An End to Hades

Revelation 1:18

¹⁸ I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell (hades) and of death.

Hell comes from the Greek word hades.  Hades is closest Greek word to the concept of Sheol.  It is Yeshua himself that has the key to release people from sheol.  This is accomplished through His resurrection.  This will play out in the Restitution of All Things.

We as believers, when we die, do not go to sheol.  Because of what Yeshua has done, believers will go to heaven when they die.

Revelation 6:8

⁸And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell (hades) followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

It refers to sending people to hades or sheol by way of first death.  This is prior to the second coming of Messiah.

Finally Revelation 20:13-14

¹³And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell (hades) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  ¹⁴And death and hell (hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Before this verse is explained, it is important to understand the premise of the Book of Revelation.  Revelation 1:1 is the key to understanding the book.

¹The Revelation of Yeshua Messiah, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

At the end of the verse, it states, and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.  Signify is the Greek word semaino {say-mah’-ee-no}.  It means to give a sign.  A sign is not literal, it is a symbol.  To fully understand the Book of Revelation, one must understand that it is written in symbols.  (For further discussion refer to Symbols.)

To understand Revelation 20:13-14, one must first understand the what the symbols mean.  Paul provides a clue in 1 Corinthians 15:26.

²⁶The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

In the end, death is destroyed.  Revelation 20:14

¹⁴And death and hell (hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  1 Corinthians 15:26 states that death is destroyed.  Think about this, how is something thrown into itself?  That cannot be done.  Therefore hell or hades (sheol) cannot be the lake of fire.  Hades and the Lake of Fire must be two different things or concepts.

At the end of time, death is destroyed when it is thrown into the Lake of Fire.  It would be reasonable to expect the same thing to happen to hades when it goes into the Lake of Fire.    As such, hades or hell is destroyed and no longer exists.  That makes the lake of fire destruction rather than a burning fire.  So the idea of throwing hades into fire and it would still exist is illogical and incorrect.  This will be discussed further in the pages pertaining to the Lake of Fire.

As such, the New Testament is in complete harmony with the Hebrew Scriptures.  Both sets of scriptures support that sheol, first death is an unconscious state and final death, second death, the lake of fire is annihilation.  The difference between first and second death is that there is no hope of resurrection from second death.

Next Gehenna

Back to Hell in the New Testament

Return to Sheol and Hell

Return to Sheol, Hell, Heaven and the Lake of Fire