Heaven in Scripture

Uncover biblical passages that describe the promise and nature of Heaven.

🌟 Jesus Christ

• John 3:13 — “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”
• Acts 1:9-11 — After His resurrection, Jesus was “taken up into heaven” before His disciples, confirming His return to the Father.

Jesus makes references to those who have not ascended to heaven in various places throughout his teachings. Here
are a few examples:

1. Matthew 25:31-46 – In this passage, Jesus describes the ultimate goal of his ministry, which is to bring people
   to salvation through faith in him. He teaches that those who are kind, merciful, and pure in heart will inherit
   the kingdom of God, while those who are wicked and corrupt will be cast into a fiery furnace.
2. Luke 16:19-31 – In this parable, Jesus describes a rich man who dies and goes to heaven, while a poor man goes
   to hell. However, it is later revealed that the poor man had already been condemned to hell before he died. This
   contradicts the idea that we are all immediately judged by God or a higher power after death based on our actions
   in life.
3. 2 Peter 1:5-7 – In these verses, Paul writes that there will be a final judgment day when Christ returns and
   all people will be either welcomed into his kingdom or condemned to eternal punishment. He uses the imagery of a
   righteous judge to describe this process, saying that those who are pure in heart will be given a blessing from
   the Lord, while those who are wicked and corrupt will be cast into a fiery furnace.
4. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 – In this verse, Paul writes that there will be a final judgment day when Christ returns
   and all people will either be welcomed into his kingdom or condemned to eternal punishment. He uses the imagery of
   a fire to describe this process, saying that those who are pure in heart will be given a crown of life, while
   those who are wicked and corrupt will be cast into the lake of fire.
5. Revelation 20:1-6 – In these verses, it is written that Christ will return in power and judgment to establish
   his kingdom on earth for 1,000 years. He describes the imagery of thrones and judges, saying that those who are
   pure in heart will be given the crown of life, while those who are wicked and corrupt will be cast into a fiery
   furnace.

In summary, Jesus makes references to those who have not ascended to heaven in various passages throughout his
teachings, including Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 16:19-31, 2 Peter 1:5-7, and Revelation 20:1-6. These references
suggest that there will be a final judgment day when Christ returns and all people will be either welcomed into
his kingdom or condemned to eternal punishment.

🔥 Biblical Depictions of Hell

The Bible presents Hell as a real and sobering destination for those who reject God’s grace. It’s described using vivid imagery that conveys torment, separation, and final judgment. Here’s what Scripture says—straight from the text:

🔥 Lake of Fire

• Revelation 20:14–15 — “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
• Revelation 21:8 — “…the cowardly, the unbelieving…will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

This is the most intense image of Hell: a place of eternal punishment and separation from God.

“For You will not leave my SOUL IN SHEOL (Hell in the Authorized Version), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see CORRUPTION.” Psalm 16:10

Psalm 16:10 is a deeply layered verse that speaks to both personal hope and prophetic fulfillment. The word “Sheol” here is often translated as “Hell” in older versions like the King James, but its original Hebrew meaning is more nuanced.

🕳️ What Is Sheol?

• Sheol refers to the realm of the dead—a shadowy, silent place where souls go after death.
• It’s not necessarily a place of torment like the modern concept of Hell, but more like a grave or holding place.
• In ancient Hebrew thought, Sheol was a neutral zone—not heaven, not hell, just the place of the departed.

✝️ Messianic Prophecy

• Psalm 16:10 is widely seen as a prophetic reference to Jesus’ resurrection.
• The phrase “Your Holy One will not see corruption” points to the belief that Jesus’ body did not decay in the grave2.
• The Apostle Peter quoted this verse in Acts 2:27 to affirm that Jesus was not abandoned to death and rose again.

💡 Layers of Meaning

• For David, this verse expressed trust that God would not abandon him—even in death.
• For Christians, it’s a cornerstone of resurrection theology: that death is not the end, and God’s faithful will be redeemed from it.

🕊️ Hope Beyond the Grave

• This verse offers comfort that God’s presence extends beyond death, and that decay and abandonment are not the final word.
• It’s a declaration of victory over death, and a promise of eternal life for those who trust in God.

‘Hell’ is not a accurate translation and loose translation from 4 different words.

‘Hell’ is not a translation. It is a word that has been inserted by translators into the bible because of their preconceived ideas about a place of eternal torment. This idea is fast losing ground today as modern translators realise that Hebrew words like ‘Sheol’, simply meant the grave to the original inspired writers of the Scriptures. The translators are still very shy though, and in many instances have left the word ‘Sheol’ untranslated in modern Bible versions. This is because they can see that this word obviously means ‘the grave’ and not the traditional meaning. Rather than admit this though, and the folly of using the inserted word ‘hell’ in the past, they have just left the Hebrew word ‘Sheol’ untranslated many times, and left the readers to make up their own minds.
Sheol, abode of the dead in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). The term can be interpreted to mean either the literal place in which dead people are placed (IE., in the ground) or the ancient world’s concept of the afterlife as a subterranean “land of gloom and deep darkness” (Book of Job 10:21).

‘Gehenna’ the rubbish tip

‘Gehenna’ or ‘The valley of the son of Hinnom’ which is what the Greek word means, was the rubbish tip outside of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus which was also used to burn the bodies of criminals who had suffered capital punishment. Most of the occurrences of the word ‘hell’ in the New Testament refer to this ‘place of burning’ outside of Jerusalem. NOT A PLACE OF TORTURE with no hope of escape!

‘Hades’ the unseen

The word Hades comes from two words: ‘A’, which is ‘Alpha’, the first letter of the Greek alphabet and is a negative letter which simply means ‘without’. The equivalent in English would be the word ‘un’. The other word is ‘eido’ which means ‘to see’. So ‘Hades’ simply means, ‘unseen’. Is the ‘Hades’ of the Bible the same place as that described in Greek Mythology? Websters Dictionary describes Hades as, “the grim god of the lower world dwelling in the abode of the dead conceived as either a dark and gloomy subterranean realm or a remote island beyond the western sea.”