Monthly Archives: May 2019

What’s the Real Issue with Hell? Part 2: How are we to Understand Jesus’ Teaching on Hell?

Reflections on Scripture.

As we noted last month, almost all the Biblical teaching on Hell comes from the lips of Jesus! This being the case, we need to take what is said very seriously.  But what exactly did Jesus teach, and how are we to understand it?  Is it to be taken literally or metaphorically?

Jesus gives several descriptions of Hell. On several occasions he refers to “unquenchable fire” Matthew 5:22 and Mark 5:48 being two examples.  The Mark 5:48 reference also notes it as being a place: “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” which gives rise to the notion of it being a place of eternal punishment.  This fits well with the description of: “eternal fire” as mentioned in Matthew 25:41 when Jesus is teaching the ‘Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (or preview as I prefer to call it).  Yet, on the other hand, Jesus, in the ‘Parable of the Net’, refers to fire once again, but adds that: “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:50).  To complicate matters further in Matthew 25:30 in the ‘Parable of the Talents’ although hell is not mentioned it’s clearly inferred with the wicked and lazy servant being cast out: “into the outer darkness” where once again: “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

But these descriptions present us with a problem if we take them literally. A few years ago I was reading a book by a notable Christian writer which treated each bit of Jesus’ teaching on Hell this way.  This led to a problem as about halfway through the book I was scratching my head and thinking the author was contradicting himself with the conclusions he drew!  For a start, fire and darkness don’t sit well together.  So presumably this means that we must take Jesus’ teaching as metaphorical and therefore symbolic!  This approach is made even more feasible when we realise that many of the references to hell from the lips of Jesus could actually be translated ‘Gehenna’. This was a literal place in the valley of Hinnon, and when Jesus mentioned it those listening would have had a reaction of sheer horror!  It was an accursed place due to its unsavoury history of idolatry and, if that wasn’t bad enough, a place where in the past child sacrifice had taken place (Jeremiah 7:31 and 19:2-6)!  In Jesus’ day it was used as a rubbish dump where fire was continually burning and the bodies of condemned criminals were left to rot!  Perhaps it’s this picture that best helps us understand Jesus teaching on the subject. No good Jew would want to go near the place due to its unsavoury history, general unpleasantness and the fact that you would be incredibly ceremonially unclean (hence you would excluded from worship) if you went anywhere near it.  Could the picture be any clearer, this was not a place where anyone would want to visit or stay, it was a place you avoid at all costs and would want to get as far away from as possible!

As Jesus uses this combination of symbols rather than literal descriptions this leads us to conclude that the reality must be far worse and more indescribably horrific than we can imagine!  This is a place where any of God’s goodness is null and void because of its unholy and unclean nature!  But the reasoning is simple, this is a place to be avoided at all cost and hence Jesus is warning people to turn from their rebellion, which the Bible calls sin, turn to him and repent!  It’s now up to us to heed this merciful and gracious warning!

To be continued……..

Feel free to listen to this sermon which includes the ‘Parable of the Net’: More Parables and a Prophet without Honour! Matthew 13:44-58.

The Songs of Ascents: Psalm 123.

Scriptural Thought for the Month
Our Help is in the Name of the Lord.

Psalm 123 was obviously written during a time of trouble for Israel.  But what was the cause of this trouble?  Some have surmised the Psalm was written during the Assyrian King Sennacherib’s threat against Jerusalem in the reign of King Hezekiah (see Isaiah chapter 36- 37).  Others feel that it may have been written during Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem’s when he and the people were constantly under threat.  In the end, the time doesn’t particularly matter.  The key thing is that God’s people are under threat are now being ridiculed for their apparent weakness.

My wife Tracy and I love the old ‘film noir’ pictures.  I recall one in particular called ‘Key Largo’ where  Edward G. Robinson plays a notorious gangster who holds guests, the proprietor and his daughter hostage at a hotel on Key Largo.  One is the guests is played Humphrey Bogart.  So the scene is set, we have a hero and a villain and it is just a case of when Humphrey Bogart’s character will act.  That’s very much the case in this psalm.  The Psalmist see’s that God’s people are under threat, but he never doubts that the Lord will act at some point!

In verse 1 the Psalmist looks to the Lord: ‘To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!’  This conveys two things, firstly the Psalmist is giving God his rightful place, and secondly he’s expecting the Lord to intervene.  This is given added emphasis in verse 2 where he uses the illustration: ‘as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.’  In the Ancient Near East hand gestures were important in the relationship between a servant and their master as they were used for summoning the servant for service.  So this illustrates the writer is expectant and alert to the fact that God will act.  He doesn’t know when or how, but he expects it and is watching for it as he’s also expecting to play a part in the Lord’s solution to the problem.  But the illustration of the master – servant / maid – mistress relationship also illustrates his complete dependence on the Lord.  In the last part of verse 2 the writer uses the term: ‘LORD’ which in the original Hebrew text is rendered ‘Yahweh’, the covenant name of God.  And that’s significant as the covenant was made up of God’s promises to Israel, all of which he had kept!  So it illustrates the Psalmist’s supreme confidence, he expects God to answer his prayer!

But the Psalmist does more than just expect God to act.  He requests mercy from the Lord in the face of all the contempt and ridicule that he and others are facing.  I think it’s harder to face ridicule of the Gospel message rather than objections and opposition.  If someone objects to something you say, you can at least reason with them.  But when people just want to make stupid jokes about something that’s precious to you, that’s harder to deal with as it’s far more hurtful!  So the Psalmist is doing the wisest the thing he can, he petitions the Lord in prayer. We could make the mistake of thinking that the psalm ends on a negative note.  After all, the problem is not resolved as we have no indication that the Lord has answered his prayer.  But if we take that approach I believe we’ve missed something very important.  In effect, the writer of the psalm has bypassed the problem.  He has gone over the heads of those who taunt God’s people and appealed to one far greater than the most powerful of enemies as he is: ‘enthroned in the heavens!’ (v1).  The Psalmist looks to the Lord, focusing on him and expecting to be part of the action that he will take.  This is the attitude we to need to adopt in the face of opposition if we are to be effective in our service to the Lord in an age of ridiculed and cynicism!

Would you like to listen to a sermon on this Psalm? Our Help is Found in the Name of the Lord.