One of my readers sent me an interesting question this week. I have edited the question slightly to omit any personal elements:
Bob
During our home group Bible Study meeting, we were reading Psalm 139 and came up with a question about the meaning of verse 8b. As you know, one Bible translation says, “If I make my bed in the depths, you are there,” another uses the word “Sheol”, and the KJV uses the term hell. Our group would like to know how you interpret this, Bob. Does this mean that God/Christ goes to Hell to be with some people?. We would so appreciate any help you can give us.
RESPONSE:
The phrase in Hebrew reads, “Make my bed in sheol. “ Sheol was both the Hebrew word for Hell and for grave, usually the latter, and it is not always clear how the ancient authors intended the use, but in this passage, it may actually mean hell. Still, I must point out: In the Old Testament there was not as much of an emphasis on the afterlife. We are unable to gather a great deal of information from this one passage and must especially avoid developing any detailed theology from a poetic book such as Psalms. Poetry in the Bible served to make emotional statements rather than instruction statements. Daniel 12 does provide a more definitive teaching about a resurrection to everlasting life or everlasting destruction and that is the most specific statement you will find in the OT.
To address the important wrinkle in your home group’s discussion, no, Christ does not dwell in Hell with people. I know that sounds like a nice merciful thing for Him to do, but be comforted, for His real mercy went far beyond anything humans can imagine.
Now, there is a section in I Pet 3 describing Jesus going briefly (during the time between his death and resurrection) to the evil angels who were imprisoned in a kind of spiritual jail or holding cell prior to being cast into the lake of fire (ultimate Hell). In this case, Jesus was there merely to preach to them. Why He went there and exactly what He preached, we are not told but it was certainly not His purpose to offer comfort, as these angels received no second chance and will still end up in Hell.
However, there is good news for the spirit of your group question: Perhaps the most significant thing Jesus did regarding Hell was experiencing the pain of separation from God on our behalf. Ultimately that is what Hell is, separation from God. Before Jesus died on the cross, He cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46) This is because God the Father saw our sin on Jesus. Therefore, Jesus’ atonement went beyond the experience of physical death on our behalf. He dies for us spiritually as well, which means, for all intents and purposes, Jesus experienced Hell so that you and I would never need to experience it.
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