writing about Deuteronomy 33:2:
BSB: 2 He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
Now, at first glance as we read the BSB, one might think, ok? So, the Lord came down with His holy ones and a flaming fire in his right hand. What is your point? Well, here is a verse which I think is critical in reviewing it through other translations. In all but one of the modern translations, it seems like what we read in the BSB is what it is being said. However, the NET and most of the classic translations, along with the LSV and SLT, present something quite different.
NET: 2 He said: A Historical Review The LORD came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them.
LEB: 2 Then he said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and he dawned upon them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran, and he came with myriads of holy ones, at his right hand a fiery law for them.
KJV: 2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
2 וַיֹּאמַ֗ר יְהוָ֞ה מִסִּינַ֥י בָּא֙ וְזָרַ֤ח מִשֵּׂעִיר֙ לָ֔מוֹ הוֹפִ֙יעַ֙ מֵהַ֣ר פָּארָ֔ן וְאָתָ֖ה מֵרִבְבֹ֣ת קֹ֑דֶשׁ מִֽימִינ֕וֹ ׳אֵשְׁדָּת׳ ״אֵ֥שׁ״ ״דָּ֖ת״ לָֽמוֹ׃
WLC-T: 2 wayyomar yhwh missinai ba’ wezarach misse’ir lamo hophi’a mehar paran we’athah merivvoth qodesh mimino ׳’esheddath׳ ״’esh״ ״dath״ lamo
Isn’t that amazing? Ok, I may be biased, but as I have grown in my love for King Jesus and Father God, I have come to love their laws. I get so excited about it. I think it is something amazing when a person can say they are getting excited about kingdom law. Don’t you think? Here we read that, in fact, the law itself is fiery.
So, the law is fiery. What else do we learn across the Bible that is likewise so? Well, we learn that His word is as fire. We learn from King David that His ministers are as flames of fire.
Jeremiah 23:29
BSB: 29 Is not My word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”
LEB: 29 “Is not my word like fire?” declares Yahweh, “and like a blacksmith’s hammer that breaks a rock into pieces?”
Psalms 104:4, Hebrews 1:7
BSB: 104:4 He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants. 1:7 Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”
CLV: 104:4 Who is making His messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire, 1:7 And, indeed, to the messengers He is saying, “Who is making His messengers blasts, And His ministers a flame of fire.”
In chapter 2, I shared the king-priest-saints would judge the cosmos. Would it be a fair assumption to say, this means, all future king-priest-saints who govern with King Jesus will be as flames of fire, holding the fiery law in their hand, speaking forth the fiery word of God. Standing with King Jesus and judging in righteous judgment according to the standards of that wonderful fiery law. Now isn’t this some fiery imagery?
Now I want to ask you a challenging question. One I have asked myself often since discovering all of this. Although we will learn about the limitations always set within the law on sin-debts in the next chapter, from where we stand right now with all that I have shared, Do you think you are ready for Jesus to give you such authority as a king-priest-saint, to judge the cosmos and wield such a powerful fire? It humbles me to think about this. I can clearly say, as long as I had believed His judgments of sin lead to an eternity in hellfire. I would say—pardon the pun—hell no! I certainly know I wouldn’t make the first resurrection to be given such authority during the millennial kingdom. Now, however, after discovering the beauty and power and purity of His laws, well, my hope is growing just like the apostle Paul that I am inching closer and closer to my crown.
What about yourself? If you took an honest stock of your life, do you think you could qualify?
I wanted to also share a verse that although it is not specifically related to the law; I think it gives us quite some insight as to the final outworking’s of fire in the Bible. We see a live piece of fiery coal purifying Isaiah in 6:6-7:
BSB: 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And with it he touched my mouth and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
NASB95: 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
6 וַיָּ֣עָף אֵלַ֗י אֶחָד֙ מִן־הַשְּׂרָפִ֔ים וּבְיָד֖וֹ רִצְפָּ֑ה בְּמֶ֨לְקַחַ֔יִם לָקַ֖ח מֵעַ֥ל הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃ 7 וַיַּגַּ֣ע עַל־פִּ֔י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הִנֵּ֛ה נָגַ֥ע זֶ֖ה עַל־שְׂפָתֶ֑יךָ וְסָ֣ר עֲוֺנֶ֔ךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ֖ תְּכֻפָּֽר׃
WLC-T: 6 wayya’oph elai echad min-hasseraphim uveyado ritspah bemelqachayim laqach me’al hammizbeach 7 wayyagga’ al-pi wayyomer hinneh naga’ zeh al-sephatheikha wesar awֺnekha wechattathekha tekhuppar
I believe what we find is that the fire of God is something that certainly, in most cases, is painful to experience as it burns our flesh and old Adamic nature. But in the end, we are saved through it, which ultimately is the fire of the law of Christ. The apostle Paul actually speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 3:10b-15. I think this is a great word which also encompasses the topics of judgement, rewards, fire and loss and salvation all in one which we have been speaking about in this study.
BSB: 10b But each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
CLV: 13 each one’s work will become apparent, for the day will make it evident, for it is being revealed by fire. And the fire, it will be testing each one’s work—what kind it is. 14 If anyone’s work will be remaining which he builds on it, he will get wages. 15 If anyone’s work shall be burned up, he will forfeit it, yet he shall be saved, yet thus, as through fire.
BGB: 13 ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον φανερὸν γενήσεται· ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα δηλώσει, ὅτι ἐν πυρὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται, καὶ ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον ὁποῖόν ἐστιν τὸ πῦρ αὐτὸ δοκιμάσει. 14 εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον μενεῖ ὃ ἐποικοδόμησεν, μισθὸν λήμψεται· 15 εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον κατακαήσεται, ζημιωθήσεται, αὐτὸς δὲ σωθήσεται, οὕτως δὲ ὡς διὰ πυρός.
BGB-T: 13 hekastou to ergon phaneron genēsetai; hē gar hēmera dēlōsei, hoti en pyri apokalyptetai, kai hekastou to ergon hopoion estin to pyr auto dokimasei. 14 ei tinos to ergon menei ho epoikodomēsen, misthon lēmpsetai; 15 ei tinos to ergon katakaēsetai, zēmiōthēsetai, autos de sōthēsetai, houtōs de hōs dia pyros.
I like how the CLV states this, finally after the fire reveals what kind of work we have achieved, we will get our wages. What I believe this is stating is: “We have to run to the fire, not away from it!” Everybody saved or not saved will be tested, tried, and put through the fire. One way or another. Are you building with gold, silver and precious stones or are you building with wood, hay, and straw?
8.2 The Words for Hell Analysis
Once again, reviewing the Englishman’s Concordance and the analysis of Dr. E. W. Bullinger in his appendix 35 and 131. I looked at every occurrence of the Greek and Hebrew words affecting this discussion. I then took my database of translations, and I did some VLOOKUP’s. I have found the results to be intriguing, as we will see. For now, these are the current words we are needing to review.
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The Hebrew word Sheol (שְׁאוֹל / šĕʾôl / H7585). We find this in the Old Testament 66 times.
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The Greek word Hades (ᾅδου / G86). This word is used 74 times in the Old Testament LXX to represent the Hebrew word sheol. In the New Testament, it shows up 11 times.
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The Greek word Gehenna (γέεννα / geena / G1067). We find this 12 times in the New Testament.
8.2.1 The Old Testament
Of the Bibles translations I have analyzed, we can see the following chart of how they translated or transliterated Sheol. It can be that in some verses, all words are showing up together.
Other than the KJV, the versions I didn’t include which have pronounced usage of hell are the Geneva 1599 Bible, the Douay Rheims Bible and the Webster Bible. Outside of these, what we find is that hell is uniquely missing in the Old Testament. The NET has a good split using either the grave/pit or Sheol. The NIV actually doesn’t use sheol at all. It seems half of the references are just missing. Julia E. Smith (SLT) and J.B. Rotherham (EBR) are fully consistent using Hades in their translations. I think this is effective as it connects the concept of Sheol/Hades in the Old Testament to that of the New Testament. Finally, the CLV uses Unseen to translate Sheol and Hades, and as we will see, brings consistency of concept to the reader as one progresses to the New Testament.
What are your thoughts on this? Have you found it surprising to see in all these versions except the KJV that hell is missing from the Old Testament?
8.2.2 The New Testament
For the New Testament, let’s recall, Hades appears 11 times and Gehenna 12 times. I think the results are as well revealing, yet I find quite disturbing in their consistency with the Old Testament.
If one were to read the Bible only through the ESV. It would appear that for over 4,000 years consisting of the patriarchs and the church in the wilderness (the Israelite kingdom), hell never existed. Then suddenly, with the advent of Jesus, hell came onto the scene. If I were a Pharisee at the time, I would certainly find myself shocked, wouldn’t you?
As I was doing some analysis reviewing these verses. What I found in the data was that these modern versions keep Hades as Hades, but then they translate Gehenna as hell. If we review every case that exists where Gehenna is used, what we find is, it is always in relation to Jesus speaking about … fiery judgement! Gehenna fire is the imagery of being judged by the fiery law. I want to provide just two examples of this.
Matthew 5:22:
BGB: 22 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει· ὃς δ’ ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ‘Ῥακά,’ ἔνοχος ἔσται τῷ συνεδρίῳ· ὃς δ’ ἂν εἴπῃ ‘Μωρέ, ἔνοχος ἔσται εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός.
BGB-T: 22 egō de legō hymin hoti pas ho orgizomenos tō adelphō autou enochos estai tē krisei; hos d’ an eipē tō adelphō autou ‘Rhaka,’ enochos estai tō synedriō; hos d’ an eipē ‘Mōre, enochos estai eis tēn geennan tou pyros.
BSB: 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
BLB: 22 … But whoever shall say, ‘Fool!’ will be liable to the Gehenna of fire.
NIV: 22 … Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
WEB: 22 … and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
NTAT: 22 Whereas I say to you that everyone who becomes angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; and whoever says ‘Raka’ to his brother shall be liable to the Council; and whoever says ‘worthless reprobate’ shall be liable to enter Hinnom’s Vale of fire.
Matthew 23:33
BGB: 33 ὄφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, πῶς φύγητε ἀπὸ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης;
BGB-T: 33 opheis, gennēmata echidnōn, pōs phygēte apo tēs kriseōs tēs geennēs?
BSB: 33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
BLB: 33 Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How shall you escape from the sentence of Gehenna?
NIV: 33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
WEB: 33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
NTAT: 33 Serpents, brood of vipers, how may you escape the verdict of Hinnom’s Vale?
I find it interesting once again to see the difference in translation by the same people behind the BSB and BLB. Why does the literal translation demand using Gehenna, but the general Bible finds it okay to use hell for the same word?
Otherwise, I am not sure about you, but I have to say this kind of changes the perspective and understanding, doesn’t it? We certainly see the connection of the judgment of Gehenna fire with God’s fiery law. One statement I hear the most from anybody who stands firm on the eternal hell framework is “but Jesus spoke more about hell than Heaven!” Well, surely not! One could say He certainly spoke more about “the coming judgment by the fiery law” than of Heaven. He certainly did not speak about our English word hell and its imagery today that fills the hearts and minds of people in the twenty-first century. Jesus certainly knows the difference between Sheol/Hades, and a time fiery judgment called Gehenna.
Can it be we have here a visible bias of translation by these Bible translation companies? What would happen if all of them took the words of Jesus speaking about Gehenna and they simply transliterated it like Hades or Sheol? Hell would literally disappear and maybe, we might come to a better understanding of how the fiery law of God can judge us according to our deeds.
There is such inconsistency on these words through the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek. Even though, in Greek, we see clear consistency between the Greek LXX and the New Testament concepts. Thankfully, those like Julia E. Smith, A. E. Knoch, J. B. Rotherham, Robert Young and Dr. David Bentley Hart have chosen—for English to be as strongly as possible—consistent with these words. Though even they are imperfect. Therefore, they are such valuable resources to be used when studying the Word of God.
8.3 The Lake of Fire
In the book of Revelation, we have this amazing imagery called the “lake of fire.” What is this thing called the lake of fire? Is it a real literal burning lake of fire? Or is it imagery similar to the “fiery law.” As we have learned, the ministers of Jesus become as “flames of fire.” I have explored this topic in my Appendix 3 of Upgrading Earth, but I wanted to touch on it further here as it is deeply relevant to the overall topic of fire in the Bible.
The first and foremost thing I have found important on this topic is for one, the lake of fire is never called or translated as hell. When I reviewed the forty-six different Bible translations on biblehub.com, eleven of them use hell for Hades. That is twenty-four percent. Most of these are from the Early Modern era such as the Geneva, Bishops’, Coverdale, and Tyndale translations. Let’s now review Revelation 20:14:
BSB/ESV: 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
KJV: 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
NLT: 14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
CLV: 14 And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death–the lake of fire.
NTAT: 14 And Death and Hades were cast into the marsh of fire. This—the marsh of fire—is the second death.
BGB: 14 Καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός. οὗτος ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερός ἐστιν, ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρός.
BGB-T: 14 Kai ho thanatos kai ho hadēs eblēthēsan eis tēn limnēn tou pyros. houtos ho thanatos ho deuteros estin, hē limnē tou pyros.
What becomes clear is that hell if you will, which is properly Hades, is thrown into the lake of fire. Or as Dr. David Bentley Hart translates it “the marsh of fire.” Therefore, there is only one conclusion to make, and that is the lake of fire is not hell. We also find nowhere in the Bible that Gehenna is thrown in the lake of fire. Have you ever considered this before? We find Death and Hades being thrown in the lake, but never a mention of Gehenna. We also find that the word Gehenna is only used by Jesus in the New Testament. The other authors in their writings outside of the gospels speak only about Hades, and it is surprisingly little. We have references being in Acts 2:27,31 and Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14. That is it!
I have also come to realize that, in fact, the lake of fire is not a solitary place. What do I mean here? When we go to the parallel event that is recorded in the book of Daniel. We begin to see the bigger picture. Let us look at Daniel 7:9-10:
BSB: 9 As I continued to watch, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.
NASB95: 9 I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. 10 A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.
Then what follows is the parallel vision that the apostle John saw. Revelation 20:11-15:
BSB: 11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
NTAT: 11 And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book—the one of life, that is—was opened; and, from the things written in the book, the dead were judged according to their works. 13 And the sea yielded up the dead within it, and Death and Hades yielded up the dead within them, and they were judged, every one of them, according to their works. 14 And Death and Hades were cast into the marsh of fire. This—the marsh of fire—is the second death. 15 And, if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the marsh of fire.
Hmm, could it be that the lake of fire is part of the throne which has fiery wheels on it. Then a river of fire flows from the presence of the throne, which culminates finally into the lake or marsh of fire? Therefore, it is part of a larger package. It is not a solitary place. It appears this way, right? It appears in imagery, yet this is Father God and King Jesus being this fire. They are “an all-consuming fire.”
Paraphrasing my quote from my book, what we have then is the following from all of this. The lake of fire and the second death are connected as one and the same. In these two accounts, the throne represents righteous authority, righteous judgment, and righteous justice. The fire represents the law of Father God and King Jesus, the civil and social laws of the universe and the Ten Commandments. Fire and brimstone represent the purifying power of the Holy Spirit. Fire represents the ministers of King Jesus. These are the Overcomers, the First Fruits, His Chosen, essentially the king-priests-saints who are ruling and reigning with Him over the millennium and beyond. The brimstone represents the power to purify, which is the Greek word theion (θείῳ). Fire in the Bible symbolizes all the above: judgment, the law, cleansing, and his word. It represents their power, presence, passion, and purity. It never, ever represents torment or torture.1[1] Slaats, Jamie. “Section 5. Understanding the Lake of Fire and Fire Itself, from Appendix 3: A Cruel Character Assassination.” in Upgrading Earth – It was never meant to be saved, it was always meant to be upgraded! (TwelveGates e.U., 2020). Accessed: Oct 01, 2021. https://upgradingearth.org/read/upgrading-earth/appendix-3-a-cruel-character-assassination/
Try to imagine this, in most basic terms, YOU as a king-priest-saint with Jesus represent the “throne of fire” with the “river of fire” flowing out of it into the “lake of fire.” Once again, 1 Corinthians 6:2 “Or do you not know that the holy ones will judge the cosmos? And, if the cosmos is judged by you, are you not worthy to pass judgment in minimal matters? (NTAT)” What an amazing, intense thought, isn’t it?
I once read a statement that was also unique in explaining the lake of fire. Sadly, I couldn’t find the statement again. It went something like this, when the Israelites were in the desert for forty years Yahweh went before them. We read in Exodus 13:21 “And the LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.” We know He makes His minsters or servants as flames of fire. What if what John was seeing of this lake of fire, was in fact a “reflection of the celestials above?” A clear, undisturbed lake could in imagery reflect the fire and lights of all that is happening in the celestial realm. Just as the Lord went before the Israelites as a pillar of fire, so the lake is reflecting the servants of the Most-High God from above. It was an interesting thought which I believe could as well be very, very plausible.
8.4 Conclusions
It is simply striking how fire can have such an impact on our senses and our imagery when we read our wonderful Bibles. If one wants to spend more time on researching fire in the Bible, you can certainly dedicate more time than I have given to it here.
As we carry on in this study, I find it important to understand that it is God’s laws themselves that are represented by fire. We certainly find that Sheol and Hades are never connected to fire, unless, of course, we add imagery to them coming from Greek and Egyptian and Persian mythologies. We definitely find that even Sheol and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire. I believe we can say the lake of fire is having a strong connection to the judgment of Gehenna fire. Gehenna fire is not a place of permanent and eternal punishment in literal fire. It isn’t taking fire and burning someone for all of eternity. It is a onetime judgment that then follows within the confines of the laws of God. Which lead to restoration of the sinner, not the torture or annihilation of the sinner. Although, I suppose long term there is the destruction of the flesh, but that still means the spirit is saved.
Finally, if when we consider all of this from a bird-eye view, the lake of fire is a good thing. It is a glorious thing, as it is not a standalone place. We can’t separate it from Father God, Lord Jesus, the king-priest-saints, the throne, the fire emanating out from the throne as a river, and ending up in the lake of fire, a place of good fiery judgment. God is an all-consuming fire! It is the kingdom of God.
All of this understanding of fire has helped me to progress in grasping how it all connects to the greater plan for the restoration of all things, and how truly wonderful the laws of Christ are in working to achieve this.