Will Hell Really Last Forever?

When the Bible speaks of hell, does it mean forever? How can we be sure according to biblical texts and the words Jesus used?

Is Hell Annihilation?

Many of the modern preachers and pastors as well as some cults today are doing away with hell. Others are making the doctrine of hell more like annihilation. That is, they are burned up and gone forever once they are judged and cast into the lake of fire but doesn’t this mean that Hitler and the nice lady who lived next door who rejected Christ both end up with the very same fate? That would hardly seem fair, would it? If this were true then why would Jesus say “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul? Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28) and why would the author of Hebrews warn “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). If the condemned are simply burned up or there is no hell, why would Jesus say to “fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell?” That statement would be pointless if hell were simply annihilation or if hell didn’t exist. The fact is Jesus spoke twice as much about hell as He did heaven but why? Because He surely didn’t want anyone to go there because God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1st Tim 2:4) and “he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2nd Pet 3:9). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezk 18:23, 32).

Examining the New Testament Greek

In one of the most famous and widely known Bible chapters, Jesus is speaking about His judging the world when He returns and in Matthew 25:46 He says “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” The very same Greek word Jesus uses for “eternal” as in eternal life and for “eternal” punishment is the word “aiōnios” and this Greek word means “without end” and “that which has always been and always will be” so it is a mystery to me to see how some can conclude that the eternal punishment is not eternal but eternal life is with the same word for eternal is used in both. In other words they believe that you can receive eternal life but not eternal punishment if they reject Jesus. If the punishment is not eternal though and doesn’t last forever and is without end, then so is eternal life not lasting forever and is not without end. They accept and want eternal life but they reject the idea of eternal punishment. Their conclusion in effect is that Jesus was wrong. The punishment doesn’t seem possible that it’s annihilation and yet is said to be “without end.”

Examining the Old Testament Hebrew

When Daniel writes about the end of the age and the judgment of mankind in Daniel 12:2 he writes “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The word for “everlasting” is from the Hebrew word “`owlam” which means “forever,” “everlasting,” “perpetual,” and “ever” so those who awake to everlasting life have this life lasting forever, perpetually, without end just as those who awake to everlasting shame and contempt. How someone can still believe that this judgment or this eternal life can be only temporary for those who are condemned and the other eternal life is very mysterious to me since the same word used for contempt and life is the exact same word used. You cannot have one be temporary or be seen as annihilation but the other is perpetually forever. They love the idea of eternal life but they don’t accept what the Greek and the Hebrew say that the judgment is eternal.

Lazarus and the Rich Man

When Jesus gave the account of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the rich man was not annihilated. He continued to exist and had a memory of his life and about his family (Luke 16) but also had pain, suffering, and thirst meaning that he has all his senses in tack. No annihilation here! For those who see hell as annihilation, then why did the rich man have any concerns about crossing over to the “bosom of Abraham” which is clearly understood to be permanent? If he had simply ceased to exist or had been annihilated or was about to then why did it say that the rich man “in Hades, being in torment…lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side? And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame” (Luke 16:23-24).

Paul’s Warning

Paul gave frequent warnings to the unrepentant like in 2nd Thessalonians 1:9 where he wrote “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Here Paul uses the very same Greek word Jesus did for eternal “aiōnios” for those who are going to be forever removed from the presence of the Lord. The same word is also used in Revelation 20:10 for when the Devil is “thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” and the word “ever” is the Greek word “aiōn” which means “forever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity” and is the same place where the unrepentant go as it says in Revelation 20:15 “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” There is only one lake of fire, not one for the Devil and his demons and another for the unrepentant.

Conclusion

Don’t be deceived. All who refuse to repent and trust in Christ go to this place of eternal torment. Regardless of what many of the false teachers and cults say, hell is forever just as heaven is forever because you can’t have one “forever” be temporary and the other last for all time because it is using the same word for both in the Old and in the New Testament. Many will eventually find this out but it will be far too late.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.