“‘For my anger has been fired up.
It burns to the depths of Sh’ol,
devouring the earth and its crops,
kindling the very roots of the hills.”
-Deuteronomy 32:22
In verse 22, we’re given a frightening reference that should be familiar to us all.
We’re told that God’s anger and rage is expressed as a ferocious fire that burns down to the very depths of Sheol meaning all the way into the bowels of the earth.
We’re told the fires will be so ferocious that the flames will reach as far as the base of the mountains and hills.
Remember, Sheol refers to the underworld.
It is the grave where one’s body and/or spirit goes to after death.
Here we’re told that all those who turn away from the living God (in this context the people of Israel) will be sent to a grave that will be filled with burning flames emanating forever from the Lord’s wrath.
Again this is imagery I think we’re all familiar with.
One point we shouldn’t forget is that it is the Lord Himself who started the fire and keeps it burning.
In other words, it is God who created hell for the purpose of judging Satan and his demons.
There seems to be this common misconception that Satan and his minions are gleeful rulers in hell who relish tormenting the souls who have been sent there.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Satan and his rebellious legions despise hell.
They wanna be in heaven.
Remember Satan desired to be like the most high and inhabit heaven until he was booted out.
So the takeaway here is to understand that verse 22 is referring to the PHYSICAL manifestation of the Lord’s SPIRITUAL wrath.
And the fires of hell that lie beneath Sheol are kept burning for the purpose of consuming the unrighteous dead and unrighteous spirits.
We’re talking about eternal destruction here folks.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“The time came when the beggar died
and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Sheol, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away,
with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him,
‘Father Abraham, have pity on me
and send Lazarus to dip the tip of
his finger in water and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied,
‘Son, remember that in your lifetime
you received your good things,
while Lazarus received bad things,
but now he is comforted here
and you are in agony.
And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm
has been set in place,
so that those who want to go
from here to you cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father,
send Lazarus to my family,
for I have five brothers.
Let him warn them,
so that they will not also come
to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied,
‘They have Moses and the Prophets;
let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said,
‘but if someone from the dead
goes to them, they will repent.’
“He said to him,
‘If they do not listen to
Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead.’”
-Luke 16:22-31
Leave a Reply