What hell looks like according to the Bible

The Lake of Fire is called the Second Death (Rev. 20:14; 21:8). The first death is separation of the body from the soul and spirit which never die (James 2:26). The second death is the eternal separation of the entire person from God (2 Thess. 1:8-10) in hell (Gk: Gehenna) (Matt. 5:21-30; Mark 9:43-49) where the fire of judgment is not quenched and the worm of conscience does not die. There are no friends there: each person is isolated as wandering stars (comets) in the blackness of darkness forever (Jude 13), under God's eternal wrath (John 3:36; Rev. 20:10). It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31).

There are several names used for this: “the furnace of fire” (Matt. 13:42, 50; cf.Rev.9:2), “everlasting fire” (Matt 18:8), “hell, … the fire unquenchable” (Mark 9:43). The everlasting fire of hell (Gehenna), the lake of fire, is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41; cf. Rev.20:10). The fact that it will not only be angels but also people who will be cast into this unquenchable fire — eternally in the company of the fallen prince of angels — will be because, during their life here on earth, they didn't turn away from the prince and god of this age who blinded their minds (2 Cor.4:4).

This first picture describes how the godless will be tortured by the everlasting fire of judgment. Fire is a symbol of the wrath of God, who is called “a consuming fire” and the “everlasting burnings” (Deut. 4:24; Deut. 9:3; Isa. 33:14; Heb. 12:29). It is questionable, though, whether we should be thinking here of the personal attribute of God, rather than its outward expression that will strike the godless through all eternity. Indeed, are we able to imagine the “lake of fire”? This is also called “the lake of fire and brimstone”, which perhaps suggests that this picture is partially derived from the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, when God rained down brimstone and fire out of the heavens (Gen. 19:24 ff.; cf. also the word “furnace” in verse 28).

Although it is right to say that Scripture uses figurative language to describe the reality of heaven and hell, this does not in any way alter the fact that we are dealing with the literal existence of real places and things. These pictures are borrowed from our earthly reality in order to give us some understanding of another, supernatural, reality. For example, the name Gehenna (hell) was derived from the valley of the son of Hinnom, (In Hebrew “Ge-Hinnom”), near Jerusalem, where children were burned as sacrifices to Molech and where, after Josiah's reforms, all sorts of rubbish was collected and burned (2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3; 2 Chr. 33:6; Jer. 32:35).

The third picture given is that of the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12; Matt. 22:13; Matt. 25:30; 2 Peter 2:17; Jude 13). This picture too is taken from the earthly reality. Inside the banquet hall there is joy and light, but outside it is night and those who are there do not share in the joy of those inside. This picture depicts the sharp contrast with the atmosphere of joy and light in the house of the Lord, in His kingdom. For this is the banquet hall where the wedding feast is held and where fellowship with God is enjoyed, who is light and in whom is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). The unbelievers have been removed from this realm of light and love. Just like the foolish virgins, they are out in the darkness, faced by a closed door (Matt. 25:10 ff.), and just like Judas, they have gone out into the night (John 13:30). They are separated from God forever and live on in darkness, far from His kindly face. In this place of outer darkness there is not even one ray of light to be seen and there is neither hope nor expectation anymore. There is only an impenetrable darkness. It is a place of weeping, of eternal grief. There is also gnashing of teeth. This may refer not only to remorse, but also to anger; an eternal rebellion against God. Weeping and gnashing of teeth are certainly characteristics both of the outer darkness and of the furnace of fire (Matt. 13:42, 50). This clearly indicates that the two pictures, that of the fire as well as that of the darkness, are about the same terrifying reality.

Finally, taken as figures, these expressions have a significance and power which fail altogether when taken literally. The undying worm has indeed been commonly held to be the type of remorse of conscience, and this as bred of corruption it would very naturally represent. But then the fire unquenchable would almost of necessity be figurative also, and stand for the wrath of Him who is a "consuming fire." With this would agree the title given to Gehenna of "the second death," as being complete spiritual separation, finally by divine judgment, from God the source of life; and this again would give full and terrible typical significance to that millennial judgment with which Isaiah closes, where the subjects of the worm and fire are "carcases" — the dead. This explains also why the fire can torment a spirit, and why a corporeal being may exist in it unconsumed; or why the "destruction" brought about by it need be no material destruction. Everything, in short, in this way is consistent and harmonious, as much upon the literal hypothesis seems difficult and contradictory.

And so when we come to look at the details. There is no doubt that annihilation has been helped in many minds by the tendency to take literally the expressions used in Scripture to image to us the awful realities of eternal punishment. A "lake burning with fire and brimstone," if taken literally, would suggest to many the idea of utter extermination of the bodies at least of those cast into it. But how should the devil, a spirit, be tormented there? And what was the "flame" which tormented the spirit of the rich man in hades? The truth is, these are figures, which Scripture itself explains, where over and over again God's wrath is compared to fire. Thus, in the Lord's solemn words in Mark 9:48, the worm that dieth not is the gnawing of awakened conscience: who will suppose a literal undying worm? And so the fire that is not quenched is as surely that wrath of God which "abideth on" the wicked.

The Valley of Hinnom, the refuse dump outside Jerusalem, where fires always burned and maggots continually did their work, was known as Gehenna; and this word on the Lord's lips became a terribly apt figure of the abode of the lost. Verily hell will be the great refuse heap of eternity, where all that is incorrigibly evil will be segregated from the good, and lie for ever under the judgment of God. This terrible fact reaches us from the lips of Him who loved sinful men and wept over them.

The lost themselves are referred to as “the dead”, and will be assigned to the realm that is called “the second death”. Here everything is marked by death; death has power over the “dead”. According to Revelation 20, this second and ultimate death is “the lake of fire”. The realm of death, where the worm does not die, is therefore a place of torment in a physical sense too. This idea is confirmed by the words of the Lord Himself, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”(Matt. 10:28).

The last stroke then descends. "The devil which deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the Beast and false prophet are, and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10). This is that of which our Lord spake in Matthew 25:41, "everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels." There will be a restricted area ("a lake") somewhere in the universe of God where evil will be confined and punished eternally. No activity in sin can be permitted, even though heart hatred to God and His Son must needs abide, for neither new-birth nor repentance are possible in Gehenna. Absolute subjection will be divinely enforced (Phil. 2:10-11). Satan and all his dupes, whether angelic or human, will be found together when the final judgement of God is executed.

But the death he dies is not the death of Sadducean materialism, but one in which the sinner abides under the judgment to which it has consigned him. It is a condition of darkness — outer darkness — for God has finally and forever withdrawn Himself. It is torment in the flame of necessary anger against sin. These are the elements of a judgment which will not be altered in character, when in the resurrection of judgment the dead stand before the great white throne to receive the discriminate awards of the day of manifestation.

The terrible import of verse 8 is apparent. It stands in contrast to the victors in verse 7, and in both verses we are carried outside the bounds of time and into the endless expanse of eternity. There is that confined region, burning with the holy judgment of God, which will be the second death to those that are cast there. The first death is not annihilation. If it were, there could be no second. It is dissolution of soul and body. The second death will be the complete and absolute dissolution of every link that connects with God; complete severance from all that is summed up in the words, life and light and love. There will be existence but not life in the full and proper sense of the word.