33 Responses

1. Joel Thank you for this teaching it helped me so much especially in light of the book I just read. I mentioned to you when you were here. I agree totally. the writer of the book I mentioned agrees except he believes all are “asleep” now until Jesus returns. Thank you Alice

2. I have found myself tempted with this doctrine the last 2 years. But I believe the HS kept me from fully embracing such thinking. It helps one cope with our loved ones not really suffer such a fate. I really respect your teachings because I know they are always so grounded in the word of God. The only thing I would question is having a “good” understanding of the Inter-testament literature about Hell. I have always thought the basics are clear to understand without knowing additional info. i.e. When I was a young christian (early twenties) church people would tell me Revelations could not be understood (I won’t mention church). Though I did not understand Revelation a the time, I would reply by faith that God wouldn’t not include it if it was not meant to be understood. Maybe I misunderstood you a bit. Anyway, Great lesson. Thank you and God Bless you and your family.

3. The point is simply that the IT literature along with what records we have of Pharisaical and Rabbinic thought, shows us the background of the NT. It helps us to understand the NT context. This is basic component of the historical grammatical method of biblical interpretation. Understanding the ideas that were commonly embraced and discussed in the days of the NT brings much clarity to many of the passages that are debated by conditionalists and traditionalists. In this case, this background information is rather devastating for the conditionalist case.

4. Always look forward to your post, missed it last week and Monday of this week, Got home after a long day at work it’s so refreshing to see a new post and listen you your teaching. … God bless… I do want to get onto a monthly donation to help support your time and dedication… Thank you, Abraham…
   PS, I hope others also will come along side and financially support you for your Kingdom work… it’s a costly endeavor for all your labour…

5. Not sure what is scarier. 1) Conditional hell, 2) Rob bell’s concept of no hell, or the 3) Seventh day adventist’s concept of eternal sleep for the ungodly.

   The real question is will Christians believing in these concepts of hell, can still make it to heaven, if their faith in Christ is genuine? Should the doctrine of Hell be considered a minor issue, just as the different issues of millennialist exists?

   My other question is, is it possible that hell could only last for 1000 years of Christ’s rule on earth, until the new heavens and earth are created and may be the ungodly will just vanish after the new creation!!

   Watch this sermon and feel the burn.

   https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+scareist+preaching+on+hell&view=detail&mid=5DB10822BD7F9E627E8C5DB10822BD7F9E627E8C&FORM=VIRE

6. Whew, I thought you went off the deep end with that last interview Joel. Hell is Hell. Humans do not want to go there. The idea that Hell is not so bad is a clear deception from Satan himself. Satan will do whatever he can to steal as many of Gods children as he can. Christ is our father we need to strive to do his will. Thanks for keeping it real Joel. John

7. Thank you Abraham. Its deeply appreciated, is much needed this year, and it means a lot. Thanks for the encouragement. Bless you!

8. I thank you for your teaching and the truth of The Word of GOD ,I pray for you and your family

9. Greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you Joel for your web site, all your hard work and your wonderful insights into bible prophecy.
   I totally agree that the I.T. Period helps us understand the ideas commonly embraced in the days of the N.T.,, especially in Paul’s letters we can find out what he was up against. but I also think it is shaky ground to try to backup doctrine from it.Surely we come to our bible with no preconceived ideas , to find out what it says, or indeed what it doesn’t say.
   In Deut. 18. God has forbidden any sort of communication with the dead, or going to mediums.It was detestable to Him, but Saul was so wilful, he had to hear from God , that he went to a witch.He did not accept silence from God, but silence often tells is something.This passage in your video is used to backup doctrine of man living outside his body after death.
   Why is this the only passage?Let us look again at this,. Saul disobeyed God when he went to the witch. Saul did not see Samuel, but was convinced in his own mind it was him. Only the witch saw Samuel. Would a prophet , who only served God in his life, now, in the after life obey something that was detestable to his God.? Are we able to be summoned by a witch in the afterlife when only Jesus has the keys? Would Samuel speak to Saul when God would not? That would be 2 counts of disobedience by Samuel in the afterlife.This is not right.
   The medium did not call Samuel up.When you call up the dead the only thing you are going to get is a demon. Demons know half truths, (Matt. and Acts).The demon said Saul would be dead tomorrow. It was wrong.
   The O.T. Is complete in itself to throw all the necessary light on to the NT. They are woven together , without contradictions and we proceed from that solid ground to extract our doctrine.
   The doctrine of an immortal soul equates with eternal torment because an immortal soul cannot be destroyed.
   So I guess the big question is ,did God give Adam an immortal soul.?
   Thanks for listening .Love in our precious Lord in these last days.

10. “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night” (Rev 14:11).

    “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28).

    Not an easy topic. Thanks for your interesting information regarding the intertestamental verses. I had not heard those.

11. Linda, The doctrine of the soul living after it dies is by far not only derived from the one verse about Saul. It is spoken of in several other places in the OT, but it is made abundantly clear in the NT. There is nothing shaky about looking to the historical backdrop to better gain clarity on passages that are being debated in the NT. Even without them, what the NT says is clear, but looking at these makes it that much more clear.

12. Hi Joel,

    I am from South Africa. My mother tongue is not English so please excuse the errors etc.

    I have by chance discovered your site and have not regretted it at all since. I can’t wait for a Tuesday or ie Wednesday morning to see whether there was a new message. I am not a pastor, preacher or evangelist but just a simple believer (and hopefully follower) of the teachings of Jesus.

    Thankful for a simple faith that keeps one close to the source of Truth and Love and everything eternal.

    I really enjoy every topic you discuss as it encourages and strengthens. I enjoy your opening words of every message – it goes down deep into the heart.

    I would have liked to donate but converting from ZAR to USD and you will get pennies – so will keep it local for now – Africa is poor. My heart and prayers go out to all who preach an unadulterated message (if I may call it such) and this is what I enjoy about your messages.

    I lately feel moved to pray to be of help, just a simple servant but will wait for God to open the door.

    Warm love from a brother in Christ our Lord (Hope you accept this)

13. Many thanks Anton.

    Blessings to you!

14. Thanks Joel.
    I listened to this sermon the other day on heaven and hell. its by Mark driscoll who is a current day evangelical teacher. The message is good and he explains the different views on hell.

15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPOQoyA87hE

    Mark D sermon on Hell

16. Joel,

    Just checking to make sure I follow what you are saying in this video: The interstamental literature tells us what people were thinking at the time about the afterlife. When Jesus Christ (the revealing “Word” – Jn. 1) came, He never disputed those ideas from the interstamental literature.

    I can then see that an understanding of this literature is important to truly appreciate and understand what Jesus actually communicated to people at that time. If the ideas people had about hell at that time were wrong, I would expect that He would have been more straightforward on that issue as He was about many other things. Instead, His words affirm their understanding of eternal conscious torment.

    For conditionalism to be true, it would seem like Jesus’s teaching about the afterlife wasn’t very effective. In fact, one would be forced to say that His word choice was very misleading if people generally at the time believed in eternal conscious torment.

    I hope that reflects that I got your point.

    I really appreciate your teaching and am blessed by what you say. It’s a tremendous encouragement – my love for Jesus grows as I listen and reflect on what you’re teaching. Thank you so much!

    Josh

17. Hi Josh,

    You somewhat have it. I have one more show on Hell in which I deal with the actual words of Jesus and the NT and show that indeed he affirmed the notion of eternal conscious torment.

    Bless you!

18. glad to see someone is discussing this

19. I have to confess….
    The first video you did on hell, my time was up on my treadmill with 7 mins left with the video. I commented a few times, based on me thinking that the reason you had that last guy in was because that’s what you believed about hell. I tried to just nicely say I couldn’t wrap my brain around it, what I meant was I couldn’t in anyway wrap my brain around what he tried to support his view with. I was very taken back, A. Because it was the first time hearing it and B. It so did not line up with he teachings that seem so clear to me. I then finished the video on my way to work and realized you did NOT support it and I was soooo relieved. I am very thankful lol. I am thankful for your clarity on these things. I also had a chance to hear your heart on how his doctrine has helped save you and was enlightened. Again, in the last 7 minutes after my first comments. But in the end you are still following and loving Jesus. It has helped me see how God speaks to people in different ways.

    Joel, do you have a link or anything anywhere where you discuss the Millenium Kingdom?

20. I discuss it in my book When a Jew Rules the World and also in a forthcoming DVD on Israel.

21. PERFECT. Thank you. I really want to read this book anyways. I also look forward to your Israel DVD. I appreciate your quick response.

22. Hi Joel!
    A while ago I came across a book called 23 minutes in hell by Bill Wiesen, he described a vision that God gave him and he also go over different passages in the Bible where God warned us of Hell, this was a real eye opener for me and it really inspired me to talk to others about Jesus and also to walk firm on the path of The Lord without excuses.
    I wonder if you ever heard of this before, Bill is a very conservative Christian and you can tell that it was hard for him to talk about it at the beginning, thank you Joel!

23. Raquel,

    I’ve also watched Bill Wiese’s very sober presentation on YouTube, where he cites many, many Scriptures that describe hell. I’m generally skeptical of these types of experiences, which are usually about someone’s trip to heaven, and unlike Mr. Wiese’s presentation, there are almost never any references to what the Bible tells us about heaven. A “visit to hell” experience is most unusual. There are 250 verses in Bill’s second book about hell. Bill makes it clear that his was not just a “bad dream” or a “near death” experience, but rather an “out of body experience”.

    I’d be interested in Joel’s take on this, for what it’s worth.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVoaSfP-cXQ

    “This is not a message of condemnation. This is simply a message of warning.”

24. The bottom line is that hell real, and it is a terrible, unimaginable place of unending torment.

25. Sorry for the third post, but in light of the first video and the conditional view, it is interesting that Mr. Wiese notes that when he asked God why He gave him this vision, God told Him it was because there are many people, including Christians, who do not believe in hell. There are many people who run after stories about someone’s time in heaven because it is appealing. Hell is not appealing. And I really believe that many of these stories are used by Satan to mislead and deceive people into a false sense of security. Satan is a deceiver and the father of lies, even “nice” sounding, comforting lies, and he leads many away from the truth. We must not be deceived. The Bible is full of references, besides the account of Lazarus and the rich man, to hell as an actual place of actual physical and eternal torment.

26. Dear Joel,

    BRILLIANT Biblical rebuttal of the “Conditionalist” view of a temporal hell & annihilation and INCREDIBLE explanation of & references for the Traditional Biblical TRUTH of Eternal hell. God doesn’t want ANYONE to spend Eternity in hell – He PROVED that UNCONDITIONALLY by giving His One & Only Son to die in our place! We CHOOSE the INCREDIBLE GIFT of Eternal LIFE by CHOOSING Christ as our Lord & Savior or WE CHOOSE Eternal TORMENT by REJECTING Him. Thank you, Joel, for being such a great & FAITHFUL teacher of God’s Word, and for your personal testimony. I, too, had my own type of ” corn field ” experience of coming to Christ. . .just the memory of the darkness I was in before that point is enough to scare the fear of Eternal hell back INTO me every time I think about it.

    I thank our Lord & Savior for His AMAZING GIFT OF GRACE & I pray that He continues to shine His Light through you & continues to bless you and your ministry, which have been such a blessing to me.

    Thank you so much, Joel!

    Sara L.

27. Thank you Jeanne!

28. i just had a friend I have been witnessing to and she had cancer and went into hospice and they convinced her she would go to sleep period. no heaven or hell, so there was no need for her to get saved because they was no afterlife. The christian message was presented as a message of fear and not peace. What a lie.

29. Joel with all respect, God will not throw people into eternal hell fire to be tortured for all eternity. He will mercifully destroy those who refuse to obey Him by entirely burning them up—ending their conscious existence for all eternity. This truth represents the perfect character of a merciful and just God. God will do so in a merciful way. The wicked will simply be burned up and be dead forever, not tortured for eternity in an ever-burning hell fire. The punishment of the wicked—those who will not repent of their sins are to be burned up. Humans can die; they do not live forever in torment Read Ezek.18:4
    Malachi 4:1-3

    The Bible shows that satan and his demons will not die, but rather they will suffer torment, never-ending torment is the fate of Satan and his demons.Satan’s influence, his deception and his evil works will be eliminated and destroyed forever. However, Satan and his demons will, as spirit beings, continue to exist, albeit in a tormented state of mind—a just punishment administered by an all powerful and righteous God.

    With much love N.O.

30. The Scriptures say otherwise:

    Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11)

    And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and fnbrimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)

    Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds… And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11, 15)

31. The Scriptures clearly teach an eternal hell. I think the problem stems from people being taught solely about God’s love and mercy, which are amazing truths. The problem is a lack of teaching on God’s perfect holiness. If we understood the holiness of God we would understand that the offense of even one sin against God justifies eternal damnation.

    If a person murders another person, they will be locked in prison for life and may even be given the death penalty. If a man steals from another person, he is thrown in jail. If we violate the laws of our country there are consequences and most of us agree that the punishment is warrented.

    But how much more dispicable and heinous is sinning against a holy God! Sinning against man is one thing and we punish those who transgress our laws. Sinning against God and transgressing His Laws are infinitely worse and deserve an infinitely harsher punishment.

    Only through understanding His holiness can we understand how great His love for us is.

    Also, do we think unregenerated sinners stop sinning while in hell and therefore should only be punished for what we think is warrented while alive?

    I’m very glad you did a video on this topic because we are losing foundational biblical teachings very quickly.

32. Joel

    Is Hell a literal fire or is it just figuratively?

33. Its hard to know with certainty. Either way, its not good.