Hades in the Bible Is… (Acts 2:27 and Revelation 20:14)

What does the Bible say about Hades (the Greek word hadēs), also known as Sheol (the Hebrew word šᵊ'ôl)? Hades in the Bible is the temporary abode of the dead (Acts 2:27). It consists of two compartments: a place of comfort (also called Abraham's bosom) and a place of torment that will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). https://youtu.be/zvM22FAeL5k What does the Bible say about Hades (Sheol)? Hades in the Bible is the temporary abode of the dead consisting of two compartments. Table of contentsIs Hell Discussed in the Old Testament?Hades (Greek) or Sheol (Hebrew) Is the Temporary Abode of the DeadBelievers in Sheol (Hades)Unbelievers in Sheol (Hades)Where was Jesus for The Days and Nights Between His Death and Resurrection?Jesus Identified with Us Even After DeathHades Has Two CompartmentsWhat Did Jesus Tell the Thief on the Cross?Believers Were Removed from Hades at Jesus’s AscensionWhy Couldn’t Old Testament Believers Go to Heaven Earlier?What About Enoch and Elijah?The Three HeavensUnbelievers Will Be Removed from Hades on "The Day of Judgment"The Great White Throne JudgmentJudged By Their Insufficient WorksDeath and HadesThe Second Death Is Hell Discussed in the Old Testament? Even though heaven and hell are of incredible importance, can you think of verses in the Old Testament discussing them? Unless I am missing something, the only verse in the Old Testament discussing eternal life and eternal punishment is Daniel 12:2 which says, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Isaiah 66:24 seems to discuss eternal punishment: “They shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” You probably recognize this verse because Jesus quoted it in Mark 9:48 to describe hell. There are a few verses that subtly describe heaven: Psalm 16:11 In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Heaven is loosely described as the joy of being in God’s presence. Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Heaven is described as being with God forever. Psalm 73:24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Heaven is described as being brought into glory. Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy…the earth will give birth to the dead. This describes resurrection. But none of these verses come close to the clarity of the New Testament, because revelation was both progressive (in that more revelation was given over time) and cumulative (in that it builds on previous revelation). Hades (Greek) or Sheol (Hebrew) Is the Temporary Abode of the Dead Because of the limited revelation in the Old Testament, instead of saying people went to heaven or hell when they died, it says they went Sheol, the pit, or the grave. The Hebrew word Sheol is the name of the temporary abode, or location, for the souls of the dead until they go to their permanent home in heaven or hell. When Alexander the Great conquered the known world and made everything Greek there needed to be a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. That Greek translation is called the Septuagint, and when you see it mentioned in your Bible in the footnotes it says LXX, the Roman numeral for 70, because the Septuagint was translated by 70 scholars. When the Septuagint translated the Hebrew word Sheol into Greek, it translated it as Hades. Sheol and Hades are the same, but one word is Hebrew and the other word is Greek. When the Bible discusses Sheol in the Old Testament and Hades in the New Testament, it does not distinguish between the righteous or unrighteous dead, or discuss eternal reward or eternal punishment, because Hades was a location that contained believers or unbelievers. Believers in Sheol (Hades) For example, here are four verses, and I could give more, about the righteous going to Sheol: Genesis 37:35 [Jacob said], “I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Job 14:13 Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past! Psalm 88:3 My life draws near to Sheol. Isaiah 38:10 I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. Unbelievers in Sheol (Hades) Numbers 16:30 If the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth…and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.” Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. Psalm 31:17 O Let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. Isaiah 5:14 Sheol has enlarged its appetite…and the…multitude [of revelers] will go down. The Old Testament shows the righteous and wicked going to Sheol (Hades) after death. Where was Jesus for The Days and Nights Between His Death and Resurrection? He wasn't in heaven! After Jesus was raised from the dead Mary Magdalene went back to the tomb. Jesus was there, but she didn’t recognize Him. She thought He was the gardener. When Jesus said her name, she recognized Him and was about to embrace Him, but, "Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I HAVE NOT YET ASCENDED TO MY FATHER’” (John 20:17). He said he had not yet been to heaven. Jesus didn’t ascend to heaven until His ascension. So where was He? Jesus used Jonah to provide the answer: "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH" (Matthew 12:40). Jesus was in the same location others were when they died. Jesus Identified with Us Even After Death Hebrews 2:17 says, "In all things [Jesus] had to be made like His brethren." This refers to the ways Jesus became like us. Most obviously, He became a man, who experienced the same things we experience: hunger, thirst, fatigue, temptation, betrayal, hurt, and even death. But Jesus’ identification with us didn’t just end when His earthly life ended. He even identified with us in His death in that He went to the same place people went when they died: Hades. When the Holy Spirit fell on people at Pentecost they began speaking in tongues. Some observers thought they were drunk, so Peter took the opportunity to tell they were seeing the result of Jesus’ resurrection: Jesus ascended to heaven in Acts 1 and sent the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit couldn’t descend unless Jesus first ascended and sent Him: "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, [Jesus] has poured out [the Holy Spirit] that you yourselves are seeing and hearing" (Acts 2:33). The only way Jesus could ascend to pour out the Holy Spirit is if He was raised from the dead: Acts 2:24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, or let your Holy One see corruption. Peter quoted David in Psalm 16:8-11, but David isn’t only talking about Jesus, he’s talking as though he IS Jesus. Jesus is speaking THROUGH David about His time in the grave. We should read the words as though Jesus Himself is saying them while He was dead. Jesus is dead, but He’s not in heaven. He’s in Hades. In Psalm 16 it says Sheol, but when it is quoted in the New Testament it says Hades, because (as explained earlier) Hades is the New Testament equivalent of Sheol. Peter again confirmed Jesus was in Hades: "he (this is David) foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NOT ABANDONED TO HADES, nor did his flesh see corruption" (Acts 2:31). Hades Has Two Compartments Hades has a place of comfort, which is called paradise and Abraham’s bosom. Hades also has a place of torment. What Did Jesus Tell the Thief on the Cross? Jesus is crucified, resurrected, and forty days later He ascended to heaven, but He told the thief on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Have you wondered why Jesus told the thief on the cross that "today" he would be with Him in paradise when He didn’t go to heaven for another forty-three days? When Jesus died, He took the thief with Him to the place of comfort in Hades, versus taking him to heaven. Believers Were Removed from Hades at Jesus’s Ascension Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? This is referring to Jesus’s ascension in Acts 1. "He gave gifts to men" is what we just read in Acts 2: Jesus ascended and then sent the Holy Spirit, who is the bestower of gifts. We call them the gifts of the Spirit. Because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit who gave the gifts, He can also be credited with giving them. "He led a host of captives" with him when He ascended to heaven. People in Hades are called captives because they couldn’t go to heaven before this. They were captive in the place of comfort in Hades. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He first "descended into the lower regions of the earth," referring to Hades, where He released the captives. Why Couldn’t Old Testament Believers Go to Heaven Earlier? Old Testament saints had to remain captive in Hades, because Jesus hadn’t died yet.