Jewish OT Hell
OT on Hell
The problem with Jewish belief against Hell, is that they do not read the Old Testament, but a commentary of it. They dont know the Scriptures because they do not read it.
Another reason most Jewish people don’t believe in hell is that Christianity teaches the doctrine of hell. Anything identified as "Christian" is often rejected outright as not Jewish. They deny truth because they hate God, and have made up a false god to suit their sins.
God has been clear about eternal damnation.
those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
many of the passages that speak of Sheol do so in terms that bespeak judgment, such as Isaiah 14:15 “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the pit.”
Not only is the doctrine of hell fully revealed in the NT, but it is also entirely in harmony with the revelation in the OT, which teaches that God will have His day in which He eternally expresses His wrath, visiting judgment upon the wicked. The Old Testament teaches the doctrine of a literal and eternal hell.
Before Judaism became apostate, the Jews clearly knew and believed in an eternal Hell.
Christians have more than ample teaching by God in the New Testament revealing the doctrine of a literal, eternal hell (see Matthew 3:7, Matthew 3:12, Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 18:9-12, Matthew 13:38-42, Matthew 13:49-50, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43-47, Luke 12:5, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Jude 7, Revelation 14:11, Revelation 20:13-15, and Revelation 21:8).
This New Testament teaching is quite consistent, though, with the Old Testament. First, the OT contains many references to God’s wrath. He is often said to be angry at wickedness (see, for example, Deuteronomy 32:22, Psalm 2:12, and Psalm 18:7). Psalm 7:11 is one of many verses that indicate this indignation or anger is directed toward those who perpetrate this wickedness (“the wicked”).
The OT prophets repeatedly speak of a time when the Holy One would have His “day” — a day of justice in which He would express His anger toward sin and visit judgment on sinners. They referred to this as “The Day of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezekiel 13:5, 30:3; Joel 1:15, 2:1,11,31; 3:14; Amos 5:18,20; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi. 4:5).
The Psalmist also refers to that day as one of wrath and judgment.
Belief in the eventual resurrection of the dead is a fundamental belief of traditional Judaism. A belief in resurrection distinguished the Pharisees (Rabbinical Judaism) from the Sadducees (see Acts 23:8). Divine reward and punishment are so basic to Judaism that they are taught in Maimonides’s Thirteen Principles of Judaism. Denying hell is a vivid example of the extent to which modern Jews have been influenced by secularism.
Traditional Judaism teaches that after death our bodies go to the grave but our souls go before God to be judged. God, as He states in Scripture, is the only one who knows our motives as well as our works—"God sees the heart" (1Samuel 16:7).
Facing the only true Judge, those who get into heaven are assigned a place there. Traditional Jewish thought is that only the righteous go directly to heaven. The exceedingly righteous and those who repent before they die can avoid hell.
What the Bible clearly teaches is that sin demands a price to be paid by someone, there is an afterlife, and, in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles can have a place in the world to come.
Sheol/Hades refer to a temporary abode of the dead before judgment (Psalm 9:17; Revelation 1:18). Gehenna refers to an eternal state of punishment for the wicked dead (Mark 9:43).
Sheol has 2 sides, Hell is the side of the wicked who died in their sins. Paradise is the side where the redeemed dwelled (until Jesus resurrection; they are now in Heaven).
Hell is thrown into the location of the eternal “lake of fire” spoken of in Revelation 20:10-15 (at the Judgment). It means those in the temporary place awaiting Judgment, once sentenced, they're all thrown into that eternal location where they'll never get out.
God has been clear, salvation is only available while one is alive. "After death is only Judgment". This is why each person needs to repent, believe/trust in Jesus [the Messiah, the Savior] to be saved. And it is evident by their being converted (to a Christian) a lover of righteousness and persevering in the faith "until the end" of their life here. These live in the new nature, love God and all other humans, and become more "like" Jesus (God in the flesh) as they "grow in holiness" day after day.
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