January 3, 2011
PLAINER WORDS ONLINE …THE LAKE OF FIRE
Part 4
It was noted in Part 3 of this study that one of the Greek words used in the New Testament to translate as “hell,” or “hell fire” was “Gehenna.” This Greek word had such a prominent place in the study of our Bible that it was brought over from being a Greek word to becoming an English word. “Gehenna,” now, appears in our English dictionaries.
“The World Book Dictionary of 1967” - GEHENNA - 1. (in the Bible) the valley of Hinnom, southwest of Jerusalem. Because children had been sacrificed there to Molech, it was defiled by Josiah and became a place where refuse was thrown and in which fires were kept burning to prevent pestilence. II Kings 23:10. 2. hell: Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne, He travels fastest who travels alone. (Rudyard Kipling). 3. Also, gehenna, a place of torment or misery: the “gehenna” or torture room [at Tournay] (John Lothrop Motley).
In fact, most of the English Dictionaries I checked gave as one of the definitions of “Gehenna” as “hell.”
Albert Barnes, the controversial Presbyterian, stated in his “Notes” on Matthew 5:22; “…but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire [Gehenna of fire].”
“[Hell fire] The original of this is "the GEHENNA of fire."
Barnes further said that the word, GEHENNA, Strong’s Number 1067 was, commonly, translated as "hell." It was made up of two Hebrew words meaning the “valley of Hinnom. He said that is was, formerly, a pleasant valley near to Jerusalem, on the south. A small brook, or torrent usually ran through it and partly encompassed the City of Jersualem. He confirmed that this Valley was where “the idolatrous Israelites devoted, formerly, to the horrid worship of Moloch, 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chron 28:3.” In that worship, the ancient Jewish writers informs us, the idol of Moloch was of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended as if to embrace any one. “When they offered children to him,” Barnes wrote additionally, in his notes: “they heated the statue within by a great fire, and when it was burning hot they put the miserable child into his arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat*; and, in order that the cries of the child might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums and other instruments about the idol. These drums were called toph (OT: 8596), and hence a common name of the place was Tophet, or Topheth (OT: 8612); see; Jer. 7:31-32.”
*The description Barnes gave was that the Jewish children offered to Molech were roasted alive ? “consumed by the heat.” We, now, read his concluding remarks which is in harmony with what we have already reported.
“After the return of the Jews from captivity, this place was held in such abhorrence that, by the example of Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), it was made the place where to throw all the dead carcasses and filth of the city, and was not infrequently the place of public executions. It became, therefore, extremely offensive; the sight was terrific; the air was polluted and pestilential; and to preserve it in any manner pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually burning there. The extreme loathsomeness of the place; the filth and putrefaction; the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and night, made it one of the most appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was acquainted. It was called the GEHENNA of fire, and was the image which our Saviour often employed to denote the future punishment of the wicked.” (“Barnes' Notes;” Albert Barnes 1798 – 1870. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft).
The Lord Jesus Christ used the word, “Gehenna,” eleven times to describe the place, during The Day of Christ, where a person would be destroyed for committing certain sins. It would be “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44, 46, and 48).
The place of this fiery hell, “Gehenna,” was foretold by the Prophet Isaiah but not named.
“Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it [Gehenna] may be for the time to come [The Day of Christ] for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:” (Isaiah 30:8-9).
In plainer words, Isaiah said, “write it [about Gehenna] for them [a later generation] on a tablet, and in a book engrave it, note it in a book, and inscribe it on a scroll for a latter day [The Day of Christ] as a witness for the age, for a rebellious people.” A look at other versions of Isaiah 30:8-9 gives other amplified versions—“write it before them, and note it in a book.”
Future generations of Isaiah were to read about this place—“Gehenna.” It will be a place where the Lord Jesus will discard worthless, good-for-nothing, lawless fellows during His reign over His Pre-Millennial world-wide-Kingdom. “Gehenna” is not a place any one in their right mind would want to be thrown into. Why? There is no exit out of the Gehenna-fires as you shall see in due time.
“Topheth [Gehenna] has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze” (Isaiah 30:33).
Two other renditions of Isaiah 30:33 augment the King James Version.
“Topheth [Gehenna] has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.” NIV.
“For Topheth [Gehenna] is ordained from yesterday. Also, it is prepared for the king*; He deepened; He widened its pyre**; He makes great with fire and wood. The breath of Jehovah burns in it like a torrent of brimstone” GLT.
*the king = in the near context, probably a reference to the Assyrian king (vs. 31); the far context could refer to the Antichrist (Rev.19:20), and 1000 years later, to the Devil (Revelation 20:10).
** pyre = “a pile of wood on which a dead body is burned in funeral rites.” (Webster’s Office Dictionary).
In ancient times, what had been a pleasant valley will be the location of what became known as “Gehenna.” It has been shown that over time, the name of the “Valley of the son of Hinnom” evolved to become known by other names; such as, the Valley of—Hinnom, Tophet, Topheth, Slaughter, Dead Bodies, and Gehenna.
During the times that Christ preached the “Gospel of the Kingdom,” as He ministered to Israel, this Valley was, commonly, referred to as “Gehenna.” It occurs twelve times in the New Testament of the King James Version and is translated into English as “hell.” It isn’t strange, at all, that there is no agreement among men, anywhere, as to what the word, “hell,” means. It means different things to different men. However, those who rely on spiritual discernment discover that the varied popular concepts of “hell” are found deficient. The meaning of “hell,” derived from the Greek word, “gehenna,” bears no resemblance, whatsoever, to the pagan concepts which have been adopted by misled Christians.
The prevalent name of a Valley during His ministry, which had been a dump for rubbish, will be used, again, during the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God. As it was, where Jerusalem disposed of its worthless and useless waste, so shall it be when the Kingdom comes. In the passages below, it should be noted that Christ christened the Valley as the place where He will cast those who He adjudicates as guilty of the sins He warned against in the following passages. The casting of the wicked will be job of the “reapers,” which is to say, His Holy angels (Matthew 13:49-50). Christ revealed the name of the place in His New Testament prophecies as “Gehenna:”
NEW TESTAMENT USES OF “GEHENNA”
Matthew 5:22
But I [Jesus] say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell [Gehenna] fire.
Matthew 5:29
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell [Gehenna].
Matthew 5:30
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell [Gehenna].
Matthew 10:28
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 [Gehenna].
Matthew 18:9
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell [Gehenna] fire.
Matthew 23:15
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 [Gehenna] than yourselves.
Matthew 23:33
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell [Gehenna]?
Mark 9:43
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 [Gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Mark 9:45
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 [Gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Mark 9:47
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 [Gehenna] fire:
Luke 12:5
But I [Jesus] will forewarn you Whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell [Gehenna]; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him.
The foregoing eleven verses were the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. We learn that it will be He, during the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God, Who has the authority (i.e., power) to “cast [men] into Gehenna.”
James 3:6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell [Gehenna].”
Excluding James 3:6, the other verses relating to “Gehenna” were, expressly, spoken to the Jewish audience of Jesus Christ. They understood what most Christians don’t. The Jews who heard His words were aware that when the Kingdom became a reality, those who had committed such sins, as described, would be judged guilty, and Christ would cast them into Gehenna.
This condemnation was imminent when the Lord Jesus warned them. He and John the Baptist had warned that generation that “the Kingdom was at hand.”
After the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, and throughout the “Acts of the Apostles,” the Kingdom of God was still “at hand.” However, with the close of the Acts Period, we learn that all of the confluent promises, associated with the realization of the Kingdom of God, were postponed.
The Pre-Millennial Kingdom was placed in abeyance, and a Secret Dispensation was, quietly, ushered in—The Mystery. The Mystery is for Gentiles (Eph. 3:1, 6, and 8). As such, the Jew is off of the Biblical-world-stage. Colossians further emphasizes the Gentileness of the Mystery:
“Whereof I [Paul] am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you [Gentiles], to fulfil [complete] the word of God; Even the Mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this Mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:25-27).
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