One of my favorite church announcement gaffs is: Our weekly Bible Study is “What is Hell?” ,followed by “Come early and hear our choir practice.” We can joke about what would make Hell tormenting, but there is really nothing funny about it. Hell is eternal suffering.
Hell, the place of final judgment, is described this way in Revelation 20:10, 14:
“and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever…Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
The picture of fire and brimstone is a classic one. Satan and his minions are there, but not to add to the torment. Rather they are tormented themselves. A lake of fire that would normally consume someone fails to do so because the resurrected body of a human is indestructible. The fire only adds to their physical suffering.
The question I am asking today is about the presence of God in Hell. Some characterize Hell as God continually and intentionally venting an unending wrath against these beings. While God can be a God of judgment and the biblical warnings about Hell should be taken seriously, is this the type of being that He is? Does God have a wrath that is never satisfied?
I believe the answer about God’s presence in judgment comes from the story of Jesus on the cross. Being whipped and nailed to a cross was indeed painful, but the worst of it seems to be something unseen. Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus knew the plan. He knew that He would experience the full judgment on sin which included being forsaken by God. When that finally happens the experience overwhelms him. Even Jesus can’t stand being forsaken.
Hell fire sounds bad and I’m sure it is, but the judgment on sin isn’t God battering you for an eternity. It is God forsaking you. God being “all-knowing” and “present everywhere” doesn’t mean that God must know everything and be everywhere. He can intentionally forget and intentionally leave. The worst part about being damned is that He does. For this reason, the ultimate judgment for sin can be experience is a space, which we call “Hell” or on a cross.
We don’t realize how “present” God is with us all the time, even for those who deny His existence. But you would certainly know it when He is no longer present. It is agony. That is why it is so good that God wants to be with us. Jesus’ forsakenness was the main event on the cross. It is questionable whether the scourging and the torturous form of execution is even God’s idea. I think it is Satan’s idea to get Jesus to bail out on us. Forsakeness is the scary part, and since Jesus experienced it for us, we never have to experience it ourselves. Hell can be spoke of from afar.
afterdeathsite 
hard to click “like” – this surely is a vivid reminder of how casually we often take His Godly Presence in all. I often gasp when I see close-up pictures of flowers or a butterfly or majestic scenery or babies or 100 year old people with “life-lines” of sorrow and joys they experienced. I just now watched a moving picture of a tiny fetus in the womb, expressions, yawning, stretching – a miracle of life not yet born. O Lord open our eyes and hearts to all You want for us.
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