Sheol Sounds Like Hell with Addendum

May 8, 2024

The other day I was in an exchange of Biblical understanding with a fellow essayist. I had told him about a dream I had had, and he wanted to know if I had any other thoughts on the subject. So I researched it a bit and now am posting these two essays in the hope of further understanding and discussions:

Sheol Sounds Like Hell to Me

May 3, 2024

I had a dream about “hell” once. Paired with my studied understanding from the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, I think I have a good perspective.

First we all have a soul, the spirit inside of us, the inner person. That soul is eternal. When a person dies physically, that soul has to go somewhere. So the parable names the two either/or places. Lazarus went to Abraham’s Bosom. The rich man went to “Sheol”. The latter is a very dry place — which could mean actually no water to drink and/or no words from God to soothe the soul. That would feel like kind of a burning yearning, I suppose.

As for the description, in my dream I saw a dilapidated city which had no color except for a grayish sepia appearance. Looking around, people could not be found. Where I was standing, there was a small church building in very bright Dayglo colors — red brick, a couple white pillars and white steps and steeple… but the door and windows were all bricked up with cinderblock. All things considered, not the best place to be stuck in.

Finally, the Bible mentions several Judgments, and I think this is the rather temporary first. I should think that it won’t feel temporary. After what I would think would feel like an eternity of an internal burning and yearning, there are other times of Judgment to follow, wherein EVERYONE will eventually be judged by their works. Quite the enigmatic conundrum in the light of God’s Grace, eh?

So, the question to be answered by Born Again Bible Believing Christians aa we near death is, “How’d I do completing the works of God which He had prepared for us to do?” Note works not of our own, or by our own, or from our own attempts to be good.

Now here is an earlier essay:

Eternal Garbage Dump POSTED

November 16, 2023

In the mid 1970’s, I published about a dozen essays in the local newspaper, The Island Dispatch. This is one of them, and if there are any major edits, they will be posted in brackets { }.

Some people say, “I want to go to hell, because all my friends are gonna be there!” Such an attitude makes me think one or two things: Either they have a very low opinion of their friends or they have the wrong idea about hell.

Because the statement is usually said half humorously, I tend to assume that it is the latter, that their concept of hell is not very clear. Maybe they have decided that God isn’t real, and so hell isn’t either. {Besides, what makes anyone think that they will even see other people in hell in the first place?}

Jesus often warned of the eternal Judgment of God. Throughout His earthly ministry, as recorded in the Bible, He talked about people when they would finally be confronted with the reality of going to hell as full of “weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” Not pleasant at all and certainly no joke. (Matthew 8, 24, 26, and Luke 13)

In Mark 9:44–48, Jesus described hell as the place “where the maggot does not die and the fire does not go out.” This Scripture becomes more relevant when we realize Jesus was comparing hell to a garbage dump named Gehenna…

There was a reprehensible place outside the city of Jerusalem, named Gehenna, similar to modern landfills where refuse is burnt and perishables {even dead bodies} were left to rot. {Also similar to the chemical Burn Pits we hear so much about on TV}. The fire would be continually smoldering, giving off a putrid stench, and maggots would be crawling over all the refuse continually. Even when taken figuratively (which it probably was), quite frankly, it’s not the kind of place I want my friends to live in even for a second!

{In High School, I remember the stench of the Chemical Factories downstream and across the river, blowing into our classrooms whenever there was an East Wind, and that was definitely unpleasant.}

So, here’s the bottom line: “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1–5)

If you’d rather have Jesus, He would be glad to wrap you up in His arms, adopting you into the family of God, giving you joy beyond description. “There is joy in Heaven over even one sinner who turns to God.” (Luke 15:7)

So, this question remains: Where do you want to end up? At a family reunion or sitting atop a garbage dump by yourself? The choice is yours and yours alone.

{Send your RSVP to God via Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s prayer line. No i-phone needed, and it’s a secured line, with a real person to talk with.}