Doctrine of Hell in OT

[nwink]

A friend of mine has been witnessing to a Jew who says that hell is not found anywhere in the Old Testament. Any thoughts, articles, previous PB discussions showing Scripture and explaining the doctrine of hell from the Old Testament would be very helpful.

(One thought I shared with my friend was to show the incompleteness of the OT's revelation by itself and the clear need for the further revelation and fulfillment which is found in the NT...thus showing the need for further revelation even on these matters of the destiny of the righteous/wicked.)

 

[Rom]

Isaiah 66:22-24 says this:
“22As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. 24 “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

That would appear to be a description of Gehenna. Our Lord then quotes Isaiah and says that indeed will take place in Gehenna (Mark 9):

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“ ‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’

Extra-biblical writings show Jewish writings indicating Gehenna as the place of torment (not that you would want to appeal to such sources - but I mention it just from a scholastic perspective). For instance, in the Apocrypha (2 Esdras 7:36-44):

36 The pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. 37 Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, ‘Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised. 38 Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments.’ Thus he will speak to them on the day of judgment— 39 a day that has no sun or moon or stars, 40 or cloud or thunder or lightning, or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning, 41 or summer or spring or heat or winter or frost or cold, or hail or rain or dew, 42 or noon or night, or dawn or shining or brightness or light, but only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, by which all shall see what has been destined. 43 It will last as though for a week of years. 44 This is my judgment and its prescribed order; and to you alone I have shown these things.”

I'm sure some of the more learned pastors and teachers here on the PB will have more insight on this matter.

 

[Peairtach]

William G.T. Shedd's book, "The Doctrine of Endless Punishment" is very good on showing the revelation of the doctrine of Hell in the OT and Scripture, generally.

E.g. the word "sheol" sometimes merely refers to death or the grave, but in other contexts it refers to the punishment of the wicked in and after death.

 

[nwink]

Thanks!

 

[nwink]

Are there any previous PB discussions or online articles on this subject?

 

[Elimelek]

Dear Nathan

In the Old Testament die word possibly nearest to hell would be the sheol, place of the dead. The Old Testament has many views on sheol. In some Psalms it is a place here God is not to be found. Psalm 88 would be an example of such a view. On the other hand God meets people in this most unexpected place of shadowy existence, as in Psalm 139:7-8 and further, as well as in Jonah 2. Samuel comes from beneath the ground when the witch of Endor is busy with her necromancy, so that Saul can consult the late prophet.

In the Ancient Near Eastern world, the god Mot (Death) was the ruler of sheol, while Baal, the god of fertility was the giver of life. The Canaanites who lived between the Israelites believed that spring and summer (havest time) was a time when Baal was in control, but autumn and winter (when the fields often lay waste) was the time when Mot drew Baal into sheol. In the Elijah cycles (1 Kings 17-19), the Lord uses this new found believe of Ahab and the Israelites to illustrate that He is actually in control of everything. First He brings drought (not Mot), something that Ahab easily accepts (1 Kings 16). But God is does not fit into these structures, He is mightier that Baal, after mount Carmel, He has the ability to give rain. In this way the whole cycle of belief is broken by the Lord.

The problem that we have is that the Old Testament is not very clear on a concept like hell. If you say that hell is a place where God is not present in the afterlife, sheol in certain texts fits the description, but there are many other texts that witness the opposite.

Maybe, it is good to talk about the incompleteness of the revelation of God in the Old Testament...

Good luck.

Kind regards

 

[Rom]

BTW, I also forgot about Daniel 12:2.

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.