It is a classic picture, found in sources as diverse as Renaissance art and The Far Side, to see the damned trapped in Hell with Satan and demons. Some of that art seems to suggest that Satan and demons somewhat enjoy it. They are captives not masters. Don’t depend on artists or cartoonists to be biblically correct. The Pre-Judgment Day destination of the damned (Sheol, Hades) has no mention of the presence of Satan or any fallen angel. The Post-Judgment Day destination of the damned (Hell) does. We have already seen one quick reference in Matthew 25:41. The other two are in Revelation.
But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Revelation 19:20
Though the word “Gehenna” is not used in this paragraph, the “lake of fire” would seem to be an obvious reference to the same place. Where is this place? No information is given. With possibly this one exception, it doesn’t seem to be a destination for any human prior to Judgment Day. The fact the beast (possibly a powerful demon not Satan) and his false prophet go there Pre-Judgement Day, may suggest that Hell exists already somewhere. The classic ideas of Hell as being at the core the Earth are both the product of confusing it with Sheol and the ancients not having any information about it. If I were to guess, I would guess Hell is in some dimensional space completely segregated from either Heaven or Earth. Hell’s distinction is not the endless fire, but rather it is its absence from the presence of God. It is forsaken.
The other reference to the “lake of fire” happens in Revelation 20:7-10:
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth- Gog and Magog- to gather them for battle. In the number they are like the sand of the seashore. They marched across the the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
For some reason not shared with us, Satan is allowed a short time of being at full power, and he uses his time to drag a large segment of humanity down with him. God thwarts his effort to attack those who remain true to God and then Satan is pitched into the lake of fire, also Pre-Judgement Day, but just barely. His confinement and torment are then permanent.
Judgment Day then commences in Revelation 20 with this conclusion:
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Hades is a place not a person. What is death? Death is a sentence. It is a sentence pronounced by God’s Law that the unforgiven human must be separated from God forever. The movement of death to Hell is a victory for the forgiven human but it is the consummation of the Law for the sinner. Everyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life, which would be everyone not connected to Jesus, is thrown into the lake of fire with a resurrected and indestructible body and soul. The torment is both physical, by fire, and spiritual by being forsaken by God.
As Jesus said, you really don’t want to end up here. Jesus gave himself so you don’t have to.
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