What to expect in hell

[Beetow]

When God is ignored; He can be expected to reciprocate.

● Prv 1:24-33 . . I called you so often, but you didn't come. I reached out to you,
but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I
offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster
overtakes you-- when calamity overcomes you like a storm, when you are engulfed
by trouble, and when anguish and distress overwhelm you.

. . . I will not answer when they cry for help. Even though they anxiously search for
me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear The
Lord. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. That is
why they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way. They must experience the
full terror of the path they have chosen. For they are simpletons who turn away
from me-- to death. They are fools, and their own complacency will destroy them.
But all who listen to me will live in peace and safety, unafraid of harm.

Case in point is Mr. Esau.

"Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even
afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found
no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears." (Heb 12:16-17)

The Greek word translated "repentance" basically means to change one's mind; viz:
to reconsider.

Esau was secular to the bone. But he "got religion" right quick when he saw his way
of life costing him the blessing; but alas, the poor slob was a day late and a dollar
short; so to speak.

Lesson to be learned: The time for people to be giving Hell some serious thought is
not when they get there, rather, before they get there.
_

 

[Beetow]

● John 3:16 . . For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The love in that passage is translated from a Greek verb that expresses compassion
for the world without particularly liking anybody. In other words: that kind of love is
civil and sympathetic but doesn't necessarily express fondness or affection.

FAQ: God in His wrath condemns folks to the fiery netherworld while at the same
time feeling pity for them?

REPLY: God forbid that He be one to obstruct justice by letting His feelings overrule
and/or outweigh the facts. No doubt God would rather be kind than cruel; but
sometimes circumstances just won't permit.
_

 

[Beetow]

People penned up in the netherworld may or may not be fully aware of all they've
lost. Many are doubtless aware of at least their loss of creature comforts; but I'm
not so sure they know about the bulk of their loss because not even that many
Christians are aware of all they've gained by their association with Christ.

We today are living in what's sometimes called the church age; which is an era that
began with the day of Pentecost per Acts 2:1-2 wherein Christ has been busy
assembling the "my church" he spoke of in Matt 16:18.

The "my church" is very fortunate because it is a joint-heir (a.k.a. heir in common)
with God's son in his Father's estate. (Eph 1:11 and Rom 8:16 17)

A joint-heir is different than a regular heir. Regular heirs are apportioned an
individual percentage of their benefactor's estate. But joint-heirs inherit, not a
percentage, but the entire estate, as community property, i.e. whatever the Father
bequeathed His son, He bequeathed everyone associated with His son.

For example: supposing a benefactor's estate totals 60 acres of land, 18 gold bars,
plus a hedge fund worth 200,000 US Dollars; and he left it all to six heirs in
common. In that situation; the heirs are corporately one beneficiary instead of six;
viz: all six inherit all the land, all the gold, and the entire fund as if each one were
the only heir.

The extent of the Father's estate is astonishing. It encompasses not only all that is
in Heaven, but also all in the entire universe, plus whatever pertains to the new
cosmos spoken of in Isa 66:17, 2Pet 3:13, and Rev 21:1; and I don't know what
else.

● John 3:35 . .The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.

● John 16:15 . . All things that the Father has are mine

Point being: folks in today's era who fail to be accepted into the "my church" will
end up as miserable paupers in the afterlife, whereas those associated with God's
son will be wealthy and privileged beyond imagination.

● Heb 2:5 . . It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come.
_

 

[Beetow]

FAQ: The Bible says that a Christian's life on earth terminated the day they came to
faith in Christ; and from the day on, God stopped keeping a record of their sins.
(Rom 6:3-7, Col 3:3, and 2Cor 5:19). What about the afterlife? What's to be done
about the sins Christians commit there?

REPLY: They won't be committing any sins in the next life because of a special
circumcision made without hands per Col 2:11.

* It must be very devastating when folks below find out too late about that
circumcision; and also when they find out too late about Jeremiah 31:31-34 and
Ezekiel 36:24-27 which, according to the language, would've rendered them easily
righteous enough to associate with God permanently.
_

 

[Beetow]

Jesus sacrificed his life for the whole world; not just part of the world, rather;
everybody who has ever lived, and everybody who will ever live, down to the last
born on Earth. That says quite a bit about how Jesus feels about me.

He may not like me-- at all. In point of fact Jesus just may quite despise me, and
candidly declare that I am not the kind of people with whom he cares to associate.
Nevertheless, Jesus went to the cross for me too in spite of his disgust for me as a
person.

Now, as I said-- in so many words --Jesus may not be especially fond of me, but
there's no doubt in my mind that he at least cares for me. So I played upon his
Father's sympathies back in February of 1968 when I prayed a very selfish prayer
that went something like this:

"God; I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's death."

Seeing as how Jesus gave his life for the whole world, then God couldn't very well
refuse my request; now could He.

● Rom 5:6-8 . . Christ died for the impious. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But
God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
_

 

[Beetow]

In the second chapter of the book of Daniel is told the story of Nebuchadnezzar's
dream. He demanded his wise men to tell him the interpretation of the dream but
withheld the dream's details; without which they could not answer.

But God had observed the king's dream; and revealed its details, along with its
interpretation, to Daniel. Apparently God can hear our thoughts just as audibly as
we, and can view the scenes in our heads just as clearly too; making it very difficult
to retain some privacy of our own minds.

● Heb 4:13 . . Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight; everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
_

 

[Beetow]

Seeing as how God owns everything in existence, and answers to no one how He
goes about managing it all; then what He says goes because nobody can stop Him
from making and/or enforcing whatever rules He wishes because God's free will
trumps everybody else's free will.

Whether God's ways and means are loving, moral, just, and/or right and wise
doesn't matter. It's as futile to criticize lightning for being so bright, and thunder for
being so loud, as it is to find fault with God's rules because no matter how much
people complain about thunder and lightning; there is nothing they can do to stop
those forces of nature from going about their business.

● Acts 4:24 . .They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said: Lord,
thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them
is

The Greek word translated "Lord" in that passage is despotes (des-pot'-ace) from
which we get our English word despot; defined by Webster's as a ruler with
absolute power and authority.
_

 

[Beetow]

For many of us working stiffs, the first day on a new job is stressful and quite an
adjustment. The night before that first day can cause enough anxiety to keep us
awake worrying about what we might expect.

I'd imagine that, whether we end up in the right place or the wrong place in the
afterlife, we will be just as stressed on our first day there as the first day here on a
new job.

The anxiety associated with death is to be expected seeing as how most of us have
no experience at all with that particular journey. But I think the majority of my
anxiety in regards to death is related to what comes after. Pity there are no guide
books available in print to prepare folks in advance for the culture-shock tsunami
with which both sides of the aisle are sure to be slammed when they arrive: a guide
for Hell, and one for Heaven.
_

 

[Beetow]

Christianity is sometimes criticized as a license to steal because when people come
to faith in Christ, the file that God has been accumulating against them gets
demolished and from thence He does not begin compiling a new file.

● 2Cor 5:19 . . God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting
their trespasses against them

The Greek word translated "counting" means to take an inventory; i.e. an
indictment.

Christians have quite an advantage because when there are no books on people,
then there is nothing on record with which to accuse them, i.e. it's as though
they've never been anything but 100% innocent.

This may seem like cooking the books, but God has a way to do it on the up and up
without obstructing justice.

● Rom 4:8 . . Blessed is the man whose sin The Lord will never count against him.
_

 

[Beetow]

● Luke 16:26 . . Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed

The barrier between Abraham's side of the netherworld and the rich man's is
curious. The Greek word is located nowhere else in the entire New Testament so we
can't compare it's application in other situations.

Chasm isn't necessarily a crevasse like a gorge or a canyon. It can also represent a
marked division, separation, or difference; for example there is a political chasm
between China's communist party and China's regular citizens.

A chasm then, can be likened to the contrast between good and evil, right and
wrong, wise and foolish, hate and love, the condemned and the innocent, the one
true God and the many tin Gods, the alive to God and the dead to God.

Anyway, this barrier in Luke's story isn't so expansive that people cannot recognize
familiar faces on the opposite side nor hear their voice. And if it's a literal gulf, then
I think it's reasonable to assume people have been trying to jump in to get away
from the flames.

The Bible says that God desires all men to be saved and that He derives no
pleasure from their misfortunes. However, once folks are lost in the netherworld,
God's attitude towards them takes quite a turn. Folks in Hell are dead to God, and
apparently He wants them to be dead to us too; even our loved ones and the BFF
for whom we care the most, i.e. personal contact with the other side for hugs and
kisses is not allowed.

● Luke 16:26 . .Those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone
cross over from there to us.

NOTE: Luke portrays only a small portion of the geography where Abraham and the
rich man conversed; suggesting that the two locations of the chasm where the men
stood are peninsulas or narrow cornices.

But I rather suspect that the rims of the chasm are straight and parallel like the
banks of a canal; plus extending sufficient distance in either direction to
accommodate hundreds, maybe even thousands, of friends and relatives seeking to
connect with their loved ones and BFF over on the other side.
_

 

[Beetow]

I once heard a minister tell the story of a fictional busload of Hell's inmates who
were given a 30 day furlough for some R&R in Heaven. They all came back the first
night because God's world was such a bore.

There were no wild parties, no clothing-optional beaches, no bars, no night clubs,
no porn, no escort services, no pigging-out at buffets, no fights, no profanity, no
ribaldry, no free sex, no vulgar late-night comedy, no exotic dancers, no X-rated
movies, no junk food, no tobacco, no marijuana, no meth, no ecstasy, no LSD, no
hunting for sport, no fishing for sport, and no casino gambling.

And the hellsters didn't particularly care for the isolation. None of the good folk in
Heaven wanted to associate with them: they were ostracized, they were
segregated, and they were quarantined.

Heaven is a pleasant utopia. It's etiquette, its dress code, and its rules of conduct
and civility; were way too constraining for the hellsters. Especially suffocating is the
mandatory self control everyone has to exercise in their choice of words to avoid
hurting people's feelings.

Take for example Wall Street barracudas. Do you really think they'd be happy in
Heaven? Or sweat shop operators? Or influence peddlers? Or lobbyists? Or J
walking pedestrians? Or LGBTQ? Or greedy businessmen? Or unscrupulous social
networking moguls. Or cheap politicians? Or Communists? Or bookies? Or
hoarders? Or black marketers? Or militant activists? Or Critical Race theorists? Or
1619 Project proponents? No. No. No. You see many of the interests that concern
Hell's people are unacceptable in Heaven; and in point of fact, none of Heaven's
people even want to hear about that stuff. For them, that scene is over and they
don't want it back.

You know what else is lacking in Heaven? Religious tolerance. There is only one
religion up there. What's that tell you? Well; it tells me that the establishment
clause of the US Constitution's first amendment doesn't fly in Heaven. The
theocratic monarchy in Heaven insists upon dictating everyone's religious
preference.

In other words: Heaven's utopian society, coupled with its 24/7 Big Brother
oversight, universal surveillance, and strict morality, was just simply too much to
ask in exchange for some time off. To the hellsters, Heaven held little more appeal
for a get-away than one of North Korea's prison camps.
_

 

[Beetow]

If there is any good thing that can be said about the netherworld: it's the great
equalizer. Political bullies like Kim Jong-Un, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito
Mussolini, Xi Jinping, Fidel Castro, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi,
Robert Mugabe, Pol Pot, and Saddam Hussein, are powerless down below; they're
just another nondescript skull in the gene pool.

● Isa 14:9-10 . . Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you
come. It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth. It
raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. They will all respond and say
to you: Even you have been made weak as we. You have become like us.

Jesus once told a parable that advises folk it's wise to exercise kindness and
generosity on this side of life because people on the other side will doubtless
remember how you treated them here. The thing is: folks should expect to be
victims of a certain amount of cruelty on the wrong side of the netherworld because
down there what's the point in being civil? So it's wise to build up a following of folk
up here who owe you a favor so that when you arrive down there, you'll have some
friends instead of only foes looking to get even.
_

 

[Beetow]

Not everyone is going to be judged on the basis of hearing + believing the gospel of
Christ. There are untold millions who never heard, nor will ever hear tell, of Jesus;
let alone his crucifixion for the sins of the world.

However, the beauties and complexities of nature: on earth and out in the void,
speak loudly and clearly enough that the cosmos-- all its forms of life, matter, and
energy --is the result of intelligent design. And the human conscience intuitively
knows that there is going to be a reckoning. This is what's known as the everlasting
gospel (Rev 14:6-7) and it has been preaching to men all over the globe from the
very beginning. (Ps 19:1-6, & Rom 1:18-20, & Rom 2:14-16)

According to Rom 10:18, nature itself is accounted as a gospel. This is pretty cool
because by nature's gospel, folks all over the globe-- those categorized as barbaric,
primitive, and uneducated --can qualify for God's good graces.
_

 

[Beetow]

There's any number of ways the lost could be making their journey to the
netherworld. For example instead of being dragged underground by ghastly beings
such as those depicted in the movie 'GHOST", they may just fall down into the
ground like water through a sieve.

That's not a ridiculous idea seeing as deceased folk leave this world as disembodied
spirits. According to Luke 24:39 & John 4:24 spirit is immaterial, i.e. it has no mass
to speak of so its movement isn't impeded by solid materials like metal and dirt, or
wood and stone.

And spirit takes up no space. For example the feral man of Mark 5:1-13 was
possessed by a community of spirits who labeled themselves Legion, define by
Webster's as the principal unit of the Roman army comprising 3,000 to 6,000 foot
soldiers with cavalry. The legion of spirits that left that man went out and took up
residence in a herd of about 2,000 swine.

That's a pretty good example of how spirits take up no room in the physical world;
nor do they crowd each other. All 3,000 to 6,000 of those spirits managed to fit
inside the bodily cargo area of just that one guy. Just imagine the number of spirits
that could fit into the passenger area of an SUV.

NOTE: Those spirits slipped right out of that man. There was no need to cut him
open so they could evacuate.
_

 

[Beetow]

● Job 14:14 . . If a man dies, will he live again?

Back in ancient times; men like Job were attuned to nature. In point of fact, Job
was a very successful rancher; a guy who made his living working outdoors.

Every year he watched things die in the Fall and come back in the Spring. If only
human life were like that; but alas, when people die they typically don't regenerate
like the new leaves on a dormant maple tree.

● 1Pet 1:24 . . All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the
field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of The Lord stands
forever.
_

 

[Beetow]

FAQ: When are people judged: as soon as they die or sometime later?

REPLY: Some folks' judgment takes place in this life prior to their death. (Rom 6:3
& Rom 6:6) Others' judgment awaits them at the great white throne event depicted
at Rev 20:11-15.
_

 

[Beetow]

FAQ: Folks not found registered in the Lamb's book of life are sent to the second
death per Rev 20:11-15. Will they be consumed by the brimstone and gone
forever?

REPLY: Adam was warned that were he to taste the forbidden fruit, he would die
that very day (Gen 2:17) and he did, but not in a way readily apparent.

Up to that moment, Adam enjoyed perpetual youth, but upon tasting the fruit, he
lost perpetual youth and began to age, i.e. his body became infected with mortality,
which is a lingering kind of death rather than the kind of death where people drop
dead to the floor of a sudden from strokes, bullets, bludgeons, or falls from a very
high building down onto solid concrete.

In other words: Adam's death was an ongoing process that gradually wore him
down to the point where his body finally gave out, and he passed away.

By comparing the language and grammar of any and all passages related to the
second death, I think we can safely conclude that it too is a lingering death that
apparently will be a perpetual process with no definite end. (cf. Isa 66:23-24)
_

 

[Beetow]

Well, since my baby left me,
I found a new place to dwell.
It's down at the end of Lonely Street at
Heartbreak Hotel.

Although it's always crowded,
You still can find some room
For broken-hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom.

That song, by Elvis Presley back in 1956, was very popular; and useful for depicting
some of the conditions folks might expect in the netherworld should they end up on
the wrong side of things. For example: just as Elvis' hotel always has a vacancy, so
the netherworld too.

● Prov 30:15-16 . . There are three things that will not be satisfied-- four that will
not say, "Enough"

One of the four listed in that passage is Sheol, a.k.a. Hades which in Hellenistic
culture spoke of the netherworld: a place in which all the dead were warehoused:
both the good dead and the bad dead regardless of age, race, gender, or religious
preference.

And then there's "cry there in their gloom"

● Matt 13:40-42 . . As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so
shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and
they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth.
_

 

[Beetow]

● Heb 6:4-6 . . For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who
have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted
the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall
away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying
the Son of God afresh and subjecting him to public disgrace.

We know that with God nothing is impossible. So, I think we have to acquiesce that
the impossibility spoken of here is so because God has made it His mission in life,
so to speak, to assure that folks blessed with the level of advantages spoken of
here are never to be given an opportunity to reconsider-- ever. The die is cast.
(e.g. Judas Iscariot)
_

 

[Beetow]

FAQ: What is meant by soul?

REPLY: Soul began appearing in the Bible in the book of Genesis by the Hebrew
word nephesh (neh'-fesh) which isn't unique to human life. Its first appearance is at
Gen 1:20-21 in reference to aqua creatures and winged creatures; again at Gen
1:24 as terra creatures; viz: cattle, creepy crawlies, and wild beasts; and again in
Gen 2:7 as the human creature; and yet again at Gen 9:10 to classify every living
thing aboard Noah's ark.

* God is said to have a soul. (Lev 26:11, Lev 26:30, Judg 10:16, Isa 42:1, Jer
32:41, and Zech 11:8)

Soul is somewhat ambiguous but basically refers to consciousness, self awareness,
and individuality. It's sometimes a reference to one's heart, e.g. Gen 34:3, and to
the core of one's being, e.g. Gen 27:4.

All in all, soul is just another way of referring to that part of sentient life that we
call "self" which can be roughly defined as the element of our existence that makes
us an individual.

Jesus' followers can expect to retain their souls when they pass on, but things are
not looking good for the lost. According to Matt 10:28, people's souls survive
normal death, but won't survive the second death depicted by Rev 20:11-15.
_