Right Time, Right Place

D L Henderson
4 min readJul 9, 2024

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July 9, 2024

I disagree with the folklore which developed around the word “hell” in Medieval times. In the Bible, the original word is “sheol,” and I assume “hell” is a slurred corruption of that. Below is the mindset as it has come down to us:

“In religion and folklore, Hell is an afterlife location in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, often torture, as eternal punishment after death.” (Wikipedia)

Yes. It is a place. Yes. We have eternal souls, spiritual personages that have to go somewhere. It may well be a dry and drab place, but it’s not for grusome suffering and punitive torture. It’s not a permanent condition either but more like a waiting room. I think over the ages it has been mixed into the Bible’s warning of the Final Judgment and the Lake of Fire, where, I believe, the eternal souls can be eternally destroyed, and to coin a phrase, “be put out of their misery.” This outlook has been developing over my decades of Bible study and guidance from above.

In addition, and it came as somewhat of a surprise to me, not only will “sinners” and evildoers be Judged by God, but also the “saved,” the Born Again Believers. The apostle Paul wrote to Christians, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” — 2 Corinthians 5:10, New International Version.

Putting this in context, the redeemed are truly redeemed, but we must also put this in its proper perspective: “…each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved — even though only as one escaping through the flames.” — 1 Corinthians 3:10–15, ibid.

From my Bible reading, I have also realized that beyond Sheol, the “waiting room,” as I’ve called it, there is at least one other stage in the process to the Final Judgment, often called “the White Throne Judgment,” which is solely in God the Father’s purview and His alone, because it is the ultimate, the most consequential and determinative one.

It is final. It is the End. It is the last stop. Full stop.

Before the concept of the Final Judgment is revealed in the Bible, John the Baptist, the herald and forerunner for Jesus, came and preached, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” — Matthew 3:11–12. ibid. Now, my opinion and I stress, “my opinion, is that this “fire” is allegorical, just like the “threshing floor,” the “winnowing fork,” the “wheat,” and the “chaff” are allegorical, representing some things very real.

Most importantly, and I must make myself very clear, there is no “Purgatory” where a person can weasel their way out of what they have been doing in their earthly lives. When you’re dead, you’re dead. You no longer have any control of your destiny. You’re dead. Your soul goes to either Abraham’s Bosom or sheol, but as for you, you are dead. (see Luke 16)

So, after comes the Final Judgment: “The dead were judged according to what they had done… …The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades {hell} gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” — Revelation 20:12–15, ibid.

You are no longer dead in any sense, substance, or significance. Now you are not only dead but any evidence of your existence is gone. Poof.

I think we are confused by our temporal, 24 hour, sunrise/sunset, tick tock, round-the-clock, life experience. Eternity is a whole ‘nother experience. It is a timeless existence, and the concept is very difficult for us to grasp. What will eternity be like?

The closest way I can come close to describing it is “endlessly now.”

My concluding advice is to heed Jesus’ offer as written by the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:2 — “For He says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Not later. Now.

People Get Ready

(P.S. — Supporting opinion, see https://qr.ae/psdNCI)

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D L Henderson

Born 1950; HS 1968; Born again 1972; Cornell ILR; Steward, Local President/Business Agent; Husband, father, grandfather; winner/loser/everything in between