Genesis 3:24: “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the East of the garden of Eden Cherubim’s and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
We don’t hear much talk about hell in the sense of it being a real place now days. Seems preachers don’t want to scare people away from their churches. We don’t want to make people uncomfortable. Then too, we have just become too sophisticated, too intelligent to really believe that God would send someone to spend eternity in fires. “Come now, we shant be fools, to actually believe such a place exist.” Besides, if God is so loving, would He send someone to a place like that. Then, of course, you have your practical minded people who tell us that if a soul is just energy, how can it feel the torture of flames.
Now how am I getting a burning hell from Genesis 3:24? Well, I once had a problem believing in a real burning hell. However, as I gave serious study to the Old Testament, I came to a terrifying conclusion that not only is there a real burning hell, one that can last for eternity, but it also makes perfect sense.
Let me explain. In Luke 16:24 we have the story of the rich man in hell who calls out to Father Abraham “Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” The word flame in the Greek is Phlox. Philox is used only seven times in the New Testament. Each time it is used, it is used in conjunction to pur, ie., flame of fire. Only in Luke is it used alone without pur. In other words, the rich man was not tormented in a flame of fire but in a flame. The Aramaic Bible, Peshitta, uses the Aramaic word shalachath which is identical to the Hebrew word lahath which means flame.
The Septuagint uses phlox in Genesis 3:24 for the word lahath (flame). This comes from the same dual root as lahav which also means flame. In it’s most primitive state, the dual root laha mean to be thirsty or to burn with thirst, as the rich man burned with such laha (thirst) he called out for a drop of water. As laha evolved a Teth was added to the word to give a rendering of not only flame, but to create an illusion. The illusion idea came from the idea that people saw pictures in a flame.
The sages believe that the Cherubim’s swinging the flaming swords at the East of Eden were really creating an illusion that it did not exist. Thus only the righteous could see beyond that illusion and enter the Garden of Eden.
Not only does God create such illusions, but the enemy is a master of illusion. I advocate the Left the Behind Series only because it made it into the mainstream and carries a strong message of Salvation and many have been saved through this series. I am not sure where I stand on the eschatology but I was impressed at how Tim Lehaye described the many illusions that the Anti-Christ will create. I will not go into detail but I am sure many of you have read about and heard testimonies of those coming out of the occult and how they were drawn in by the many illusions created by the enemy.
When Jesus told this story of the rich man in hell he was speaking in Aramaic and he used the Aramaic word shalahat without the word esh (fire). He was speaking to a Jewish audience and what the Jews most likely heard about hell is that it is place of eternal torment in an illusion created by the enemy.
An illusion can be just as real as reality itself with all the suffering and pain that one feels in reality. Then Jesus teaches that there is a great gulf between God and the non-believer after death. The word gulf in the Greek is chasma, you can guess the English word that derives from that (chasm). It is used only once in the New Testament. However, in extra Biblical Greek literature there is a story about a group of soldiers who have been separated from their unit. They ended up on a mountain that had a great chasma or chasm between them and the rest of their army. They stood at this chasm looking out at their friends and fellow warriors encamped on the other side. Behind this group of soldiers came the enemy. The army encamped on the other side watched in helplessness as their fellow soldiers were slaughtered and they could do nothing because they were separated by a great chasma.
So next time someone tells you that the idea of a burning hell does not make sense, maybe you could try to tell them that when they die without the redemption of Jesus Christ, there is a great chasm between them and God. God is not sending them to a burning hell, He just can not be near sin. If they reject His offer of salvation and redemption, He can not help them once their life ends and they are then in the hands of the enemy who can do whatever he wants with them without any interference from God. The enemy is just evil enough to create an illusion of burning flames and the pain and torture that comes with it. The enemy can enjoy seeing them suffer for eternity, just out of spite.
Recent Comments