This subject I would say is very interesting, but it is also a subject I believe many do not understand and, because of this, many today are confused when reading Scripture and trying to understand where people end up once they die and leave the physical world. I would like to go over five of these supernatural underworlds: Sheol, Paradise, Tartarus, Pit, and Gehenna. Each one is a different place and there are differences between them. Once we understand each supernatural underworld it will make more sense when you read the Word of God.
Sheol = Grave/Hell/Hades
Genesis 44:29 – And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Psalms 89:48 – What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
Job 10:21-22 -Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
Isaiah 14:9-10 – Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Proverbs 30:16 – The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, ‘It is enough.’
Luke 16:22-23 – And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
In Scripture we run in to the word grave, Hell, and Hades in many passages. These three words indicate what is known as Sheol. Sheol or Hell is considered a place of torment. In Psalms 89, it says, “shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” This is referencing that all people will see death, but will we be able to deliver and break free our soul from Hell? In Job 10, it is written this grave, this hell, as a place of darkness, as a shadow; it continues, saying it is a land of darkness, as darkness itself, showing it is a place that is darkness and that it does not know anything else. It is a shadow of death, without order. This passage is actually very perceiving of hell – it is a shadow of death meaning it’s a place that feels like death but since it’s a shadow there is no death. Can you imagine feeling like a shadow of death, meaning you are in an area that makes you feel dead but since it is a shadow you will never be dead – it is a consistent torment of death without order. The end of Job 10 says that the light is as darkness, showing that even what passes for light there is still darkness. This is a place of darkness, of confusion, and never knowing where you are at. This is just a glimpse of Hell.
Isaiah 14 says that it doesn’t matter who you are, you can be the king of a nation, the king of the world, one that is filled with authority here on Earth and yet Sheol will welcome you with arms wide open and embrace you. It says that these kings will speak and say to you, “You have become as weak as they are now and they have become just as if they are no one. If we continue further, Proverbs 30 says it is a place as a barren womb, a place that that does nothing, a place of pain, and a place without water, indicating there is no life. The fire never says that it is enough, it is a place of consistent and undesirable fire and pain for the ones that end there.
When we look in Luke 16, it says that hell is a place of torment and pain. The rich man saw a place far off where Abraham was with Lazarus in his bosom (known as Paradise). He cried out and asked for father Abraham to have mercy and to send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water so that he can cool his tongue for he was in torment in the flames. We must realize that Hell is real and it is a place of TRUE TORMENT and FIRE. A place where even a drip of water is desired but never fulfilled. It is a place where you will want to leave and run from the other way, but once you are there it will be too late. Hell is a place of waiting in torment until the day of judgment at the White Throne. Death and Hell will be cast in the Lake of Fire, which is another supernatural underworld. As we see here, in Hell there was still a way to see where Lazarus who was with Abraham in a place which was known at the time as Paradise, which is the next supernatural underworld we will cover.
As of right now, this is the place that people that decide to not choose the Lord God as their personal savior and not live according to His commands, statutes, and so forth will end up when they die. Their spirit will end up in Sheol and they will experience this type of pain and suffering until they will be cast into the final destination place, the Lake of Fire.
Paradise = Habitation of the righteous
Luke 16:19 – There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 23:43 – And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Ephesians 4:9 – Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
In Scripture we find the word Paradise that referres to two areas: the actual Paradise as Heaven, God’s living place, and the Paradise which is a place of waiting for the righteousness. This second Paradise is where the righteous were until the Son of God came and accomplished the Father’s will, as in Ephesians 4:9. We here will be speaking about the supernatural world of Paradise where the men and women which followed God in the Old Testament before the Jesus Christ came and fulfilled his duty, were sent to wait.
Paradise was a location where the children of God that lived a righteous life went when they passed away. It was a place of waiting for Christ. We see in Luke 16, that Lazarus was in the bosom of Abraham. The Bosom of Abraham is also another name for Paradise, so when we read this, we need to understand that it means the Paradise of waiting for the righteous. We have another passage, in Luke 23, that speaks about this paradise. This is when Jesus Christ was on the cross and there were two others by His side, and one of the two responded and said for Jesus Christ to remember him when He goes into His kingdom. And Jesus said, “today you will be with me in paradise.”
This word was used as the paradise of this supernatural world, because we see that in Ephesians 4:9 it speaks about that Jesus first descended to the lower parts of Earth before ascending. He went down, as it says in Ephesians, to lead the captive free and give gifts unto men. In this process, He liberated the righteous spirits of men that were in the lower parts of Paradise, He brought them to heaven (the other Paradise) and gave gifts – the rewards that they gained while on Earth for heaven.
This Paradise was once filled with the righteous of God that have passed away in the past. This place is no longer filled but it is empty for Christ has taken them to heaven now. This place is desolate and dusty now, for Christ has come and fulfilled the Father’s will.
Pit = Habitation of Demons
Luke 8:31 – And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
Revelation 9:1 – And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Pit is the Habitation of Demons, it is the place that has been dedicated for them as the place of torture and the place of holding. In Luke 8, it speaks about the demons that were speaking through a man, speaking to Jesus himself, and asking Him not to send them back to the deep (Pit). This is also why they said, “have you come to torture us before our day?” This is also showing us that the Lord has a specific time for them to be dealt with as well. It is a place of torment, a place that they do not want to go back to ever. It is a place of punishment.
We have another passage in Revelation 9 that says a star (Angel) came down and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. When you continue reading this passage, you find that it speaks about how the pit was opened and demons came from it. We see here that this is the place where demons are punished and tied down.
Many would say that it is not a place of torture. On the contrary, this is a place of tremendous torture, it is such a horrible place that the demons would rather go into pigs and live in them rather than going back to the pit. It is a place they do not want to go back to. We see here in these supernatural worlds that the Lord has a specific and organized level for all. We see here that the Pit is the place for demons, Paradise is for the righteous, and Hell is for the unrighteous. We will see that the next place is Tartarus, a place of prison for angels.
Tartarus = Prison for angels, but not Hell, the abyss
2 Peter 2:4 – For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell ( this is the wrong translation here for this word and should be Tartarus, deepest area the abyss, which is it’s meaning in Greek), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; …
Jude 1:6-7 – And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
The word ‘Tartarus’ in Greek is defined as “deep abyss.” This specific word was only ever used for these specific angels in the Bible. We will also find this word in Greek mythology, but even in Greek mythology it was a place for Titians, the elect, or gods. When you look at it this way, it was still a place that was made separate from the other dwelling place of the demons. In the Bible, we get the word Tartarus as a place for where the angels that sinned were cast down to. These were the angels that even God himself did not spare for the wicked they did.
When you read the passage of 2 Peter, you will see there and draw the conclusion that these angels were the ones which came down and had children with the women of Earth, which created the giants, also called Nephelines. These were the children of the “sons of God” and “daughters of man;” this is showing us that the sons of God, which are the angels, came and took wives and had children with them and created mighty men which were renowned for what they were capable of doing. We see after this is when the Lord saw that the Earth became too wicked and the flood of Noah came upon the men to destroy the wickedness of this creation, that came out of angels.
These angels where not destroyed but instead they were cast down into Tartarus, which is the abyss, and they were chained up in darkness until the judgment of the great day. They were the ones who left their first estate, as it says in Jude. The word Tartarus is a place that was dedicated specifically to the imprisonment of the angels which sinned and turned away from God. It is a place of imprisonment, a place of waiting until the judgment will come at the end of times.
Gethema = Lake of Fire
Matthew 25:41 – Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…
Revelation 2:11 – He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Revelation 19:20 – And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 20:10 – And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Revelation 20:14 – And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:8 – But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 20:11-15 – And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 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. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Gethema is known as the ‘lake of fire’ in the Word of God. There are times that pastors and evangelists, among many others, will use the lake of fire interchangeably with Hell/hades/grave but these two places are different. In Matthew 25, we see Jesus saying that there is a place of everlasting fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels – this is the lake of fire. In Revelation 2, we see that who overcomes will not be hurt and die and the second death after being judged at the great judgment seat. This will become the second death for those condemned which will lead to the lake of fire, which is the final destination. Revelation 20:14 also says that death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire with all those that have done wickedness and decided not to follow God.
These will be the fearful and unbelievers the terrible and abominable, murders, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars. We also see in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 that it also adds to this list with fornicators, adulteresses, sexually immoral, homosexuals (or being gay, lesbians or bi-sexual in any way that differs from what God has made sex to be) prostitutes, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanders (gossip, libels, etc), swindlers and many more. When we continue in Revelation 19 and 20, it is written that this place, the lake of fire with brimstone, will be for those false prophets which received the mark of the beast and worshipped him. In the end, Death (the body) and Hell (where the spirit is) will give them up they will be judged, and once judged, hell and death will be cast into this lake of fire, which is the final destination.
A place of true torment that will never end, a place where you will try to seek death and will not find it, a place where you will try to figure a way out from this pain but there will be no place out. It will be a place that you will be in forever and forever, for eternity.
Conclusion
I hope this has helped you realize that these five worlds do exist, to understand them, and that now you will be able to apply this when reading the Word of God and understand a little better what is happening in these five areas.
It is time for us to realize that there is not just a hell but there is a true lake of fire that will be a final destination which is filled with sulfur and brimstone. A place of no escape, no matter what, for eternity. A place of the most extreme torture and pain that we can imagine times by millions more.
I know that many times we do not think about eternity, and the truth be told, it is tough sometimes to wrap our minds around it. I first would like to say it is better to spend a month, even a year, in front of God and ask Him to reveal Himself to you if you are not a believer. If you truly are sincere with a humble heart and with an open heart, with meditation on Him and His word consistently, He will reveal Himself in one way or another. For our Lord is true and faithful. This is a short time to sacrifice when you consider a year ,in many cases, is less than two percent of your life, a month is less than 0.1% of your life. See if the Lord does exist and know that there is eternity waiting for you and me and it is either the Lake of Fire or Heaven, in the presence of a loving God.