They Lied to You About Hell But I'm Just Gonna Tell It Like It is!

If you've been a Christian long, you've certainly heard of Hell. If you haven't, today is a great day for it. What most Christians haven’t been taught is how to understand the statements that Jesus has made concerning Hell. If you listen to Protestant Christianity, you will likely miss some important aspects of your understanding. I dislike making statements like that but that is the position Christians have placed me in. The distortion that began with most of the church fathers has led to the situation that Christians are living in today.

If you want to understand the meaning and significance of Jesus’ use of the term “Hell,” then you will have to first understand that “Hell” is a parabolic image. So we will look at the imagery and then hopefully I’ll have time to show you how it plays a role in the seventh day of creation. Yes, the sabbath. Let’s begin with a few statements that Jesus has made concerning the issue.

“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” Luke 12:4-5 KJV

Jesus is here stressing the importance of obeying God even if a man may kill you. His point is, though a man can kill you, don’t fear him, for the one greater than man can kill the body and cast you into hell. Many people ask if hell is a place beyond this physical realm. I believe that is a wonderful question. There is evidence that suggests such a scenario may be a possibility. However, “hell” is being used as a parabolic image.

A parabolic image is an image that tells us what spiritual reality is like by comparing it to something (an image) in this physical realm. This definition is what the Greek word "parabole" means. So what is the Greek term that the English translators have translated as "hell"? The Greek term for “hell” is “Gehenna.” Gehenna is a transliteration of a place that was located in Jerusalem. The Hebrew name of this place is Ge-Hinnom or the valley of Hinnom. “Ge” in Hebrew is valley and “Hinnom” is the name of a father who has a son that I haven’t been able to locate. However, Hinnom was a Jebusite. The Jebusites were the original inhabitants of Jerusalem. The most important thing to understand about Ge-Hinnom is the activity that was taking place in the valley. So let’s look! But before we do, let me show you a few more places where Jesus talks about hell.

“What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 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.” Matthew 10:27-28 KJV

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Matthew 23:33 KJV

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” Matthew 23:15 KJV

Now let’s look at what scripture tells us about Ge-Hinnom.

“And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.” 2 Kings 23:10 KJV

You need to understand three things about what’s being stated here. If you read the context from verse 1 to 10, the king of Israel has just rededicated himself and the people back to Yahuah and is destroying every idol and place of false worship. But, as is common with the KJV translators, you will not see what verse 10 is actually saying because they do not translate the term “Topheth.” My translation is below:

“10) [And he ceremonially defiled] [the place of fire] [which] [{is} in the valley] [of {the] son of Hinnom] [that no] [man] [cause [his son] [and his daughter] to crossover] [through a fire] [to the king]. 2 Kings 23:10 —My Provisionary Hebrew Translation

The king of Israel is rededicating himself and the people to Yahuah because they were following the ways of the Canaanites and this abomination was taking place for a specific reason. I will not go into much detail about Ugaritic/Canaanite/Phoenician beliefs here but they were responsible for human sacrificial rituals. They made their children pass through the fire of the Canaanite god El. Not the Most High God of Israel but the false god that Yahuah borrowed his epithet from. In the valley of Ge-Hinnom, there was a lot of fire and burning going on. It was a place of slaughter. As the next writer tells us:

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 28:1-3 KJV

“They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.” Jeremiah 19:5-6 KJV

Now that you have an idea of what the place Ge-Hinnom is and why Jesus called it hell and hellfire, or I should say, why Jesus called it “Gehenna.” Allow me to explain why Jesus used Gehenna, the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew term Ge-Hinnom, as a parabolic image and what its meaning and significance are. Remember I told you that a parable is a comparison to something. So Jesus compares the wicked's fate in this age to sacrifices made in the fire, the valley of the son of Ge-Hinnom. That place was a site of sacrificial burning. When Jesus uses the term "Gehenna," he is referring to God’s holy sacrifice of destruction on the wicked. That sacrifice is called the Day of the Lord’s vengeance or the Day of the Lord.

“1) [You [nations] come close] [to listen] [and you peoples] cause to attentively listen]. [[The Earth] will listen] and [{all} her fullness], [{the} world], [and all her offspring. 2) [Because] [{the} wrath] [of Yahuah] [{is} upon the nations] [and rage] [upon all their armies:] [he has completely destroyed them]. [He {has} given them to the slaughter].” Isaiah 34:1-2 —My Provisionary Hebrew Translation

If you keep reading down from verse 3 to the last verse, you will see that God has prepared a sacrifice for all nations because of the dispute over Zion. All the world will refuse to believe that the Land of Israel belongs to the true children of Abraham, who will be gathered in these last days, back to their ancestral land. Those people are still scattered across the lands of their captivity. You know who they are. I need not continue to mention what you refuse to believe.

The sad thing for the Hebrew Israelites is that only a remnant of them will return. That remnant will fully possess the truth that Moses passed down in its purest form. People from Gentile nations that have fully accepted reality will also be with this Hebrew remnant. All of these individuals are the house of Israel; that is, members of the house of Jesus Christ, our God. Until the next article! I advise that you do your best to avoid that sacrifice that’s coming.