Grace Bible Church Pastor Teacher Robert R. McLaughlin Friday January 30, 2015
1. The Hebrew word SHEOL originally meant the deep parts of the sea. But both Sheol and the Greek word Hades are used to refer to anything that is subterranean or under the earth's surface and large.
2. HADES is used from classical times and before for the underworld and the realm of the dead.
3. Sheol is sometimes used for the grave, as in GEN 37:35; GEN 42:38; 1SA 2:6 and other passages.
4. The dying are said to go to Sheol, which is not the grave, but to the underpart of the earth. 5. Prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all human dead went to Sheol or Hades where two compartments were designed to receive them.
6. Those who are believers in the Old Testament are said to be delivered into the power of Sheol, HOS 13:14; PSA 49:16. 7. Seventh and last, the Lord's number for the finished work or perfection, since the resurrection of Christ, Old Testament believers have all been transferred to the third heaven up above as a part of the triumphal procession.
Hades Chart PARADISE |(for Old Testament believers only; empty since the resurrection of Christ) A GREAT GULF FIXED TORMENTS All unbelievers who await the Great White Throne judgment, then are cast into the lake of fire. It is a place of fire. Unbelievers resurrected from here in the second resurrection. TARTARUS The prison for the fallen angels of Gen 6, 1Pe 3 and Jude 6. THE ABYSS Criminal angels are held here until the middle of the Tribulation. Abaddon, the toughest of all fallen angels next to Satan, is here.
The triumphal procession refers to a custom in the ancient world which was the fact that after winning a war, those who were captured were to be brought back.
The ascension is the termination of the dispensation of the hypostatic union which is the incarnation or first advent of Jesus Christ (the era of the New Testament Gospels; (4 B.C. to A.D. 30).
The ascension was when all the Old Testament saints were transferred from Hades, the area called paradise, into the third heaven.
An amplified transation would like this: EPH 4:8 He led captive a host of captives, or he led a host of captives in a Triumphal procession from a state of captivity.
No believer ever permanently resided in heaven until the resurrection and session of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The temporary residence for the Old Testament believers was the compartment in Hades called Paradise or Abraham's bosom.
In EPH 4:8, the captives who are being transferred are Old Testament saints who were actually "imprisoned" in Hades, waiting to be moved to the third heaven.
For although every Old Testament believer had believed in Christ, Christ had not yet been judged for their sins historically.
LUK 23:43 "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
LUK 16:22 "Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
They followed in the first part of Triumphal procession of our Lord Jesus Christ as he ascended from earth to the third heaven.
There are two parts to the Triumphal procession: 1. When our Lord led all the Old Testament saints to heaven after His resurrection. 2. At the end of the Millennium or the end of human history when we remove all the fallen angels into the lake of fire, ZEC 13:2-3., PSA 110:1).
EPH 4:8 refers to the transfer of the Old Testament saints from paradise to the third heaven, which the apostle Paul describes in 2CO 12:4 as the "new paradise."
This veil was almost a foot thick, therefore, only God Himself could rip it. Furthermore, it stands forty feet high, and it was ripped from top to bottom.
The resurrection of these Old Testament believers was a part of the leading of the captives in Hades out of their captivity, and transferring them to the third heaven.
They were not in a resurrection body as of yet but an interim body as 2CO 5:1-8 teaches.
After He died our Lord's went into a place called Sheol or Hades, which is descent into the lower regions of the earth, ACT 2:27, 31, EPH 4:9.
There is what is called a great gulf fixed and a second compartment which is called Torments and that is where all unbelievers go when they die.
The third compartment is called Tartarus, and Tartarus is the location of some of the toughest of the fallen angels.
The last area is called the Abyss which is the location of one of the greatest demon armies of all time.
Sheol is sometimes used for the grave, as in GEN 37:35; GEN 42:38; 1SA 2:6.
1SA 2:6 "The Lord kills and makes alive; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The dying are said to go to sheol, which is not the grave, but to the underpart of the earth. This is a reference to their soul as in NUM 16:30; EZE 31:15, 17.
NUM 16:30 "but if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol.
PSA 49:15 but God will redeem my soul from the power of sheol; for he will receive me. Selah.
If Sheol is for the believer and unbeliever and the believer and unbeliever have two different eternal destinies, then obviously there must be different compartments in Sheol, and of course there is.
Hades is also said to be a place where God's people have gone, ACT 2:27,31, 1CO 15:55. Hades is also a place where unbelievers have gone, REV 6:8; REV 20:13-14.
1. Paradise is where the Old Testament believers resided after death before the resurrection of our Lord.
2. Torments is where all unbelievers reside, LUK 16:23.
3. Tartarus is where certain fallen angels, called beni ha elohim in Gen 6, reside.
4. The abyss contains demons who transgress the boundaries of the human race.
Abaddon is mentioned once in the New Testament and nine times in the Old Testament.
The compartment called Torments for members o the human race only who are unbelievers and have rejected TLJC during their time upon the earth.
There is another compartment which is called Tartarus which is the residence of certain fallen angels who became involved in an invasion of the earth.
This special category of fallen angels are called beni ha elohim in the Hebrew, translated "sons of god."
They are non-operational at the present time and they have been put into what can be known as the ACI or the Angelic Correctional Institution.
Tartarus is mentioned in 2PE 2:4 as the place where these fallen angels reside. "For God did not spare the angels when they sinned [GEN 6:2] but incarcerated them in Tartarus with chains of thick darkness, He delivered them over to judgment, being constantly guarded."
The aorist active participle, Tartarosas which means to be imprisoned or incarcerated in Tartarus.
"when they sinned" = a temporal participle referring to a time in human history, not in prehistoric angelic times.
Without mentioning Tartarus by name, a similar passage is found in Jude 6, "And the angels [beni ha elohim of GEN 6:2] who did not keep their own domain [they did not remain in the angelic creation but instead mixed with humans called the daughters of men],
but who deserted their proper abode -[their own creation], He has incarcerated them in everlasting chains of thick darkness for the judgment of the great day."
In Gen 6, they saw the beautiful women of the earth and lusted for them, and so made their invasion on earth.
These "chains of thick darkness" are the same as in 2PE 2:4.
The "judgment of the great day" occurs when all fallen angels are cast into the lake of fire, as anticipated by MAT 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Our final compartment in Hades deals with the Abyss.
1. First of all it is an invisible war. 2. The invisible war demands invisible heros.
Abussos means abyss, and is translated "the abyss" in LUK 8:31; ROM 10:7; ROM 9:11; ROM 11:7; ROM 17:8, and 20:1-3.
There are more references to angels in this book than any book in the Bible because the conflict is entering its last stage before the fallen angels are removed from the earth; therefore the intensity of the angelic conflict is portrayed very clearly.
When the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, finish their ministry in the Tribulation period, they are killed by Abaddon, the king of all demons in the Abyss, REV 9:11 cf 11:7.
Apparently the Abyss is the strongest of all the prisons because this is where Satan is placed during the Millennium.
In REV 9:1-2, the abyss is called "the bottomless pit."
LUK 8:30-31, "And Jesus asked him, `what is your name?' and he replied, `legion,' for many had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss."
The church is the focal point of the invisible warfare today; therefore we are required to become invisible heroes.
The abyss is related to visible warfare in the tribulation.
The abyss is the present barracks for the first demon assault army under the command of Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollyon (Greek). This first demon assault army will invade the earth during the tribulation, REV 9:1-12. At this time there will also be visible heroes among believers; e.g., Moses and Elijah and the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.
It will attack upon the sounding of the seventh trumpet, REV 11:15-12:17.
It will be defeated by the angelic order of battle led by Michael the Archangel, REV 12:7-8.
As a result of this defeat by Michael and the elect angels, the third demon assault army will attack planet earth, REV 12:9.
1. The Abrahamic Covenant defines the race for client nation Israel. Abraham became a Jew at age 99; circumcision was the sign, GEN 12:1‑3, 13:15‑16, 15:18.
2. The Palestinian Covenant defines the land for client nation Israel, GEN 15:18; NUM 34:1‑12; DEU 30:1‑9; JOS 1:3‑4. This is the real estate of the client nation.
3. The Mosaic Law defines the policy for client nation Israel (both spiritual and temporal policy). This is the one conditional covenant.
4. The Davidic Covenant defines the dynasty for client nation Israel, 2SA 7:8‑16; PSA 89:20‑37.
5. The New Covenant defines the restoration of the client nation Israel at the Second Advent and its millennial modus operandi, JER 31:31‑34.
This is why Anti-semitism is one of the greatest systems of evil from Satan, for if the Jews are destroyed, God will not have the people whom He gave these covenants to alive to receive His promises .
There is a special demon-king, Apollyon, now residing in the abyss who will indwell and empower the dictator or the revived roman empire in the tribulation, Rev 17.
Just as the unbeliever's soul is judged at the last judgment before the great white throne, there will also be a judgement for those angels who rebelled against God and who have been held in Tartarus.
2PE 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
Jud 6, "And the angels [beni ha Elohim of GEN 6:2] who did not keep their own domain, but who deserted their proper abode, he has incarcerated them in everlasting chains of thick darkness for the judgment of the great day." Verse 13 is not talking about people who drowned in the sea, nor is it talking about people who are buried in the sea.
The word for sea is thalassa which refers to the flood waters of the universal flood where those fallen angels are imprisoned.
Hades Chart PARADISE |(for Old Testament believers only; empty since the resurrection of Christ) A GREAT GULF FIXED TORMENTS All unbelievers who await the Great White Throne judgment, then are cast into the lake of fire. It is a place of fire. Unbelievers resurrected from here in the second resurrection. TARTARUS The prison for the fallen angels of Gen 6, 1Pe 3 and Jude 6. THE ABYSS Criminal angels are held here until the middle of the Tribulation. Abaddon, the toughest of all fallen angels next to Satan, is here.