Unless you are quite the Bible expert, you probably don’t even know what “Sheol” is. You might be shocked to find out that this Hebrew word is actually quite common in the Old Testament, yet in many English Bible translations the editors struggled to know what to do with it. It is a place name. So it should capitalized and left as is, still many times it is translated as “grave”, “pit” or “Hell” with a little footnote that says: Hebrew: Sheol. The footnote almost seems like an apology.
The main reason why Sheol is not something you heard about or that it gets translated away is that it doesn’t fit in the most common understanding of places in the afterlife. Most people just know Heaven and Hell. It is poorly recognized that Judgment Day makes a big difference in what will exist. Before Judgment Day the best fitting understanding of what exists after death is Sheol and Heaven. After Judgment Day, Sheol (or in Greek Hades) is thrown into a “lake of fire” along with Satan and his angels, as well as, all the damned of humanity. This lake of fire is what I think of when I use the word “Hell”.
Sheol/Hades does have some Hell-like properties, which adds to the confusion. There is suffering, fire, worms. It is a prison. But I can’t connect the presence of Satan and demons nor can I connect being completely forsaken by God with Sheol. It is different than the final destination.
The classic picture of demons tormenting people, whether it be from Michelangelo or “The Far Side”, is biblically incorrect. In Sheol, they don’t seem to exist. In Hell, they suffer with everybody else.
I’m sure most people dismiss both Sheol and Hell as a myth. Who wouldn’t want to? I don’t like the idea that these places are the destination of most people at their death. I hate it, but I can’t dismiss it. Jesus speaks of both Hell (Gehenna) and Hades. Jesus also descended to Sheol. It is forbidden, but apparently possible to communicate with people in Sheol. And modern people have had out-of-body experiences of Sheol.
My dog hates going to the Vet. When they are about to do a procedure on him, he hides his face under my arm. It is like he is thinking, “If I can’t see you, you don’t exist.” That is how those who dismiss Hell or Sheol are coping with a frightening reality. Unfortunately, the Vet still exists, so does Hell and Sheol.
Would God really do this? Where is the love? God is very “literal” in the sense that once a law is written in Heaven, it is enacted. The Law requires sinners to be sent to Sheol and Hell. The love is found in that God created a personally costly way for both the Law to be fulfilled and people to be spared Hell and Sheol. That way is Jesus being forsaken on the cross.
That is serious stuff. You don’t go to the extremes that Jesus went to if you don’t really love who you are trying to save and what you are trying to save them from is something aweful.
Rationalizing about Hell, living in denial, ignoring it until later are all dangerous coping mechanisms that push one close to finding out about Sheol and Hell from personal experience. I would rather just read about it.
afterdeathsite 