Is There a Temporary Heaven and Hell?

[Obadiah]

The Bible teaches that every believer who died prior to the Ascension of Christ went to an intermediate heaven called Paradise (Abraham’s bosom; Luke 16:19-23).

But when Jesus ascended after His death, He went into Paradise and took all who were there—all the Old Testament saints, all who had died and believed in God before the Ascension—with Him to the third heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10).

This means that believers no longer go to the intermediate heaven upon death. The soul and spirit of today’s believers go immediately to the third heaven, because Paradise is no longer an intermediate place; Paradise is now with God (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

However, there is an intermediate hell. When an unbeliever dies, his body goes into the grave and his spirit and soul go to Hades.

Revelation 20 tells us that “Death and Hades delivered up the dead” (verses 11-15). This passage indicates that Hades remains an intermediate hell until the Great White Throne Judgment—when “Death and Hades [will be] cast into the lake of fire”—the permanent hell.

But Hades is not a place of decision. There is no such place as purgatory. The Bible teaches that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, KJV).

In Luke 16:26, Abraham describes a “great gulf fixed” between Hades and Paradise, “so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” This passage illustrates the permanence of the gulf between heaven and hell. We won’t be able to “cross” from one side to the other. Whatever decisions we make about eternity will be made in this life.

Dr. David Jeremiah

 

[TedT]

Good morning Obadiah,
what do you make of Ps 9:17 Berean Standard Bible
The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.

Should we mistransate the word return, shub (as most do) because it implies that the wicked who were flung into hell and then born into mankind are sent back to Sheol upon their death?

Lexical Summary: SHUB:
Return, turn back, restore, repent

 

[Obadiah]

Good morning to you also.

No, I don't think it's a back and forth kind of thing for the evil.

As is explained throughout the Bible, those who reject God and pursue evil will end up in Sheol. As used in the Old Testament, Sheol means the grave, or the realm of the dead. Those who have opposed God will be left there, in some state of death and misery, as opposed to those who honor God and will be rescued from Sheol.

In hell, the wicked cannot look forward to a second chance. Their eternal fate is sealed, and they must suffer forever apart from God. When Jesus judges the nations at His second coming, He consigns them to eternal punishment.

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Matthew 25:46

 

[Joe]

The Bible teaches that every believer who died prior to the Ascension of Christ went to an intermediate heaven called Paradise (Abraham’s bosom; Luke 16:19-23).

But when Jesus ascended after His death, He went into Paradise and took all who were there—all the Old Testament saints, all who had died and believed in God before the Ascension—with Him to the third heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10).

This means that believers no longer go to the intermediate heaven upon death. The soul and spirit of today’s believers go immediately to the third heaven, because Paradise is no longer an intermediate place; Paradise is now with God (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

However, there is an intermediate hell. When an unbeliever dies, his body goes into the grave and his spirit and soul go to Hades.

Revelation 20 tells us that “Death and Hades delivered up the dead” (verses 11-15). This passage indicates that Hades remains an intermediate hell until the Great White Throne Judgment—when “Death and Hades [will be] cast into the lake of fire”—the permanent hell.

But Hades is not a place of decision. There is no such place as purgatory. The Bible teaches that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, KJV).

In Luke 16:26, Abraham describes a “great gulf fixed” between Hades and Paradise, “so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” This passage illustrates the permanence of the gulf between heaven and hell. We won’t be able to “cross” from one side to the other. Whatever decisions we make about eternity will be made in this life.

Dr. David Jeremiah

Hello Brother,

I agree with your quote from Dr. Jeremiah. I think of what Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." And what He said to the thief on the cross before He died, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

We know our Lord did not ascend into heaven until after He resurrected, as He said to Mary, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, "I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God." Which is what Daniel seen and described in Dan 7:13-14, "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed."

The biblical trail of paradise being a place of rest and peace in the heart of the earth (grave, hades, hell) has changed location and now is with the Lord Himself. As the Apostle Paul stated, "So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him." And he stated, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you."

God Bless