What the Hades?
I grew up thinking that Hades was a euphemism for Hell. Good people who didn’t want to use the four-letter “H” word said Hades instead. I started having problems with that theory when I read that after the second judgment Hades would be thrown into the lake of fire (Gehenna). If they were the same thing, how could one be thrown into the other? And if Hades is different, where did it come from?
Christians confess their faith with the Apostles Creed and say that Jesus “descended into Hell.” Did he? That’s not what the original Greek version says. There it confesses that Jesus descended into Hades—which agrees with the New Testament.
The term “Hades” comes from Greek mythology and refers to the God of the underworld, as well as the abode of the dead, where all people go when they die. Jesus takes this word and applies his own specific, though limited, descriptions to it. In our time, since Hades is not as widely used as Hell, it doesn’t carry the unbiblical connotations for most people.
The Old Testament parallel or precursor to Hades is “Sheol,” often rendered “the grave” or “the depths”—which again causes confusion to the English speaker. It is a dark, listless, miserable state, though not of torment. The concept as understood throughout the Old Testament is vague at best. The New Testament Hades is generally thought to be a clarifying revelation.
In a few places Hades seems to indicate something dark or evil. Jesus says that “the gates of Hades will not overcome” the church (Matthew 16:18). That may to say that, as elders of a city held court or conducted business at their city gates, the judgments or schemes of Hades would not prevail against the church. Or that the powers of death will not overcome the church. Revelation 6:1–8 depicts the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the fourth one comes as a pair: “Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.” Whether Hades has a horse or not goes unstated.
In other places Hades looks more like a place, or a state of being. Jesus tells the folks of Capernaum that they “will go down to Hades” (Matthew 11:23). And he holds “the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). Then we have Jesus’ “parable” of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, where in the afterlife Lazarus is with Abraham and the rich man is in Hades (not “hell”). Is it a parable? Jesus never calls it a parable. And the rich man is not in Gehenna; he’s in Hades. But like Gehenna, Hades is a place of fire and torment–at least for him. Whether Lazarus is in Heaven (or Paradise as Jews of the day conceived it [see Luke 23:43]) or in a restful, benevolent part of Hades is carefully left unstated. (Also this story is prior to Jesus’ act of redemption on the cross.) And intriguingly, despite an impassable chasm, communication goes on between either Heaven and Hades or between the good part and the suffering part of Hades. But there is no communication between Hades and Earth.
Luke 16 is the only place to describe Hades as a place of torment, or having a part in which there is torment. It does seem to indicate that those who suffer there are bad people like the rich man. It does not indicate any varying degrees of suffering or any criteria or theology regarding those who suffer there.
Some traditions presume the rich man is in Gehenna and suggest that both Paradise, where Lazarus is at Abraham’s side, and Gehenna are part of Hades. But this is impossible, because the same text depicts Hades as being a separate place from Paradise. We also see in Revelation 20:13–14 that after death and Hades give up their dead, they are both thrown into the lake of fire, Gehenna. Clearly we’re seeing two entirely different places or conditions or states of being.
Is the Luke 16 depiction a fictional narrative? Or is Jesus pulling back the veil for us to get a glimpse for a better view of what’s at stake after we die? Characters in his parables never have names, but here we have not only Lazarus but also Abraham. This side of death we obviously can’t make a final judgment, but we have no reason not to take this account as a revelation of the afterlife.
It may help us to think beyond our physical earthly framework and consider that all these images of a bad afterlife may be a state or condition instead of (or as well as) a location. The spiritual world is not materially bounded, yet it obviously has its own kind of bondage.
A major difference and a major similarity stand out between Hades and Gehenna. The difference is that Hades is temporal; it has an end. And in Hades we see implied in some biblical passages, which we’ll look at next, a vague and limited possibility of redemption utterly absent in Gehenna. Gehenna is eternal, and it is the greater entity, for Hades is thrown into it. The similarity is that like Gehenna, Hades is, or contains, a place or condition of fire and torment—at least for some like the rich man, though all the imagery suggests that Gehenna is much worse.
Evangelism in Hades?
Jesus is clear that he is the only way, the only hope humanity has of connecting with the Triune God to spend our afterlife in his glorious presence. Most evangelicals tend to assume that’s simply the end of it. But the mercy of God invades in ways many of us are unaware of.
In John 5:24 Jesus affirms that if we believe in him, we will not be condemned but have “crossed over from death to life.” He goes on to say in verse 25, “A time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Is he speaking of people who are actually dead, or does he mean those who are physically alive but spiritually dead? The context of verse 24’s spiritual death and spiritual life would suggest that verse 25 refers to those who are physically alive but spiritually dead; they respond to Jesus and become spiritually alive. This interpretation is reasonable and the most common.
Yet Jesus takes the idea one step further in verses 28–29, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” Contrasting verses 24–25, this cannot be talking about people who are merely spiritually dead. Those “who are in their graves” can only refer to actual dead people. And he can’t be referring to believers who die because they’re already in Heaven. Furthermore, saying that they “will rise” to live or be condemned can again only refer to the afterlife.
So we’re left with a strong indication that people who die don’t go to Heaven will hear Christ’s voice, presumably as they will be in Hades, and will rise to either life or condemnation. The verdict will be based on what they have done in this life, which is understandable because it’s too late for them to be saved by grace. Jesus doesn’t say more than that, but John 5:28–29 matches the Revelation 20:11–15 description of the second judgment: It says death and hades gave up the dead that were in them, they all stood before the great white throne, books were opened (probably the records of each person’s life), the book of life was opened (the master registry of who receives eternal life). Verse 12 says, “The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” Verse 13 reiterates a second time that each person is “judged according to what he had done.” Then death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire–the imagery of Gehenna–the second death (spiritual death), and those whose names were not in the book of life were also thrown in.
Peter speaks of something similar in 1 Peter 3:18–19, saying that Christ “was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison.” Given that the Bible never indicates fallen angels will be redeemed, the “spirits in prison” can hardly be anything other than spirits of the dead. Verse 20 indicates that these spirits were of people in the days of Noah. Is it limited to them? What about the people after Noah?
The answer comes as Peter goes on to speak of people in his own time. Because God judges “the living and the dead . . . the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit” (4:6). Some interpret this to mean those who are spiritually dead, but a plain reading of the passage, particularly following the parallel of 3:18–19, would lead first to understanding this as referring to people who actually died. Again, to interpret these passages as meaning spiritually dead ignores, or at least stretches, the context of Christ’s going to prison to preach—the Bible never refers to earth as a prison.
When we put this together with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 12:40, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” we begin to see how this happened.
Collectively these verses show us what happened spiritually when Jesus’ physical body was in the grave between Good Friday and the resurrection early Sunday morning. No biblical passages give us any contrasting view. Every indication is that Jesus was in Hades preaching to the dead there that they might have a future hope of eternal life.
How does that work? Does it refer only to those who died before Christ? First Peter 4:6 seems to imply that. Could it also include those who die without hearing the truth of Christ today? The Bible doesn’t tell us. So we should go no further than the text and thus say that 1 Peter 4:6 refers to those who died prior to the Crucifixion. After that the dead outside of Christ are apparently judged according to what they have done.
We might ask if Hebrews 9:27 contradicts the discussion so far: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” The context of this verse is that of annual temple sacrifices on one hand and Christ’s “once for all . . . sacrifice of himself” on the other (9:25–28). Thus the singularity of “once” refers to death, not to judgment. The verse does not negate Revelation 20’s indication of a second end-time judgment.
People always ask about Purgatory and if it’s the same as Hades. Based on a theology of merit rather than grace, the Roman Catholic Church developed the idea of Purgatory as a place in the afterlife for people who believe in Jesus and escape “hell” (Gehenna) yet aren’t quite good enough to enter directly into Heaven. These folks are purged (thus “Purgatory”) to clean them up and make them worthy of Heaven. The concept is not in the Bible but is based on a theology of doing works to earn merit before God. It contradicts the entire basis of God’s grace as well as the fullness of Jesus’ atonement on the cross. Let Purgatory go the way of the Greek myths.
What exactly happens in Hades? We only know what the above passages tell us. Beyond that, ours is not to judge but to believe and help others believe. We know what we need to know. The rest we’ll find out on the other side.
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This does give a lot of hope. However, I am thinking that if the Spirits in Hades were given a second chance, wouldn’t the Spirits readily accept salvation through Jesus Christ, having already experienced the torment of not having accepted Him? That would mean that almost everyone would be in Heaven (which is good) but then all the Scripture about people thrown into Gehenna would be nullified. I still do hope God gives people a second chance but do not understand why should missionaries here suffer so much to take the gospel to the living, if they are anyway going to hear it in Hades some day.
It is an intriguing concept that is difficult to simply throw out. I have looked at the usual counter arguments from various sites on the web and find that they all simply avoid the direct interpretations as set out in scripture. those who disagree with this position rely on mental gymnastics to make their theology fit, whereas the various apologists for the “Gospel in Hades” argument seem to have the original Hebrew and Greek to back their position.
As a devout, bible-believing Christian, this was difficult to swallow at first, but it definitely portrays a loving Father’s heart.
Ok, you’re really close here, and I don’t have the time in hand at the moment to give all the verse references, but I’ll throw this out there and trust that you will go back to the Scriptures and check up on what I am saying. Always reference the Scriptures no matter who is telling you what. So, hades, or sheol of you are Jewish, is essentially the after life before final judgement. If you look at the psalms of King David you see that he always talks about God not leaving his soul in sheol (which is technically a mis-translation because we have a body spirit and soul and it is the spirit that is in sheol). If hades was only a place of torment, then why would God allow David (a man after God’s own heart) to rot in torment? David understood something that we didn’t get then, but we have a better understanding now. Sheol, or hades, had two parts. Torment and paradise. This is illustrated in Jesus story of the rich man and the poor man. Jesus went down to sheol after His death, preached gospel to the spirits on the Paradise side, then led them and captive into heaven. That’s the part about Him taking captivity captive. They were stuck in Paradise until He paid the price, but when His work finished, he was able to take them all home, thus permanently eliminating the Paradise side of hades. There was no longer any need for it. This is illustrated in the passage where it says absent from the body present with the Lord. (paraphrased) the torment side still exists. And it’s not fire. They are tormented by being consumed with their lusts. The rich man was accustomed to comfort and never wanting for anything. So he was consumed with drinking and being cool and comfortable. Alcoholics are consumed with never being able to drink, and so forth.
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Repent!
Accept Jesus as your Savior!
Another interesting scripture is where Jesus says Matt 5.26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid every last last penny.
He also talks about things being more tolerable more was it sodom than these towns around when Jesus was on the earth. Using the word more hints at degrees of suffering
Is hades a tormenting place? Will that that or there get a second Chance?
In Luke 16 it certainly is. But the Old Testament Hebrew concept of Sheol, considered similar or consistent or a preceding view of hades, sees it more as a place of dreary, dead listlessness. Some theorize that hades may contain some areas or experiences that are more dreary and dead, and others that are more tormenting, depending on what the person sent there had coming to him or her. But no one can say that with certainty.
God give us a limited view of the afterlife. It’s not much of our business. He only shows us enough to gain a basic understanding of what we need to know now.
The idea of a second chance is a bit like playing Russian Roulette. You have no guarantee of anything, and you’re playing with your eternal life, especially if you’ve had knowledge of salvation. But as I’ve written in this article, the Bible gives us reason to believe that there is hope for those who never had a chance to experience an adequate encounter with the gospel, or perhaps those who for whatever reason that God has mercy on did not truly believe.
The Bible says both: Jesus is the only way, and mercy triumphs over judgment.
Peter, I appreciate this article. I have always struggled with believing that people who have never heard the gospel will die and go to hell. I have often thought about the OT believers and how they were allowed into heaven even though they didn’t heard the gospel. God can do anything he pleases, so, if He wants to give those people a chance he certainly can. It doesn’t mean they get into heaven without accepting Jesus, they may just do it from Hades as noted in 1 Peter 3:18-19. However, in the article, referring to what Jesus said, you commented, ” Those who are in their graves can only refer to actual dead people. And he can’t be referring to believers who die because they’re already in Heaven.” I think it is important to note, when Jesus made that statement, He hadn’t been crucified yet, He hadn’t gone to Hades to lead the captives into captivity. So, I absolutely believe He was referring to the OT believers. Was that a one time event to allow the OT believers a chance for salvation since they never heard the gospel? Is it still available today to those who have never heard the gospel? I’m just not sure the “good” side of Hades is still occupied. If so, is it occupied by those who have never heard the gospel? If it is occupied, I do not think it is occupied by believers because Paul said to be “absent from the body is to be present with Christ”. I’m curious to know your thoughts.
Todd, Thank you for your thoughtful comment!
When Jesus made that comment, yes, he hadn’t yet gone to the cross, but he does speak in the future tense. And in this particular context, yes, it would most accurately refer to people in the OT era, as would the passages in 1 Peter.
Is it still available today? That’s where passages on general revelation would come in.
The Bible doesn’t give us enough revelation to really know if there are different compartments or dimensions of Hades. The reason I am inclined to believe it is occupied with nonbelievers is that in Revelation 20:11-15, Hades gives up the dead that are in it for judgment, then it gets thrown into the lake of fire, Gehenna.
The Bible tells us more than the average evangelical pays attention to. But Deuteronomy 29:29 also affirms that God doesn’t reveal everything to us. He reveals a bit of this afterlife stuff, enough for us to get a sense, but not enough for us to fully know because it’s ultimately his authority to judge, not ours. And imagine what people would to each other with that kind of knowledge!
I try to learn more of the Gospel everyday. I’m so blessed to come from a family that knows? the Lord. This post is a definite blessing. Thank you. Thank all who commented. Your insight has given me a new perspective on the subject of where we go when we die. I thank The Most High God AHAYAH and his son Yeshua my Lord and Savior for letting me see another day that I may have yet another opportunity to draw closer to them.
It still happens even today. The good news is still being preached to the dead. Just as God sent his son Jesus and giving him all authority, Jesus also sent his apostals and gave them authority. They continued with everything that Jesus used to do. Note that Jesus gave this power and authority to Apostal Peter in Mathew 16:18-19, a continuity of his work of salvation. What we should know is that not everyone who hears the gospel accept and believe it; Other people even die in that state. Just like mercy triumphs over judgement, such people still have that chance to believe and accept the gospel even in the afterlife.
Too much theology here bretherens.
KJV Acts 2
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
The dead know nothing and their works are done.nothing that can be considered a special entity escapes and exists someone when one dies.its just the gift of life that that is lost.
KJV 1 Peter 3
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
This verses in peter have nothing to do with Christ existing when he was dead.they are just talking about the Spirit which rose Christ from the dead in flesh as the same spirit which he used to speak during the time of Noah to those whose will back then could not scape Satan’s snares.Christ uses his spirit to speak to us and he guides us comforts as well as give ways of overcoming the devil.Christ was dead and did not go anywhere wen he was put in that sepulchre.
KJV Revelation 20
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
The hell spoken about here are all forms of graves in their kind.verse 13 briefly tries to give a few examples there,the sea and will also add a few like those who where burnt and ended in oblivion,eaten by beasts dissolved and many more.so the context of hell here is simply a grave.by hell giving up the dead implies its power to hold the mortal dead body is achieved or saved its purpose.its time for both the body and being(soul) to be destroyed completely.
Thank you for your opinion.
Soul is immortal ..spirit will go to creator. Flesh will be back to earth there are different occasion in bible says ..soul still have consciousnes ….in rev souls (died for the sake of christ name ) got white robe ..and crying it literally means souls either goes to hades or to jesus presence…
Linos
Thank you for your opinion
I will like to say that you didn’t get it right by saying that Christ went no where when He was lowered to the grave.
It’s the job of Christ to preach the gospel to the living and the dead and also to reconcile us to God.
Secondly Jesus is the way, the truth and life, no one goes to the Father except through Him. john:14:6
Permit me to say that He went to preach the gospel to the dead and also to set the captives free from captivity for the scripture to be fulfilled.
If you re-read the article, you’ll find that I essentially said the same thing you’re saying in your comment. We agree. Thank you for reading!
All I could say i have actually been in that Temple and Walked the you could hear the moaning,gnwanwing of the souls theire. loud cries,etc God gives his followers dominion and authority and he really does what he says and gives power to ppl and he says and authority for been his servants.
There is no purgatory and there is no limbo. This (Earth) is it.
After you die, there will not be a second chance.
‘Father is only Good’, same with Jesus. Remember Jesus told us if we see Jesus we see Father, they are the same in nature etc. Father and Jesus have never killed anyone and never will kill anyone; they can’t as they don’t have the power to kill. That killer being is Satan/Yahweh, the masquerader. That’s right the evil god of the Old Testament is YHWH/Yahweh. 6,807 times the title YHWH or Yahweh was written in the original test in the bible and was changed to LORD GOD and a few places Jehovah and a coupe to Yah. This entity was an angel who gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. Moses saw his backside by the way and the Bible records it was an angel. It was not Father God. Jesus died to ransom us from Satan, the Law, Death and our own sin. If Father God was the author of the Law then it would be house against itself and according to scripture the house could not stand. Jesus never mentioned YHWH or Yahweh or Jehovah but also told us that God’s name is Father and that we shouldn’t call anyone else Father. People before Jesus didn’t have the helper of the Holy Spirit which made it difficult to distinguish between spirits. Jesus disciplined two disciples as they didn’t know what spirit was responsible for bringing down fire from heaven to kill people (they had asked if fire from heaven could be called down to kill or injure). Of course we should know that fire from heaven is not from Father God but from Yahweh/Satan because Jesus told us so. That also should be a very big clue that that evil God that killed people in the OT was not Father God. There is so much more to state but if you want more understanding that’s unfortunately not part of the mainline churches today go to U tube and search for videos from: Good God Bobby Collier. Bobby is a terrific and humble brother/researcher/teacher of God’s word but he works a regular job for employment. I’ve been a follower of Jesus all my life and now age 69. Bobby Collier is the real deal, bringing the truth, it’s God’s timing. (btw Everyone will be in heaven in the end, that has always been the plan and the coming outcome of what Jesus Christ of Nazareth completed with his perfect life and sacrificial death. He defeated Satan’s total hold on mankind and earth.) No one is left behind. God is good and only good.
what we need to do very easy is to be born again into the The Kingdom Of God that’s our place now through Christ Jesus. Outside is the Kingdom of darkness{ Satan) or ( Evil One).
Thank you.
A very good study. Like a Pastor said, “why would anyone want to reject a loving FATHER?
I know time is short but hope some will find your blog. The book of truth is open and well explained at daniel11truth as it was promised at the end of time… Thanks
Wow, this article is really “good.” It is rare to find a teacher of the Word who tries to stick with the scriptures and not go beyond them. It is also rare to find someone who admits there are things God has not shown us and we must not go beyond what he has revealed.
I have no doubt the scripture plainly says Jesus preached in Hades to those who had been disobedient in the days of Noah. I don’t believe he did it to condemn them. What is terrifying is recognizing they were there for over 2,000 years. That’s a long time to live in torment. The scripture does not say the results of his preaching but I can only imagine that many if not all of the people he preached to believed in the gospel and were saved and delivered from their torment. I do imagine there are many and Hades who are hardened with hatred and wrath who may not have ears to hear the Gospel. We do not know how many will be saved and how many will not be. The secret things belong to the Lord, as this article mentions.
I don’t know how believing any of this would cause someone to want to hold on to sin because they think they’ll get a second chance. If anyone really believed they would be tortured for thousands of years if they do not repent in this life, I think it would give them reason to repent. Jesus was not worried about misleading anyone when he said you would be turned over to the torturers or to the jailers “until” all of your debt is paid.
This article says it is impossible that Hades and Paradise were in the same place. I would have to kindly disagree with that premise. If we take all the scriptures about Sheol and Hades and put them together we cannot deny it is part of the underworld. Underneath the Earth there are many caverns. Some places are extremely hot with lava and other places are cool. There is so much under us that we cannot see. I have no doubt that Hades and Paradise were both in the underworld. That means they were actually in the same place, just like Florida and Alaska are in the same place. They are both in the earth and yet they have drastically different climates. The same goes for places under the Earth.
Also, I don’t know why so many Bible teachers want to declare that there were only two compartments or places in the underworld. Jesus never said there are only two places. He simply described two different places. I believe that Hades is made up of many compartments because of how the Word describes different levels of suffering and torment. Every prison on Earth has different sections. I’ve done prison ministry for almost 30 years now. There are places for the really bad criminals where they can’t even come out of their cell. Some are so bad that they are always in shackles anytime they are around others. Of course, there are places for criminals that are less violent and dangerous and they have much more freedoms. That is the nature of every prison in this world. It also seems to be the nature of the underworld prison if we look at all of the scriptures and weigh them together.