I've recently been doing an indepth study on Hell and am coming to believe differently than what I've been taught since childhood. One of the most interesting things I've come across is the cultural context of what Jesus said concerning Gehenna.
When Jesus spoke of sin and sinners burning in continuous fire, He spoke of Gehenna. Jesus uses the word Gehenna 10 times in the Gospels, and the Gospels only record Jesus using the word Hades 4 times. And only once is the word Hades used in regards to a person - the rich man in Luke 16. And considering Luke was a Gentile, it's understandable that He would use a Greek term to reference a fiery afterlife twice and only use Gehenna once.
Anyhow, Jesus used almost exclusively the word Gehenna to reference God's punishment upon sin and sinner; so understanding that word in its cultural context is very important. What was Gehenna and how did the first century Jew understand the concept of Gehenna? When Jesus used the word Gehenna, what did it communicate to His first century audience?
Lexicons and commentaries all note that Gehenna was Jerusalem's trash dump where the city waste was consumed by fire and maggots; trash was burnt and waste flesh, even the bodies of condemned criminals, was reduced to dust by maggots. It was a place continuously (eternally) burning with fire and continuously populated by maggots (worm dieth not). The continuous fire was actually fueled by brimstone - sulfur. The valley of Gehenna was selected by default to be a trash dump because it was where Molech had been worshipped and children burnt in sacrifice to that idol; so when the Jews repented from such, they used the site as a trash dump. This is information readily noted in most commentaries and lexicons.
What is rarely noted is that Gehenna was used by the Rabbis of Jesus' day to reference the afterlife of sinners. Shammai and Hillel both used Gehenna to speak metaphorically of a place of purification of the soul for those who were not righteous enough to directly enter Paradise - the Garden of Eden. Shammai believed that only the extremenly righteous went to Paradise when they died; everyone else went to Gehenna. Most would rise to Ga Eden (Paradise) after being purified, having their sins burnt up - similar to the Catholic concept of Purgatory. Hillel taught that only the wicked went to Gehenna. Both Shammai and Hillel taught that the longest most people would stay in Gehenna was 11 months, and only the most wicked evil person would stay longer, possibly as much as 12 months. They debated as to what would happen to the especially wicked people, whether they too would be purified, annihilated, or endure the punishment of Gehenna indefinitely. They agreed though that most people, after being purified and healed by fire though, rose from the pit and were admitted to Paradise, the Garden of Eden! This was especially true for loved ones!
Thus, when Jesus spoke of Gehenna, unless He otherwise specified, the word Gehenna would have carried this meaning of a place of purification and healing of the soul! Note Jesus' use of Gehenna in the following passage.
Mark 9:42-49 "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell (Gehenna), where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell (Gehenna). And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell (Gehenna), where " 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire."
The NLT actually translates vs. 49 as "Everyone will be purified by fire." And according to the immediate literary context, there is no reason to not equate "fire" in vs. 49 with the "fire" of Gehenna in the previous verses. So Jesus warned everyone to be careful how we live, especially in regards to how we treat others. If we treat others badly, especially if we cause someone to loose faith, we're accountable for our actions and will suffer the chastisement of the Lord undergoing His fiery purification - terrible and yet redemptive (with a purpose)! And though the Rabbis taught that some are righteous enough to not undergo the fire of Gehenna, Jesus said that "Everyone will be purified by fire!"
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Rise Up!
Last Easter, my family and I having just moved to Tennessee visited a local church. During worship I began hearing a message from the Lord. It was a powerfully encouraging message but being we had never visited the church before, I didn’t know if they were accustomed to people delivering prophetic messages. I didn’t even know for sure that they believed in the gift of prophecy still operating in the church today; so I decided to wait and see if the pastor would speak on the message. Often times the Lord will give a message through two or more methods, not always but often. So I decided to wait and see if the message that I was hearing would come out in the sermon, but it didn’t.
The pastor didn’t even speak on anything close to the message that I was hearing and yet I continued to be very strongly pressed to share the message. While the pastor was wrapping up his sermon, I noticed the man who had done the announcements was standing in the back of the sanctuary. I walked over to him and simply said, “I believe I have a word from the Lord for the church, how do you handle such things?” To which he promptly said, “Well, hand on just a minute,” and walked forward to speak with the pastor who had just turned the service back over to the worship leader for a closing song.
The pastor motioned me forward and said, “You said you have a word from the Lord, but Who are you?” To which I replied, “Well, nobody really, we just moved here to Tennessee from Virginia and this is the first time we’ve visited the church.” He thought about that for a second and replied, “Well, would you be willing to share the word with me so that I can share it with the congregation? I mean, you must understand that I don’t know anything about you.” I replied, “Of course that’s fine; I understand” and proceeded to share with him the message and walked to the back of the sanctuary.
He went back up to the pulpit saying, “A young man said that he believed he had a word from the Lord and gave it to me to share it with you.” He then proceeded to share the jist of what I shared with him. But of course, prophetic words are meant to be given under a prophetic unction, and him not having that prophetic unction (inspiration), the word came across a little flat, not being as encouraging as when I had shared it with him. He noted the difference though and seeing that I was just happy to deliver the message and not have to be in the “spot-light”, I suppose that he decided he could trust me to deliver it directly to the people. So he said, “Young man was there anything else?” I then had liberty to share the message as I was hearing it from the Lord. I said…
“I believe the Lord is saying that He’s happy that we are celebrating His Resurrection, but He looks forward to the day when He will celebrate ours! He wants to celebrate us rising from our sickness, us rising from our poverty, us rising from our depression. That’s what He wants to see – us rising to be all that He’s called us to be!”
And may the Lord bless you today, so that you might Rise Up!
The pastor didn’t even speak on anything close to the message that I was hearing and yet I continued to be very strongly pressed to share the message. While the pastor was wrapping up his sermon, I noticed the man who had done the announcements was standing in the back of the sanctuary. I walked over to him and simply said, “I believe I have a word from the Lord for the church, how do you handle such things?” To which he promptly said, “Well, hand on just a minute,” and walked forward to speak with the pastor who had just turned the service back over to the worship leader for a closing song.
The pastor motioned me forward and said, “You said you have a word from the Lord, but Who are you?” To which I replied, “Well, nobody really, we just moved here to Tennessee from Virginia and this is the first time we’ve visited the church.” He thought about that for a second and replied, “Well, would you be willing to share the word with me so that I can share it with the congregation? I mean, you must understand that I don’t know anything about you.” I replied, “Of course that’s fine; I understand” and proceeded to share with him the message and walked to the back of the sanctuary.
He went back up to the pulpit saying, “A young man said that he believed he had a word from the Lord and gave it to me to share it with you.” He then proceeded to share the jist of what I shared with him. But of course, prophetic words are meant to be given under a prophetic unction, and him not having that prophetic unction (inspiration), the word came across a little flat, not being as encouraging as when I had shared it with him. He noted the difference though and seeing that I was just happy to deliver the message and not have to be in the “spot-light”, I suppose that he decided he could trust me to deliver it directly to the people. So he said, “Young man was there anything else?” I then had liberty to share the message as I was hearing it from the Lord. I said…
“I believe the Lord is saying that He’s happy that we are celebrating His Resurrection, but He looks forward to the day when He will celebrate ours! He wants to celebrate us rising from our sickness, us rising from our poverty, us rising from our depression. That’s what He wants to see – us rising to be all that He’s called us to be!”
And may the Lord bless you today, so that you might Rise Up!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Universality of Judgment
Unfortunately, Protestant and Evangelical churches teach very little on the Judgment. (Having limited exposure to Catholic, Orthodox, or Messianic churches, I don't know how much they teach on Judgment). I believe that a primary reason for Protestant and Evangelical churches teaching little on the Judgment is because of our emphasis on Salvation being by grace through faith and not of works; and yet scriptures that refer to the Judgment are universalistic in scope indicating that all humanity (including us Christians) will face the Judgment! And scriptures concerning Judgment are consistantly based on works, how we live our lives, and not on our faith in God.
In fact, judgment begins with the church. Why would judgment begin with us? Likely there are several reasons, one of which being that we, the church, are most responsible before God for our actions because we've received the revelation of God's love for us and have given our lives to God. Like the men in the parable of the talents, we've received awesome blessings from God!
We've had our eyes opened through faith and we see the Lord. We've been regenerated. We’ve had the Law written upon our hearts and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live righteous holy lives. We are the most responsible to live right, to act right, and to have right attitudes! Thus judgment begins with us!
Not only are we the most responsible because we've received Christ, but just as we’ve embraced the eternal reality of heaven and are seated with Christ in heavenly places, we can also kneel before the Lord in judgment allowing Him to purify our hearts and lives today; we need not wait until we die to access the eternal reality of God's Judgment!
Unbelievers however have not embraced the love of God, have not been regenerated, and are often under the influence and blindness of demonic spirits. Even so, they too are accountable for their actions for the basics of right and wrong are written on the conscience of every person, to a greater or lesser degree. Even those who have hardened their hearts, their conscience against God for they have resisted the Spirit of God impressing upon them what is right and good.
Thankfully, the Lord is the Righteous Judge whose judgment is tempered by grace and mercy. His judgments are completely for our good, though it is a flame of fire. The beauty of His holiness draws us all to Him like moths drawn to a flame; and yet He is a consuming fire that will burn away all that is unrighteous in us. Even Isaiah suffered the awesome holy burning fearful presence of the Lord. “Then I said, ‘My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!’ Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, ‘See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.’”
What an awesome revelation of the holiness of God! May we all today embrace the Judgment of God, allowing His very presence to purify our hearts, His Word to purify our minds, and His will to purify our “doings”!
In fact, judgment begins with the church. Why would judgment begin with us? Likely there are several reasons, one of which being that we, the church, are most responsible before God for our actions because we've received the revelation of God's love for us and have given our lives to God. Like the men in the parable of the talents, we've received awesome blessings from God!
We've had our eyes opened through faith and we see the Lord. We've been regenerated. We’ve had the Law written upon our hearts and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live righteous holy lives. We are the most responsible to live right, to act right, and to have right attitudes! Thus judgment begins with us!
Not only are we the most responsible because we've received Christ, but just as we’ve embraced the eternal reality of heaven and are seated with Christ in heavenly places, we can also kneel before the Lord in judgment allowing Him to purify our hearts and lives today; we need not wait until we die to access the eternal reality of God's Judgment!
Unbelievers however have not embraced the love of God, have not been regenerated, and are often under the influence and blindness of demonic spirits. Even so, they too are accountable for their actions for the basics of right and wrong are written on the conscience of every person, to a greater or lesser degree. Even those who have hardened their hearts, their conscience against God for they have resisted the Spirit of God impressing upon them what is right and good.
Thankfully, the Lord is the Righteous Judge whose judgment is tempered by grace and mercy. His judgments are completely for our good, though it is a flame of fire. The beauty of His holiness draws us all to Him like moths drawn to a flame; and yet He is a consuming fire that will burn away all that is unrighteous in us. Even Isaiah suffered the awesome holy burning fearful presence of the Lord. “Then I said, ‘My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!’ Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, ‘See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.’”
What an awesome revelation of the holiness of God! May we all today embrace the Judgment of God, allowing His very presence to purify our hearts, His Word to purify our minds, and His will to purify our “doings”!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Internationally Respected vs. Rednecks Gone Good
Last night I watched a recorded Nightline Debate “Does Satan Exist?” New Age guru Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson, a former Fundamentalist Pentecostal preacher who came from four generations of “demon-caster-outers,” represented the “Devil Does Not Exist” side. Mark Driscoll, a “hip yet hard-line preacher”, and Annie Lobert, a former prostitute and founder of “Hookers for Jesus” a ministry in Las Vegas, represented the “Devil Exists” side. Harris of Nightline moderated the debate.
It was an interesting program though only choice segments were aired. However, what stuck out to me above everything else was the apparent disparity in the respectability of the participants.
Both Chopra and Pearson have post-graduate degrees, but Driscoll and Lobert did not present any accademic credentials. Chopra and Pearson wore sharp expensive contemporary suits, and Pearson wore his clerical collar, whereas Driscoll and Lobert dressed casual. Driscoll wore tennis shoes, slacks, and a polo-type shirt with some design on the front. And Lobert wore jeans, a blouse, and knee-high black boots with a purple heart on them. Chopra and Pearson are both international in their scope and respected by untold thousands of people; whereas Driscoll and Lobert are both relatively little known, in fact I had never heard of either of them.
Another subtle and yet important aspect of disparity between the two groups was their collective ages and thus perceived amount of wisdom. Chopra and Pearson are both likely in their late 50’s, early 60’s, whereas Driscoll and Lobert are likely both in their late 30’s, early 40’s. Age = wisdom is an underlying assumption of most cultures including the American culture even though we value youth.
Thus in wisdom/age, education, appearance, and reputation, the No-Devil side was clearly favored. The deck was stacked against the “Devil Exists” side. ABC would have been much more “fair” if they had chosen two of the many Christian ministers that are elder statesmen, educated, dress appropriately, and are internationally known and respected. The ABC Dateline Debate, “Does Satan Exist” could have been subtitled, “Internationally Educated and Respected vs. American Rednecks Gone Good!”
It was an interesting program though only choice segments were aired. However, what stuck out to me above everything else was the apparent disparity in the respectability of the participants.
Both Chopra and Pearson have post-graduate degrees, but Driscoll and Lobert did not present any accademic credentials. Chopra and Pearson wore sharp expensive contemporary suits, and Pearson wore his clerical collar, whereas Driscoll and Lobert dressed casual. Driscoll wore tennis shoes, slacks, and a polo-type shirt with some design on the front. And Lobert wore jeans, a blouse, and knee-high black boots with a purple heart on them. Chopra and Pearson are both international in their scope and respected by untold thousands of people; whereas Driscoll and Lobert are both relatively little known, in fact I had never heard of either of them.
Another subtle and yet important aspect of disparity between the two groups was their collective ages and thus perceived amount of wisdom. Chopra and Pearson are both likely in their late 50’s, early 60’s, whereas Driscoll and Lobert are likely both in their late 30’s, early 40’s. Age = wisdom is an underlying assumption of most cultures including the American culture even though we value youth.
Thus in wisdom/age, education, appearance, and reputation, the No-Devil side was clearly favored. The deck was stacked against the “Devil Exists” side. ABC would have been much more “fair” if they had chosen two of the many Christian ministers that are elder statesmen, educated, dress appropriately, and are internationally known and respected. The ABC Dateline Debate, “Does Satan Exist” could have been subtitled, “Internationally Educated and Respected vs. American Rednecks Gone Good!”
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