For what reason is Hell mentioned in the Bible?

Answer 1

First off, Hell was not originally created for man but for the fallen angels that sinned and rebelled against God.

You need to understand that God is love. But God is also Holy, Just, and Righteous. That is God and His inescapable nature. His Holy nature cannot be tolerant of sin and His Holy sense of Justice cannot disallow that sin is a breaking of His law and the penalty for doing so, which is death, must be paid. He cannot go against this, anymore than He can cease to be God.

But God is also love. In His love He knows that man cannot help what they are, they are born that way. Man since the fall of man in the garden of Eden was born with a sin nature that they inherited from their physical father. This nature revives early in life and eventually compels every man and woman to sin against God, and then from that moment on they are a criminal offender of His Holy Law which His Holy Just Nature demands that justice then be full-filled for the criminal offense. This by default made Hell, which is the prison for the offenders of Gods law, the destination for man that breaks Gods laws with his sin.

God, in His love of man, not willing that any should perish, due to this inescapable nature that man is born with, sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (according to the New Testament), to die in the place of man so then that God's demand for Holy Justice could be met, and so that He could then offer to man the free gift of forgiveness of sin, and thereby grant unto man eternal life, by believing on this Jesus Christ whom God sent to die for them, in the ultimate expression of His love for every man and woman born.

Hell is mentioned so frequently in the New Testament as a warning to man that one day he will die and due to his fallen nature will one day go to this eternal prison for criminal that are condemned. God warns man of this eternal destination of separation from God, Hell, to keep you from going there!!! It is so that man might instead come to his senses and accept Gods free gift of forgiveness purchased by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

God mentions Hell so much because He loves man and does not want anyone to perish and go to that awful place, especially since God provided the only means whereby man might escape that eternal fate of suffering the judgment of God. Its the same as when a parent that loves their child warns them that unless they do this, they will suffer the consequences of this. This isn't because the Parent wants the bad to happen to their child. Its because the bad WILL happen and the parent wants the child to NOT have to suffer the bad. So is it why God warns man about Hell over and over again in the Bible.

Another thought:

Based on scriptural evidence, many feel that "Hell" is mentioned in the Bible as 'the common grave of mankind", and was brought into existence as the direct result of the sin caused by Adam's disobedience to God(Romans 6:23). Because of this, it's the place that all people eventually go (Romans 5:12)and even sinless Jesus went, as prophesied by King David (Psalm 16:9-11(Ac 2:25-27, 29-32)). People who go there are conscious of nothing, have no thoughts and are no longer in existence ( Psalm 146:3&4), but, because of putting faith in Jesus' sacrifice, it's also the place from which there is promised a resurrection of the dead who are in God's memory.(Acts 24:15)(John 5:28&29)

History: The words referred to as 'hell' in many translations today, are SHEOL in Hebrew, and HADES in Greek (Psalms 16:10 and Acts 2:27) and INFERUS in Latin (meaning: "that which lies beneath") and are associated with death and the dead, not with life and the living. (Ecclesiastes 9:5&10) The idea that 'hell' is a 'fiery place of torment is not taught in the Bible.

The word 'Gehenna' is often mistranslated as 'hell', in an attempt to add 'fire and suffering' to the meaning of 'hell', but Gehenna was a totally different thing. It had formerly been the site of human sacrifice by Judean Kings Ahaz and Manasseh engaged in idolatrous worship by fire to Baal (2Chronicles 28:1, 3; 33:1, 6; Jeremiah 7:31, 32; 32:35), but in 1st century Israel it had been reduced to the garbage dump, where trash, and dead animals and bodies of dead criminals were thrown outside the walls of Jeruselum. The fires were kept burning (as in many dumps today) to burn the refuse (Mark 9:47&48) so it was a fitting symbol of 'complete destruction". Things thrown into Gehenna would be completely destroyed, and people thrown into Gehenna would have no resurrection. Everlasting destruction. (Jeremiah 7:31; 32:35) Gehenna is the same as the 'Lake of Fire' mentioned in Revelation....the '2nd death' from which there is no resurrection. Complete destruction.

Revelation 20:14 says of our near future: " And death and Ha′des were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire..." . Because of these, and and other, scriptures, many people feel that soon death and "hell' (the grave), will be permanently destroyed. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, death caused by Adamic sin will end and righteous people will live forever on earth, with no more death. (Psalms 37:10,11,29)(Revelation 21:3-5)