Building on the Foundation

  When you hear someone speak of “hell,” what springs to mind? An image of an underworld cavern blazing with flames? The souls of the damned screaming in agony from the midst of those flames while cackling demons run to and fro, stabbing those tortured souls with pitchforks? Do you picture this scene enduring for all eternity, without a moment of relief for the condemned? That’s the popular concept of hell. A place of endless torture, presided over by Satan and his demons, for whoever rejected Jesus Christ in this life. But that isn’t what the Bible teaches, not even close! It’s all baloney. Fiction. Human imagination. According to etymonline.com , the Old English word hel or helle literally meant “concealed place.” It’s related to the Old Norse word hellir , which means “cave” or “cavern.” This original meaning of the word is closer to the truth of what the Bible teaches, but not quite there. Let’s investigate further! What Happens to the Dead? As we’ve noted before , the Bible ...

Long ago, King Solomon wrote that we must take death to heart (Eccl. 7:2). His father King David expressed a similar thought (Psa. 39:4), and so did Moses (Deut. 32:29). Every one of us will die one day (Heb. 9:27), no one can escape death (Psa. 89:48), and not one of us knows the day of his or her own death (Eccl. 9:12). Let us, as Solomon advised, take it to heart while we have opportunity! What happens when we die? Do good people go to heaven, floating among the clouds, playing harps, and watching over their loved ones? Do bad people go to hell to be tormented forever and ever, writhing and screaming in the flames, being stabbed over and over again by pitchfork-wielding demons? Do we simply cease to exist? God’s Word tells us plainly that all go to one place: the grave (Eccl. 6:6). Wise, foolish, rich, poor, kings, beggars — all will end up in basically the same place: lowered into a hole and covered with earth (Eccl. 2:14-16). Everyone’s body will return to dust, and everyone’s spi...