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And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss . . . (NASB) Rev. 20:2-3 That is the same message of Isa. 14:15 which tells us that Satan will be imprisoned there some day.
Nevertheless you [Satan] will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. (NASB) Isa 14:15 This implies that Abaddon is a fiery place deep within Sheol.
For a fire is kindled in My anger, and burns to the lowest part of Sheol, and consumes the earth with its yield, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. (NASB) Deut. 32:22 Heaven. As we have seen, Sheol refers to the grave where man’s flesh and bones return to dust. Where did a righteous man’s spirit go? The answer is heaven. Heaven is pictured as being above while Sheol was below. In 2 Kings 2:11, God took the prophet Elijah up to heaven in a fiery chariot to be with Him forever. Scripture also says that God took Enoch up to heaven (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5). What is “up”? King David gives us the answer when he says that heaven is above and Sheol is below.
If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. (NASB) Ps. 139:8 Sheol has no holding power over the spirit of a righteous person. The scriptures say the bodies of the righteous may die and return to dust, but their spirits go “up to heaven” to be with God,
The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. (NASB) 1 Samuel 2:6 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me. Selah. (NASB) Ps. 49:15 For Thy lovingkindness toward me is great, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. (NASB) Ps. 86:13 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. (NASB) Ps. 89:48 God is not the God of the dead but those who live with Him according to Matt. 22:32.
New Testament. The New Testament uses different terms to talk about the same places. These terms are very familiar to us - terms such as hell and Hades.
Hades is Sheol. Hades is the New Testament parallel to Sheol. The English form of the Greek word is HADES. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, substituted the Greek word HADES at least one hundred times in the Old Testament for the Hebrew word Sheol. This means the Hebrew word SHEOL and the Greek word for HADES are interchangeable. Hades refers to the grave and is a temporary place of punishment for the wicked. Just like Sheol, Hades represents death. Hades is the New Testament term for the place where our bodies return to dust. This is evident from this passage,
. . . he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. (NASB) Acts 2:31 |
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| Sheol, Hades, Hell, Paradise, & Heaven | |||||
