Chapter 11

Is Hell Hot?

IS IT NOT a fact that many translations of the Bible refer to a place called “hell”? Yes, many translations of the Holy Scriptures use that expression. But the question is whether the things that the clergy have taught about the place called “hell” have come from the Holy Bible or from some other source.

Did you know that, not only members of Christendom’s churches, but many non-Christians as well, have been taught to believe in a hell of torment? It is revealing to read from a variety of sources what is said about the torments of those confined in hell.

A non-Christian “holy book” of the seventh century C.E. says the following:

“Hell!​—they will burn therein,—​an evil bed (indeed, to lie on)!​—Yea, such!​—Then shall they taste it,—​a boiling fluid, and a fluid dark, murky, intensely cold! . . . (They will be) in the midst of a fierce Blast of Fire and in Boiling Water, and in the shades of Black Smoke: Nothing (will there be) to refresh, nor to please.”

Buddhism, which got started in about the sixth century B.C.E. provides this description of one of the “hells” about which it teaches:

“Here there is no interval of cessation either of the flames or of the pain of the beings.”

A Roman Catholic Catechism of Christian Doctrine (published in 1949) states:

“They are deprived of the vision of God and suffer dreadful torments, especially that of fire, for all eternity. . . . The privation of the beatific vision is called the pain of loss; the torment inflicted by created means on the soul, and on the body after its resurrection, is called the pain of sense.”

Also among the Protestant clergy in some places there are those who paint vivid verbal pictures of the horrors of hell. Even their church members at times claim to have had visions of its torments. One man described what he envisioned as follows: ‘As far as my eyes could reach there were only burning fire and human beings to be seen. What pain and suffering! Some people screamed, others wailed and begged for water, water! Some rent their hair, others gnashed their teeth; still others bit themselves in the arms and hands.’

The claim is often made that the threatened punishments of hell are a strong force in moving people to do what is right. But do the facts of history bear this out? Have not some of the greatest cruelties been perpetrated by believers in the doctrine of hellfire? Are not the horrible inquisitions and blood-spilling crusades of Christendom examples of this?

So it should come as no surprise that a growing number of people do not really believe in the existence of a hell of torment nor do they view its punishments as a deterrent to wrongdoing. Though not having actually disproved this teaching, they are simply not inclined to believe what does not appeal to them as reasonable and true. Still they may be members of a church that teaches this doctrine and, by supporting it, share responsibility for propagating the teaching of hellfire.

But just what does the Bible say about torment after death? If you have read earlier chapters of this book, you know that many common beliefs about the dead are false. You know, according to the Bible, that no soul or spirit separates from the body at death and continues conscious existence. Hence, there is no Scriptural foundation for the doctrine of eternal torment after death, for nothing survives that can be subjected to literal torment. What, then, is the place that various Bible translations refer to as “hell”?

“SHEOL” IDENTIFIED

In the Catholic Douay Version, the first mention of “hell” is found at Genesis 37:35, which quotes the patriarch Jacob as saying respecting Joseph, whom he believed to be dead: “I will go down to my son into hell, mourning.” Clearly Jacob was not expressing the idea of joining his son in a place of torment. Even the footnote on this verse in the Douay Version (published by the Douay Bible House, New York, 1941) does not put such an interpretation on the text. It says:

“Into hell. That is, into limbo, the place where the souls of the just were received before the death of our Redeemer. . . . [It] certainly meant the place of rest where he believed his soul to be.”

However, nowhere does the Bible itself refer to such a place as “limbo.” Nor does it support the idea of a special resting-place for the soul as something distinctly separate from the body. As acknowledged in the glossary of a modern Catholic translation, The New American Bible (published by P. J. Kenedy & Sons, New York, 1970): “There is no opposition or difference between soul and body; they are merely different ways of describing the one, concrete reality.”

What, then, is the “hell” in which Jacob thought he would join his son? The correct answer to this question lies in getting the proper sense of the original-language word for “hell,” namely, sh^e’ohlʹ, which is transliterated “Sheol.” This term, also translated as “grave,” “pit,” “abode of the dead” and “nether world,” appears sixty-six timesa (in the New World Translation) in the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly called the “Old Testament”), but it is never associated with life, activity or torment. To the contrary, it is often linked with death and inactivity. A few examples are:

“For in death there is no mention of you [Jehovah]; in Sheol [the grave, Authorized Version; hell, Douay Version] who will laud you?”​—Psalm 6:5 (6:6, Douay Version).

“All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [the grave, Authorized Version; hell, Douay Version], the place to which you are going.”​—Ecclesiastes 9:10.

“For it is not Sheol [the grave, Authorized Version; hell, Douay Version] that can laud you [Jehovah]; death itself cannot praise you. Those going down into the pit cannot look hopefully to your trueness. The living, the living, he is the one that can laud you, just as I can this day.”​—Isaiah 38:18, 19.

Hence, Sheol is obviously the place to which the dead go. It is not an individual grave but the common grave of dead mankind in general, where all conscious activity ceases. This is also what the New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges to be the Biblical significance of Sheol, saying:

“In the Bible it designates the place of complete inertia that one goes down to when one dies whether one be just or wicked, rich or poor.”​—Vol. 13, p. 170.

That no place of fiery torment existed during the entire Hebrew Scripture period is also confirmed by the fact that torment is never set forth as the penalty for disobedience. The choice that was put before the nation of Israel was, not life or torment, but life or death. Moses told the nation: “I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction; and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him.”​—Deuteronomy 30:19, 20.

Similarly, God’s later appeals for unfaithful Israelites to repent served to encourage them to avoid experiencing, not torment, but an untimely death. Through his prophet Ezekiel, Jehovah declared: “I take delight, not in the death of the wicked one, but in that someone wicked turns back from his way and actually keeps living. Turn back, turn back from your bad ways, for why is it that you should die, O house of Israel?”​—Ezekiel 33:11.

HADES THE SAME AS SHEOL

Yet someone might ask, Did not the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth change matters? No, God does not change his personality or his righteous standards. By means of his prophet Malachi, he stated: “I am Jehovah; I have not changed.” (Malachi 3:6) Jehovah has not changed the penalty for disobedience. He is patient with people so that they might be able to escape, not torment, but destruction. As the apostle Peter wrote to fellow believers: “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.”​—2 Peter 3:9.

In keeping with the fact that the penalty for disobedience has continued to be death, the place to which the Christian Greek Scriptures (commonly called the “New Testament”) describe the dead as going does not differ from the Sheol of the Hebrew Scriptures. (Romans 6:23) This is evident from a comparison of the Hebrew Scriptures with the Christian Greek Scriptures. In its ten occurrences, the Greek word haiʹdes, which is transliterated “Hades,” basically conveys the same meaning as the Hebrew word sh^e’ohlʹ. (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23;b Acts 2:27, 31; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14 [If the translation you are using does not read “hell” or “Hades” in all these texts, you will, nevertheless, note that the terms used instead give no hint of a place of torment.]) Consider the following example:

At Psalm 16:10 (15:10, Douay Version) we read: “For you [Jehovah] will not leave my soul in Sheol [hell]. You will not allow your loyal one to see the pit.” In a discourse given by the apostle Peter, this psalm was shown to have a prophetic application. Said Peter: “Because [David] was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that he would seat one from the fruitage of his loins upon his throne, he saw beforehand and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he forsaken in Hades [hell] nor did his flesh see corruption.” (Acts 2:30, 31) Note that the Greek word haiʹdes was used for the Hebrew word sh^e’ohlʹ. Thus Sheol and Hades are seen to be corresponding terms.

Observes the glossary of the French Bible Society’s Nouvelle Version, under the expression “Abode of the dead”:

“This expression translates the Greek word Hades, which corresponds to the Hebrew Sheol. It is the place where the dead are located between [the time of] their decease and their resurrection (Luke 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 20:13, 14). Certain translations have wrongly rendered this word as hell.”

THE SOURCE OF THE HELLFIRE TEACHING

Clearly, references to Sheol and Hades in the Scriptures do not support the doctrine of a fiery hell. Admitting that it is not Christian and even contradicts the spirit of Christianity, the Catholic periodical Commonweal (January 15, 1971) notes:

“For many people, some philosophers included, hell answers a need of the human imagination​—a sort of Santa Claus in reverse. . . . Who among the righteous doesn’t like to see the unjust get punished with some equity? And if not in this life, why not in the next? Such a view, however, is not compatible with the New Testament, which invites man to life and to love.”

Then this magazine goes on to show probable sources of this doctrine, saying:

“Another element that might have contributed to the traditional Christian concept of hell can be found in the Roman world. Just as intrinsic immortality was a premise in a major part of Greek philosophy, justice was a primary virtue among the Romans, particularly when Christianity began to thrive. . . . The wedding of these two minds​—the philosophical Greek and judicial Roman—​might well have brought about the theological symmetry of heaven and hell: if the good soul is rewarded, then the bad soul is punished. To confirm their belief in justice for the unjust, the Romans merely had to pick up Virgil’s Aeneid and read about the blessed in Elysium and the damned in Tartarus, which was surrounded by fire and overflowing with the panic of punishment.”

The teaching about a fiery hell is thus acknowledged to be a belief shared by persons alienated from God. It can rightly be designated as a ‘teaching of demons.’ (1 Timothy 4:1) This is so because it has its source in the falsehood that man does not really die, and it mirrors the morbid, vicious and cruel disposition of the demons. (Compare Mark 5:2-13.) Has not this doctrine needlessly filled people with dread and horror? Has it not grossly misrepresented God? In his Word, Jehovah reveals himself to be a God of love. (1 John 4:8) But the teaching about a fiery hell slanders him, falsely accusing him of the worst cruelties imaginable.

Those teaching the hellfire doctrine are therefore saying blasphemous things against God. While some clergymen may not be familiar with the Biblical evidence, they should be. They represent themselves as speaking God’s message and therefore are under obligation to know what the Bible says. They certainly know full well that what they do and say can deeply affect the lives of those who look to them for instruction. That should cause them to be careful in making sure of their teaching. Any misrepresentation of God can turn people away from true worship, to their injury.

There can be no question that Jehovah God does not look with approval upon false teachers. To unfaithful religious leaders of ancient Israel, he pronounced the following judgment: “I . . . for my part, shall certainly make you to be despised and low to all the people, according as you were not keeping my ways.” (Malachi 2:9) We can be sure that like judgment will come upon false religious teachers of our time. The Bible indicates that they will soon be stripped of their position and influence by the political elements of the world. (Revelation 17:15-18) As for those who continue to support religious systems teaching lies, they will fare no better. Jesus Christ said: “If . . . a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”​—Matthew 15:14.

That being the case, would you want to continue supporting any religious system that teaches a fiery hell? How would you feel if your father had been maliciously slandered? Would you continue to accept the slanderers as your friends? Would you not, rather, cut off all association with them? Should we not likewise want to break off all association with those who have slandered our heavenly Father?

Fear of torment is not the proper motivation for serving God. He desires that our worship be motivated by love. This should appeal to our hearts. Our realizing that the dead are not in a place filled with screaming anguish in blazing fires, but, rather, are unconscious in the silent and lifeless common grave of dead mankind can remove a barrier to our expressing such love for God.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 90]

Scenes from Buddhist pictures of hell

[Picture on page 91]

Scenes from the “Inferno” of Catholic Dante

Chapter 12

A Rich Man in Hades

SINCE Hades is just the common grave of dead mankind, why does the Bible speak of a rich man as undergoing torments in the fire of Hades? Does this show that Hades, or at least a part of it, is a place of fiery torment?

Teachers of hellfire eagerly point to this account as definite proof that there is indeed a hell of torment that awaits the wicked. But, in so doing, they disregard such clear and repeated Biblical statements as: “The soul that is sinning​—it itself will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) And: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Clearly these statements do not support the idea of torment for “lost souls” in a fiery hell.

The Bible’s teaching about the condition of the dead therefore leaves many of Christendom’s clergymen in an awkward position. The very book on which they claim to base their teachings, the Bible, conflicts with their doctrines. Yet, consciously or subconsciously, they feel impelled to reach into the Bible to seize on something to prove their point, thereby blinding themselves and others to the truth. Often this is done deliberately.

On the other hand, sincere seekers for the truth want to know what is right. They realize that they would only be fooling themselves if they rejected portions of God’s Word while claiming to base their beliefs on other parts. They want to know what the Bible actually says about the condition of the dead. And, to fill out the picture, they want to know the meaning of what is said about the rich man who experienced torment in Hades, and how that fits in with the rest of the Bible.

It was Jesus Christ who spoke about a certain rich man and also a beggar named Lazarus. His words are found at Luke 16:19-31 and read:

“A certain man was rich, and he used to deck himself with purple and linen, enjoying himself from day to day with magnificence. But a certain beggar named Lazarus used to be put at his gate, full of ulcers and desiring to be filled with the things dropping from the table of the rich man. Yes, too, the dogs would come and lick his ulcers. Now in course of time the beggar died and he was carried off by the angels to the bosom position of Abraham.

“Also, the rich man died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, he existing in torments, and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in the bosom position with him. So he called and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this blazing fire.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received in full your good things in your lifetime, but Lazarus correspondingly the injurious things. Now, however, he is having comfort here but you are in anguish. And besides all these things, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you people, so that those wanting to go over from here to you people cannot, neither may people cross over from there to us.’ Then he said, ‘In that event I ask you, father, to send him to the house of my father, for I have five brothers, in order that he may give them a thorough witness, that they also should not get into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to these.’ Then he said, ‘No, indeed, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”

Note what is said about the rich man. Why was he tormented in Hades? What had he done? Jesus did not say that the rich man led a degraded life, did he? All that Jesus said was that the man was rich, dressed well and feasted sumptuously. Does such conduct of itself merit punishment by torment? True, a serious failing is implied in the attitude of the rich man toward the beggar Lazarus. The rich man lacked compassion for him. But did that failing distinguish him sufficiently from Lazarus?

Think about what Jesus said concerning Lazarus. Is there anything in the account to lead us to conclude that, if the situation had been reversed, Lazarus would have been a compassionate man? Do we read that Lazarus built up a record of fine works with God, leading to his coming into the “bosom position of Abraham,” that is, a position of divine favor? Jesus did not say that. He merely described Lazarus as a sickly beggar.

So is it logical to conclude that all sickly beggars will receive divine blessings at death, whereas all rich men will go to a place of conscious torment? Not at all. Begging is of itself no mark of God’s favor. To the contrary, the Bible contains the prayerful expression: “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” (Proverbs 30:8) And of his time, King David wrote: “I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.”​—Psalm 37:25.

If we take Jesus’ words literally, we would have to draw still other conclusions that would make the illustration strange indeed. These include: That those enjoying celestial happiness are in position to see and speak to those suffering torment in Hades. That the water adhering to one’s fingertip is not evaporated by the fire of Hades. And, that, although the torment of Hades is great, a mere drop of water would bring relief to the sufferer.

Taken literally, do these things sound reasonable to you? Or, do you feel, instead, that what Jesus said was not meant to be taken literally? Is there any way to be sure?

THE “RICH MAN” AND “LAZARUS” IDENTIFIED

Examine the context. To whom was Jesus talking? At Luke 16:14 we are told: “Now the Pharisees, who were money lovers, were listening to all these things, and they began to sneer at him.”

Since Jesus spoke in the hearing of the Pharisees, was he relating an actual case or was he simply using an illustration? Concerning Jesus’ method of teaching the crowds, we read: “Indeed, without an illustration he would not speak to them.” (Matthew 13:34) Accordingly, the account about the rich man and Lazarus must be an illustration.

This illustration was evidently directed to the Pharisees. As a class they were like the rich man. They loved money, as well as prominence and flattering titles. Jesus said of them: “All the works they do they do to be viewed by men; for they broaden the scripture-containing cases that they wear as safeguards, and enlarge the fringes of their garments. They like the most prominent place at evening meals and the front seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi by men.”​—Matthew 23:5-7.

The Pharisees looked down on others, especially on tax collectors, harlots and others having the reputation of being sinners. (Luke 18:11, 12) On one occasion when officers, sent to arrest Jesus, came back empty-handed because of having been impressed by his teaching, the Pharisees spoke up: “You have not been misled also, have you? Not one of the rulers or of the Pharisees has put faith in him, has he? But this crowd that does not know the Law are accursed people.”​—John 7:47-49.

Hence, in the parable the beggar Lazarus well represents those humble persons whom the Pharisees despised but who repented and became followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus showed that these despised sinners, upon repenting, would gain a position of divine favor, whereas the Pharisees and other prominent religious leaders as a class would lose out. He said: “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the harlots are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God. For John came to you in a way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and the harlots believed him, and you, although you saw this, did not feel regret afterwards so as to believe him.”​—Matthew 21:31, 32.

DEATH OF THE “RICH MAN” AND OF “LAZARUS”

What, then, is signified by the death of the “rich man” and of “Lazarus”? We do not need to conclude that it refers to actual death. As used in the Bible, death can also represent a great change in the condition of individuals. For example: Persons pursuing a course of life contrary to God’s will are spoken of as being ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ But when they come into an approved standing before God as disciples of Jesus Christ they are referred to as coming “alive.” (Ephesians 2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13) At the same time such living persons become “dead” to sin. We read: “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed with reference to sin but living with reference to God by Christ Jesus.”​—Romans 6:11.

Since both the “rich man” and “Lazarus” of Jesus’ parable are clearly symbolic, logically their deaths are also symbolic. But in what sense do they die?

The key to answering this question lies in what Jesus said just before introducing the illustration: “Everyone that divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he that marries a woman divorced from a husband commits adultery.” (Luke 16:18) This statement may appear to be completely unrelated to the illustration. But this is not the case.

By reason of the Mosaic law the nation of Israel was in a covenant relationship with God and therefore could be spoken of as being a wife to him. At Jeremiah 3:14, for example, God refers to the nation as an unfaithful wife: “‘Return, O you renegade sons,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘For I myself have become the husbandly owner of you people.’” Then, with the coming of Jesus, an opportunity was extended to the Jews to become part of his “bride.” That is why John the Baptist said to his disciples: “You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but, I have been sent forth in advance of that one. He that has the bride is the bridegroom. However, the friend of the bridegroom, when he stands and hears him, has a great deal of joy on account of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore this joy of mine has been made full. That one [Jesus] must go on increasing, but I must go on decreasing.”​—John 3:28-30.

In order to become part of Christ’s “bride,” the Jews had to be released from the Law that made them, figuratively speaking, a wife to God. Without such release, they could not come into a wifely relationship with Christ, as that would be an adulterous relationship. The words of Romans 7:1-6 confirm this:

“Can it be that you do not know, brothers, (for I am speaking to those who know law,) that the Law is master over a man as long as he lives? For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law of her husband. So, then, while her husband is living, she would be styled an adulteress if she became another man’s. But if her husband dies, she is free from his law, so that she is not an adulteress if she becomes another man’s.

“So, my brothers, you also were made dead to the Law through the body of the Christ, that you might become another’s, the one’s who was raised up from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. . . . Now we have been discharged from the Law, because we have died to that by which we were being held fast, that we might be slaves in a new sense by the spirit, and not in the old sense by the written code.”

While the death of Jesus Christ was the basis for releasing the Jews from the Law, even before his death repentant ones could come into a favored position with God as disciples of his Son. The message and work of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ opened the door for the Jews to seize the opportunity to gain divine favor and put themselves in line for a heavenly inheritance as members of Christ’s bride. As Jesus himself expressed it: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it.”​—Matthew 11:12.

Hence, the work and message of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ began to lead toward a complete change in the condition of the symbolic “rich man” and “Lazarus.” Both classes died to their former condition. The repentant “Lazarus” class came into a position of divine favor, whereas the “rich man” class came under divine disfavor because of persisting in unrepentance. At one time the “Lazarus” class had looked to the Pharisees and other religious leaders of Judaism for spiritual “crumbs.” But Jesus’ imparting the truth to them filled their spiritual needs. Contrasting the spiritual feeding provided by Jesus with that of the religious leaders, the Bible reports: “The crowds were astounded at his way of teaching; for he was teaching them as a person having authority, and not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28, 29) Truly a complete reversal had taken place. The religious leaders of Judaism were shown up as having nothing to offer to the “Lazarus” class.

On the day of Pentecost of the year 33 C.E. the change in conditions was accomplished. At that time the new covenant replaced the old Law covenant. Those who had repented and accepted Jesus were then fully released from the old Law covenant. They died to it. On that day of Pentecost there was also unmistakable evidence that the disciples of Jesus Christ had been exalted far above the Pharisees and other prominent religious leaders. Not the religious leaders of Judaism, but these disciples received God’s spirit, enabling them to speak about “the magnificent things of God” in the native languages of people from widely scattered places. (Acts 2:5-11) What a marvelous manifestation this was of their having God’s blessing and approval! The “Lazarus” class had indeed come into the favored situation by becoming the spiritual seed of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah. This was pictured as the “bosom position.”​—Compare John 1:18.

As for the unrepentant Pharisees and other prominent religious leaders, they were dead to their former position of seeming favor. They were in “Hades.” Remaining unrepentant, they were separated from the faithful disciples of Jesus as if by a “great chasm.” This was a “chasm” of God’s unchangeable, righteous judgment. Of this, we read in Scripture: “Your judicial decision is a vast watery deep.”​—Psalm 36:6.

THE “RICH MAN’S” TORMENT

The “rich man” class was also tormented. How? By the fiery judgment messages of God being proclaimed by Jesus’ disciples.​—Compare Revelation 14:10.

That the religious leaders were tormented by the message proclaimed by Jesus’ disciples there can be no question. They tried desperately to stop the proclamation. When the apostles of Jesus Christ made their defense before the Jewish supreme court composed of prominent religious men, the judges “felt deeply cut and were wanting to do away with them.” (Acts 5:33) Later, the disciple Stephen’s defense had a like tormenting effect upon the members of that court. “They felt cut to their hearts and began to gnash their teeth at him.”​—Acts 7:54.

These religious leaders wanted the disciples of Jesus to come and ‘cool their tongue.’ They wanted the “Lazarus” class to leave the “bosom position” of God’s favor and present his message in such a way as not to cause them discomfort. Similarly, they wanted the “Lazarus” class to water down God’s message so as not to put their “five brothers,” their religious allies, in a “place of torment.” Yes, they did not want any of their associates to be tormented by judgment messages.

But, as indicated by Jesus’ illustration, neither the “rich man” class nor his religious allies would be freed from the tormenting effects of the message proclaimed by the “Lazarus” class. The apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ refused to water down the message. They refused to stop teaching on the basis of Jesus’ name. Their reply to the Jewish supreme court was: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”​—Acts 5:29.

If the religious allies of the “rich man” wanted to escape that torment, they could do so. They had “Moses and the Prophets,” that is, they had the inspired Holy Scriptures written by Moses and other ancient prophets. Not once did those inspired Scriptures point to any literal place of torment after death, but they did contain all that was necessary to identify Jesus as the promised Messiah or Christ. (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, 19; 1 Peter 1:10, 11) Hence, if the “rich man” class and his “five brothers” had paid attention to “Moses and the Prophets,” they would have accepted Jesus as the Messiah. That would have brought them in line for divine favor and shielded them from the tormenting effects of God’s judgment message.

CHRISTENDOM SHOULD KNOW

There is little reason for Christendom’s clergymen not to be familiar with this understanding of Jesus’ parable. A leading Protestant commentary, The Interpreter’s Bible, calls attention to a similar explanation. It points out that many interpreters believe Jesus’ words to be “an allegorical appendix that presupposes the conflict between early Christianity and orthodox Judaism. The rich man and his brothers represent the unbelieving Jews. Jesus is made to assert that they have stubbornly refused to repent in spite of the obvious testimony to himself in Scripture and to predict that they will fail to be impressed by his resurrection. It is conceivable that Luke and his readers imposed some such interpretation on these verses.” And, in a footnote on Luke chapter 16, the Catholic Jerusalem Bible acknowledges that this is a “parable in story form without reference to any historical personage.”

In view of this, we can rightly ask: Why have Christendom’s clergymen not at least acknowledged to their church people that this is a parable? Why do those who know that the Bible does not teach the immortality of the human soul continue to put a literal application on an obvious parable? Is this not dishonest? Are they not showing disregard for the Word of God, deliberately hiding the facts?

The illustration of the rich man and Lazarus contains vital lessons for us today. Are we paying attention to the inspired Word of God? Do we desire to follow it as devoted disciples of Jesus Christ? Those who refuse to do so, like the Jewish Pharisees, will not escape the tormenting effects of God’s judgment message against them. His loyal servants will keep right on declaring the truth, fearlessly exposing religious error.

Where do you stand in this matter? Do you believe there should be a letup on such an exposure, feeling that there is good in all religions? Or, do you feel indignant about Christendom’s misrepresenting God by its false doctrines about the dead? Do you want to see God’s name cleared of the reproach brought upon it through the teaching of false doctrines? Do you desire to see no effort spared in freeing honest-hearted ones from bondage to religious falsehoods? If you do, you will find God’s purpose concerning the dead and the living most comforting.

Chapter 13

What About the Fire of Gehenna?

‘GRANTED,’ someone might say, ‘Hades is never used in the Bible to refer to a place of fiery torment. But does not the Bible speak of “hell fire”?’

True, numerous translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures (commonly called the “New Testament”) use the expression “hell fire” or “fires of hell.” In this case the Greek term rendered “hell” is geʹen·na (Gehenna). But is Gehenna the name of a place of fiery torment? Yes, say many of Christendom’s commentators. Yet they well know that the soul is not immortal. They also know that the Scriptures show that immortality is bestowed as a reward only upon those whom God designates as worthy of receiving it, and not as a curse on the wicked so that they might be tormented everlastingly.​—Romans 2:6, 7; 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54.

Other commentators of Christendom acknowledge that Gehenna is not a place of eternal fiery torment. Says The New Bible Commentary (page 779): “Gehenna was the Hellenized form of the name of the valley of Hinnom at Jerusalem in which fires were kept constantly burning to consume the refuse of the city. This is a powerful picture of final destruction.”

What is the truth of the matter? The best way to find out is to examine what the Bible itself says.

The term “Gehenna” is found twelve times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Once it is used by the disciple James, and eleven times it appears in statements attributed to Jesus Christ and relates to a condemnatory judgment. These texts read:

“I say to you that everyone who continues wrathful with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice; but whoever addresses his brother with an unspeakable word of contempt will be accountable to the Supreme Court; whereas whoever says, ‘You despicable fool!’ [thereby wrongly judging and condemning his brother as morally worthless] will be liable to the fiery Gehenna.”​—Matthew 5:22.

“Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”​—Matthew 10:28.

“I will indicate to you whom to fear: Fear him who after killing has authority to throw into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear this One.”​—Luke 12:5.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one you make him a subject for Gehenna twice as much so as yourselves. Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?”​—Matthew 23:15, 33.

“If ever your hand makes you stumble, cut it off; it is finer for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go off into Gehenna, into the fire that cannot be put out. And if your foot makes you stumble, cut it off; it is finer for you to enter into life lame than with two feet to be pitched into Gehenna. And if your eye makes you stumble, throw it away; it is finer for you to enter one-eyed into the kingdom of God than with two eyes to be pitched into Gehenna, where their maggot does not die and the fire is not put out.”​—Mark 9:43-48; see also the similarly worded passages at Matthew 5:29, 30; 18:8, 9.

“Well, the tongue is a fire. The tongue is constituted a world of unrighteousness among our members, for it spots up all the body and sets the wheel of natural life aflame and it is set aflame by Gehenna [that is, improper use of the tongue is as destructive as Gehenna; it can so affect the whole round of life into which a person comes by birth that it can lead to his meriting the judgment of Gehenna].”​—James 3:6.

Note that, while these texts associate fire with Gehenna, none of them speak of any conscious existence, any suffering, after death. Rather, as shown at Matthew 10:28, Jesus pointed out that God can “destroy,” not merely the body, but the entire person, the soul, in Gehenna. Just what is the nature of this destruction? An understanding of this is gleaned from a closer examination of the word “Gehenna.”

GEHENNA​—THE VALLEY OF HINNOM

Though found in the Christian Greek Scriptures, “Gehenna” is drawn from two Hebrew words, Gaʹi and Hin·nomʹ, meaning Valley of Hinnom. This valley lay south and southwest of Jerusalem. In the days of faithless Judean Kings Ahaz and Manasseh the Valley of Hinnom served as a place for idolatrous religious rites, including the abhorrent practice of child sacrifice. (2 Chronicles 28:1, 3; 33:1, 6; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:2, 6) Later, good King Josiah put a stop to the idolatrous worship carried on there and made the valley unfit to use for worship.​—2 Kings 23:10.

Tradition relates that the Valley of Hinnom thereafter became a place for the disposal of garbage. And the Bible provides confirmation for this. At Jeremiah 31:40, for example, the Valley of Hinnom is evidently called the “low plain of the carcasses and of the fatty ashes.” There was also the “Gate of the Ash-heaps,” a gate that seems to have opened out onto the eastern extremity of the Valley of Hinnom at its juncture with the Kidron Valley.​—Nehemiah 3:13, 14.

That Gehenna should be linked with the destructive aspects of a city dump is in full agreement with the words of Jesus Christ. With reference to Gehenna, he said, “their maggot does not die and the fire is not put out.” (Mark 9:48) His words evidently allude to the fact that fires burned continually at the city dump, perhaps being intensified by the addition of sulfur. Where the fire did not reach, worms or maggots would breed and feed on what was not consumed by fire.

It should also be observed that Jesus, in speaking of Gehenna in this way, did not introduce a concept completely foreign to the Hebrew Scriptures. In those earlier Scriptures practically identical wording appears in references to what will befall the ungodly.

Isaiah 66:24 foretells that persons having God’s favor “will actually go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that were transgressing against [God]; for the very worms upon them will not die and their fire itself will not be extinguished, and they must become something repulsive to all flesh.” Clearly this is not a picture of conscious torment but of a terrible destruction. What are left are, not conscious souls or “disembodied spirits,” but dead “carcasses.” The scripture shows that it is, not the humans, but the maggots or worms upon them that are alive. No mention is made here of any “immortal soul.”

In the prophecy of Jeremiah the Valley of Hinnom is similarly linked with a destruction of faithless humans. “‘Look! there are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘when this place will be called no more Topheth and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the killing. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those seeking for their soul. And I will give their dead bodies as food to the flying creatures of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth.’”​—Jeremiah 19:6, 7.

Note that Jeremiah’s reference to the Valley of Hinnom contains no hint of conscious torment after death. The picture drawn is one of total destruction, the “dead bodies” being consumed by scavenger birds and beasts.

A SYMBOL OF DESTRUCTION

In keeping with the Biblical evidence, then, Gehenna or the Valley of Hinnom could appropriately serve as a symbol of destruction but not of conscious fiery torment. Joseph E. Kokjohn, in the Catholic periodical Commonweal, acknowledges this, saying:

“The final place of punishment, evidently, is Gehenna, the Valley of Hinno[m], which at one time had been a place where human sacrifice was offered to pagan gods, but in biblical times had already become the city dump, a refuse heap on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Here the stench and smoke and fire were a constant reminder to the inhabitants of what happened to things that had served their purpose​—they were destroyed.”

That the destruction symbolized by Gehenna is a lasting one is shown elsewhere in the Holy Scriptures. The apostle Paul, when writing to Christians at Thessalonica, said that those causing them tribulation would “undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength.”​—2 Thessalonians 1:6-9.

Biblical evidence thus makes it plain that those whom God judges as undeserving of life will experience, not eternal torment in a literal fire, but “everlasting destruction.” They will not be preserved alive anywhere. The fire of Gehenna is therefore but a symbol of the totality and thoroughness of that destruction.

It is noteworthy that, in addressing the religious leaders of his day, Jesus Christ said: “Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?” (Matthew 23:33) Why was this? It was because those religious leaders were hypocrites. They desired to be looked up to and addressed with high-sounding titles, but they had no regard for those whom they were to help spiritually. They burdened others down with traditional regulations, and disregarded justice, mercy and faithfulness. They were false teachers, placing human traditions above the authority of God’s Word.​—Matthew 15:3-6; 23:1-32.

Have you noticed like things among the religious leaders of today, particularly in Christendom? Will they fare any better than the religious leaders of Judaism in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry? Not in the least, for Christendom’s religious leaders have disobediently misrepresented God and the “good news about our Lord Jesus.” So as long as they persist in teaching false doctrines they stand in danger of undergoing the “judicial punishment of everlasting destruction.”

The truth about Gehenna therefore should help us to appreciate the importance of avoiding association with false religion. Not only the leaders but, as Jesus showed, also those who support the false religious teachers are in danger. Jesus Christ, in fact, spoke of a proselyte of the scribes and Pharisees as becoming a ‘subject for Gehenna twice as much so as they were.’ (Matthew 23:15) Hence, people who blindly continue to follow false religious teaching today cannot hope to escape God’s adverse judgment.

While making us think seriously about our own position, this can also be a comforting assurance to us. How so? In that we can be sure that Jehovah God will not leave serious wrongdoing unpunished. If people do not want to conform to his righteous laws and deliberately persist in a course of wickedness, he will not allow them much longer to continue to disrupt the peace of righteous people.

[Map on page 113]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

MAP OF FIRST-CENTURY JERUSALEM

TEMPLE AREA

VALLEY OF HINNOM (GEHENNA)

Chapter 14

What ‘Torment in the Lake of Fire’ Means

HOW would you react if, now that you know what the Bible says about the unconscious condition of the dead, you were to find a Bible text mentioning a place of torment? Would you reason that this justifies ignoring all the other scriptures and holding onto the idea that there may still be a possibility of conscious existence continuing after death? Or, would you undertake a careful examination of the context to determine just what the text might really mean and how it harmonizes with the rest of the Bible?

The reason for considering this is that the Bible book of Revelation does speak of “torment” in a “lake of fire.” Revelation 20:10 states: “The Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”​—See also Revelation 19:20.

How are those cast into the “lake of fire” tormented? That we should not be hasty in taking this expression as literal is evident from the nature of the book of Revelation. The opening words of the book read: “A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent forth his angel and presented it in signs through him to his slave John.”​—Revelation 1:1.

As there stated, this revelation was presented “in signs.” What, then, of the “lake of fire” and the “torment” there? Are they literal or are they also “signs” or symbols?

Additional information as to what is cast into the lake of fire, besides the Devil, the “wild beast” and the “false prophet,” sheds light on the matter. Note the words of Revelation 20:14, 15: “Death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.”

Now, is it possible for death and Hades to be hurled into a literal lake of fire? Obviously not, for they are not objects, animals or persons. Death is a state or condition. How could it be tossed into a literal lake of fire? As for Hades, it is the common grave of mankind. What kind of a lake could hold it?

Then, too, Revelation 20:14, 15 does not say that the lake is literal. Rather, we read that the “lake of fire” is itself a sign or symbol of “second death.” The same point is made at Revelation 21:8: “As for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and fornicators and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death.”

Since the lake of fire is a symbol of second death, the casting of death and Hades into it is simply a symbolic way of saying that these will be forever destroyed. This agrees with the Bible’s statement that ‘the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing.’ (1 Corinthians 15:26) And, since Hades, the common grave of mankind in general, is emptied and “death will be no more,” that means that Hades ceases to function, passes out of existence.​—Revelation 20:13; 21:4.

FIGURATIVE TORMENT

What, then, is the “torment” experienced by wicked humans and others that are thrown into the “lake of fire”? Without conscious existence, they could not experience literal torment, could they? And there is nothing in the Holy Scriptures to show that they will have any conscious existence. So why does the Bible speak of eternal torment in the “lake of fire”?

Since the “lake of fire” is symbolic, the torment associated with it must also be symbolic or figurative. This can be better appreciated in the light of what the Bible says about the things that are pitched into the “lake of fire.” What we should observe is that the “second death” is what is symbolized by the “lake of fire.” The Adamic death, that is, the death that all born humankind inherited from Adam and Eve after they had sinned, is never likened to such a fearful thing, even though death is “the wages sin pays.”​—Romans 6:23.

Jesus Christ likened the death state of those who die because of inherited sin to a sleep. For instance, he said of Lazarus, who lay dead for parts of four days, “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest, but I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep.” (John 11:11) Later on, even Jesus slept the sleep of death for parts of three days. “Now Christ has been raised up from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death.” (1 Corinthians 15:20) Death is like a sleep, as it ends in an awakening.

However, those who must undergo the “second death” do not have the comfort of a resurrection hope. Theirs is not a sleep. They never awaken from destruction in second death. As this hopeless state keeps hold of them, they are ‘tormented forever’ in the sense of being eternally restrained from having any conscious existence or activity. That their restraint in “second death” is compared to torture by being confined in prison is shown by Jesus in his parable of the ungrateful, merciless slave. Concerning the action his master took against him, Jesus said: “And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.” (Matthew 18:34, Jerusalem Bible) The New World Translation shows who these tormentors are by reading: “With that his master, provoked to wrath, delivered him to the jailers [marginal reading: tormentors], until he should pay back all that was owing.”

The very fact that the “lake of fire” is a symbol of “second death” rules out the idea of its being a place of conscious torment. Nowhere does the Bible even suggest that the dead can experience conscious torment, but the dead have lost all sensations. Of those dead in the common grave of mankind, the Bible says: “There the wicked themselves have ceased from agitation, and there those weary in power are at rest. Together prisoners themselves are at ease; they actually do not hear the voice of one driving them to work. Small and great are there the same, and the slave is set free from his master.”​—Job 3:17-19.

Just as the death to which humans in general continue to be subject ends all sensations and feeling, so does the “second death.” However, no forgiveness of sins or ransoming is possible for those punished with “second death.” That reproachful state is their lot forever. Memory of them is as rotten.​—Isaiah 66:24; Proverbs 10:7.

Yet even before wicked ones are plunged into total annihilation, “second death,” they experience torment. This is referred to symbolically at Revelation 14:9-11: “If anyone worships the wild beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the anger of God that is poured out undiluted into the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and day and night they have no rest, those who worship the wild beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” By what means are the worshipers of the “wild beast” and its “image” tormented? The words of Revelation that follow immediately thereafter provide the clue: “Here is where it means endurance for the holy ones, those who observe the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”​—Revelation 14:12.

There would be no need for endurance on the part of the holy ones if the worshipers of the “wild beast” and its “image” were confined to a literal place of torment. Those false worshipers would then be stripped of all power to do harm to God’s faithful servants. But as long as they are alive and free they can engage in hateful, vicious acts against the “holy ones.”

The fact that the “holy ones” are brought into the picture indicates that they are the instrumentalities for bringing torment on the wicked. How could this be? Well, they proclaim the message that points to the eternal destruction awaiting the worshipers of the “wild beast” and its “image.” This message puts these false worshipers in torment, giving them no rest day or night. That is why they try everything within their power to silence God’s servants. The resulting persecution calls for endurance on the part of the “holy ones.” Finally, when the worshipers of the “wild beast” and its “image” are destroyed as by “fire and sulphur,” the evidence of that total destruction will, like smoke, ascend for all time to come.

The completeness of that destruction might be illustrated by what befell the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The disciple Jude wrote: “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them . . . are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.” (Jude 7) The fire that destroyed those cities had stopped burning long before Jude wrote his letter. But the permanent, “everlasting” evidence of that fire’s destructiveness remained, for those cities continued nonexistent.

ETERNAL TORMENT DOES NOT HARMONIZE WITH GOD’S PERSONALITY

That total destruction, not conscious torment for all eternity, is the punishment meted out to those persisting in rebellion also agrees with what God reveals about himself in his Word the Bible. Jehovah God has tender feelings toward his human creation as well as his animal creation.

Consider for a moment God’s law about a working bull: “You must not muzzle a bull while it is threshing.” (Deuteronomy 25:4) This law reflected God’s compassionate concern and care for unreasoning animals. The bull was not to be tormented by being forcibly prevented from satisfying its desire to feed on some of the grain it was threshing.

Far greater is God’s concern and love for humankind than for the unreasoning animals. As Jesus Christ reminded his disciples: “Five sparrows sell for two coins of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them goes forgotten before God. But even the hairs of your heads are all numbered. Have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.”​—Luke 12:6, 7.

Would it not be totally inconsistent, then, for anyone to claim that a God with such tender feelings would literally torment some humans for all eternity? Who of us would want to see someone undergoing the most horrible torture for even an hour? Is it not true that only fiendish persons would delight in seeing others suffer? Does not our inward sense of love and justice go into a state of revolt when we hear that a father tortured his child nearly to the point of death for some act of disobedience? Regardless of how bad the child may have been, we find it impossible to have any tender feelings for such a father.

God’s compassionate dealing with imperfect mankind, however, does appeal to our moral sense. It warms our hearts and draws us closer to our Creator. Just think of it: Even when people deserve punishment, God has no pleasure in having to administer it. As the prophet Jeremiah exclaimed with reference to God’s judgment that befell unfaithful Jerusalem: “Although he has caused grief, he will also certainly show mercy according to the abundance of his loving-kindness. For not out of his own heart has he afflicted or does he grieve the sons of men.”​—Lamentations 3:32, 33.

If it is not in his heart to afflict or to grieve humans who deserve punishment, how could Jehovah God for all eternity look approvingly upon the anguish of wicked ones? Furthermore, what purpose would it serve? According to the clergy’s unscriptural “hell fire” theory, even if those experiencing the torment wanted to change, they could not do so, nor could they improve their situation. God’s Word, however, shows unmistakably that total destruction, not torment, is the punishment for all who persist in wickedness.

Appreciating that Jehovah is a loving and just God, we can rest assured that his purpose for those who want to serve him is grand indeed. With eager anticipation, then, let us examine the Scriptures to learn of the loving provisions that he has made to deliver mankind from bondage to disease and death.

Chapter 15

A Government That Will Conquer Man’s Enemy Death

GOD’S original purpose for man was that he might live and enjoy life on a paradise earth. We can have confidence that this purpose will be realized. It is backed by God’s dependable promise that man’s enemy death will be conquered, destroyed.​—1 Corinthians 15:26.

A life-span of but seventy or eighty years is not all there is. If that were the full extent of what even lovers of God could hope for, their situation would differ little from that of those who have no regard for God or his Word. But this is not the case. The Bible says: “God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love you showed for his name.”​—Hebrews 6:10; 11:6.

What is the reward for those who are serving Jehovah God because of their deep love for him and his righteous ways? There is both a present and a future reward. The apostle Paul wrote: “Godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) Even now obedience to God’s law leads to enjoying a contented, happy life. As to the life “which is to come,” Romans 6:23 says: “The gift God gives is everlasting life.”

Under present conditions, of course, everlasting life may appear undesirable. But it is eternal life under a righteous administration that God has promised. For that promise to become reality, humans must first be freed from the cause of death. What is that cause? The inspired apostle Paul answers: “The sting producing death is sin.”​—1 Corinthians 15:56.

Already at the time of pronouncing judgment on the rebellious human pair, Adam and Eve, and upon the instigator of rebellion, Jehovah God pointed to the means by which humans would be freed from sin and death. Not to the unreasoning snake used in the deception, but to Satan himself as the “original serpent” God’s words were directed: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” This judgment, recorded at Genesis 3:15, provided the basis for hope for the future offspring of Adam and Eve. It indicated that man’s enemy would be conquered.​—Revelation 12:9.

Of course, the mere killing of the “original serpent,” Satan the Devil, would not be enough to undo all the injury that he caused by influencing the first humans to rebel against God. But just how the undoing would come about remained a secret until such time as God chose to reveal it.​—1 John 3:8.

With the aid of the complete Bible, we today can unravel this sacred secret. The “woman” referred to at Genesis 3:15 could not have been Eve. Eve, by her course of rebellion, aligned herself with the “original serpent,” thus making herself a part of his “seed.” Then, too, no female descendant of Adam and Eve could be that woman. Why not? Because the ‘seed of the woman’ had to possess power far greater than that of a mere man in order to crush the “original serpent,” the invisible spirit person Satan the Devil. To produce such a mighty “seed,” the “woman” would have to be, not human, but spiritual.

At Galatians 4:26 this “woman” is identified as “Jerusalem above.” This is very significant. How so?

The ancient city of Jerusalem was the capital of the kingdom of Judah. Because the first Judean king, David, established his seat of government there, Jerusalem from his time onward produced the kings for the nation. Therefore it would only be natural to expect that the “Jerusalem above” would produce a king. This factor pointed to a heavenly government, with a heavenly king, as the agency for putting an end to sin and death.

The “Jerusalem above” is no literal woman or city. It is a symbolic, spiritual city. Being heavenly, it is composed of mighty spirit persons, angels. So, then, for one from among these spirit persons to be designated as king would mean that the “Jerusalem above” had produced an heir to a kingdom. Did such a thing happen?

THE KING IS BROUGHT FORTH

That is exactly what happened in the year 29 C.E. At that time the man Jesus was anointed by God’s holy spirit to become King-Designate. This occurred at the time he presented himself to John the Baptist for immersion in water. As to what took place, the Bible reports: “After being baptized Jesus immediately came up from the water; and, look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw descending like a dove God’s spirit coming upon him. Look! Also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: ‘This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.’”​—Matthew 3:16, 17.

Some months later Jesus began proclaiming: “Repent, you people, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matthew 4:17) Yes, the kingdom had drawn near in the person of the King-Designate.

Though born as a man on earth, Jesus had had a prehuman existence. He himself said: “No man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.” (John 3:13) In calling attention to Jesus’ outstanding example of humility, the inspired apostle Paul wrote: “He emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:5-7) As to how this transferal from heavenly to earthly life came about, we have the recorded conversation of the angel Gabriel with the virgin Mary:

“The angel said to her: ‘Have no fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God; and, look! you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you are to call his name Jesus. This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.’

“But Mary said to the angel: ‘How is this to be, since I am having no intercourse with a man?’ In answer the angel said to her: ‘Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son.’”​—Luke 1:30-35.

Thus, as one of the sons of God making up the “Jerusalem above,” Jesus had his life transferred from heaven to the womb of the virgin Mary and was born a perfect human baby. Such a miracle may sound unbelievable to some, yet that casts no valid doubt on the actuality of the event. Surely the One who made it possible for a complete person to develop from an egg cell that is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence could, by means of his spirit or active force, transfer life from the heavens to the earth. And since Jesus’ life had been transferred in this way in order for him to become the permanent heir of King David, he actually came forth from the “Jerusalem above.”

As foretold in God’s prophecy of Genesis 3:15, Jesus experienced a ‘heel wound’ from the “original serpent” when he was nailed to an executional stake on Nisan 14 of the year 33 C.E. Unlike a crushing in the head from which there is no recovery, that ‘heel wound’ was but temporary. On the third day God raised Jesus up from the dead, granting him the “power of an indestructible life.” (Acts 10:40; Hebrews 7:16) As an immortal spirit person, the King Jesus Christ is in position to crush the “original serpent” in the head and undo all the damage that that one has caused.

ASSOCIATE RULERS

Jesus Christ is the main one of that composite “seed.” By means of him Almighty God will crush Satan the Devil under the feet of Jesus’ associates in the heavenly kingdom. (Revelation 20:1-3) Writing to those in line for rulership, the Christian apostle Paul stated: “The God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” (Romans 16:20) Who are these associate rulers?

In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the number is given as 144,000. Describing what he saw in vision, the writer of Revelation, the apostle John, says: “Look! the Lamb [Jesus Christ, who died a death like a sacrificial lamb] standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. . . . These are the ones that keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. These were bought from among mankind [not just one nation of people like the Israelites] as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.”​—Revelation 14:1-4.

It is indeed appropriate that the 144,000 are depicted as being with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Mount Zion of the ancient city of Jerusalem was the place from which the kings of Judah ruled, the site of the royal palace. It was also at Mount Zion that David pitched a tent for the sacred ark (chest) of the covenant in which were placed the two tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Later that ark was transferred to the innermost compartment of the temple built by David’s son Solomon a short distance away on Mount Moriah. The term Zion, in time, came to include Moriah. Thus Zion had prominent association with kingship as well as priesthood.​—2 Samuel 6:12, 17; 1 Kings 8:1; Isaiah 8:18.

This agrees with the fact that Jesus is both King and Priest, combining both offices as did Melchizedek of ancient Salem. Therefore Hebrews 6:20 speaks of Jesus as having “become a high priest according to the manner of Melchizedek forever.” In the capacity of King-Priest, Jesus rules from heavenly Mount Zion.

His fellow rulers are also priests. As a body they are called a “royal priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:9) Of their function, Revelation 5:10 tells us: “You [Christ] made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”

PURPOSE OF THE ADMINISTRATION

A principal concern of the King-Priest Jesus Christ and his associate priestly rulers is to bring all humankind into unity with Jehovah God. This means the removal of all traces of sin and imperfection, for only those who reflect God’s image perfectly can stand on their own merit before him. That the administrative Kingdom is part of God’s administration of affairs for bringing this about is indicated at Ephesians 1:9-12:

“[God] made known to us the sacred secret of his will. It is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself for an administration at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth. Yes, in him, in union with whom we were also assigned as heirs, in that we were foreordained according to the purpose of him who operates all things according to the way his will counsels, that we should serve for the praise of his glory.”

Since Jesus Christ is sinless and in perfect harmony with Jehovah God, the bringing of all things into unity with him results in mankind’s being brought into unity with Jehovah God. This is clear from the fact that after this aspect of the Kingdom’s work is completed, the Bible says that Jesus Christ “hands over the kingdom to his God and Father.”​—1 Corinthians 15:24.

To accomplish the tremendous task of perfecting humankind, the heavenly rulers will also be using earthly representatives, men of outstanding devotion to righteousness. (Psalm 45:16; Isaiah 32:1, 2) These men will have to meet the qualifications the King Jesus Christ looks for in those whom he entrusts with responsibility. Two basic qualifications are humility and self-sacrificing love. Said Jesus: “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them and the great men wield authority over them. This is not the way among you; but whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.” (Matthew 20:25-27) He also said: “This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. No one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends.”​—John 15:12, 13.

Would you not feel secure under Kingdom representatives who reflect such love and humility, who would genuinely care for you?

There will be no problems in communication between the heavenly government and the earthly representatives of the King Jesus Christ. In times past Jehovah God transmitted messages to his servants on earth by means of angels and his invisible active force. (Daniel 10:12-14; 2 Peter 1:21) Why, even men have been able to transmit and receive messages to and from capsules and space stations circling far above the earth. If imperfect men can do such things, why should anyone think that this would be too difficult for perfect heavenly rulers?

However, before the Kingdom administration of Jesus Christ and his fellow rulers can proceed with the work of bringing mankind into unity with God, all opposing forces must be removed. There is not the slightest indication that those governing mankind today are willing to hand over their sovereignty to Jesus Christ and his associate rulers. They scoff at the idea that a heavenly government will take full control over earth’s affairs. That is why they will have to be forced to recognize the authority of God’s kingdom by his Christ. This will be at the cost of their ruling positions as well as their lives. As the Bible tells us: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”​—Daniel 2:44.

After clearing out all opposition, the Kingdom administration will set itself to the task of liberating humans from sickness and death. How will this be accomplished?