How Many Times Did Jesus Mention Hell In The Bible?

What are the verses that mention hell in the New Testament?

• It is possible that the term ″hell″ appears anywhere between 13 and 23 times in the Bible, depending on whose version you read. It is possible that the King James Version has more verses than any other Bibles because it translates three Greek terms (Gehenna, hades, and tartaros) into ″hell,″ whereas current Bibles translate them as hell and hades, respectively. As a result, passages that specifically reference hell might be grouped into the following categories: The names of Hades and Gehennah are found in Matthew 5:22, 29, 30
• 10:28
• 18:9
• 23:15
• 23:33
• Mark 9:43, 45, 47
• Luke 12:5
• James 3:6
• Hades is also found in Matthew 11:23
• Luke 10:15
• Luke 16:23
• Acts 2:27, 31
• 1 Cor. 15:55
• Rev. 1:18
• 6:8
• 20:13, 14
• Tartaros in 2 Peter

• All of the passages in the Bible that reference hell (or hades, depending on the translation) are listed here in their entirety. Gehennah, v, Gehennah (12) The Bible states in Matt. 5:22, ″But I tell you that everyone who gets furious with his brother will be subject to judgment
• anybody who insults his brother will be subject to the council
• and everyone who says, ″You fool!″ will be subjected to the hell of fire.″ ″If your right eye leads you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away,″ says Jesus in Matthew 5:29. ″It is preferable to lose one of your parts than to have your entire body cast into torment,″ says the Bible. ″And if your right hand leads you to sin, chop it off and throw it away,″ says Jesus in Matthew 5:30. As a result, it is preferable to lose one of your members than to have your entire body thrown into hell.″ ″And do not be afraid of those who murder the body but cannot kill the soul,″ says Matthew 10:28. ″Rather, be afraid of the one who may kill both the soul and the body in hell.″ ″And if your eye leads you to sin, rip it out and throw it away,″ says Matthew 18:9, ″then toss it away.″ ″It is preferable for you to begin life with one eye than to enter life with two eyes and be cast into the fiery pit.″ ″Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!″ says Jesus in Matthew 23:15. For you go thousands of miles across sea and land to convert a single person, and when he converts, you make him twice as much of a child of hell as yourself.″ ″You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you going to escape being doomed to hell?″ says Jesus in Matthew 23:33. ″And if your hand leads you to sin, chop it off,″ says Jesus in Mark 9:43. The alternative to entering life disabled is to enter hell with two hands, where you will be consumed by an endless fire.″ ″And if your foot leads you to sin, chop it off,″ says Jesus in Mark 9:45. The alternative to being thrown into hell with two feet is for you to begin life with a broken leg.″ ″And if your eye leads you to sin, cut it out,″ says Jesus in Mark 9:47. In fact, it is preferable for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to be thrown into hell with two eyes,″
• Luke 12:5, ″But I will tell you whom to dread: fear him who, once he has murdered, has the ability to send into hell.″ Yes, I am telling you, be afraid of him!″ The Bible says in James 3:6 that the tongue is a furnace and a world of iniquity. ″The tongue is put among our members, staining the entire body, igniting the entire path of one’s life, and being set on fire by hell.″

• ‘Hades,’ I say (11) ″And you, Capernaum, would you be elevated to the heights of heaven?″ says Jesus in Matthew 11:23. You will be transported to the underworld. Because if the magnificent deeds that have been done in you had been done in Sodom, they would have lasted until now.″ The Bible tells us in Matthew 16:18: ″And I declare to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.″
• Luke 10:15, ″And you, Capernaum, would you be raised to the highest place in the kingdom of heaven? ″You will be dragged down to the underworld.″ ″And in Hades, while he was in pain, he raised up his eyes and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus at his side,″ says Luke 16:23. ″For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to witness corruption,″ says Acts 2:27. The resurrection of the Christ was foretold and predicted by the apostle Paul in Acts 2:31: ″He foresaw and talked of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.″ ″O death, where has your victory gone?″ says 1 Corinthians 15:55. ″Where has your sting gone, death?″

• ″And the live one,″ says Rev. 1:18, ″and the dead one.″ It seems as though I died, and yet, lo, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys to both Death and Hades in my possession.″ And I saw, and lo, a pale horse!″ says the Bible in Rev. 6:8. Death was the name of the horse’s rider, and Hades was the one who followed him. In addition, they were granted control over a fourth of the planet, allowing them to slaughter people with swords and starvation and plague, as well as by wild creatures of the land.″ Rev. 20:13 says, ″And the sea delivered the dead who were in it, Death delivered the dead who were in them, and they all stood before the judgment seat of Christ, each one of them according to what they had done.″ The Bible says in Rev. 20:14, ″Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.″ ″This is the second death, the lake of fire,″ says the narrator.

(1) 2 Peter 2:4, ″For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but hurled them into hell and condemned them to depths of darkness, destined for judgment,″ Tartaros says.

• Those are the passages that, in one translation or another, specifically address hell by name. I’m curious how many times different English Bible translations utilize the word ″hell″ in their versions. The KJV was used 23 times
• the NKJV was used 13 times
• the RSV was used 13 times
• the NASB was used 13 times
• and the NIV was used 14 times.

The Uncomfortable Subject Jesus Addressed More than Anyone Else

R.C.Sproul was recently asked which concept he finds the most difficult to reconcile with his own beliefs.

He responded with, ″Hell.″ It’s reassuring to know that a theological giant like R.C.Sproul is still wrestling with something with which I’ve wrestled my whole Christian life.The notion of hell is uncomfortably familiar to the majority of people.Our idea of hell, on the other hand, impacts our perspective of the gospel, God’s holiness, and our own sinfulness.

If we refuse to acknowledge the existence of hell, we will be unable to appreciate the full significance of the gospel.

Reality of Hell

The Gospels include no mention of hell, therefore I was challenged by a friend to show her where Jesus mentions it.Even a casual reading of the Bible reveals that Jesus talked about it a lot.As a matter of fact, Jesus mentioned hell more than any other individual in the whole Bible.

The apostle Luke depicts a vast divide over which ″no one can cross from there to us″ (Luke 16:19).As recorded in Matthew 25, Jesus describes a day when mankind would be divided into two groups, with one group entering his presence and the other being sent into ″everlasting fire.″ Jesus speaks more about hell than he does about paradise, and he explains it more clearly as a result.There’s no doubting that Jesus was well aware of, believed in, and warned about the utter truth of hell’s punishment.Not only does Jesus make reference to hell, but he also explains it in great detail.

The Bible describes it as a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23), a place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), a place where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48), a place where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matt.13:42), and a place from which there is no return, not even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31).As a result, Jesus refers to hell as a location of ″outer darkness″ (Matt.25:30), and compares it to the ″Gehenna″ (Matt.10:28), which was a garbage dump beyond the walls of Jerusalem where garbage was burnt and maggots abounded.Jesus speaks more about hell than he does about paradise, and he explains it more clearly as a result.

There is no doubt that Jesus was aware of, believed in, and warned about the unavoidable fact of hell’s existence.

Reason for Hell

Jesus needs to speak about hell since it is the destination that awaits everyone else, including himself.We are all guilty as a result of Adam’s transgression, and we all deserve God’s eternal wrath.Contrary to common opinion, hell is not a specific punishment reserved for individuals who have done particularly horrible things; rather, it is our default destiny.

We are in desperate need of a saviour, or we will be condemned.Consequently, we are left with just two options: continue in our condition of depravity and risk everlasting punishment, or bow to the Savior and accept his offer of salvation.

Goodness of God

My acceptance of the justice of Hell is based on the unquestionable certainty of God’s kindness, which is the only fact that I can embrace.While the concept of damnation is difficult for me to comprehend, Jesus (with his nail-scarred hands) is someone in whom I can place my whole faith.His goodness leads me to look to the cross rather than to damnation in the final analysis.

My acceptance of the justice of Hell is based on the unquestionable certainty of God’s kindness, which is the only fact that I can embrace.God is both great and good in equal measure.Because of his magnificence, we are moved to prostrate ourselves before him, scream out in amazement and astonishment, and dread him.We’ve come to terms with the fact that we don’t deserve salvation; we deserve punishment.

His kindness, on the other hand, compels us to rise up in unending worship, thankful for the gift of a Savior in Jesus Christ.His mercy permits us to approach into his presence with confidence and without fear because of his love for us.For this reason, we might have a relationship with him as a kid who has been rescued from the fires of hell by his mother and father.″When the ‘day of God’s vengeance, when his rightful judgment shall be revealed’ (Rom 2:5) arrives, retribution will be precise, and no concerns of cosmic unfairness will linger to plague us,″ says J.I.Packer in his masterpiece Knowing God.

Because God is the Judge, justice will be served.″ (143).All that is wrong with the world will be set right one day.All of God’s methods will appear to us to be right, even the manifestation of his eternal justice.

For the time being, we walk in humility and faith, relying in the words of the apostle Paul: ″Oh, the depth of the riches, wisdom, and understanding of God!″ ″How impenetrable his judgements are, and how incomprehensible his methods!″ (Rom.11:33).Leslie Schmucker left her position as a public school teacher to found Dayspring Christian Academy in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which now offers a special education department.She is a member of the Grace Baptist Church.She and her husband, Steve, are the parents of three adult children and have six grandkids between them.

Follow her on Twitter and her blog, leslieschmucker.com.She also has a Facebook page.

Did Jesus speak more about Hell than about Heaven?

Is it possible that Jesus spoke more about Hell than he did about Heaven?14th of January, 2015 Dan Wilkinson is a writer and producer based in New York City.In the opinion of certain well-known pastors, Jesus’ teachings are largely concerned with fire and brimstone, among other things.

Example: ″…hehimself talks twice as much about hell as he does about heaven…″ — D.A.Carson, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World (Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World).The Bible says that Jesus preached more about hell than he did about heaven.

We will not be able to get past this truth.″ Christian Today published an article by Leon Morris titled ″The Dreadful Harvest″ on May 27, 1991.’Jesus preached more about hell than He did about heaven because He wanted to warn men about the truth of damnation,’ says the author.— John MacArthur, ″The Ultimate Religious Decision″ (The Ultimate Religious Decision).″Jesus spoke more about Hell than he did about Heaven.″ In his book, ″Heaven and Hell,″ Jerry Falwell says: ″Obviously, I believe in the afterlife.In his teachings, Jesus lectured more about hell than heaven.″ ― Rick Warren during an interview with John Piper ″Jesus spoke more about hell than any other subject in his teachings.Amazingly, 13 percent of his sayings are about damnation and judgment …” — Mark Driscoll, ″6 Questions on Hell,″ in ″6 Questions on Hell″ “Of the 1,850 passages in the New Testament that recount Jesus’ statements, 13 percent of them deal with the theme of eternal judgment and damnation.

In fact, Jesus spoke more frequently about hell than He did about heaven.” — Robert Jeffress, How Can I Know?Those are some very bold and very specific quantitative assessments of Jesus’ message.But are they true?

By my count (with the help of some BibleWorks magic), there are 1,944 verses in the four gospels that contain Jesus’ words.Surprisingly,  only about 60 of those verses–or an unwhopping three percent of them—might be construed as either directly or indirectly referring to hell.On the other hand, there are more than three times as many verses in the gospels in which Jesus references heaven, eternal life, or his coming kingdom: 192 verses in all, or almost 10 percent .So Jesus did not, in fact, speak more about hell than heaven.But many people who should know better still seem hell-bent on insisting that He did.

How do they arrive at a conclusion so contrary to the facts?By reading hell into any and every possible passage in the Bible.D.A.Carson, for example, who is one of the first purveyors of the “Jesus talked more about hell than heaven” myth, finds hell in the story of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-27).

• (Matthew 7:24-27).
• In the words “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell — and great was its fall!” Carson somehow construes a clear depiction of eternal damnation: The sermon ends with what has been implicit throughout it—the demand for radical submission to the exclusive lordship of Jesus, who fulfills the Law and the Prophets and warns the disobedient that the alternative to total obedience, true righteousness, and life in the kingdom is rebellion, self-centeredness, and eternal damnation.
• — D.A.
• Carson, Matthew, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Given that interpretation, it’s no wonder that Carson thinks Jesus spoke of hell twice as much as heaven!
• Yes, throughout the gospels Jesus did speak about judgement, and yes, he also spoke a handful of times about places such as Gehenna and Hades, words often translated as “hell.” But those instances do not stand as justification for the promulgation of the myth that Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about heaven.

Continuing the promote that falsehood severely undermines Christ’s true message—which is the love of God and neighbor that Jesus himself called The Greatest Commandment.Turning Jesus’ gospel of love into a “gospel” of fear, damnation and punishment is either alarmingly ignorant or intentionally manipulative.Either way, it’s very bad news indeed, and needs to stop.

^ In response to a request, the following is a list of the scriptures that I utilized for my numbers: jesus-heaven-hell.pdf

Dan Wilkinson is a writer and producer based in New York City. Dan works as a writer, graphic designer, and information technology professional. He currently resides in Montana with his wife and two animals. He maintains a blog at CoolingTwilight.com.

How many times does jesus mention hell

Does the Old Testament mention hell?

This is exactly what the Old Testament teaches us to do. In reality, that isn’t correct at all. Our belief that when you die, your soul travels to either heaven or hell is not found anywhere in the Old Testament, and it is also not what Jesus preached either.

Does the word hell appear in the Bible?

The Greek New Testament does not contain the word hell; instead, one of three words is used: either the Greek words Tartarus or Hades, or the Hebrew word Gehinnom. The writers of the Septuagint and the New Testament employed the Greek name Hades to refer to the Hebrew Sheol, but they did so with Jewish conceptions rather than Greek ones in mind.

How long did Jesus stay in hell?

Christ states that he was dead on the third day (Greek egenomen nekros v, Latin fui mortuus) of the three days of his life.

When was hell invented?

The view of hell offered by St.Augustine set the tone for official teaching for the next 1,500 years to come.However, it was Augustine of Hippo and his book, City of God, which was published in A.D.

426 and set the tone for official teaching for the following 1,500 years.Augustine was born in Hippo and died in Rome.He maintained that Hell did not exist to rehabilitate or discourage sinners, but rather to punish them.

Who is the king of hell?

Asmodeus (Dungeons & Dragons), a fictional character from Dungeons & Dragons who holds the title ″King of Hell″ Simon Luttrell, 1st Earl of Carhampton, who was nicknamed ″King of Hell″ Crowley (Supernatural), a fictional character from Supernatural, who held the title ″King of Hell″ Asmodeus (Supernatural), a fictional character from Supernatural, who held the title ″King of Hell″

What Jesus says about hell?

″Depart from me, ye cursed, into the EVERLASTING FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels,″ Jesus Christ declares in Matthew 25:41. The Bible states in Matthew 13:42 that Jesus would ″then put them into a furnace of fire, where there will be crying and gnashing of teeth.″ HELL IS AN ENDLESS PLACE! Everyone who enters hell must give up all hope!

Where is Heaven and Hell located?

Summerland is a region of the Earth’s higher astral plane in the upper atmosphere where the many heavens are located. It is located in the upper atmosphere and is found on the upper astral plane (Theosophists believe hell is located in the lower astral plane of Earth which extends downward from the surface of the earth down to its center).

Where is hell first mentioned in the Bible?

According to the New Testament, ″Gehenna″ is a region where both spirit and body can be annihilated (Matthew 10:28) by a ″unquenchable fire″ (Mark 9:43). There are several different English translations for the term, which include ″Hell″ and ″Hell fire.″

Is Hell Hot or cold?

Even if the precise temperature of hell cannot be calculated, it must be less than 444.6°C, which is the temperature at which brimstone or sulfur turns from a liquid to a gas when heated.

What happened to Adam and Eve in the end?

Both the man and the lady consume the forbidden fruit, yet neither perishes. The snake was correct in his assessment. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instruction, they are expelled from the garden, and angels wielding flaming swords guard the gates of Eden to guarantee that neither man nor woman will ever be let back into the Garden of Eden again.

How did Jesus go to heaven?

As recorded in Luke chapter 24, Jesus takes the eleven disciples to Bethany, a village on the Mount of Olives, where he instructs them to remain in Jerusalem until the arrival of the Holy Spirit: ″And it came to pass, while he was blessing them, he separated from them, and was carried up into heaven.″

What does 1peter 3 19 mean?

The passages II Peter 2:4–5 and Jude 6, which relate to wayward angels who are punished by God with imprisonment, are supposed to lend support to the notion that the spirits in prison are angelic creatures rather than human beings. When it comes to jail, the term used in I Peter 3:19 is phylake (which can also be spelled Phylace in certain translations).

Who created God?

Defence of religion advocates argue that the question is inappropriate: As a result, we ask: ″If everything had a creator, then who created God?″ Given the fact that only created things have a creator, it would be incorrect to put God in with his creations. God has shown himself to us in the Bible as having existed from the beginning of time.

Was hell made up?

Torment for all eternity Hell was traditionally thought to as a region, typically under the earth’s surface, where the wicked would be punished for all eternity, according to traditional Christian teaching. There would be psychological pain as a result of our realization that we had missed the opportunity for redemption, as well as bodily torment caused by the Devil and his demons.

Is there a heaven on earth?

Located in the celestial realm, heaven is a haven of peace, love, fellowship, and worship, in which God reigns with the help of a celestial court and other celestial creatures. Earth, according to biblical authors, was flat, with Sheol (the land of the dead) under it and a dome above it that separated it from heavens, or the heavens and sky above it.

How many times did Jesus mention hell?

A word search will not help you gather all of the instances in which Jesus mentioned Hell because Jesus did not always use the word ″Hell,″ as demonstrated by Matthew 3:12 ″Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up his chaff with unquenchable fire.″ Then there’s Matthew 25:30,41, which says to ″throw ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness,″ where there will be crying and gnashing of teeth.41 Then he will say to those on the left hand, ″Depart from me, ye cursed,″ and they will be cast into the lake of fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.After all of this is spoken, a simple word search yields the following results: 5:22 (Matthew 5) Nevertheless, I say to you that anybody who gets enraged with his brother without a good reason will be in danger of the judgment; and anyone who says to his brother, Raca, will be in danger of the council; but anyone who says, Thou stupid, will be in danger of the flames of hell.

5:29 (Matthew 5) In the same way, if thy right eye offends thee, pull it out and hurl it from thee; for it is more advantageous for thee that one of thy members perishes than that thy entire body be cast into hell.Mat 5:30 p.m.It is advantageous for thee that one of thy parts perish, rather than that thy entire body be cast into hell, if thy right hand offends thee; else chop it off and hurl it away from thee.10:28 (Matthew) And do not be afraid of those who murder the body but are unable to kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who is capable of destroying both the soul and the body in hell.

11:23 (Matthew) As for you, Capernaum, you will be sent into hell because, if the magnificent works that have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, they would have survived to this day.And thou, Capernaum, who has been elevated to heaven, will be cast into hell.16:18 (Matthew 16:18) Then I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not be able to stand against it.Mat 18:9 (Matthew 18:9) It is preferable for thee to begin into life with one eye rather than having two eyes, which would result in thy being cast into hell fire.And if thy eye offends thee, pull it out and toss it from thee.23:15 (Matthew 23:15) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites of the earth!

You go over sea and country to bring about the conversion of a single proletarian, and when he is converted, he becomes twice more a child of hell than you are.23:33 (Mat 23:33) How can you, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, possibly escape the punishment of hell?9:43 (Matthew 9:43) And if thy hand offends thee, chop it off: it is better for thee to enter into life with one hand than it is for thee to enter into hell with two hands, into the eternal fire that will never be quenched: Mark 9:45 a.m.

It is preferable for thee to enter halt into life than to be sent into hell, into a fire that will never be quenched, if thy foot offends thee: it is better for thee to enter halt into life than to be cast into hell, into a fire that will never be quenched.9:47 (Matthew 9:47) In the same way, if your eye offends you, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than it is for thee to be hurled into hell fire with two eyes (Luke 10:15, NIV).And you, Capernaum, who has been elevated to the heights of heaven, will be cast into the depths of pit.Luke 12:5 (NIV) But I will forewarn you as to whom you should dread: Fear him who, after he has murdered, has the power to send someone into hell; yes, I say to you, fear him; he is the one you should fear.Luke 16:23 (NIV) Moreover, while in anguish, he raises his eyes to Abraham, who is far away, and to Lazarus who is in his bosom, and he seeth them both.

As a result, according to my calculations, there are 15 instances in the Bible when Jesus is documented as having used the phrase ″hell″ while on Earth.Even if you add John’s vision in Revelation 1:18- ″I am he who liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death″-then the total number of keys would be sixteen.

Did Jesus Say There is a Hell?

Many individuals nowadays believe that the notion of hell is out of date, that it is a remnant of the past that has fulfilled its function and can now be safely abandoned.Hell, on the other hand, cannot be disregarded so lightly by people who are interested in what Jesus taught.In fact, no other biblical character mentions hell more frequently than Jesus Christ does in his teachings.

Jesus Christ, as the one who was God manifested in human flesh, is the only one who truly understands hell.In order to better understand hell, let us first examine the many terminology and imagery that Jesus employs to depict it, and then consider what he really says about it.

Definition of Hell in the Bible

Hades and gehnna are the two most commonly used terms to describe hell.Even though Hades was the Greek name for the land of the dead, Jesus used it to allude more specifically to the hellish region of torture (Luke 16:23), which was meant to be the polar opposite of heaven (Matt 11:23).Originally, the term gehnna refers to the Hinnom Valley, south of Jerusalem, where child sacrifice had been performed for hundreds of years (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:32).

As a representation of hell at the time of Jesus, gehnna was so terrifying that he cautions his followers to ″fear him who may kill both soul and body in hell″ (Matthew 10:28).Imagery on Fire This term is frequently used by Jesus in conjunction with fire, which is a well-known symbol of hell.Thus, it conveys the dread of the location, as in Matthew 5:22, when Jesus cautions that ″anyone says, ‘You idiot!’ will be subject to the flames of Hell.″ Imagery of the Darkness Another popular representation of hell is complete darkness.Jesus cautions people who refuse to enter the kingdom of God via repentance and faith that they will perish in the process ″The individual will be cast into the outer darkness.

There will be crying and gnashing of teeth at that location ″ (Matt 8:12).

What Did Jesus Actually Teach about Hell?

For the sake of simplicity, we might say that hell is a realm of conscious, perpetual agony where people are punished by God as a result of their wrongdoing.Yes, hell is ″the everlasting fire reserved for the devil and his angels″ (Matt 25:41), but it is also ″the eternal fire prepared for those who join the devil and his angels″ (Matt 11:20–24) in their rebellion against God.The torment of hell is severe that Jesus declares, ″I will not go there.″ ″If you find that your hand is causing you to sin, chop it off.

It is preferable for you to begin life with one hand than to enter hell, where you will burn in an unending fire, with two hands ″ (Mark 9:43).Those who do not walk through the small door of faith and repentance in Jesus (Luke 13:24) will find themselves in a region of crying and gnashing of teeth (Revelation 21:8).(Luke 13:28).People from all walks of life will stand before Jesus Christ at the end of human history, and he will separate humanity into two groups: the ″sheep″ (those who exhibit their faith in Jesus via their good acts) and the ″goats″ (those who did not trust in Jesus Christ).

In contrast, the sheep will be granted eternal life, whilst the goats ″shall be sent into endless damnation″ (Matt 25:46).Because hell is a real and unspeakably dreadful place, Jesus employs harsh words to describe it.But Jesus didn’t just warn people about the evils of hell; he also provided a route out.In his perfect obedience, Christ lived a sinless life on the cross, died a sacrificial death for our sins, and rose from the dead in order to triumph over sin, death, and the devil.Rather than the eternal punishment that everyone deserves for their wrongdoing, he encourages everyone to place their confidence in him in order to receive eternal life (John 3:16-17).

Is the Bible’s Language about Hell Literal or Metaphorical?

For those who believe in hell, ″there’s some doubt,″ according to seminary lecturer Andy Naselli (who may be heard in the video below). ″I’m not certain if it’s a literal or metaphorical interpretation — there are compelling reasons for both. ″The analogies that the Bible use to depict hell convey a reality that we cannot readily identify to here on earth.″ Photo courtesy of Unsplash

The Truth about hell

″And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…″ Luke 16:23 What you’re about to read is hard to believe… We’re going to examine the place the Bible calls hell. We’ll present documented evidence for a place called hell. Don’t take what you’re going to read lightly. YOU COULD BE IN SERIOUS DANGER! The Bible continually warns of a place called hell. There are over 162 references in the New Testament alone which warns of hell. And over 70 of these references were uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ! In Luke 16, Jesus Christ gives a frightening picture of hell: 22… the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that Thou would send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. (Luke 16:22-28) HELL IS A PLACE OF FIRE The man in Luke 16:24 cries: ″…I am tormented in this FLAME.″ In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: ″And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.″ In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: ″Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,…″ Revelation 20:15 says, ″ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE.″ THE BIBLE GIVES THE LOCATION OF HELL When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He descended into hell. In Acts 2, Peter is speaking, verse 31, ″… seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in HELL″ When Jesus Christ died His soul went into hell. And in Matthew 12:40, Jesus Christ says: ″For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the HEART OF THE EARTH. ″ The Bible is clear — Hell is inside the earth! Ephesians 4:9, says of Jesus: ″Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the LOWER PARTS OF THE EARTH.″ On page 85 of Beyond Death’s Door, Dr. Rawlings said, patients who described hell said, ″… this place seems to be UNDERGROUND or WITHIN THE EARTH in some way.″ The Birmingham News, April 10, 1987 had an article entitled ″Earth’s Center Hotter Than Sun’s Surface, Scientists Say″. The article stated that scientists have recently discovered, ″THE EARTH’S INNER CORE HAS A TEMPERATURE OF OVER 12,000 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT!″ Have you seen pictures of a volcano erupting, spewing a lake of fire from inside the earth — consuming everything within miles just from the heat? When Mount St. Helens erupted in May 18, 1980, it was described by reporters, ″when HELL surfaced upon the earth.″ The book, Volcanoes, Earth’s Awakening (p.91) describes an erupting volcano as ″descent into HELL″. Thousands of years ago, the Bible described a place called hell in the heart of the earth that matches exactly what science is discovering. YES! THERE IS A PLACE CALLED HELL! In Numbers 16, the Bible gives the account of people falling into hell alive! Numbers 16:32-33 says, ″And THE EARTH OPENED HER MOUTH, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive INTO THE PIT, and the EARTH CLOSED UPON THEM:″ Inside this earth, this very moment, there are millions of lost, tormented souls — burning, weeping, wailing — without any hope whatsoever! In Mark 9:46, Jesus Christ says about hell: ″Where THEIR WORM dies not, and the fire is not quenched.″ Jesus said explicitly — THEIR worm — not a worm, or the worm — but THEIR worm. And Jesus Christ said, ″Where THEIR WORM dies not, and the fire is not quenched.″ Revelation 14:10 says, ″… and He shall be tormented with fire and BRIMSTONE…″ And Job 18 describes the ″… PLACE of him that knows not God″ (vs 21), in verse 15 as, ″… BRIMSTONE shall be scattered upon his habitation.″ Do you know what brimstone is? It’s sulfur. And do you know where sulfur or brimstone is found? INSIDE THIS EARTH! According to the book Volcanoes by Pierre Kohler (p. 43), when Mt. St Helens erupted in 1980 — 150,000 tons of sulfurous gas was ejected! Job is the oldest book in the Bible, written over 3,000 years ago, and yet Job knew what science wouldn’t know for years — inside this earth is brimstone! HELL IS A PLACE OF TORMENT Jesus says of the man in Luke 16: 23 ″And in hell He lift up his eyes, being in TORMENTS… ″ 24 ″… for I am TORMENTED in this flame.″ 28 ″…PLACE OF TORMENT.″ It is humanly impossible to comprehend the Bible description of hell. Nothing on earth can compare with it. No nightmare could produce a terror to match that of hell. No horror movie could describe it’s fright. No crime scene with all it’s blood and gore could begin to match it’s horror. You’ll see HELL… You’ll smell HELL… You’ll breathe HELL… You’ll hear HELL… You’ll feel HELL… It’ll be beyond anything humanly imaginable! The Bible describes it as),weeping (Matt 8:12), wailing (Matt 13:42), gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:50), darkness (Matt 25:30), flames (Luke 16:24), burning (Isa 33:14), torments (Luke 16:23 everlasting punishment! Jesus Christ says in Matthew 25:41, ″Depart from me, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels.″ In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: ″And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.″ HELL IS FOREVER! All who enter hell — abandon all hope! The horror of hell — for even one second is unbearable — but FOREVER! Jesus says in Matthew 25:41: ″… Depart from me, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING fire,…″ Rev. 14:11: ″The smoke of their TORMENT ascends up for EVER AND EVER: and they have NO REST DAY NOR NIGHT.″ What could possibly be worth eternity in hell? No wonder Jesus Christ warned so much about hell! No wonder Jesus said in Mark 8:36, ″For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and LOSE HIS OWN SOUL?″ Jesus Christ took hell very serious… Jesus Christ says in Mark 9:43-47, 43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Jesus Christ took hell so serious — He could say without the slightest hesitation — to remove your eye, cut off your hand or foot, if that would keep you out of hell! Jesus Christ knew exactly what He was talking about! How did Jesus describe hell? Jesus Christ spoke more on hell than any other subject. Just look at how Jesus described hell: WHAT JESUS CHRIST SAYS ABOUT HELL! ″fire″Matt 7:19, 13:40, 25:41″ everlasting fire″Matt 18:8, 25:41″eternal damnation″Mark 3:29″hell fire″Matt 5:22, 18:9, Mark 9:47 ″damnation″Matt 23:14, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47″shall be damned ″Mark 16:16″damnation of hell″Matt 23:33″resurrection of damnation″John 5:29″ furnace of fire″Matt 13:42, 50″the fire that never shall be quenched″Mark 9:43, 45 ″the fire is not quenched″Mark 9:44, 46, 48″Where their worm dies not″Mark 9:44, 46, 48″wailing and gnashing of teeth″Matt 13:42, 50″weeping and gnashing of teeth ″Matt 8:12, 22:13, 25:30″torments″Luke 16:23″tormented in this flame″Luke 16:24 ″place of torment″Luke 16:28″outer darkness″Matt 8:12, 22:13″everlasting punishment″Matt 25:46 WHAT IF JESUS IS RIGHT? Hebrews 9:27 says, ″And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this THE JUDGEMENT:″ it is appointed unto man once to die… and one day — YOU will die… And in hell He lift up his eyes, being in torments… As you leave your body — you realize something is happening. You hear a sound… getting louder and louder… screaming…weeping… wailing. Terror and fear beyond anything you could imagine overtakes you. ″This can’t be happening!″ you scream. Your nostrils are filling with the awful stench of burning souls. Your face ignites from the heat. Flames are now blazing from your eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth — every opening in your body, flames are roaring out. Your body is sizzling and crackling from the flames. Your body is now madly thrashing and convulsing from the horrible pain. ″Why don’t I die?″, you scream. You begin weeping and gnashing your teeth with the millions. ″When will this pain stop?″ But you know it will never stop… The darkness is so terrifying, it begins engulfing you. You feel something moving in the darkness… something horrible is happening. ″No! No! This can’t be happening″ you scream — as your worm is emerging. You begin cursing the day you were born. You scream — ″Oh God, why didn’t you warn me?″— but you remember the preacher pleading with you to receive Jesus Christ. You remember reading that gospel tract. You cry — ″God don’t you care?″ — but you remember John 3:16 ″For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son,…″ ″God is a God of love — He won’t allow this″, you cry — but you remember John 3:36, ″… he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.″ And you soon realize, that Jesus Christ was right — there is a place called hell. AND YOU ARE THERE — FOREVER! But God is a God of LOVE… Why would a GOD OF LOVE send me to hell? Yes, God is a GOD OF LOVE — but God is also a HOLY GOD. A HOLY GOD demands payment for sin. Otherwise God would NOT and could NOT be HOLY. Because God is holy sin MUST be condemned. Joshua 24:19 says, ″.. He is a HOLY GOD;… He will NOT forgive your transgressions nor your sins.″ BUT FRIEND I HAVE GOOD NEWS! God does NOT want you in hell Hell was not made for man. Matthew 25:41 says, hell was, ″… prepared for the devil and his angels:″ Because God is a GOD OF LOVE, and He LOVED YOU so much, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to die a cruel death on a cross to pay the price a HOLY GOD demands for your sins. Romans 5:8 says, ″But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.″ God does not send someone to hell. You choose hell when you reject Jesus Christ. When you refuse God’s love gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ… YOU CHOOSE HELL! Millionaire Ted Turner, said in an interview, ″I’m looking forward to dying and being cast into Hell. That’s where I belong.″ You say — he’s a fool! But friend, when you say ″No″; to Jesus Christ and His payment for your sin — you are saying the same thing! You’re telling God — I don’t need Jesus Christ — I’ll pay for my sins in hell! If you reject God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ ONE DAY YOU WILL BE IN HELL! What could possibly be worth eternity in hell? No wonder Jesus Christ said in Mark 8:36, ″For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?″ John 3:16 says, ″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.″ God has something far better than words can describe for those who love Him. I Corinthians 2:9 says, ″… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.″ Friend, there is a place called hell! And, if you continually refuse God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ — just as sure as you live and breathe, ONE DAY YOU WILL WAKE UP IN HELL! Don’t wait until you die to find out the truth about Hell! Tomorrow may be too late! Proverbs 27:1 says, ″Boast not thyself of tomorrow: for you do not know what tomorrow holds.″ Three people die every second, 180 every minute, since you started reading this — 2000 more people have gone into eternity! An automobile accident… A heart attack.., A stroke…One thing is CERTAIN — you will DIE — today… tomorrow… a week… a month… a year… 5 years… 10 years… 20 years… 50 years — ONE THING IS CERTAIN —″…it is appointed unto man once TO DIE…″ DON’T BE CAUGHT DEAD WITHOUT JESUS! You may have made some terrible mistakes in your life. There may be some things in your life you would give anything to be able to change. But friend, I assure you — if you die without Jesus Christ — it’ll be the worst mistake you could possibly make! Has there ever come a time and a place in your life, when you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If not, you are on the way to hell! Don’t let anyone convince you that when you die it will be all over! The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, ″And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this THE JUDGMENT.″ Revelation 20:15 says, ″And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE.″ If you’ve never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, bow your head this minute and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to save you.Don’t put it off another second! NOTHING IS WORTH TAKING THE CHANCE! It’s simple to be saved. Realize you are a sinner. ″As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:″ Romans 3:10 ″. for there is no difference. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;″ Romans 3:23 Realize you CAN NOT save yourself. ″But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags;.″ Isaiah 64:6 ″Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us,.″ Titus 3:5 Realize that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins. ″Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,.″ 1 Peter 2:24 ″. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,″ Revelation 1:5 Simply by faith receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. ″But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:″ John 1:12 ″.Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.″″ Acts 16:30,31 ″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.″ John 3:16 WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE SAVED? Pray this prayer, and mean it with all your heart. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and unless You save me I am lost forever. I thank You for dying for me on the cross. I come to You now, Lord the best way I know how, and ask You to save me. I now receive You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus Name, Amen. Home  –  Eternity  –  How you can be saved  –  Why Drink?  –  Read the Bible  –  Additional Resources

A Short History of Hell

What do you believe about the afterlife and the afterlife?If you are not religious, it is difficult to ignore the attraction of the two conflicting destinies that await people after death: endless paradise and pleasure in the sky, or eternal damnation and despair in the burning bowels of the earth.The notion of hell may be found in a variety of religious traditions, including Mesopotamian faiths dating back to the third century B.C.E., as well as in Roman and Greek mythology (Hades, anyone?).

Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are all religious traditions that affirm the existence of a hell.However, for the sake of this study, we’ll concentrate on the Judeo-Christian idea of hell and its implications.Is it possible to find out where our common Western concept of hell originated?And has the situation been the same since the beginning of time?

According to Jeffrey Trumbower, a professor of religious studies at St.Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont, and the author of ″Rescue for the Dead: The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Early Christianity,″ this is not the case in any way.″There’s almost no idea of the afterlife in the Hebrew Bible,″ adds Trumbower, referring to the texts that make up the majority of what is known as the Old Testament in Christian tradition.Comparatively speaking, the inhabitants of Palestine gave it little attention, in contrast to the ancient Egyptians, whose ″Book of the Dead″ and ″Book of Gates″ give vivid ideas of what awaits us after death, and the people of Egypt.A few brief passages in the Hebrew Bible depict Sheol, the Hebrew underworld, as a boring, dark existence that serves as a neutral repository for all of the dead, both good and bad.For example, in the book of 1 Samuel 28:7-24, a disturbed Saul wishes to talk with the deceased prophet Samuel, so he seeks the assistance of a witch or medium who is capable of summoning the dead.″ ″I see a ghostly apparition emerging from beneath the surface of the ground,″ the woman stated.

″Can you tell me what he looks like?″ ″An elderly gentleman dressed in a robe is approaching,″ she explained.When Saul realized it was Samuel, he bent his head and prostrated himself on the ground, his face touching the earth.″What are you doing upsetting me by bringing me up?″ Samuel inquired of his adversary Saul.

Trumbower finds it remarkable that Samuel, ″a renowned prophet and unquestionably a good guy,″ did not appear to be living in some kind of heavenly paradise, but rather grumpily emerged ″out of the ground,″ as if he had just woken up from a lengthy slumber, according to Trumbower.Sheol was conceived of as a single burial site for all of the world’s dead in ancient Hebrew mythology and literature.And so, where did the concept of divine judgment come from in the first place?Where did God separate the righteous from the bad and sentence them to opposite destinies come from?One of the first biblical references to the Day of Judgment is found in Daniel 12:2, which was written approximately 165 BCE, and in which the prophet is given a vision of the Day of Judgment.

″There will be those who slumber in the dust of the ground who will awaken: some to everlasting life, others to disgrace and everlasting scorn.″ Instead of describing a neutral afterlife, Daniel provides the first explanation of what historian Alan Bernstein refers to as ″moral death,″ in which your everlasting fate is determined by how you spent your life during your lifetime.According to Trumbower, by the first century C.E., the concept of an ultimate judgment in which God administers various rewards and punishments had gained general acceptance throughout Judaism.As Trumbower points out, ″when you have the Jesus movement, they’re already entrenched in this type of nonsense.″

A New Kind of Hell

Hell is first mentioned in the New Testament by Jesus and his disciples, who use the Hebrew word Gehenna to describe the place.Jews believed that the valley of Gehenna beyond the city walls of Jerusalem served as a waste disposal, with garbage being continuously burnt.As a result of the place’s nasty, damp, and stinky atmosphere, the term ″hellfire pit″ came to be used to describe a hellish burning pit where people are tormented, according to Trumbower.

However, when the New Testament speaks of hell, it continues to emphasize that it is a place where evildoers are transported until after the Day of Judgment, rather than immediately after death, as in the Old Testament.Take, for example, the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and the goats, in which the ″King″ separates the good from the bad in the latter days in the same way as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats.And he will tell those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed; enter the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,’″ according to the Bible.One remarkable illustration of hell as a location where wicked men are transported immediately after death to be tortured for their misdeeds may be found in the gospels, according to the author of Matthew.

A familiar narrative is recorded in Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 16, when the wealthy man and the poor man Lazarus come together.Lazarus is forced to feed on crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table, with dogs licking his open sores, according to the story’s telling.As a result of their deaths, Lazarus the beggar is ″brought to Abraham’s side″ in heaven, while the rich man is ″taken the other way.″ When he gazed up from Hades, where he was in anguish, he saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus standing beside him.’Father Abraham, please take mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I’m in pain in this inferno,’ he cried out to him.Abraham said, ″Son, remember that you had wonderful things throughout your lifetime, whereas Lazarus experienced horrible things, but now he is comforted here while you are in torment.″ Apocryphal texts from the second century C.E.provide the earliest known detailed portrayals of hell and its torments that are not found in the canon of the New Testament.

One of the most vivid depictions of hell may be found in the Apocalypse of Peter, which was extensively known in Christian circles at the time of its writing, despite the fact that it was not recognized to be part of the Bible’s canon.In the following paragraph, the author describes heaven as ″exceedingly radiant with brightness.and the earth itself blossoming with unfading flowers and full of spices and plants, fair-flowering, incorruptible, and yielding good fruit,″ before getting into the meat of the matter.

Each punishment in hell is tailored to the specific offence it is intended to punish.Killers were ″thrown into a specific narrow spot, filled of nasty snakes, and bitten by those creatures,″ while the spirits of those who had been slain gazed on with joy.Those who blasphemed and slandered the upright were compelled to ″ spoke with their own mouths.″ and a red-hot iron in the corners of their eyes.″ For refusing to help the poor, the affluent were forced to wear ″tattered and unclean″ attire and walk ceaselessly over ″pebbles sharper than swords or any spit, red-hot,″ according to legend.In recent years, many theologians have downplayed the imagery of terror and emphasized that the worst element of hell is not the snakes and the flames (which are most likely not actual), but rather the fact that one is separated from one’s Creator.

And What About Satan?

Not all of Satan’s appearances have been as the fiery red demon with horns, cloven feet and a pitchfork.His introduction to us is seen in the Old Testament Book of Job, where he is offering himself to God alongside many other ″sons of God.″ He is the one who comes up with the concept of testing Job’s faith by robbing him of all he has.According to Trumbower, Satan was an enemy, a tempter, and an accuser of man, but not a pure evil force in the ancient Hebrews’ eyes.

He believes that subsequent views of Satan were influenced by Zoroastrianism, the religion of Persia, which reigned over the Jewish people for 200 years between 530 and 330 B.C.E., according to him.″″Persian religion was dualistic,″ explains Trumbower, ″with an ultimate virtue and an ultimate evil perpetually at conflict with one another.″ A cataclysmic conflagration was likewise thought to be coming by the Persians at some point in the future.″ When Jesus was alive, his Jewish disciples would have accepted this Persian version of Satan as the originator of all evil and the principal antagonist of God.As for the horns and hooves, that imagery was most likely drawn from pagan gods such as Moloch and Pan, while medieval authors like as Dante added Satan bat wings in his ″Inferno″ to contrast with the feathered wings of the angels, according to the scholarly consensus.

What, When, and Where Is the Kingdom of God?

Over 80 times throughout the New Testament, the phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ (also known as ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ or ‘Kingdom of Light’) is used to refer to God’s kingdom.The majority of these allusions are found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.While the specific word ″God’s Kingdom″ is not present in the Old Testament, the reality of God’s Kingdom is articulated in a manner that is comparable to that found in the New.

Kingdom of God

• In a nutshell, the Kingdom of God can be described as an everlasting dominion in which God is sovereign and Jesus Christ reigns forever.
• There are more than 80 references to the Kingdom of God in the New Testament alone.
• The teachings of Jesus Christ are primarily concerned with the Kingdom of God.
• The Bible refers to the Kingdom of God by several other titles, including the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Light.

The fundamental focus of Jesus Christ’s message was the Kingdom of God. But what exactly does this phrase mean? Is the kingdom of God a physical place or a current spiritual reality? Who are the subjects of this kingdom? And does the kingdom of God exist now or just in the future? Let’s examine the Bible for solutions to these issues.

Defining the Kingdom of God

• Unlike the notion of a national kingdom, the concept of a Kingdom of God is more concerned with kingly authority, reign, and sovereign control than it is with physical space, territory, or political issues.
• The Kingdom of God is the domain in which God rules supremely, and Jesus Christ is the reigning King of that kingdom.
• It is acknowledged and obeyed that God has authority in this kingdom, and that his will is followed.
• Professor of Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary, Ron Rhodes, gives this concise explanation of God’s Kingdom: ″…God’s present spiritual dominion over His people (Colossians 1:13) and Jesus’ eventual millennial reign in the millennial kingdom (Revelation 20).″ According to Old Testament scholar Graeme Goldsworthy, the Kingdom of God may be stated in even fewer words, as follows: ″God’s people in God’s place under God’s authority.″

Jesus and the Kingdom

• When John the Baptist began his preaching, he announced that the kingdom of heaven was at the doorstep (Matthew 3:2).
• When Jesus took over, it was as follows: ″From that point on, Jesus started to preach, saying, ‘Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’″ (Matthew 4:17, English Standard Version) In the following passage, Jesus instructs his disciples on how to join the Kingdom of God: ″Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven.
• (Matthew 7:21, English Standard Version) These are some of the truths concerning the Kingdom of God revealed via Jesus’ parables: He then said, ‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom; nevertheless, it has not been given to others who are seeking to know these secrets.’ (Matthew 13:11, English Standard Version) The same way, Jesus encouraged his disciples to pray for the arrival of the Kingdom: ″Pray then in the following manner: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’″ I pray that your kingdom come and that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.″ (Matthew 6:6-10, English Standard Version) When Jesus vowed to return to earth in glory, he was referring to the establishment of his Kingdom as an eternal inheritance for his followers.
• (Matthew 25:31-34; Mark 10:34) ″My reign is not of this world,″ Jesus declared in John 18:36.
• The implication of Christ’s statement was not that his rule had nothing to do with the world, but that his dominion came not from any earthly human, but from God himself.

• As a result, Jesus disapproved of the use of worldly warfare to attain his objectives.

Where and When Is the Kingdom of God?

• The Bible alludes to the Kingdom of God as a current reality at times, but it also refers to it as a future kingdom or territory at other times.
• Our current spiritual life, according to the apostle Paul, includes the Kingdom of God.
• He said: ″For the kingdom of God is not a question of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace., and joy in the Holy Spirit.″ (Romans 14:17, English Standard Version) When people accept Jesus Christ as Savior, Paul teaches them that they will be transferred to the Kingdom of God.
• ″He has rescued us from the realm of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his loving Son,″ Paul says.
• (Colossians 1:13, English Standard Version) But Jesus frequently spoke of the Kingdom as a future inheritance: ″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of time,’″ he said.

• (Matthew 25:34, New Living Translation) In the kingdom of heaven, ″I tell to you that many will come from the east and the west, and they will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.″ (Matthew 8:11, New International Version) ″Then God will grant you a glorious entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,″ said the apostle Peter of the ultimate reward for those who persevere in the faith.
• (2 Peter 1:11, New Living Translation)

Summary of the Kingdom of God

It is easiest to comprehend the Kingdom of God as the kingdom in which Jesus Christ rules as King and in which God’s authority is paramount, as described in the book of Matthew. This Kingdom exists (in part) in the lives and souls of the redeemed now, and it will exist in perfection and fullness in the future, as well as in the present.

Sources

• The Gospel of the Kingdom, or the Gospel of the Kingdom, Theopedia, written by George Eldon Ladd. Ron Rhodes’ Bible Definitions are available online.