Please be patient with me.
I have read the Scriptures given to me. And I, for the first time am excepting the fact that there {could be} a real place call the 'fiery hell'.
But I did some research on it as well. And this is what I came up with.
:
Revelation 20:11-15
11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.:Love:
Now in Revelation 20:15, once any thing is cast into a fire & is burned to complete ashes, is the meaning of no-more existence. It does NOT mean that the wicked will feel the burning flames - but - once cast into the fire - will exist no-more, never, ever again. And what is ashes but, another form of dust - "for dust you are , and to dust you shall return." {Genesis 3:19}
Because of such associations, by the first century B.C. Gehenna came to be used metaphorically for the hell of fire, the place of everlasting punishment for the wicked. This understanding is discernible in Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g. II Esd. 7:36). Talmudic literature abounds in references to Gehenna with fascinating opinions, e.g., that the depth of Gehenna is immeasurable or that the sinner is relegated to a depth commensurate with his wickedness. References to a fiery hell are found in both Philo and Josephus and also in the Qumran literature.
Of the twelve occurrences of Gehenna in the NT eleven are in the Synoptic Gospels and one in James. All the Synoptic references are to words of Jesus and have the same meaning as above. In addition to the word itself, scholars agree that there are several occurrences of the concept, e.g., Matt. 25:41 and Rev. 20:4. Gehenna shares some common ground with Hades/Sheol; however, the latter is more consistently the interim abode of both good and bad souls after death prior to judgment, while Gehenna is the final and everlasting place of punishment for the wicked following the last judgment.
The numerous references to Gehenna tell forcefully against a doctrine of universalism. Attempts to soften or ignore this material concerning the lot of those who refuse to repent of sin constitute distortion of the biblical witness.
The Lake of Fire has a meaning; the fiery Gehenna [hell fire, King James Version]" that Jesus spoke of. (Matthew 5:22, Mark 9:47 & 48) Gehenna occurs 12 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, and refers to The Vally of Hinnom, outside the walls of Jerusalem.
And according to the Smith Bible Dictionary: Gehenna; Hinnom {The Vally of Hinnom}
When Jesus was on earth, this vally was used as a (human) garbage dump, and was called the The Vally of Hinnomwhere dead bodies of criminals and the carcasses of animals, and every other kind of filth was cast & burned. And where Jesus was talking about when He mentioned the fiery hell & brimstone
The fires were kept burning by adding sulfur {brimstone} to burn up the refuse. Jesus used that vally as a proper symbol of everlasting destruction.
So, thus therefore, the lake of fire symbolizes eternal destruction. Death & Hades are hurled into it in that they will be done away with when mankind is free from sin & the condemnation of death. So, people who choose to live a sinful life & will not repent will also have portion in that lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8)
And thus therefore, they will be no-more - dust to dust & ashes to ashes.
Genesis 2:7, Genesis 3:19, Psalms 104:29,
