Gehenna of Fire - Jesus stated

[Aunty Jane]

Therefore it to you, @Aunty Jane it is a reference solely to the purpose of the Devil and his angels ?

Eternal death is the ultimate punishment for any wicked person. God has no need to keep the wicked in existence...what a waste of his time and what a slap in his face to accuse him of being what he would condemn. He has no need to torture people, either before death or after it. Taking them out of existence is all he was ever going to do. Life is a gift, but it was conditional from the beginning.....to continue living the humans had to obey their Creator in all things.

The nation of Israel too was only given the option of “obey and live....disobey and die”. It was simple and straightforward. God have them the rules and expected his people to keep them. There were penalties if they did not.

Because “death and hades” (which is nothing more than the common grave) are thrown into the “lake of fire” we can understand that it is a place where things are utterly destroyed. The fire is a symbol of destruction in this instance. Jesus was Jewish and so were his audience, so understanding what “Gehenna” meant to a Jew is important. They entertained no belief in an afterlife where their souls went on to some other place. Death meant the opposite of life, but one where God had the option to restore life as Jesus and his apostles demonstrated.

 

[MatthewG]

Aunty Jane,

Thank you for your sharing the way you see and understand things with me. I don’t fully grasp everything you are stating to me however, and that may be due to my own ignorance. Thank you for answering my question.

Subsequently is it wrong to suggest that most Jewish people did believe in an afterlife? The Pharisees too, believed in the afterlife, and the scribes as well.

The ones who did not seemed to the people called the Sadducusees, wasn’t they the ones who came asking Jesus a question about the 7 brothers who married the one wife?

 

[Aunty Jane]

Thank you for your sharing the way you see and understand things with me. I don’t fully grasp everything you are stating to me however, and that may be due to my own ignorance. Thank you for answering my question.

It is difficult to comprehend that when you have believed all your life in an immortal soul, that the Bible does not teach such a concept. There was only 'life or death' for God's people.....death was reversed only by resurrection, which was nothing to do with a conscious part of man that departed from the body at death. It relied solely on the resurrection.....which was not expected to take place until Messiah was ruling in his Kingdom.

Subsequently is it wrong to suggest that most Jewish people did believe in an afterlife? The Pharisees too, believed in the afterlife, and the scribes as well.

I think you are confusing belief in the resurrection with belief in an immortal soul. The Pharisees believed in resurrection, but the Sadducees did not.

The ones who did not seemed to the people called the Sadducusees, wasn’t they the ones who came asking Jesus a question about the 7 brothers who married the one wife?

Yes, they tried to trip him up by using the custom of "brother-in-law marriage", whereby if a man died childless, and therefore had no one to inherit his land, the male next of kin would marry his widow and provide her with a child for her dead husband. He would then inherit his possession and be able to pass it down to his own children.

So the Sadducees used this to see how Jesus would answer what to them was a conundrum.
Under Israel's law, death ended a marriage and freed the widow to remarry, so the Sadducees suggested that if she married all seven brothers, whose wife would she be in the resurrection? But Jesus was not phased at all by the question...."In reply Jesus said to them: “You are mistaken, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God; 30 for in the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are as angels in heaven."

Or in Luke's account...."Jesus said to them: “The children of this system of things marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who have been counted worthy of gaining that system of things and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 In fact, neither can they die anymore, for they are like the angels, and they are God’s children by being children of the resurrection."

Whether Jesus was referring to those who were to be resurrected to heaven, or those who are resurrected back to life on earth, he does not state, so we will have to wait and see how that turns out. It would be a most unhappy situation if a woman married several husbands who all died, and then they expected to still be married to her when they are returned to life. The Bible says that death ends a marriage, but it doesn't say that death ends the love that people shared.....it will possibly be a higher kind of love, not involving sexual intimacy.

That is how I understand things....

 

[MatthewG]

Oh we do see things differently, that is alright. It is true I believe all souls are given by God and all souls go back to God to be resurrected by the one who gave them. That is okay if we differ.

You are right about how the Lord mentions that their is no marriage in heaven.

Thank you for taking time to share the way you see things.

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

“but I — I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:22‬ ‭YLT98‬‬

Hello to you,

This verse above is from the going’s literal. Jesus said this in context of a matter of court in how we are to settle matter quickly with another who may be trying to sue you.

It’s interesting Jesus mentions being guilty enough to go into the Gehenna of fire.

Now I’m doing a study on the scripture dealing with Gehenna which are all located here: Matthew 5:22;29;18:9;23:15;33;
Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5; James 3:6

Was wondering others thoughts on what Jesus is trying to say by this, and even though it is in context about courts can it apply with dealing with other individuals in general, such as having a harden heart against another even as a believer and experience a fire - in example like Ghenna which was were they threw dead bodies and trash into.

Would the fire be an example of the Holy Spirit and fire which Jesus came to baptize with? In which when we are mean, or their is a sense of burning in our heart when doing wrong to another it is by the Holy Spirit in wishes to burn out the trash for an example ?

Please feel free to comment and add to this, thank you,

- Matthew

When it comes to the fires of Gehenna, the Jews threw the dead bodies of criminals (other Jews) in the fires of Gehenna for Jews who were not repentant for a gross act of breaking the law covenant. They felt that such people who had committed such a gross act of breaking one of the commands of the law covenant and were unrepentant didn't deserve to be put in a memorial tomb. Jesus used this place to represent total and complete unending destruction. Jesus was telling the Jews that serious action must be taken by all individuals because we're all tempted, so when a bad thought comes into your head don't dwell on it, but instead take immediate action, to not dwell on it, because if you keep dwelling on a bad thought sooner or later you're going to act out on what you're dwelling on. So it's better to take immediate action to not dwell on a bad thought than to end up losing eternal life because you focus too much on bad thoughts. If we have Gods Holy Spirit, God will give us the strength to over come temptation. We must understand something about the fires of Gehenna, the Jews never threw living animals or living human beings in this place, they threw animals and humans who were already dead into the fires of Gehenna.

 

[Enoch111]

Would the fire be an example of the Holy Spirit and fire which Jesus came to baptize with?

Gehenna -- the Lake of Fire -- is eternal Hell. And Jesus warned everyone about Gehenna many times. It has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, but everything to do with the devil and his angels.

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

Aunty Jane,

Thank you for your sharing the way you see and understand things with me. I don’t fully grasp everything you are stating to me however, and that may be due to my own ignorance. Thank you for answering my question.

Subsequently is it wrong to suggest that most Jewish people did believe in an afterlife? The Pharisees too, believed in the afterlife, and the scribes as well.

The ones who did not seemed to the people called the Sadducusees, wasn’t they the ones who came asking Jesus a question about the 7 brothers who married the one wife?

The Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. The Pharisees and scribes did believe in the resurrection. Most people today who use the phrase "afterlife" are referring to someone who has a Soul who when a person dies this Soul separates from the body and goes to either hell, which many people believe is a fiery torment kind of place, or their Soul goes to heaven. So I don't think using the phrase "afterlife" with the way most people concerning the afterlife today is an accurate word to use of what the Pharisees and scribes believed in. It's more accurate to say they believed in the resurrection. Which means they believed that people when they died slept in death until the scheduled time of the resurrection to begin.

 

[Robert Gwin]

Thank you for your understanding and sharing, that helps a lot, Robert.

Certainly Matt, you are very welcome, I love to talk about God and His word.

 

[MatthewG]

The Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. The Pharisees and scribes did believe in the resurrection. Most people today who use the phrase "afterlife" are referring to someone who has a Soul who when a person dies this Soul separates from the body and goes to either hell, which many people believe is a fiery torment kind of place, or their Soul goes to heaven. So I don't think using the phrase "afterlife" with the way most people concerning the afterlife today is an accurate word to use of what the Pharisees and scribes believed in. It's more accurate to say they believed in the resurrection. Which means they believed that people when they died slept in death until the scheduled time of the resurrection to begin.

thank you for your insights my brother

 

[Davy]

“but I — I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:22‬ ‭YLT98‬‬
....

Matt 5:22
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, "Thou fool", shall be in danger of hell fire.
KJV

The word "fool" there in the Greek is the word moros, which means 'dull or stupid, blockhead, heedless, absurd' (Strong's no.3474). It's probably where the English word 'moron' comes from.

And I strongly disagree about the wicked not having a resurrection. God's Word says they will. The only one's God's Word shows that will not have a resurrection are the hybrid race of giants...

Isa 26:14
14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
KJV

That is one of the places where the KJV translators did not use the name Rephaim, which is a name for the giant hybrids caused by the angels of Genesis 6. They instead used the word "deceased". That verse reveals beyond all doubt that the Rephaim (giants) were a real race of hybrids that God did not create. And thus that verse also reveals "they shall not rise", i.e., not resurrect. This also reveals the topic in God's Word about the idea of 'the dead' can mean a lot more than just a dead body buried in the ground or a tomb. It reveals the worst idea of the dead are these giant hybrids that will not be resurrected. Yet there will be a "resurrection of damnation" even for the wicked per John 5:28-29.