I recently came across this question that the daughter of one of my friends was asking others on Facebook. There were many responses to her question, but none answered her. Comment upon comment mentioned such things like, “We are praying for you…”, or “Jesus came so you don’t have to feel such pain…” or “We love you…”, or even “God loves every one of His creatures…”. I was a little confused by this wide array of answers, so I was sure she was, too.
I usually pass these things up and don’t respond because inevitably, there ends up being a doctrinal dispute amongst “so-called” Christians, and I don’t like to be suckered into that while the public is looking on. If they want to listen and ask legitimate questions, however, then I will do it. But you never know.
I went with my day, but I kept coming back to thoughts of the question that she asked. Usually, when this happens to me, it is because the Holy Spirit is leading me in some way. So, I finally broke down and went back and posted an answer to her. This is what I told her:
No, a person would not feel the pain of burning like they would if they were caught on fire now. It would be much worse than that. God says, “…a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.” (Deut. 32:22-25) This is not just any regular “fire.” It is a fire that comes out of the anger of God. It is hotter than any other fire that man could ever imagine. But, there is more than that. Coupled with this, the mischief’s of God will be “heaped” upon all that are unfortunate enough to enter the “lowest hell”, and there, God will “spend” His “arrows upon them.” Yes, there will be a burning of fire, but there will also be a burning of perpetual “hunger” and “bitter destruction.” It will be a terrifying experience with all of these things happening while having to deal with the “teeth of beasts” and the bites of “poisonous serpents.” Suffice it to say, “GOD IS MAD” and it doesn’t matter who you are, if you are destined for the “lowest hell,” then God is your terror there, along with the Devil and all of his angelic followers—NO DESCRIMINATION IN HELL.
But all of this does not satisfactorily answer the question. Job 25:6 says that man is a worm. Psalm 22:6, (speaking of Jesus), teaches that He too is a worm. Isa. 66:24 and Mark 9:44-48 speaks about a man going to hell in his “worm” state. God says we are like worms, and Jesus is too. We know by physical evidence that we have a body of flesh, blood and bones. But, this body can, (and will), decay and return to the earth from which it came (Gen. 3:19; Ecc. 12:7). But inside these bodies that we possess, resides our inner self; our inner core; our souls (Col. 2:11; Deut. 30:6).
Our souls are like a inner-tube inside of a bicycle tire. When deflated, it is limp and takes on one shape, but when it is inflated, it takes on the shape of the tire. Our souls are just like that. When inflated, they take on the shape of our bodies that encase it. But when separated (i.e. death) from these bodies, they revert back to their original shape, UNLESS… they are provided a new body to encase it. This is where we are referred to being a “worm.” Our shapeless, deflated souls are like worms.
So, in the lowest hell, it is not the body that is being burned. The body has long since gone to the dust. It is the soul that is burning. So, there is no way that the fire in hell could feel like you catching your body on fire here, because there are no bodies in hell. Have you ever felt your soul catch on fire yet? That’s right! No! You have never felt this happen. So, it is logical with all of these differences to conclude that it will not be the same.
But here comes the skeptics who refer to Luke chapter 16:22-31. Here we find the story of the rich man and Lazarus. One is in Abraham’s bosom while the other is in hell. They are separated by a great gulf and they can see across to the other side, but cannot cross. Now, the rich man went to hell and he was in torment. He sees Abraham afar off and cries to him asking for mercy by sending Lazarus to bring him a cool drop of water to soothe him. Abraham speaks back to him telling him that he cannot do that. The assumption is that they are in their fleshly body because they can see and talk. This assumption is what gets people into trouble. Instead of assuming they are in their body of flesh, what we really learn here is that a soul can see, hear and speak. After all, it is in the image of the physical body. Not only that, it can recognize who other souls are. The similarities are that detailed.
Also, there is something that is not really answered here. Is this hell the lowest hell? Perhaps, perhaps not. We do know that the Bible teaches us that “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14). Is it possible that the lowest hell is in the lake of fire. They certainly are in two different places. This is just a guess, but it does not change the doctrinal teaching one way or another.
- Your body does not burn in hell. It returns to dirt.
- Your soul burns in hell.
- Your soul takes on the image of your body in which it is encased.
- Your soul slowly regresses back to it’s original form—a worm.
~Pastor Coale