The Rest of Them

The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse. (Revelation 19:21, NIV 1984).

My Musings – What about “the rest of them?” Where will they be cast into? The Lake of Fire? The Abyss? John writes later on that the Great White Throne Judgement does not happen until after the millennium. At that time “the sea [will give] up the dead that [are] in it, and death and Hades [will give] up the dead that [are] in them, and each person [will be] judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades [will be] thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name [is] not found written in the book of life, he [will be] thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:13–15, NIV 1984).

Sheol – This is the most common word in the Bible for the abode of the dead. It appears 65 times in the Old Testament.  In ordinary usage it means ravine, chasm, underworld, or world of the dead. In the Old Testament, it is the place where the dead have their abode. Synonyms for Sheol are pit, death, and destruction (Abaddon). Some Bible scholars consider it to be the same as the bottomless pit (Abyss) that is presided over by Abaddon, the prince of the Abyss.

Sheol was viewed as being located below the surface of the earth (Ezekiel. 31:15, 17; Psalm 86:13). It was a place of dust (Job 17:16), darkness (Job 10:21), silence (Psalm 94:17) and forgetfulness (Psalm 88:12). Sometimes the distinctions of earthly life are pictured as continuing in Sheol (Isaiah 14:9; Ezekiel 32:27), but always it is a place of weakness and joylessness.

The Old Testament often uses the word grave and Sheol interchangeably.  Some older translations have the term incorrectly translated as Hell.  But this is surely a bad translation, as noted above the unredeemed dead are not cast into Hell until after the millennium.

Hades – The Greek noun Hades is used 61 times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) in the place of the Hebrew word Sheol. In Greek mythology, Hades (also named Pluto) was the god of the underworld, which was the abode of the dead. By extension, Hades came to refer to the realm of the dead itself. In addition to Sheol, the Septuagint translates other Hebrew words and phrases that refer to the pit, stillness, death, and deep darkness as Hades.

In the New Testament, Hades appears as both a place (Acts 2:31) and a being (Revelation 6:8). As a place, it is the abode of the dead (Acts 2:27, 31), identical with Sheol (since the references are quotes from the Septuagint).  The concepts of Sheol, Hades, and hell all seem to overlap in the New Testament. But in a strict sense, Hades (like Sheol) refers simply to a place where the dead dwell, whereas Hell (Greek Gehenna) connotes a place of torment and punishment. Further, the dead enter Hades (or Sheol) immediately, while entrance to Hell is reserved for those who fare poorly in the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of time.

Hades is also represented as a place of torment reserved for the wicked. Jesus uses the term in this way in His condemnation of Capernaum in Matthew 11:23 (parallel Luke 10:15), and in the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:23, where the rich man is said to be “in torment in Hades.”

The Old Testament used the expression “to be gathered to one’s people (or fathers)” (see Genesis 25:8; 49:33; Judges 2:10; 2 Kings 22:20). All individuals—just or unjust alike—could be “gathered to their people.” Later, the rabbis divided the place of the dead (Sheol) into separate places for the righteous and the wicked. Only the portion reserved for the wicked was called Hades or torments, while the portion for the righteous was called Abraham’s bosom, or paradise.

Abraham’s Bosom – This is a term that Christ used to refer to a place for the spirits of the righteous dead (Luke 16:22, 23). He uses it in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man—the rich man goes to Hades (“torments”), and Lazarus goes to Abraham’s bosom (“paradise”). The imagery is taken from the ancient practice of reclining at table (see John 21:20).

It is not possible to determine exactly what Christ meant, as He uses this expression only in this “parable.” But there might be a clue in two other passages that at first blush seem to be contradictory.

Thus, Abraham’s bosom is likely the same as the paradise mentioned in Luke 23:43, where Christ tells the thief on the cross that “today you will be with me in paradise.”  Later, after He rose from the dead, when Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to “not hold onto me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father,” He is likely referring to Heaven.   If so, then Abraham’s bosom, or paradise, really is a separate division of Sheol or Hades and is (was) only a temporary abode of the righteous dead. 

Many theologians believe that Jesus emptied the paradise part of Hades sometime after He rose from the dead and then returned to the Father (John 20:17; Ephesian 4:8–10). We know that today paradise is in Heaven, where Jesus reigns in glory (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:1–4). Also, there is no indication in Scripture that souls in Hades can communicate with souls in Heaven, as they were able to do with the souls in Abraham’s bosom.

Furthermore, it is simply inconceivable that Hades or Sheol is the common abode of both the righteous dead and the unredeemed for several reasons. The fact that in Sheol there is no praise of Yahweh (Psalms. 6:5; 115:17), it is a place of pain and distress (Psalm 116:3), of weakness (Isaiah 14:10), helplessness (Psalm 88:4), hopelessness (Isaiah 38:10), and destruction (Isaiah 38:17).  The righteous clearly have a different expectation.

My Advice – There is much we cannot say with certainty about the location of departed souls other than in the end, the saved will be with the LORD forever in Heaven and the lost will spend eternity separated from the LORD forever in Hell. But as long as it is called today, you can choose which destiny will be yours. “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NIV 1984).

Resources:

Neal, D. A. (2012, 2013, 2014). Sheol. In J. D. Barry, L. Wentz, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair-Wolcott, R. Klippenstein, D. Bomar, … D. R. Brown (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (p. 1948). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Innes, D. K. (1996). Sheol. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., p. 1092). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.

Brand, C. (2003). Sheol. In C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 1483). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Clendenen, E. R. (2003). Hades. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 699). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Collins, A. Y., & Powell, M. A. (2011). Hades. In M. A. Powell (Ed.), The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) (Third Edition., p. 354). New York: HarperCollins.

Major Contributors and Editors. (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). Abraham’s Bosom. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 241). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.